I woke up this morning to find a full on mushroom growing in my bunny's litter box and I'm worried. It wasn't there last night when I checked. I changed her litter immediately, and my bunny is acting normal, took a treat, and is now eating fresh hay.
I've had bunnies for about 4 years and have never run into this. Apparently I need to change her litter more often – I normally change it once a week or every week and a half with an inch deep of paper litter (this might sound bad, but again, this has never shown itself to be a problem).
Google Lens says that the mushroom is a harmless Hare's Foot Inkcap, but I'm hesitant to trust that 100% because mycology is insane and Google isn't totally reliable. It doesn't look like she ate any.
If anyone has any experience with this or can offer advice or let me know if my bunny is gonna be okay, I'd be extremely grateful.
Edit: I use Fresh News Paper litter, and she gets Kaytee Timothy hay from Walmart (Kaytee's not the best, I know, but it's the most reliable and available in my price range). My bunny free roams around my bedroom. We live in Florida. When I clean her litter box, I wipe it down with disinfectant spray and ensure it's dry before I put the litter in.
by justbrennan
38 Comments
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This is her, btw. Her name is Esther ❤️
I love her name. I wish I could help you with your mushroom concern.
I guess my first question would be when was the last time you had changed the litter prior to this?
While understanding your regiemnt you might wanna change litter more often just to be on the safe side abd keep checking it even after. Might be some spore got in with either litter or paper. I don’t use anything like that anymore except the litter pellets from oxbow and only in his cage for the litter box which is a drawer one. Outside in his pen I use grass and I do change it at least once a day. Btw my bun is 90 %free roam only exception when we go out somewhere.
Typically I spot clean the litter twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening before bed.
I have not ever seen a mushroom like that in their litter. Yet that type of mushroom I have seen growing from the ceiling of a leaking roof. Totally freaked me out.
Dude those things can show up so fast. I’ve not had one show up in my bunny’s litterbox but I have seen them pop up in my garden literally overnight and usually after it rained. They’re generally considered an indicator that your soil and plants are healthy but that’s for gardens.
I’d imagine that the little shroom made its way in via the timothy hay or any wood shavings you may use for litter. Unless you’ve got some indoor plants that also have had these mushrooms before that released their spores at some point in the past. I understand that they’re concerning to see and I would probably be cleaning my bun’s litterbox pretty quickly after spotting one of those too, but I don’t think it’s super harmful to the bun for them to appear at all. I’d be more concerned if the bun ate the mushroom because bunnies eating mushrooms doesn’t sound right to me, but since no shrooms were eaten, I think it’s okay.
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I literally had this last month!! The exact same mushroom! It gave me a shock as well. I’m not sure where it’s from, I have a feeling my bun took some of his veggie to his litter box, then some leftovers got buried or something. Either that or it’s something to do with the batch of Pine litter I’m using. After it happened I immediately cleaned and changed the litter box. Unfortunately, a week later or so, it sprouted again. It sprouts really quick, like overnight from nothing.
The second time it happened I cleaned the box using a vinegar-based cleaner and used a fan to air out his play area. After that it never happened again. Do a thorough cleanse of your buns letterbox and air out his area as well.
My bun is fine though. It doesn’t seem like he was interested in it at all.
I used playground sand as litter. I don’t think a mushroom could grow in that. Plus your bun can dig in it if they want to. Also you could just scoop out the poop and wet spots more often.
r/eatityoufuckingcoward
honestly we change our buns litter once a week and I’ve never had this happen, but my bun does have two boxes to use. Use a mixture of vinegar and water to really disinfect the box.
It looks like she hasn’t ate it so I think she will be fine. But just monitor her for any signs of an upset stomach and make sure you keep the picture incase you need to show a vet.
This happened to me recently for the first time in all 5 years with my bunnies too! Crazy how fast they can pop up. Only happened once or twice and I also change once a week
Completely harmless Coprinopsis species, more inclined towards section Radiatae/Cinereae due to growing from manure (hare’s foot inkcap prefers wood or grass)
It’s nothing to worry about! Mushrooms like nutrition and moisture, which manure and urine provide, that’s all there is to it. I’ve seen a couple of posts from concerned rabbit owners on mushroom identification subreddits before, so you are far from alone!
Try r/ShroomID for help with identifying the mushroom
I use washable absorbent mats with cardboard underneath. Everyday I wash the mats by hand and hang them out to dry. Will also replace the cardboard. Typically the mats are plenty but sometimes the bunnies shift the mats and the cardboard helps absorb a bit. Plus if the cardboard is a tight fit for the litter box I wrap the mat around the cardboard and then it’s so snug that they can’t shift it
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My bunny used to grow tomato plants on his own.
I have a bonded pair of 10 pound bunnies, Peanut and Butter. They have two good size litter boxes, and I start off with an inch of paper bedding in about 2/3 of the litter box and hay in the other third. I add a thin layer
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of paper bedding every morning and every evening, and then on the third day I dump them and clean them and start again. I’ve never had a mushroom lol this picture is of them right now munching on morning breakfast hay!
