# Can you use newspaper for nesting materials?



## bigbrologan (May 15, 2009)

Can you use newspaper for nesting materials cause we get the paper and i don't have any straw. So, would it work?


Thanks
bigbrologan:goodjob:


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

I know several people who use shredded paper of various kinds. I don't prefer it myself, for the main reason that when the kits first start eating, it is the hay in the nest box they nibble on, and I am not convinced that rabbits can really digest wood cellulose. The other thing is that all rabbits should be fed hay, unless you have a comercial rabbitry producing hundreds. It prevents so many different problems that can come up..... and .... if you have hay to feed you have hay for nest boxes. 

I have straw, but straw's advantage is mainly in the winter when it provides greater insulation. It also provides greater absorbttion, and in the winter kits will stay in the nest box to an older age except when eating to keep warm. Older kits can produce a lot more urine which in warmer months would be eliminated out in the cage area.

One can buy a bale of hay at most feed stores. I buy 50 gallon trash can liners and a bale of hay will fit in one, so if you keep yours in a place where you don't want a bale of hay falling apart all over the floor, you can put it in a trash bag and stand it on end against the wall. A bale of hay will last almost forever unless you have a lot of rabbits.

I buy grass hay (brome or orchardgrass) because the diet I feed is primarily pellets which have a high percentage of alfalfa, plus added dietary calcium. If one feeds pellets it is best not to use alfalfa hay, because alfalfa is very high in calcium. Rabbits need a lot of calcium, but too much can cause uniary tract problems, besides coating the wire in your cages with a lot of calcium deposits. On the other hand, if you do not feed pellets, then alfalfa hay is almost a must.


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## bigbrologan (May 15, 2009)

I don't have any hay either.


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## orphy (Feb 27, 2006)

I use newspaper all the time it is cheap and a good way to recycle. I line the bottom of the nest with shredded newspaper, which you can tear by hand or use a shredder. I give the doe a chunk of hay to finish off her nest the way she wants to. I have several does who just eat the hay and rearrange the paper. It is easy to pull and put some more in when cleaning time comes. I store it in plastic bags. Hay and straw are not as cheap as they used to be. Although I do keep hay and straw around for the buns to chew on. They need the fiber. I have never had a bun stop up from paper nesting material. They do very well with it. JMO


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## nancy237 (May 29, 2008)

o&itw said:


> One can buy a bale of hay at most feed stores. I buy 50 gallon trash can liners and a bale of hay will fit in one, so if you keep yours in a place where you don't want a bale of hay falling apart all over the floor, you can put it in a trash bag and stand it on end against the wall. A bale of hay will last almost forever unless you have a lot of rabbits.
> 
> I buy grass hay (brome or orchardgrass) because the diet I feed is primarily pellets which have a high percentage of alfalfa, plus added dietary calcium. If one feeds pellets it is best not to use alfalfa hay, because alfalfa is very high in calcium. Rabbits need a lot of calcium, but too much can cause uniary tract problems, besides coating the wire in your cages with a lot of calcium deposits. On the other hand, if you do not feed pellets, then alfalfa hay is almost a must.



Great information.. I never thought of storing it in the trash can liners,
but I am going to try that.


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## Pat Lamar (Jun 19, 2002)

Well, I had a commercial rabbitry and I still fed alfalfa hay once or twice a week. Yes, it cut into my profits, but like you said... "It prevents so many different problems" so it was actually worth it and saved us money.

As for causing urinary tract problems... only ONE rabbit in my over 25 years of raising rabbits ever had a problem with it, and it was a defect with the rabbit's ability to normally discharge the excess calcium like rabbits do.

Pat Lamar



o&itw said:


> I know several people who use shredded paper of various kinds. I don't prefer it myself, for the main reason that when the kits first start eating, it is the hay in the nest box they nibble on, and I am not convinced that rabbits can really digest wood cellulose. The other thing is that all rabbits should be fed hay, unless you have a comercial rabbitry producing hundreds. It prevents so many different problems that can come up..... and .... if you have hay to feed you have hay for nest boxes.
> 
> I have straw, but straw's advantage is mainly in the winter when it provides greater insulation. It also provides greater absorbttion, and in the winter kits will stay in the nest box to an older age except when eating to keep warm. Older kits can produce a lot more urine which in warmer months would be eliminated out in the cage area.
> 
> ...


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## Truckinguy (Mar 8, 2008)

I've used shredded newspaper for over a year now and have had no problems. I use a shredder that cuts it into strips and it works very well. My nestboxes have wire bottoms on which I put a piece of tight fitting cardboard. Then I fill it with shredded newspaper. I've had no absorbancy problems and only one kit with an eye infection which was taken care of with tea and honey.

I don't think the wood cellulose is a problem as every cage has blocks of wood in them for the buns to chew on and they get apple branches in the summer and I've seen no digestive problems so far.


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

I suppose I should rephrase.

I never intended to imply that wood cellulose was harmful to rabbits. The point I was trying to make, was that I am not sure that young bunnies benfit from wood cellulose like they do from hay. Perhaps they do not really consume that much hay in the nestbox, but it is my opinion that it gives them some nutrition and helps them to adjust to solid food earlier. I guess getting young animals growing quickly and giving them the capacity to be on their own earlier has always been important to me. I find that the faster an animal grows when he is young, the healthier it will be. While I do not wean my animals early under normal circumstances, If they are able to eat solid food, it gives some of insurance that if the mom loses milk, or gets sick, the youngsters will have a lot better chance of making it.

Saying something is "best" for an animal is not equivalent to saying that another alternative is fatal. I belive my words were;
"it is best not to". I am speaking from the standpoint of people raising a few to 25 or so does, with their rabbitry not being their primary income. Comerical rabbitries have strains (from economic necessity) that are often more tolerant of certain enviromental
factors.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

I don't use newspaper in the nest box but if one chooses to do so, I think a good compromise would be to add a couple handfuls of the hay that the adult rabbits are getting. This gives the kits the opportunity to nibble healthy "adult" food and gets them off to a good start.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

I use a combination of newspaper and oat hay. The mothers are consuming the stuff so fast the kits are getting cold. I have to add some morning and night the whole time the box is in the cage. This is getting to be a problem.
I am blaming this on the pellets I am feeding. They have gone down hill in quality this winter. So we are swithching to a new brand. I am going to get a bail or 2 of straw this summer. Hopefully off the feilds. If I can get it for less than the feed store has it.


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## SaratogaNZW (Feb 10, 2009)

my nest boxes are about 3/4 full of shredded newspaper and yellow straw when I put them in. I tend to use more straw in winter for warmth and more newspaper in summer for air circulation. But I always mix both, and the does always get in and scatter newspaper everywhere, wrap it around their ears, and put <most> of it back. The newspaper tends to be a little more absorbant for bloody births.


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