# Bunny ate duct tape!



## Remmy (Dec 29, 2015)

I've been posting on these forums a lot lately but as a new Rabbit owner I have many questions! 

So, my Remmy girl chews on EVERYTHING except her toys. (even though most of her toys are cardboard!) Well today Remmy finally got her cage (large dog crate), but the pan of the cage was broken so we put duct tape on it to hold the corner together. Her cage has fleece covering the pan, so I thought she'd be kept away from the duct tape. Well, I thought wrong! The little snot-head dug up the fleece and ate quite a bit of the duct tape. Yikes! This was about two hours ago, and ever since all she's been doing is sleeping. Especially now, she has no energy and isn't paying attention to anything, even her least favorite noise - whistling. This is very unusual for her, she is constantly on the move. She is a very playful and energetic 3 month old baby! At first I wasn't too concerned because she's had a stomach ache one time before and was fine in the morning, but her behavior is very concerning now. I'm especially concerned because the only rabbit vet in the area isn't open right now!


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## Azerane (Dec 29, 2015)

Approximately how much duct tape (in inches or cm) do you think she ate? It does sound quite concerning that she's not responding well. Usually I would suggest encourage movement by making her hop around the room but if she has ingested a larger piece I'd be concerned that it may cause some damage while moving around. How long until the rabbit vet is open? By the sounds of it it's likely you will need to see a vet, even if it's not your usual rabbit vet. If it's too long until they open, you need to find an alternative. Pain meds at the very least will help your bunny feel a bit better and if she's not moving much they may even be able to get an xray to see if there's a blockage without the need for sedation.


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## Remmy (Dec 29, 2015)

I'm not sure exactly how much, its a good chunk of the piece I had on there. Probably about a couple centimeters wide/long. She has gotten up and eaten just a tiny bit and drank some water since I made this post, but her behavior is still kind of concerning. Especially since she's laying on her side looking pitiful.  

The rabbit vet is an hour's drive from here and it opens at 8 am tomorrow.


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## briennap (Dec 31, 2015)

I would also beware of every toy she has being made of cardboard too /: that can also cause a blockage and be harmful towards her. Wood toys is something I find my buns like best! &#128578;


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## flemishwhite (Jan 6, 2016)

Remmy said:


> I've been posting on these forums a lot lately but as a new Rabbit owner I have many questions!
> 
> So, my Remmy girl chews on EVERYTHING except her toys. (even though most of her toys are cardboard!) Well today Remmy finally got her cage (large dog crate), but the pan of the cage was broken so we put duct tape on it to hold the corner together. Her cage has fleece covering the pan, so I thought she'd be kept away from the duct tape. Well, I thought wrong! The little snot-head dug up the fleece and ate quite a bit of the duct tape. I'm especially concerned because the only rabbit vet in the area isn't open right now!



The first thing is to monitor poops. If she's passing, that's a good sign. Obviously if she's not passing, a X-ray is needed. Rabbits are very robust and hardy, but their gastrointerlogical (GI) system is a weakness. 

Also, maybe it isn't an option for everyone, but try to have TWO rabbit vets that you know you can call on.


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## flemishwhite (Jan 7, 2016)

Our first rabbit was a rescue rabbit and she was an adult. We introduced her into our life as a house rabbit. There was the normal chewing concerns, but chewing problems were mostly mitigated by Bunny's oat hay. Naively, when other people complained about house rabbit chewing problems, I'd just say..If you don't want them chewing your carpets, drapes, furniture, ..just give them something tastier to chew on than carpets, drapes, furniture..give them for example, oat hay. My advice, now I realize was naive because of our two Flemmish Giant babies. They are not quite 4 months old, but are the size of most pet rabbits already. They have plenty of oat hay to chew on...but it's no where enough for them! First of all we do have 4 litter boxes in the house with oat hay for them. To avoid them chewing the furniture, which is varnish coated, I've laid down 2X4 ( 1 7/8 inch by 3 7/8) of clean pine wood pieces in the living room...they like the pine. Also, chew to toys from the pet store ($$), but the all time winner is ...cardboard boxes! They like to jump in them, chew them. From what I know I think eating paper is pretty much harmless for rabbits. Next best chewey thing...my wife has some brooms from Asian grocery stores that have natural broom straw...just delicious!! ...The activity of our new Flemmish babies is a surprise for me and my wife. Our previous old bunny, at nearly 12 years old, was such a proper and calm house pet. Not like our now Flemmish baby hellions! Arggghh! Well, we do really love them.


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## Blue eyes (Jan 7, 2016)

briennap said:


> I would also beware of every toy she has being made of cardboard too /: that can also cause a blockage and be harmful towards her. Wood toys is something I find my buns like best! &#55357;&#56898;


 
If bunny is eating plenty of hay, cardboard eating should not be an issue. The hay keeps everything moving. Many on RO use cardboard boxes, paper towel tubes, toilet paper tubes and all manner of cardboard chew toys for their rabbits without any issue. The key is to be sure that said bunny eats plenty of hay daily.


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## LolaOscarLuna (Jan 8, 2016)

I have had this happen ! My boyfriend put duct tape on the inside on her cage to protect her from some of the pointy wires and she started pulling it off and eating it! But she was fine! Honestly like everyone said just monitor her poops if she is acting okay and being her little bunny self then she should be fine. Like I said my bunny ate duct tape and she was totally fine, but we did remove it or else she would keep doing it! Maybe try a different material for holding it together because for some reason they like duct tape


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## LolaOscarLuna (Jan 8, 2016)

Adding on to my last post! I didnt read very well! Im sorry,

If your bunny isn't acting herself I would definitely take her to the vet. My bunny has once gotten into gum, it fell out of my pocket and i didnt notice until it had tiny bite marks in it.. anyways I took her there and the vet said it is very dangerous if a bunny has any sort of blockage, she didnt - thank goodness, but I say your better safe then sorry. If you are that concerned I would take her just to be safe. Sorry for first post-- blonde moment.


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## Remmy (Jan 10, 2016)

Thanks for your suggestions everyone! Remmy is doing fine now. She got into the duct tape a second time and I just removed it all together. She has two fleece blankets covered the pan where the plastic broke, and she hasn't attempted to dig the blankets up again; so the problem has been solved. Thank god! She still tries her best to chew on everything she shouldn't though. Baby animals can be such little turds


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## Azerane (Jan 11, 2016)

I'm so glad she's ok


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