It’s a sign the poop needs removing more often. Mushrooms love damp and manure. Removing all poops, wee spots and wet hay daily, then a full empty and disinfecting of the litter tray once a week should sort it 😊
I would recommend getting a litter box with a pull out bottom tray and foregoing the litter altogether. It saves money in the long run and keeps him and his hay separated from his business. I ordered mine for super cheap off of amazon. His business drops straight through to the bottom while he unhappily munches on a minuscule amount of hay (he hates hay). Cleanup is a breeze, I change it every day to 2 days and at the very least recommending changing your rabbits litter more often. They shouldn’t be forced to hop into a litter box and eat from it while it’s full of their own excrement and all the bacteria and ills that are growing in it (like apparently mushrooms) 😞
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How often to change the litter depends on the bun, buns habits, litter box size, and litter you use.
When I fostered a bun that was 1-2 lbs heavier than my buns, I had to clean much more frequently as there were substantially larger poops and much more pee. From a pure capacity stance, the litter box would overflow from poops well within a week while with 3 of my smaller buns, it’d take 2 months to overflow (I don’t wait for overflow, this is just for comparison sake of different sized buns).
Oddly enough, pretty sure this mushroom is called rabbit foot 🤣😅
I have 2 buns and I spot clean once per day, removing all the pee soaked litter and hay. I completely remove everything, disinfect and fully clean it every 3 days.
If you’re leaving moisture sitting for a long time, you’re gonna get mushrooms and mould. Also, your poor bunnies are having to stand in that!
If it’s paper litter, definitely need to change it more. I use Feline Pine and change it once every week since it holds and absorbs more (and then crumbles), but if you’re using paper litter especially in a warm and humid environment, you’re practically asking for mushroom growth
The thing is. Mushrooms are peak Nature, they can and some Will complete their Whole life (brith, growth, reproduction and death) in a day, the live fast, and For a mushroom to grow somewhere it had to live near that place before For the spores to just got there, so this might not be the first time You had shroom Friends in your Home or near your Bunny. Or You havent cleaned the poopy Cage properly.
My suggestions? Clean the poopy Cage with bleach and spray some antifúngic when You can, obviously make sure that put your Bunny in another place For a day or 2.
Yup just a little ink cap. I have them pop up in my hay pile and in the goat shed, and anywhere else my goats poop. In the summer I would sometimes get them in the poop area of my rabbit colony as well. They don’t usually eat them unless they’re bored and have nothing else to munch on. And when they do, I haven’t been able to find any adverse reactions from them eating it.
Just a poop mushroom. Mushrooms love poop.
Ideally you change the litter once a day, but realistically you do it every other day.
I’ve had this happen before! My buns never ate them and they seemed harmless. I also clean my buns litter boxes once or twice a week. Brought it up to the vet before and they said it can happen sometimes.
Hi-ya, after reading through posts/comments it seems you may be unfamiliar with fodder stores
Most will sell full square bales of hay and the cost is a fraction in comparison to the bags at walmart or pet stores
With the cost savings it might help make changing the litter more often viable
Also hay makes for a fantastic litter in comparison to paper, so with the extra amount of hay it could also be a litter supplement
Esther is adorable btw 💖
Ink cap is correct. It’s harmless. You’ve got a little cutie 🥰
I use care fresh paper. My big boy is so neat all I have to do is clean out a corner of his box every couple of days. But the weebs
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normally get a thin layer of paper added nightly until full and ready to dump – usually about a week. Tiny Man here is getting glared at for taking up far more than his fair space.
I think this technically counts for r/bathshrooms
If ur not using something like back2nature id change it every few days
dude you definitely need to change ur litter twice a week. no less than that. also i use cat litter with confetti bedding on top, then hay. the confetti bedding is dust free foamy stuff that’s highly absorbent. clearly this is the result of way too much moisture.
you’re taking way too long to change the litter.
It’s funny you p
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osted this bc this just happened in my guinea pig litter box 2 days ago! I had spinal surgery and I’m ashamed to admit the litter box had more urine than would usually accumulate. (I use a thick layer of abiose hemp hurd with piles of Timothy hay on top. Four large boxes for 8 pigs. My boys love to pee in the same corner, so it was wet almost through. When I dumped it in compost, it had a clump of mycorrhizae which was pinning below the surface of the litter! In 11 years, I’ve never seen this happen. I’ve only been using hemp for maybe 6 months, and LOVE IT btw. It must be a good substrate for certain mushrooms. Anyway, I see that as a warning sign bc it wouldn’t be good to have my beans nibble a shroom. It shan’t happen again!
Once a week? How does it not smell bad after two days haha. I’d recommend you to wash and clean the toilet so there’s nothing left of the mushrooms (so they won’t grow again) and changing it in about every two days. You don’t have to put a whole lot of pellets, just like three handfuls, (like an xentimeter n half) depends how big is your bunnies toilet – in case you worry about wasting it.
For those who know about these mushrooms, can the mushroom also look like a portobello mushroom? The ones I had, were much bigger and the tops were thicker like a portobello mushroom. This was a few years ago in a more humid environment than I am now.
Cow poop grows mushrooms, actually if you eat them they make you see funny things, if you eat too many you’ll end up in the fourth dimension
this happened to one of my guinea pigs and it was because the humidity and the pee + water mixture