A couple behavior questions…

[Free2Dream]

What can we do to deter Oliver from chewing on our clothing? He goes after our socks, shirts, pants, whatever’s within reach. We provide him with plenty of stuff to chew, so I don’t know why he insists on tasting our clothes, lol. I have been tweaking him lightly on the nose whenever he reaches for me, but he seriously overreacts to this, haha… last time I did it, I think he jumped a foot straight up in the air, and it didn’t seem to deter him at all. Any other suggestions? 

Also, this was just something silly that we saw Oliver do, and I was wondering if anyone knew why… when Oliver is hanging out with us, we provide him with a water bowl, but he has a bottle in his cage/pen set-up. Anyway, I was on the computer when I happened to glance up and catch Oliver soaking his front paws in the bowl. Then he proceeded to wash his face. Are rabbits seriously that smart??? We couldn’t stop laughing. He didn’t seem to like having his paws wet; he kept shaking them to get the excess water off. Silly boy.

[Deleted User]

Young bunnies always seem to manage to step into their bowls, not to get water for a face-wash but they will proceed to flick their feet once wet and this in turn is a grooming action that can lead to a face-washing.

The chewing is what they do: they are a destructive species by nature, they gnaw and dig through this world (throug vegetation and earth originally). Their teeth must be busy as they grow inches each year and require serious wearing down… having said this, don’t punich your rabbit by using your hand (tweaking); it will only make him shy. Rabbits need redirection if they behave undesirably; remove the clothes from his access and provide objects for chewing, a variety is best.

Once he is neutered it will improve somewhat but chewing will aways be a big part of his actions.

[jerseygirl]

Is the problem that Oliver is chewing the clothes while you are wearing them?

As to his paws in the water…that is kinda weird if he keeps doing it. Some bunnies like water but there isn’t many of them. (Member Sonn has a bunny Pacey who likes water). So if he continues to do it, it could be his quirky nature but do look to medical reasons as to why he might do it also. Has he had a wellness check since you adopted him?

[Beka27]

I absolutely agree with Petzy regarding the punishing. You are not going to deter him from chewing, you will deter him from wanting to be near YOU, and that is not what you want! Once a rabbit associates a person/place with bad things, it is so so so hard to get them to change their minds.

Are you holding him on your lap when he is nibbling your clothes? That might be a sign he wants down.

[Sarita]

Baby rabbits explore with their mouth. That’s just their nature. He will likely outgrow this when he gets older.

As for the water bowl, he probably just doesn’t realize it’s there and steps in it. His reaction once his paws get wet is to wash them off.

[Author]

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