Although a lot of the bunnies toys are homemade, I always search and see what others are offering in terms of rabbit enrichment. I get really envious when I go on the US and UK Amazon sites and see how much they have to offer in comparison to here in Australia. Anyway, every now and then I find a good deal or am feeling a bit indulgent and will buy one of the items I've been coveting for months. I have decided to review some of the more popular items for no other reason than I can pretend that I am making these purchases for the greater good by informing other Australian bunny owners about these products.
The Rosewood Naturals Chill ‘N’ Chew Mat has been one of those items that has long been on my wish list. It has excellent reviews on most places I've seen, but I've learnt this should be taken with a grain of salt as I was only recently made aware that sites will omit negative reviews about their products. I guess it makes sense from their perspective but for me it feels like it defeats the purpose of having reviews.
When I was considering the Chill ‘N’ Chew Mat initially, one of my concerns was that it is made primarily of water hyacinth and the House Rabbit Society lists hyacinth as a poisonous plant. I tried to get some clarification on forums but to no avail. I eventually decided that due diligence would have been performed by Rosewood and, given many rabbits have had the mat, with no reported incidents, it was a pretty safe bet. Regardless, as always I will monitor the bunnies just in case.
On arrival it looked rustic and not a neat rectangle shape but quite warped. However, nothing that I couldn't chalk up to the imperfections expected when using natural materials and a long trip overseas.
Although the size is stated (33cm x 24cm), it felt smaller than I had envisioned. I suspect comments like "Larger then expected" and "I cut it down into 4 sections as they are quite big" had something to do with it. Nonetheless, it would be hard for a larger bunny to lounge on the mat but it might still have chewing value.
The bunnies are napping and, where the bunnies have dug up the bottom of their cardboard box house, I have placed the mat so it fills the gaps. Prime real estate for it to get shredded.
To be continued...
Update: Mat was pretty much all torn up a few weeks later, which I liked. Generally, when toys or chewable accessories get destroyed too quickly it feels like you're not getting your money's worth and if it never gets destroyed then I feel like its not being played with. However, thats probably the same time it take for them to annihilate the bottom of a cardboard box. I bought it for under 8 AUD delivered to Australia but the lowest price on eBay at the moment is around 13.50 AUD. I think at the price I bought it for, it was reasonably good value but don't think I will purchase again especially at the current price given that we now have local alternatives, which don't come with a 6 week delivery time and the risk of being seized by customs.
Backdated to the date of the original post published as a Facebook Note with update added 11 January 2018
