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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.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR How to stop Bunny once and for all from Chewing—and how to repair

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    • The Rabbit
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        I’ve  tried everything. Sprays, pet spray, cleeaning sprays, occupying him, getting him a friend,  I briefly tried clicker training, but I realy couldn’t figure it out for carpet munching. 

         

        I am really really embarrassed over this.

        There is a LOT of spots with missing carpet.  now there are even spots where he’s chewed  to the baseboards. Tonight I was cleaning up another room, and hadn’t put him and Zelda in his cage for the night.  I came back a few hours later, having lost track of time, and found piles of carpet. He’s chewed down to the baseboards along one wall, and he chewed a huge hole (again to the baseboards) by my closet.

         

        The only reason I can think that he was doing this, is that I was taking books from a bag in the closet, and he seemed a bit annoyed when I paid more attention to the books than him.  although i’m not sure why that would ahve caused this.

         

        I’m very ashamed over this. I haven’t had friends over in a long while, because I don’t want them to see the carpet mess.

         

        I can’t afford to fix the carpet at the moment (and then, he’d just chew it again). does anyone have any good solid ideas on how to stop this? and how to cover it up in the mean while?

         

        someone suggested using duct tape or something similar in a pretty color along the carpet edges, where he seems to like to chew the most. That’d help there, btu i’m unsure about the bits in the middle of the carpet.

         

        I’m getting a little disheartened here, so help is much appreciated.


      • Deleted User
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          This is the reason my rabits aren’t free-range. They are in a pen unless I have time to be with them. It is also dangerous for them to chew things as they may ingest something bad. I would seriously save up to buy materials for building a condo. In the meantime, you could collect some cardboard  and run it along the walls to protect the baseboards. You might have to nail it on though. For the carpet, I used to place heavy tiles on favorite digging spots or large sheets of cardboard weighted down with tiles so they can dig up that instead.


        • bunnymum16
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            for the walls i use carboard or grid cubes.when my buns are out,i lay a blanket over the carpet and it has stopped them so far. maybe you can just make your bun a big playpen out of xpens or grid cubes so you wont have to worry about him destroying your house.

            i noticed too that my bunnies only get destructive when im doing something else.perhaps your bunny needs more attention.


          • jerseygirl
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              I don’t it’s bad behaviour as such or always related to boredom or attention seeking. Some bunnies just like a project. Some like to dig, some chew etc. It’s just an activity that is kinda inconvenient when they choose part of the house or furniture as their project.

              I would try create something safe for him to work at that feels similar to working at the carpet. Maybe hay or seagrass mats fixed down to heavy cardboard and layed over the problem spots. You could even place something appealing under the mat so he’s more attracted to it and work on it rather than other areas. You could direct him to it if he does start on other inappropriate places.

              Could you purchase some small rugs to put over the spots to hide the mess when you have company?
              If it’s mostly along the wall floor junction, what about temporarily fixing some lengths of wood down? Pine is pretty cheap. He might take to chewing that instead of the carpet but it wouldn’t matter as it’s temporary.


            • RabbitPam
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                I agree with Petzy about not continuing to allow free range living. I think you could try a large xpen to set up a very spacious but confined area in which to arrange a condo or other creative style habitat that your bunny can enjoy but won’t be able to tear into the rest of the apartment’s carpeting. I would suggest large seagrass mattes. Laid down on top of the bad carpet patches can be a good cover. Also, if you got a large sissel or jute area rug, it would be similar to seagrass and much safer to chew but would cover the bare spots. I also line my carpet edges with strips of seagrass, so she can either eat that, or get bored and ignore the carpet. But a chewer will always be a chewer, and the trick is to provide chewables that are more appealing than the carpet. It may be a form of digging as well. So perhaps a lot of hay, hay mattes, diggy boxes and other chew toys in an enclosed habitat would break her of the carpet attraction.


              • The Rabbit
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                  They have a really big cage now. It’s  made from an x-pen, and it’s pretty darn big. One end has their old cage bottom on it, but it doesn’t restrict their movement at all. The cage bottom has their carboard bunny cottage in it. They have plenty of things to keep them occupied, so i don’t know why he just loves ripping up the carpet.  he doesn’t ingest anything, he just rips it up with his teeth and leaves big carpet piles everywhere. I tried giving him grass mats, but I think they lack the factor of ripping. He gets very into his carpet munching.

