Biting cage walls

[jordiwes]

Hi All,

My two bunnies have been doing this weird thing for a while now where they bounce into their cage, and bite this one cage bar like they are attacking it. They both bite the exact same one. The cage door is always open (they don't have a door) so it's not like their trapped in their cage and wanting out.

My husband and I always look at each other each time they do it and wonder "Why".

:crazinessWeirdo bunnies.

Any insights?

Thanks!

 

[naturestee]

Bad cage bar! Bad! Take that!

:dunno

 

[jordiwes]

Haha thanks.

I will get some pics once I find my camera battery charger. They get this crazed look in their eye as if they have encountered their nemesis.

 

[bunnydude]

Devon and Amber do that too! I guess they're just crazy:shock:

 

[Nadezhda]

If Oreo was sitting in her cage and she was fed a treat like banana through the cage bars (she liked to be hand fed) she would later turn her head to the side and hyper-gnaw the cage bars up and and down! She looked so happy doing it, we never bothered trying to train her not to.

 

[thor]

When we had Thor inside for the winter, shewould often bite the cage bars, but I never thought anything ofit. Maybe it's part of your bun's daily lifestyle habits (?).As a habit of mine, when I am in my living room, I often walk by theside window to check on birds in the ditch; maybe your bun(s) do thisbiting thing as a habit, or some sort of inner stress release typething. (I tend to bite my nails, pull my hair, scratch, etc.,even without being aware of it many times). Or maybe sinceyou have 2 buns, they're in some sort of friendly competition typebiting thing. Or maybe it's a friendly biting territorialtype thing.(?) Or perhaps they're signalling they're hungry.Or perhaps they are trying to recreate the action of chewing to mimiceating, which is pleasurable. I have heard this is a reasonwhy humans tend to chew gum-the chewing process produces saliva, whichbrings to memory the pleasure of eating. I'm sorry for takingthis off on a tangent. Someone brought this to my attention awhile back, and I just wanted to pass it on.

 

[jordiwes]

Additional question here: Is biting the cage bars bad for their teeth? ShouldI be discouraging this?

 

[naturestee]

I've heard of rabbits pulling their teeth out ofalignment by chewing on bars. If they do it a lot, you couldtry rubbing soap, vinegar, or bitter apple spray on the bars.Whatever they hate the most.