Bad chewing behavior

[crazylittlebunny]

Hello everyone!

So I have been working on free roaming and I’m having some chewing issues with my 6 month old mini rex. So far he has been pretty much ignoring any fabric furniture (such as the couch for example) and mainly seems to be interested electrical wires and anything wooden that he can get his mouth on. I am going to get wire protectors so that he doesn’t chew through any wires on the ground (or worse, electrocute himself). I was thinking about getting rabbit safe spray that would make things taste bitter for Barney but considering how stubborn he is, I don’t have very high expectations that it would work. He also knows what the word “no” means but much of the time he chooses not to listen. Any ideas on how to bunny proof the wooden furniture?? I’ve tried to look online for ideas but my mom is a clean freak, perfectionist and hypocrite and doesn’t like me messing with her “precious” furniture and kind of dismisses and ideas I tell her about but at the same time doesn’t want my rabbit to destroy everything. Any advice on what to do??

[LBJ10]

Can you cut plastic corner guards to fit the furniture legs? You could also try corrugated plastic or PVC pipe pieces, although that would be more noticeable than clear plastic.

I don’t know how sensitive he is about walking on certain surfaces, but another idea would be to put mats with “nubs” down in front of vulnerable pieces of furniture. They sell them for cats, they don’t like walking on the texture. You can simply pick the mats up whenever you need to.

[crazylittlebunny]

I definitely think these are great ideas and are worth a try. When it comes to walking on certain surfaces, Barney doesn’t really like the hardwood floor because he doesn’t have a lot of traction so he prefers to stay on the carpets which unfortunately is where most of the wooden furniture is.

[crazylittlebunny]

So I talked with my mom about these ideas and she is against trying any of them so I don’t really know what else to do. I’m still thinking about giving a bitter tasting, rabbit safe spray though and see if it works.

[LBJ10]

You can try it…. but some bunnies like the taste. LOL

[DanaNM]

You can also try lemon essential oil. I’ve heard that bunnies do tend to like the bitter apple spray.

I also seem to remember that back in the day people also used to rub Ivory bar soap on wooden baseboards? Haven’t heard it mentioned recently but it was something about Ivory specifically.

Providing things that are more enticing to chew would also probably help. Have you found a chew toy that he really really likes?

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[crazylittlebunny]

Ever since I started giving him more freedom around the house, he’s sort of been ignoring his toys for the most part. Also isn’t lemon essential oil poisonous to dogs and cats?? I don’t want to accidentally hurt my other pets. I’ll definitely talk to my mom about the ivory soap bar thing. Could I also rub it on the other wooden furniture like the chairs and dining table or is it just for the baseboards??

[DanaNM]

Maybe you could strategically place some new favorite toys in the problem areas? My destructive buns really like cardboard cat scratchers.

You would probably want to do a test with the soap in an inconspicuous area to make sure it doesn’t discolor it or damage the finish.

As for the lemon oil, I know it’s not good to diffuse it, but I don’t know how dangerous it would be if applied in small amounts on a surface.

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[crazylittlebunny]

Barney does like the cardboard cat scratcher that I have. He also enjoys climbing the cat tree. 😁😂

[Wick & Fable]

I’m wondering if there can be a discussion about slight re-arrangement so maybe you can have a rabbit-proofed place, perhaps sectioned off by an X-pen, draped with a bed sheet on thee outside (so it looks nicer and prevents bar rattling sometimes) in the free-roam space. I know rabbit-proofing doesn’t look great in many circumstances, so would your mom be open to brainstorming with you how to allot your rabbit more space, while respecting her want for keeping her furniture looking nice. It can be helpful to frame it as you share your mom’s priority (of keeping her furniture being fine), even if underneath, you actually just want to help your rabbit.

If it something you’re comfortable with, you can share photos of the general area and we can brainstorm ways to rabbit-proof that might not require bulky things.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[crazylittlebunny]

It is possible that I could move a few things around down in the basement and make a nice area space for Barney. The basement is the only place in the house without wood. However, I would also need to be able to prevent the cats from getting to him at night when they wouldn’t be supervised. Right now he stays in a cage out in the garage because my parents don’t want him in the house at night but I bring him inside every day so that he can play and get exercise. I’ll definitely talk to my parents about it and maybe they will let me make a large, permanent area for him in the basement.

[Wick & Fable]

There are many positives for all parties for a larger, more permanent space. With “temporary” set-ups, you can’t really invest in making it look good since it’s something that’s put up and taken down daily. If it’s a space that’s more established, you and your mother can work on what she feels comfortable doing and what you would want. If you have a budget or savings yourself (or your mother would be willing to help you to help herself in this scenario of figuring out room for the rabbit), I would definitely recommend an X-pen and dog crate set-up potentially. With a large dog crate specifically, they sell covers that make them not look too bad (and also you can put some storage on top, so it can work to also keep rabbit supplies together!), and when closed, they offer protection. An X-pen can be easily hooked up to a dog crate to provide the exercise room a rabbit needs.

There are fine examples where I think a rabbit’s main home-place can be indoors and not super intrusive. Here are some idealist examples to an extent, but can get you thinking about how rabbit space can be incorporated in non-sloppy or visually-unappealing ways:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5B3qwNlsRB/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8jf51lij4W/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzYgZWnCGtw/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFUrHnNFFDb/

… and from these “home-bases”, you can set up an xpen when free-roaming or something like that.

Depending on your cats’ personalities and tendencies, cat-proofing can be easier. How do your cats and rabbit get along, if at all? Some households do need a permanent separation, and we wouldn’t want your rabbit in constant view/access to your cats if it is stressful/dangerous for the rabbit.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[crazylittlebunny]

Barney and the cats get along pretty well. He loves to play with them and he especially adores my eldest cat Sadie. However, I’m always in the room to supervise just in case the cats get a little too rough and cause Barney unnecessary stress. (my youngest cat has a bad habit of doing this even though he means the rabbit no harm).

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