Behavioural Issue

[CheweyandLeia]

Hello,

We have 2 house rabbits who have full range of our home.

Chewey – male – approx 3 y/o who we have had since he was 6 weeks old, and Leia – female – approx 1.5 y/o who we rescued from an animal shelter in June last year.  Both are desexed.

Chewey is very placid – he went through a bit of a destructive phase when he was younger but has since grown out of it.

Leia on the other hand has always been a bit troublesome.
She has dug up the carpet under our bed (where they sleep), and her latest is chewing on the wooden door frames upstairs.  She has had a go at all of them and my husband is livid.  He is now threatening to put her outside in a hutch.
She has plenty of toys, cardboard boxes etc to keep her entertained, so we believe she is doing it for attention. 

The only thing that has changed in our house is the birth of our second child.  Her behaviour seems to have gone up a notch since we came home from the hospital 2 weeks ago. 

Is there anything anyone can recommend that we can put on the door frames to protect them?

Thank you for reading

xo

[jerseygirl]

Is there anything anyone can recommend that we can put on the door frames to protect them?

Are they doors you keep open at all times? If so, you could attach some things but they may prevent being able to shut the door.

There are some lengths of plastic profile usually available in hardware stores. They are sometimes called wall corner protectors, for wall papered walls (or house rabbit owners!)

I have a small length of this on my bedroom door and have it attached with just blu-tack lol.

Door frames and base board become very attractive chews for rabbits as they don’t move around like a chew toy does. So they can really sink their teeth in and get that resistance.

ETA: I just did an online search of “plastic doorframe protectors” out of curiosity and they exist! So you might be able to find one that fits your exact frame profile.  I knew there was something like this for base boards but not for door frames. 

[CheweyandLeia]

Thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly

The doors are always open unless we are sleeping (all bedrooms are upstairs).

Our male bun is so placid, if he would ever do anything naughty you could just yell NO and that would be the end of it.  Leia on the other hand is a whole other kettle of fish.  Guess its harder for us with her because we dont know her back ground.

Hey i noticed you are from Australia?  Me too… where did you get the plastic from?

[jerseygirl]

Bunnings !

[CheweyandLeia]

Good old bunnings!
Thank you
Will take a look on their website now xo

[Hazel]

You might want think about  changing their living situation. Many (if not most) rabbits aren’t suited for free range, because they’re too destructive. Bunny proofing any room they have access to is a must. And it’s much easier to bunny proof one or two rooms than your whole house. My bun could never be free range, he would destroy everything…  Owning a rabbit means getting things chewed, it’s part of the deal. If Chewey doesn’t destroy things, then he’s the exception, not Leia. She’s not doing it for attention, it’s just natural behavior. They HAVE to chew a lot, because their teeth grow at all times. If they don’t get worn down, things can get very bad very quickly for a bun (as well as for your wallet). As jersey said, they tend to gravitate to fixed objects like heavy furniture or baseboard because they don’t move around and are easier to tear into. You could try to zip tie cardboard to something so they can work on that. My bun is not interested in any toys like paper towel rolls unless they’re fixed to something. Then he will go to town! I don’t know what their diet is like, but trying to up their hay consumption might also help curb her interest in chewing inappropriate things.

About banishing her to the outside and putting her in a hutch, I hope your husband said that in anger and isn’t seriously considering it. You can’t punish her for acting like a rabbit. 

[sarahthegemini]

Gunna have to disagree with Hazel here – bunnies are perfectly suited to being free roam, if you take the necessary steps, ie. Bun proof and make the area safe…

Definitely get some door frame protectors! For the carpet, if she’s chosen a particular spot you could try putting a heavy tile down to stop her and then perhaps provide a digging box to redirect her too?

[Author]

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