why does Nigel all of a sudden eat ...? UPDATED PLEASE PLEASEHelp!

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 8sd replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 3 months ago by Kokaneeandkahlua.

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- 01/15/2015 at 5:07 AM
  HoldenCaufield
  Participant
  23 posts
  hello everyone!
  
  Nigel is my 2 year old Mini Lop. I’ve had him for about a year, and he was so well behaved!…until about a week ago that is.
  
  he has all of a sudden started eating plastic. i know the proper diet for a rabbit and he eats plenty and often, but he has started to seek out plastic and chew on it!
  
  the first time i noticed this, he had eaten a pace of a vinyl glove. i took him to the emergency room where they gave him fluids and something to make him poop, as well as take home medicine which i administered for a day and a half. and his behavior was normal and happy and he was eating and pooping so i was confident we got through it, and perhaps he had learned his lesson.
  
  well, last night i find him munching away on a piece of plastic (i still have some medicine, so if i find he isn’t pooping i will call the vet and give him some). but………..WHY IS HE DOING THIS ALL OF A SUDDEN?!
  
  he had NEVER even been interested in anything other than food in the past- not even wooden chew toys…is this part of growing older? boredom (we play a lot)? i had heard that depression can cause this, but he binkys and is happy and flops and plays so i don’t think that is the reason. what does depression look like in rabbits?
  
  does anyone have any ideas on why this is or have you had this experience?
  
  how did you deal with it?
  
  thanks!
  
  _nigel
- 01/15/2015 at 7:32 AM
  Megabunny
  Participant
  2041 posts
  Sounds like normal bunny behavior to me, albeit delayed. My rabbit chewed up a rubber mat under the treadmill on a regular basis, which I didn’t notice right away because I’m not faithful with my work outs lol. Rabbits have recently been likened to goats here, and that’s a very good analogy. Maybe someone else will have a different experience, though
- 01/17/2015 at 6:28 AM
  HoldenCaufield
  Participant
  23 posts
  HELP!!! His behavior is getting much worse!
  
  today i found him EATING MY COUCH
  yes
  EATING MY COUCH
  
  luckily it doesn’t seem too much was actually ingested, but this is getting rapidly out of hand.
  
  WHY IS HE DOING THIS ALL OF A SUDDEN?!
  he has many toys and games and a TON of room (half the house) to roam wherever he pleases. He has food and water and hay… i really do not think this is boredom.
  
  is this puberty? or could this be signs of something more serious?
  thank you
  
  : /
- 01/17/2015 at 8:42 AM
  Megabunny
  Participant
  2041 posts
  Well, I’m sorry to say that, once again, I’ve had rabbits spend time under the couch chewing away. I don’t know what part of the couch you’re referring to…wood or cloth, but if it’s wood I get it. Not that we didn’t see a Rabbit Shaming section here several months ago featuring a couple of bunnies who went to town while the owner was away and pulled stuffing out and everything. Snowstorm!
  Is bunny neutered? I’m not really sure that neutering would help anyway with this. And, of course, puberty typically happens at a much younger age. Hard to know what goes through their little minds. Again, I hope someone else gets on it there is a good idea out there. I just don’t know
- 01/17/2015 at 9:19 AM
  JackRabbit
  Participant
  5451 posts
  It honestly sounds like Nigel has discovered that he likes to chew and now you have to either bunny-proof the areas he’s going to be allowed to free roam or limit him to a specific area (a room?) and bunny-proof that.
  
  Most bunny owners who have chewers learn (the hard way!) much sooner so your actually pretty lucky to have gotten 2 years of non-chewing. While there’s a small possibility that there could be something like a dental or hormonal problem, chewing is pretty much normal for bunnies. There’s some bunny-proofing info in the Bunny Info section through the menu button at the top of this page. I think both of you will be much happier if you can take steps to prevent him from chewing what he shouldn’t. I’d also have lots of willow chews and (untreated willow baskets from the BB store ate a favorite with my bunnies) and cardboard boxes available for him.
- 01/17/2015 at 1:00 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17239 posts
  Sometimes bunnies just discover something new and if they like it, then it is pretty hard to convince them otherwise. Bunnies chew on stuff. Some more than others. There used to be a sofa table in my boys’ room. It has wooden legs. It sat in that room for over 2 years and they never touched it. One day, Leopold decided it would be a good idea to chew on the legs. *sign* I promptly removed it so the temptation wouldn’t be there. I knew if I left it in there and tried different things to get him to stop, that he was just going to damage it further.
- 01/21/2015 at 3:43 PM
  Tibbs
  Participant
  28 posts
  Is Nigel fixed?
  
  I have one boy bunny who used to destroy, literally, everything. He’d eat macbook cords, cell phone cases, carpets, plastic bags and more than anything, his favourite thing was dryer sheets. I had him fixed and the behaviour settled down greatly, he’ll still chew if he gets the chance though.
  
  I think the answer to your problem here is to bunny proof your house. You can use NIC cubes adjoined with zip ties to surround your couch to stop the chewing.
- 01/21/2015 at 6:57 PM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  They like to keep us on our toes! Definitely bunny proof more if necessary!
- 01/21/2015 at 8:27 PM
  Kokaneeandkahlua
  Participant
  12067 posts
  You’re going to need to bunny proof-and once he’s been fixed (sounds like he’s near puberty?) and grows up a bit, he’ll stop being so destructive.
  But don’t freak out-it’s very very normal! https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/10/PID/940/Default.aspx
  
  Provide lots of OK things to chew (newspaper, phone books, toilet paper rolls, brown paper bags stuffed with treats and hay etc) and bunny proof https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/8/PID/940/Default.aspx
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