Charlie the Chewer

[TheHappyHare]

How do you handle your rabbits chewing on things like carpet and blankets or digging? Charlie seems to be all about these two activities! 



I am looking for solutions other than not letting him around those items because that is obvious. Thank you !

[thumperluv]

Maybe you could give him something else to chew on? My bun used to chew his wood cage but some special fruit scented wood chew blocks made him much happier, and he got bored of being destructive

[OskarAnnie]

I agree with thumperluv, the more outlets your bunny has to chew, the less he’ll chew on the things you want. I find that small cardboard boxes work the best (especially cause my bunny loves getting inside of them)

[sgasz]

Bunbuns is a chew too and if there is not something around that peeks his interest to play with he will chew on the walls, baseboard and any paper or book I am holding. He is an attention hog and likes to pull the paper off the drywall…its awesome spending your free time spackling and painting. We keep a ton of stuff around for him to chew on, small boxed, large boxed, plastic cat toys with bells, wood blocks, tunnles, and we even made him a dig box filled with old blankets and newspaper. He has a sand one for outside. Sometimes, even with all the toys he gets bored and will chew the walls and baseboard which is where my trusty plant sprayer comes in… he gets a quick squirt of water on the bum and a load firm “no” and he runs away. He has gotten used to the word “hey!” and “NO!” so normally if i just grab the bottle and say no he will stop. Its worth a try.

[mia]

If there is a certain area of the carpet, I place a grass mat there and that’d usually distract from carpet digging. Sometimes I just have to move a “heavy” item on top of the area to stop it.

I also have boxes with entrance and exits cut out which are filled with paper, wadded paper, blankets, etc. To encourage digging in these boxes, I sprinkle pellets in them every once in a while. Toys are also sometimes cycled which includes various sticks, plastic cat toys with bells, hanging bird toys, phone book, etc.

[TheHappyHare]

Thank you for the ideas. I am going to work on having more items for him to chew and play with out with him on the floor. He responds well to toys and grassy ball toys, so I think that may just be the ticket. Of course, there is no substitute for good old supervision!

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