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Forum BEHAVIOR Help! Chewing/Digging Holes in Carpet

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    • NuggetBuns
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         I really need some help. For the last couple of days, Nugget figured out a way to move one side of his xpen (propped against the wall) and run free while we were sleeping and when we were out of the apartment. He has dug up a few holes in the corners of our apartment and the boyfriend is pissed off about it because we might have to pay for the damages since we’re renting. We now attach both sides of the xpen to Nugget’s cage so he can’t escape when we’re sleeping or at work. 

        I’ve tried giving him a diggy box, but those aren’t fun for him. I also got sea grass mats from BB store, which he likes but gets bored of it. He enjoys the challenge of pulling up carpet because there’s resistance. I thought neutering him would decrease his desire to dig/chew our carpet but it didn’t change his bad behavior. I will try spraying something/put something on top of his “hotspots”, but has anyone solved this problem? 


      • Sylvansinger
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          Our newest bun is into that as well. I broke the spine of a phone book and put it in his favorite dig spot. It’s heavy and offers the resistance and he can scrunch up the pages and dig and dig and dig and dig. It’s funny to watch because it’s like he frantically looking for some number in the yellow pages. BTW – the phone book said near the front that it was soy ink and so that safe for him if he eats it. He just like to shred it. It makes huge mess but it’s easy to clean up and you can even put it in his litter box.

          I also have a tile and a huge piece of card board under the phone book since he sometimes gets so aggressive the book ends up moving.

          Good luck!


        • NewBunnyOwner123
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            If there is a spot that he enjoys in particular put an old rug there and let him dig to his hearts content. If he just gets underneath it to get to the carpet because he just likes the carpet then get a small cut out square of carpet and place it in that spot… make sure he does eat any of the fabric. It’s so hard to get them to NOT dig once they have found a spot they like. I found that out pretty quick My carpet by my bedroom door got shredded once because they got out at night and were digging by my door for who knows how long. Now they have a border on their cage so they can’t push it around and we put a small blanket where they seem to favor for when they are out.


          • Jessie1990
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              Ashe has this problem as well, but I watch her like a hawk now… She isn’t allowed out unless I can be in the same room. Also, when Ashe pulled out carpet fibers in a circle about the size of a shoe, I spent 4 hours hot glueing the stupid fibers in one by one. You might try this, or if the entire corner is pulled up just glue under the corner and tuck the edges the best you can. I got some bitter spray but that didn’t help either.


            • mia
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                I put a tile on the “fun to dig” spot. It’s too heavy for her to move. Their own area is carpeted so I bought a very thick area rug and put a fleece blanket over most of the rug. I’ve noticed that the areas that are covered with the fleece blanket have never been dug at.


              • NuggetBuns
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                  Thank you everyone for the advice and sharing your experience with this never ending problem. I really appreciate it! He does have his own area rug in his xpen, but he always manages to dig right outside of it if the pen is bordering the rug/carpet. Over the weekend, we started hooking both sides of the xpen to Nugget’s cage so it’s guaranteed that he can’t pick up the panels with his teeth and move it around to escape. This new setup takes away a lot of space and now his area is smaller… but we don’t have many options in the apartment. We also were very strict on him staying in the living room when he is let out. He used to sneak out wandering freely in our apartment and we didn’t lay down any ground rules about it. He was very spoiled and walked all over me. Now when he looks like he’s about to dig or chew something that is not his, we clap or say “NO!!”, and it stops him in his tracks. I also bought a bitter spray, but don’t know if it will work.

                  Jessie- Props to you for having the patience to glue all the fibers down one by one, I can’t even imagine how annoying that is.


                • Jessie1990
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                    Ashe licked the bitter spray up while it was still wet! She thought it was some kind of treat D: I tasted it and it was horrible and stuck in my mouth all day. In the end I just have to watch her all the time when she’s out which is fine because I love to spend time with her at her level anyway. I can tell when she is ready to go back in her condo, but if I put her away too soon she gets anxious by the time I get up in the morning and her condo is a disaster lol. She is getting plenty of time out because I am not teaching over the summer Good luck with Nugget! I have also found that if Ashe doesn’t get enough out time she is destructive, on the other hand if she is not entertained the whole time she gets into trouble also lol


                  • NuggetBuns
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                      Lol, you actually tasted it? I inhaled some of it and it was gross so I can’t even imagine how bad it would be in the mouth, yuck. Yeah, for now we’re just going to be supervising Nugget a lot more when he’s out and about. Ashe sounds like a wildchild hahaha, but also very funny. How old is she?

                      I’m not sure how these other members handle multiple bunnies in the house, because one is already a handful. And the worst part is that it’s so hard to be mad at them because they are just a rabbit, they don’t know any better! Nugget would to dig at the carpet if I’m in another room to get my attention and when I come running into the living room to stop him, he freezes and his head is up looking at me with the most innocent face. Ugh, I can’t be mad at that adorable face!


                    • NewBunnyOwner123
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                        I’ve tasted the bitter yucks when I was purchasing because I wanted the strongest one lol the first one I didn’t even taste any bitterness but ,y god I tasted the second one and it was just terrible! I tasted it for like HOURS! gagging and wow it was just terrible. Brought it home, sprayed it on the wall and Sally lapped it up as if it were candy!


                      • JustineT
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                          When our rabbit does something wrong, we blow on her instead of spray her. It works really well. Now when my husband just makes the sound from a distance, she’ll stop in her tracks and then run off to do something else. Saying “No” sometimes works but normally it just makes her pause, look up, and then continue. I suppose if we really wanted her to stop something, we should just roll something into the room. She hates anything that sounds like the vacuum rolling in.


                        • NuggetBuns
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                            NBO- HAHAHA, you’re so funny! I bought Whisker City “No Chew” spray that’s marketed for cats, but I figure it would be okay for any animal. We’ve been clapping our hands the moment we see Nugget get into his chew/dig position so haven’t gotten chance to see if it works or not.

                            Justine- That is a great idea! I will start blowing at him and see what he does. Sometimes the bf will throw a stuffed animal in his direction and he usually runs for the hills lol.


                          • NuggetBuns
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                              Justine- Blowing at Nugget did nothing! He just looked at me like I was stupid lol.


                            • NewBunnyOwner123
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                                Yeah, I tried the blowing thing and they were just like, “um, okay? Weirdo.” and continued doing what they do lol!

                                What I have just recently tried doing was to teach them to come when called and I gave them a treat. Now, when I see Sally at my bedroom door by the carpet she normally digs at I just call her and she comes RUNNING to me! Try to call them before they get to the spot that they normally dig though. Gotta catch it before lol

                                I have also tried laying a towel over the spot and they just moved the towel out of the way. Put a phone book in the spot and they still did the same thing. They just really like that carpet! They are lucky the carpet was already really old and terrible and we were going to replace it when we first bought this house. The replacing it isn’t going to happen until Sally and Harley outgrow their desire to dig over there though.

                                If they keep this up they will lose an entire hallway for playtime because I will just put a gate up. They won’t like that because they enjoy using the hallways as a straightaway race place. But that’s what happens when I run out of the patience I have.

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                            Forum BEHAVIOR Help! Chewing/Digging Holes in Carpet