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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum BEHAVIOR How to encourage chewing..?

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    • Dface
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        My rabbit has misaligned teeth, and the vet said that maybe if I gave him more to chew we wouldn’t have to get them trimmed down so often.
        Unfortunately my rabbit seems to have no interest in chewing. (unless it’s my headphone cables)

        Is there anything that your bunny finds irresistible to chew that I could try with my guy?
        He has free roam of my house,and has never chewed any of the furniture or upholstery… He’s got wooden chew toys which he ignores, cardboard boxes to play in and none are marked.


      • Niamian
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          Well most of us usually have the other way around problem.

          But as you probably already know hey is the best things for bunnies teeth. You can also try willow branches and apple twigs. They usually love them a lot. Just make sure they are pesticides free and untreated.


        • kmurphy
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            I agree with Niamian, my bunnies go crazy for apple branches. I would also like to say that hay tends to be the most beneficial for teeth. It is quite rough and they generally eat whole strands which, combined with the side to side motion of chewing, tends to wear down their molars well. With my bunnies at least, they tend to just eat the bark off of the branches. While that isn’t bad at all it really doesn’t help to wear down molars as much but it does add fiber to their diets.


          • Dface
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              Yeah he’s more interested in sprinting around the place rather than chewing.

              I bought willow and apple branches today, but he turned his nose up at them…!!
              He’s also very picky about hay, I’ve tried him on barn dried grass, timothy, alfalfa and the only way to get him to eat any of them is to feed it mixed with readigrass and other herb mixes…. He’s just ridiculously fussy with food


            • LBJ10
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                How are his teeth misaligned? The reason I ask is because hay can go a long way in helping grind down the molars.


              • Dface
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                  It’s his incisors that are the problem, his molars are fine according to the vet. He has an underbite, so the bottom teeth grow infront of the top teeth, meaning that they dont pear each other down at all


                • Azerane
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                    Because they’re misaligned and not just overgrown, it’s likely that he will always need trims. The reason teeth wear down from chewing is because the teeth rub on each other, getting him to chew some timber like apple branches or dried pine blocks may help slow down the growth, however it won’t ever wear them down enough that it will correct the problem.


                  • LBJ10
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                      Ah, I see. In that case, I agree with Azarene. He will likely need regular trimmings. Chewing may help some. The problem though is chewing might actually be uncomfortable for him if he has an underbite, so he may not be interested in the things you provide anyway.


                    • starshinepunk
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                        My previous bunny had the exact same problem, under bite, hated chewing, very picky eater, needed teeth trimmings at least once a month. One thing that worked really well were hay cubes. Just compressed hay in a cube shape, it’s a bit harder for them to bite a piece off so it really helped grind those incisors down. I still had to take him in for monthly trimmings but it was nowhere near as often and he also started chewing on sticks and things after. Hay cubes were a tad more expensive and if he is really that picky about his hay it might be difficult to find a kind he likes but its worth a shot.


                      • Dface
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                          Oh cool! I’ll look into them! Thank’s ^.^ 
                          Alternatively the vet has discussed extraction with me if the need for trimming is too frequent/distressing for him


                        • LBJ10
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                            Extraction is certainly an option. You would have to have all of his incisors removed and then he would have to adapt to the change. This actually isn’t uncommon and most bunnies seem to adapt well. You may need to cut up his veggies and such more so he can pull food into his mouth.

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                        Forum BEHAVIOR How to encourage chewing..?