New at this, HELP!

[astebbins06]

I just uploaded our pet bunny into the bunny album so everyone can see what she looks like. We adopted her from someone else earlier this month and not sure of her breed. We also need help and/or advice as we are now dealing with her shredding our furniture, eating our wood trim and paint, etc. Any help would be SO appreciated!

 

[astebbins06]

I forgot to mention she's litter trained and a free roaming rabbit.

 

[kmaben]

yikes and already shredding stuff. Give her a smaller space first. Rabbit proof as much as you can. Example put card board boxes for her to chew on baseboards she's fond of. Or baby gate her into a certain room. For the stuff you cant push out of the way or keep her out of try rubbing ivory bar soap over. One mouthful and she should be done. Also like a dog encourage her to chew on her own toys. A Phone book with the cover ripped off to shred, card board boxes with a small hole she can just barely fit through. She'll want to chew and make it bigger. Apple sticks are great for chewing also.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:yeahthat:Your avatar looks to be to some degree a Lion Head.

 

[astebbins06]

Thank you so much! We had no idea where to turn or what to do!

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[kmaben]

This is a great site with lots of information and combined rabbit experience. Ask away. Some things work and some things dont. Sometimes you have to come back to the drawing board and some things you just have to give up...Like my rocking chair.... Rabbits aren't out to please you like a dog. They hold grudges and they dont forget. It's alot harder to turn them away from something than any other animal I know!

 

[edwinf8936]

I have found from experience that after they are fixed the behavior calms down. Seems like after they are a year old it stops also, Bone of mine che on anything but paper and cardboard when they are out roaming.

 

[astebbins06]

She's 4 edwin

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[JBun]

Here are some bunnyproofing tips:
http://bunnyproof.com/

Providing LOTS of alternative activities and entertainment should help. The cardboard boxes and old phone books to shred, are a favorite for lots of bunnies. You do have to make sure that your rabbit isn't ingesting it though. Usually they just shred them up, or nibble the odd piece here and there, but large ingestion of paper products can lead to GI blockages. So something to keep an eye on. Dig boxes, hard dried pine cones, tp tubes stuffed with hay are a few other fun activities for buns.

Sometimes wood chewing can be a sign a rabbit needs more roughage and fiber in it's diet. Make sure to provide unlimited grass hay. Having some of it be a more mature stemmy grass hay is sometimes helpful, as it provides more indigestible fiber for tooth wear and good gut motility. Also wood for chewing, like the already mentioned apple branches. Willow branches are also another rabbit safe wood that buns usually like. And thoroughly dried pine wood blocks are also good for chewing on. Some rabbits like those wood block bird toys with the bells on the ends. You just don't want any with unsafe woods or strings.
http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-6/chew-stick.html

Like kmaben mentioned, it's a little bit of trial and error to figure out what works best for your particular rabbit. Not all rabbits like the same things. Supervision can also be an important factor for a new bunny. Not always, but sometimes you can teach them what is acceptable and what isn't. But usually they just wait til you aren't looking