# Ceramic Tile for Keeping Nails Short



## mdith4him (Jan 21, 2012)

Recently, we bought a ceramic tile to place in Nibbles' NIC cage. We were hoping that as he ran across it, it would help keep his nails blunt and we wouldn't need to cut them as often. We've heard of other people doing this and a couple people have even said they never have to trim their bunnies' nails since the nails are naturally trimmed by the rough tile.

Anyway, when we put the tile in his cage, all he wanted to do was chew it! I'm worried that chewing on something like that isn't good for his teeth--what do you think? We've taken it out for the moment.


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## LakeCondo (Jan 21, 2012)

I guess when I think of ceramic tile I think of shiny, slick tile that a rabbit would fall down on. That's clearly not what you mean, so I've got that out of my mind.

Are the tiles as big as each section of the nic cage? If they were, I don't see how he could chew on them.

What I think works well is a concrete patio stone [or bricks set in a box & sand added to keep them in place]. With a nic cage you could only do this on the ground level, I assume, due to weight issues.

You wonder how wild rabbits keep their nails short enough. They aren't on real hard surfaces that much & don't have anyone to trim them. Digging would keep the nails on the front feet in trim, but I'm stumped about the back ones.


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## mdith4him (Jan 21, 2012)

Yeah, it's not the shiny ones you would use in a kitchen remodel or something. I guess it's a ceramic tile pre-glossing? It's rough, more like a concrete tile (but not as grainy as concrete). The tile is about 8" a side and we were told to put it in a "high traffic" area of his pen so that when he runs around and runs across it, he'll be continuously wearing down his nails. It's just the one tile, so he can chew on the edges quite easily. Not to mention, it makes a horrible scratching sound when he does so (not far from nails on a chalkboard). He's hopped on/over it a couple times and his toe nails don't make such an awful sound, thankfully. I know their teeth grow, too, so maybe it's okay to chew...but knowing him, he'll probably try to eat the little shavings that come off, which probably isn't so good!


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## Watermelons (Jan 21, 2012)

I use ceramic tile as the floor of my nic cage, its textures or bumpy or whatever.... Haha not the shiny stuff  Gives them good grip, little bit harder to clean because it does have the texture. 

Doesnt do a single thing for their nails.

If you do choose to continue the tiles, they should go under the edges of the cage, and fit snugly together, there shouldnt be any edges for your bun to chew on. 

Simply hopping around on rough stone wont do anything but annoy their feet over time, unless their digging on it as LakeCondo said, their nails will be left untouched.


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