                   

                   They have toys that I rotate in and out a grass ball, a big bunny ball, towels for Zelda to attack, a little shake toy, and Pixel’s stuffed bunny. They have stacking cups strewn about (their doing) the room too.

                   

                  During the day the buns are out, unless I go out somewhere, and then they go in the cage, and at night too.


                • snickers
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                    Oh carpet… My last apartment we were at my husband left our bunny alone in the master bed room for maybe 20 min, and he left a 4 inch diameter bare spot in the middle of the floor. So before we moved out I spent about 5-7 hours sewing each individual carpet thread back into the weave. Hey, I needed that $500 deposit back! Since then we have invested in those cheapo rugs (find at walmart for @20, we’ve cut into pieces to put behind certain furniture, etc) and put them in places he likes to lounge around. He’s a digger, and he can dig all he wants on those rugs, and I haven’t had any issues with him chewing or digging on good carpet since. bunnies are like children, leave them alone and they’re find something to get into! and baseboards, I have a large block in his cage for him to chew on, he would never touch it. Until my hubby got the brilliant idea to smear a little bit of watered down honey on the wood. Now he goes to town on it and doesn’t chew on the baseboards.


                  • Balefulregards
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                      I have found that I MUST provide projects for Coco ( and Jackson) or she will Chew the heck out of everything. I “designed” the thing she uses the most – with Sisial and cardboard so she can rip and chew and bite…and I can retie it and present her with another problem to solve. I figured that Coco – had she lived in a warren – would have been in charge of clearing roots – so I have had to find ways for her to do her “job” on things that aren’t my computer cords/cable cords etc

                      Perhaps he needs a Diggy Box with a telephone book so he can get the satisfaction of digging Down and ripping up. I suspect his main job in the warren would have been new tunnel creation. You bunny parent job is to try to create something he can use to satisfy his urge to do his “job”.


                    • Michelle&Lolli
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                        Eddie was insane about the eating the carpet. He would actually eat the carpet fibers which contributed to his death. So if your bunny is eating carpet, I beg you to severely limit his free time.

                        The only thing that semi-worked with Eddie was putting him in “time outs” AS SOON AS he did something he wasn’t supposed to. I tried everything myself and water worked to a degree. He would hop off but he’d only come back to that spot or find a different spot. I got so fed up with him after I found him in the kitchen, chewing on the cabinets that I started putting them back in their pen every time he did something. Sometimes they went back into the pen 10 minutes after being let out. lol But eventually they learned that bad stuff = pen and then calmed down. They didn’t completely quit but it was less frequent.

                        Sometimes they were in their pen for most of the day. And I felt bad, but then again, I had hooked 2 pens together to create a very large space, so they were fine. lol

                        So you may have to resort to the same thing. The other option that should be done is bunny proofing everything.


                      • Brooke
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                          One of my buns Loves Loves Loves to chew up my carpet (especially along the walls). She has destroyed my carpet. I have found a solution. I went to local Home Depot/Lowes and bought some plexi glass. I cut it into strips (wide enough to cover damaged carpet) and used double-sided carpet tape to tape it down along the walls. Now Lexi can’t get to the carpet and she leaves the plexi glass alone. May not be the most attractive thing… but better than her constant chewing of the carpet (which is way tackier)…


                        • The Rabbit
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                            I’m going to start keeping the bun in the cage most of the day for awhile. His favorite spot is under the bed, and now he’s started chewing under there. I let them out this morning, got breakfast came back, and heard him ripping the carpet. I looked under there and piles where there, and the rug I had down was moved. I moved it back, an a few seconds later he was back under there, with Zelda helping him to move the rug. She’s a fabric hater, so she moves anything that gets on the floor.

                            Grr. These buns have teamed up. I’m saving up to repair the carpet.

                            It’s *really* hard to get a bun out from under the bed, I’ll try the water idea.

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                        Forum BEHAVIOR How to stop Bunny once and for all from Chewing—and how to repair