Pica - Especially FAO Jay and Anne.

"Ingesting substances which are not considered food" It can be caused by compulsive behaviours and nutritional deficiencys. I read this on an article about dogs though. In rabbits i would say its generally due to boredom.

Some domestic rabbits will eat wall paper, cardboard, carpet, even spiders and insects!!

Does anyone know if wildies do this?
If they do, then surely it cannot just be due to boredom.

As interesting as this assignment it, its starting to make my brain hurt! Im determined to get a distinction though!

I can tell you that my domesticated wildie does, she has eaten through a couple of plastic litter trays and plenty of cardboard boxes in her time. I would imagine though that these are not items usually come across by a wildie in their natural habitat so I have no idea how they would react to them.

It happens to pregnant women too. That's where I first came across it.....mud, chalk, petrol, windolene, sponges....

I mean wildies in their natural habitat, your wildie would be considered domesticated in this case.

Ive gone into too much detail though, my tutor said it wasnt necessary, so ive had to delete all the really interesting and in depth parts of the report. Aparently i just need to touch on each point Otherwise it would be interesting to learn more about the behaviour of your wildie!

At the pregnant women bit Though I have to compare domesticated rabbits to wild rabbits rather than wild hormonal women

Somehow I don't think wildies have wall papered burrows or carpets on the floors. Don't think they get cardboard cartons or polytrays.... Guess maybe the odd spider and insect might come their way but as to whether they get munched or not your guess is as good as mine!

woodwench wrote:Somehow I don't think wildies have wall papered burrows or carpets on the floors. Don't think they get cardboard cartons or polytrays.... Guess maybe the odd spider and insect might come their way but as to whether they get munched or not your guess is as good as mine!

I've read the great tomes on wildlife - beatrix potter, winnie the pooh, wind in the willows - and I believe all buns live in properly decorated burrows!

When I was little till about the age of 11 I used to eat lipstick so I dunno if it is just centred on pregnant women.

some of my buns like things they shouldnt, example when twink was in the house she would run and but my bf can of larger so she could lap it up, Rose eats as much cereal if she can get it out of the babys bow on a morning buy will not eat it dry, she loves the milk and tried to climb in the bowl when I take it away. All the buns go mad for bread pizza cheese and stuff like that. We dont let them have it but with a toddler running about there is always little gems stuffed in strange places only buns seem to find.

I did once catch star tasting a worm but he sharp spat it out give himself a good shake and a wash down lol x

I'm seeing Anne later, I'll ask her. Is your assingment just on wild rabbits, not domestic? You mentioned dogs, but they are domesticated.

Wildie's don't have access to other things to eat unless it's our litter. I know that some animals eat their own waste though, but I wonder if they eat other animal's waste...?

I know that domestic buns can and will eat carpet/cardboard and wallpaper to excess if they need fibre. A wildie wouldn't need to do this as they are surrounded by fibre.

How did the last assignment go?

Jay wrote:I'm seeing Anne later, I'll ask her. Is your assingment just on wild rabbits, not domestic? You mentioned dogs, but they are domesticated.

Wildie's don't have access to other things to eat unless it's our litter. I know that some animals eat their own waste though, but I wonder if they eat other animal's waste...?

I know that domestic buns can and will eat carpet/cardboard and wallpaper to excess if they need fibre. A wildie wouldn't need to do this as they are surrounded by fibre.

How did the last assignment go?

My assignment is basically comparing the normal and abnormal behaviours of domesticated rabbits to those of wild rabbits. The article I read was on dogs, but rabbits exhibit this behaviour too, aparently, though probably not to the same extent as dogs.

I could have done the assignment on dogs, but im more interested in rabbit behaviour because people seem to know less about it. If i did it on dogs, then i would have to compare them to wolves.

Re the wildie comment, this is what i thought, but i wasnt sure if they perhaps picked up other natural things that werent food? I suppose Ann would be able to answer things like that, given her experience. I didnt know domestic buns ate carpet and things because they need fibre. Dolly used to eat carpet when she was indoors, but i think she had a good diet.

