Chewing

[Em]

Hi im new and i just wanted a little advice ihave a 3 month old bunny called Austin and he wont stop chewing as soonas i get him out of his hutch he starts and its getting out of controlall my clothes have holes in now and he scratching the hell out of mysofa what can i do i dont want to punish him as i know its only naturalto him but it has to stop before i run out of clothes toware! PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME!

 

[Lassie]

Hi,here is a pic of my bunny, His nameis Buster. He use to chew but I found other thingsfor him to chew on. Delia

 

[Em]

he has plenty to chew on i give him lots but hes not interested

 

[Lassie]

well does that work? u could tap a little bit on his nose.

 

[Em]

ive tried that too but all he wants is my jeans and my glasses!

he does this funny scratching thing where he looks like hes digging and then he starts chewing is this normal?

 

[JimD]

I've got 5 bunnies and they all do the dig/chew thing.

They mostly do it now if they are sitting in our lap and need to pee. Ithink it's their way of letting us know that they need to go back tothier cage or use the litter box.

They also do it if we stop paying attention to them. Like if you petthem and then stop. They'll do a little dig/dig/nip to get us to noticethem again.

~Jim

 

[Em]

i see thanks its good to find people who can tellme whats going on this my second bunny but i only had my fist for a fewweeks as it died i got it from pet smart but wasnt very well when i gotit it was also pregnant at the time but the vet said it had absorbedher babies and it made her ill as she was too young. im a little scaredof losing this one so im being very carfull with him.

 

[gjsara]

sound like your little one just has a strongerurge to dig and chew. how many hours would you say you let him out, torun free??? lyla was a cheewer to when we moved or of my old appt shehad chewed a hole in the wall not a small one a big one she did it in aspace i couldnt see till we moved our stuff. i would recomend getingsome bitter apple and spray it on everything you bun chewsand just keep a good watch over em thats all you really can do lol.when they get old enough you can get them fixed that may help,and isalways beneficail.

sara

 

[Em]

id say i let him "run free" for around 2 hours aday not all at once but 10 -20 mins at a time i also have a dog so ican only let the bun out when the pootch is in another partof the house the dog has tried to eat him 3 times already he justdoesnt like Austin at all

 

[VNess2010]

Em-

digging is a very natural behavior for rabbits, considering they livein burrows underground in the wild.....I would suggest gettinguntreated wicker mats for him to claw at and bite apart...my rabbitloves digging at his matt....you can get them anywhere....many websitesthat have toys for bunnies also have untreated wicker mats....alsomaybe fill a box with hay and shredded newsppaer for him to burrowinto....or secure a phonebook under a chair for him to pull at....andtry putting the wicker mats over the particular places on the carpet helikes to chew on....hope this helps

-Vanessa

 

[Bo B Bunny]

JimD wrote:

I've got 5 bunnies and they all do the dig/chew thing.

They mostly do it now if they are sitting in our lap and need to pee. Ithink it's their way of letting us know that they need to go back tothier cage or use the litter box.

They also do it if we stop paying attention to them. Like if you petthem and then stop. They'll do a little dig/dig/nip to get us to noticethem again.

~Jim

We found the same thing. Bo does it if he wantssomething..... usually earrubs, but if he is very agressive and tugginghe wants his litterbox

 

[*nepo*]

Em wrote:

id sayi let him "run free" for around 2 hours a day not all at once but 10-20 mins at a time i also have a dog so i can only let the bunout when the pootch is in another part of the house the doghas tried to eat him 3 times already he just doesnt likeAustin at all

All I can say isbe really careful with the dog. A lot of bunnies havedied from dogs.

 

[Emmy-webby]

Make sure that when Austin is out..the dog isCLEARLY out of sight. With a dog in the house..I've read that your bunwill get stressed out. If so im mistaken im sorry.
Like what others posted before it is common forrabbits to scratch, dig, bite, and nip! They sometimes hurt..but itsmost likely of attention. These attentions might be a sign that theywant to be noticed, or if they need to use the bathroom!!

If your buns don't have anything to play with..then they'llmost likely aim for your furniture or anything they can get there pawon. Make sure than your buns have plenty of toys to play with in orderfor them not to be bored. Cats, rattles, cardboard and other materialscan be fine. Try possibly getting cardboard for them so that they candig, chew and nip on that (=

Hope this helps!
Emmy and Crew (=

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Yes, if the bunny is afraid of the dog or the dog is ... dangerous around the bunny.

I do not trust our dog alone with Bo but they are "friends" and play a lot. Bo loves Syd and the cat

 

[dr_peter_kraz]

Em wrote:

he has plenty to chew on i give him lots but hes not interested

Yea cardboard, towels anything thats safe. Afterthe age of innocence which equals =terrible twos your furnisher well bein the clear ( relief.....haaa). I never used a spray toadvert the chewing, I would just try to give her (Faye) has much aspossible to chew on. I'm sure you well get some great adviceof diversion sprays for your little bun form others on thisthread. Good luck

Peter

 

[Spiced77]

bitter apple did not work for my buns, they*liked* it. we finally rubbed ivory soap over all the targetbaseboards and voila! no more chewing of course wediscovered this a little late and now our baseboards are chewed lol,but it stopped them.

you might try giving your bunny an old phone book or a cardboard box..my buns love ripping cardboard to shreds! not sureabout giving them towels though, i'm pretty sure someone on the boardhad a bad experience with their bunnies and towels.. cant remember whothough so maybe they'll say something

also, wood chunks.. we buy the bright colored ones from the pet store, but as soon as the corners are gone, they're ignored lol