Deterring Bad Cage-bar Biting?

[NZminilops]

Bark is a pretty natural part of a wild rabbits diet. They forage on grass, bark, low shrubs etc etc. My buns in the past have always loved knawking on sticks, they strip the bark off and eat it and ignore the actual wood part. I haven't tried it with my current rabbit yet though.

Sakura used to knaw on anything that was blocking her way - cage bars, pen bars, doors etc. She would only stop if I would enter her area and keep her company.

 

[Jenk]

NZminilops wrote:

My buns in the past have always loved knawking on sticks, they strip the bark off and eat it and ignore the actual wood part. I haven't tried it with my current rabbit yet though.

That's how my bunners gnawed fruit sticks in the past: consumed the bark and generally left the wood untouched.

Sakura used to knaw on anything that was blocking her way - cage bars, pen bars, doors etc. She would only stop if I would enter her area and keep her company.

That's how Emma is. My husband thinks that her bar chewing has increased since she's been re-introduced to our upstairs area. (For many months', we'd let both girls have free time in their room and the adjoining hallway.)

Emma's the least content to stay where she's at, though. Once she experiences a bit more freedom, she then wants 24/7 access to it. Sadly, that can't be; I can't bunny-proof my entire upstairs area so as to not have to keep my eyes on her at all times.

 

[BethM]

I just wanted to say that I wouldn't fault you for not having toys for her tochew as a cause of cage bar chewing. Both my girls chew on their cage bars. Both of them have PLENTY of toys, willow baskets, grass mats, etc.to play with/chew on. Both of them get plenty of exercise, in and out of their pens. (These two are housed in seperate rooms and never see each other, so that is not the issue, either.) Both girls will chew on the bars when their pens are open and toys are right in front of them, so there is some other force at work.

Nick does not chew as much as the girls do, for some reason.

I guess I'm not really helpful, but I'm watching this thread with interest, as I'd like to curb some cage-chewing behavior, as well.

 

[Jenk]

BethM wrote:

I just wanted to say that I wouldn't fault you for not having toys for her tochew as a cause of cage bar chewing. Both my girls chew on their cage bars. Both of them have PLENTY of toys, willow baskets, grass mats, etc.to play with/chew on. Both of them get plenty of exercise, in and out of their pens. (These two are housed in seperate rooms and never see each other, so that is not the issue, either.) Both girls will chew on the bars when their pens are open and toys are right in front of them, so there is some other force at work.

Thank you for re-asserting the belief that I'm not crazy and/or cruel.

I suspect that Emma would still chew the cage bars even with more toys added to her enclosure. She just seems to be programmed to gnaw anything that prevents her from exploring the whole wide world. :?

I consider myself lucky that, out of three buns, she's the only one who's hell-bent on chewing cage/NIC bars.

 

[mouse_chalk]

Jenk wrote:

BethM wrote:

I just wanted to say that I wouldn't fault you for not having toys for her tochew as a cause of cage bar chewing. Both my girls chew on their cage bars. Both of them have PLENTY of toys, willow baskets, grass mats, etc.to play with/chew on. Both of them get plenty of exercise, in and out of their pens. (These two are housed in seperate rooms and never see each other, so that is not the issue, either.) Both girls will chew on the bars when their pens are open and toys are right in front of them, so there is some other force at work.

Thank you for re-asserting the belief that I'm not crazy and/or cruel.

Definitely not crazy or cruel- if you want to know what is, Mouse chews on the bars of her cage when the door is wide open! And she has plenty of willow/wooden toys etc to chew on, as well as a partner to groom! :? She doesn't really yank on the NIC grids though, she just makes it her cause to gently 'nibble' each square lol...


The idea of the grass mats against the cage sides sounds quite good..... About your concern of Emma's sister Zoe chewing the cable ties from the other side.... Someone stop me if this is a really bad idea, because it's late here, I can't see properly, and it's sort of off the top of my head... but if you were to get sisal twine or something, and tie the grass mats on with that? If you were to make it as tight and short as possible, then not only would it be hard to chew off, but even if she did manage it, then they would only be little short amounts that she could nibble?

I don't know if that would work or not, but the grass mats do seem like a nice idea. As does the wire mesh idea!

I hope you can find a solution!

 

[Jenk]

mouse_chalk wrote:

The idea of the grass mats against the cage sides sounds quite good..... About your concern of Emma's sister Zoe chewing the cable ties from the other side.... Someone stop me if this is a really bad idea, because it's late here, I can't see properly, and it's sort of off the top of my head... but if you were to get sisal twine or something, and tie the grass mats on with that? If you were to make it as tight and short as possible, then not only would it be hard to chew off, but even if she did manage it, then they would only be little short amounts that she could nibble?

Actually, my concern is that Zoe will eat the sisal ties that come attached to the grass mats. Maybe she'd only bite through/detach them; but if there's a way for her to suck them into her disapproving bunny lips, she will. She's such a stinker that way.

 

[Flashy]

Metal cable ties?

 

[Jenk]

Flashy wrote:

Metal cable ties?

That's something to consider. I could remove the twine ties and use metal cable ties to secure grass mats across the bottom of the NIC panels. Still, I'd feel sad, blocking off the girls from seeing/grooming one another through them.

 

[Flashy]

Maybe you could comnpletely remove whatever NIC grids are there then and replace them with something else? Like 1cm mesh or something, that she can't chew on? but that they can still see each other through?

 

[Jenk]

Flashy wrote:

Maybe you could comnpletely remove whatever NIC grids are there then and replace them with something else? Like 1cm mesh or something, that she can't chew on? but that they can still see each other through?

I'd considered buying a box of the semi-opaque organizer panels; but that would keep the girls from seeing each other throughout the day.

So far, I've only once heard her bite the NIC panels that divide them. (She typically bit one wall of her x-pen, which has already been covered with mesh.) But if it starts up again, we'll have to consider putting up more mesh. It would make me sad to do so, though; the girls couldn't groom through it. Ah, well...

 

[JadeIcing]

Are they bonded?

 

[Flashy]

RE Ali's question, it made me think. What if the allowing them to play together, and then separating them is contributing to the gut problems. I have seen some awful gut problems related to bonding, and bonders over here in the UK often say put them together and don't separate because of how it can affect them. What if the way they are living is contributing to what they both go through and maybe if they were either fully together or fully apart it might settle?

 

[JadeIcing]

That is what I was thinking. Or it could be a problem they have being made worse by seperation.