Thanks for asking, Jay. Its the same assignment, but i had a break for a couple of weeks, i started to overload my brain This is my final behaviour though and im just polishing it off. Its due in next Friday, will be in on Monday though. Ill let you know what mark i get for it

Sound interesting, I'd be interested to read it when it's finished Would you consider letting us publish it in in Teeny Hoppers or HM?

I spoke to Anne about it yesterday, and she said that there are no peculiar behaviours in wild rabbits. They may act slightly differently ie their personalities, but they don't do anything that is not recognised already. All weird behaviours are down to the way we keep them, mainly by not giving them enough space - although we give them a lot of space, it prevents lots of different behaviours. For e.g. a male may well decide he doesn't like a particulr/group of females and go off and seek others. They can't do this in a bonded pair, so have to settle with what they have.
Husbandry is the other cause - diet and accommodation/stimulation etc. Buns spend up to 70% of their waking hours grazing large areas, which ours can't do.

I'd also look at this paper, written by the rabbit behaviour advisory group http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/55217/ YOu just download the word doc from the page.

If you're looking for more info on wild rabbits, see if your library has 'Rabbits & Hares', it was Anne's first book on the subject, and is about wildies. There's another book called 'The private life of the rAbbit' by RM Lockley - he set up a warren, with glass on one side, and studied wild rabbits for years, recording everything for the book. Whether or not you agree with this approach, it was the first insightful book into wild bunny behaviour, and was used as the bunny info for Watership Down - the 2 authors became good friends and went on a motorcycle trip across Africa together

marleyNfriends wrote: I didnt know domestic buns ate carpet and things because they need fibre. Dolly used to eat carpet when she was indoors, but i think she had a good diet.

all buns are prone to eating carpet, but if it's excessive, and they are also eating cardboard, wood, anything they can get their teeth into, then it's an indicator that they may need fibre. Stewie does it if I haven't put any fresh hay out for him, and starts on the rug. As soon as he gets hay, he's fine. It's his way of letting me know that I am a bad dad!

Jay wrote:Sound interesting, I'd be interested to read it when it's finished Would you consider letting us publish it in in Teeny Hoppers or HM?

I spoke to Anne about it yesterday, and she said that there are no peculiar behaviours in wild rabbits. They may act slightly differently ie their personalities, but they don't do anything that is not recognised already. All weird behaviours are down to the way we keep them, mainly by not giving them enough space - although we give them a lot of space, it prevents lots of different behaviours. For e.g. a male may well decide he doesn't like a particulr/group of females and go off and seek others. They can't do this in a bonded pair, so have to settle with what they have.
Husbandry is the other cause - diet and accommodation/stimulation etc. Buns spend up to 70% of their waking hours grazing large areas, which ours can't do.

I'd also look at this paper, written by the rabbit behaviour advisory group http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/55217/ YOu just download the word doc from the page.

If you're looking for more info on wild rabbits, see if your library has 'Rabbits & Hares', it was Anne's first book on the subject, and is about wildies. There's another book called 'The private life of the rAbbit' by RM Lockley - he set up a warren, with glass on one side, and studied wild rabbits for years, recording everything for the book. Whether or not you agree with this approach, it was the first insightful book into wild bunny behaviour, and was used as the bunny info for Watership Down - the 2 authors became good friends and went on a motorcycle trip across Africa together

marleyNfriends wrote: I didnt know domestic buns ate carpet and things because they need fibre. Dolly used to eat carpet when she was indoors, but i think she had a good diet.

all buns are prone to eating carpet, but if it's excessive, and they are also eating cardboard, wood, anything they can get their teeth into, then it's an indicator that they may need fibre. Stewie does it if I haven't put any fresh hay out for him, and starts on the rug. As soon as he gets hay, he's fine. It's his way of letting me know that I am a bad dad!

Thanks Jay, you may have a read, and if you think its suitable, then its fine by me if you want to use it in HM or Teeny Hoppers, though I'd have to wait until i got my mark for it. I had a lot of good information included and my tutor told me I had to cut a load of it out because it was too indepth and far exceeded 1000 words It might be useful for new bunny owners though.

One in one out...Ive been given a new assignment for behaviour now. Have to produce 2 leaflets on the communication of 2 species. So im doing buns and dogs.