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Why does a rabbit have to gnaw all its life?

Have you ever seen a rabbit gnaw on a carrot, a stick, a cardboard box, a chair leg, or even its own toy? You might think it's just playing around. But in reality, it's saving its life!

A rabbit has only 28 teeth — and they all grow constantly, never stopping. In one year, the front incisors grow by as much as 10-12 centimeters! Imagine: if your baby teeth continued to grow throughout your life, they would long ago be sticking out of your mouth like a vampire’s.

What should a rabbit do? Gnaw. Constantly. Every day. When it chews hay or bark, its teeth wear down and remain the correct length. If a rabbit is fed only soft food — for example, only purchased pellets — its teeth will grow so that it will not be able to close its mouth. This is a real disease called "malocclusion.".

Do you know why this happened? The wild ancestors of rabbits lived on hard grasses and roots. Nature made sure that their teeth did not wear out - and made them grow forever. Domestic rabbits inherited this feature.

If you have a rabbit, be sure to give it hay — lots of hay, a whole mountain! This is its main food, not carrots like in cartoons. You can also put apple, willow, or pear branches in the cage — the rabbit will be happy to gnaw on them.

So when your eared friend crunches on a green, know this: he's not just eating. He's sharpening his smile.