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Woven Grass Mats Are Meant to Be Eaten
Someone asks every few weeks why their rabbit ate the mat they just bought. The honest answer is that the mat did exactly what it is for. Woven grass and straw mats are consumables — comfort items that double as forage — and a rabbit dismantling one is behaving normally.
What a grass mat is actually doing
Three jobs at once, which is why they are such good value despite being replaced regularly.
- Foot protection. Wire floors and hard surfaces cause sore hocks. A mat gives a forgiving surface to sit on.
- A legitimate chewing target. Rabbits and guinea pigs must chew. A mat they are allowed to destroy takes pressure off the things they are not.
- Forage. Grass and straw are safe to ingest in the quantities involved, so eating the mat is not a problem to be solved.
Grass or straw
Woven grass — usually seagrass or similar — is softer and more edible. Straw is coarser, lasts longer and is less interesting to eat.
For an animal that eats everything, straw stretches further. For one that mostly sits, grass is more comfortable. Most households end up using both. Our mats and cage liners range lists the material on each.
What to check before buying
The important thing is that the mat is woven material only. Some cheaper products use a binding thread, a wire edge or an adhesive backing, and those are exactly what should not be ingested.
Look for construction described as woven or hand-woven with no backing. If a listing does not say, assume it has one.
When to replace
- It has thinned to the point where it no longer cushions.
- Long loose strands have appeared that could wrap around a foot.
- It is soiled through and cannot be shaken clean.
- It has been in a damp corner and smells at all musty.
Buy several at a time. Rotation keeps interest up, and you will get through them.
Cleaning, within limits
Shake outdoors and brush off loose debris. A grass mat cannot be washed — it will not survive it and it will not dry properly, and a damp mat grows mould.
Because they cannot be washed, mats are best used as the top layer over something that can be. A washable liner underneath takes the moisture and the mat takes the wear.
Cooler than fleece
Worth knowing in Phoenix: woven grass and straw sit noticeably cooler than fleece, and they allow air to move through them. In summer, swapping a fleece pad for a grass mat gives the animal a cooler place to lie without any extra equipment.
Offering both, in different parts of the habitat, lets the animal choose — which is the whole principle of thermoregulation in a cage.
Where to put them
Over the main resting area rather than the toilet corner, so the mat stays dry and clean. Away from the water source for the same reason.
Some animals prefer a mat inside a hide; others use it as the sitting spot outside one. Try both and let the animal decide — hides are under litter boxes and hay feeders and the wider comfort range on the shop page.
Tunnels and other woven items
The same principles apply to woven tunnels, balls and hanging chews. All are consumables, all are safe to ingest as grass, and all need retiring when they start producing loose strands.
Woven tunnels are particularly good value because they combine a hide, a chew item and something to run through. Chewable items are under chew and enrichment toys.
Budgeting for it
Treat woven items as a monthly line alongside hay and bedding rather than as one-off purchases. Once you know roughly how quickly your animal works through them, ordering becomes predictable.
It is also worth saying that an animal that ignores its mats entirely is worth watching. Reduced chewing in a rabbit or guinea pig is often the first sign of dental pain, and that is a veterinary question rather than a product one.
We are open Monday to Saturday and Sunday afternoons — ask us, see the FAQ, or browse the range.
From our shelves
Products in this store that relate to what is covered above:
Prices are in US dollars. Delivery timings are on our shipping policy page and the return and refund policy sets out the window if something is not right.
Key points
- Woven grass and straw mats are food-safe consumables, not permanent furniture. A rabbit eating one is using it correctly.
- They protect feet from wire and hard floors while giving a legitimate chewing outlet.
- Replace when a mat thins out or starts producing long loose strands that could catch a foot.
- Grass mats sit cooler than fleece, which matters in a desert summer.
- Buy several at once — rotation keeps interest up and you will get through them.
- Check for any binding thread or wire in cheap mats; woven-only construction is what you want.
