Bunny Safe Rugs and/or Flooring?

[JezabelRabbit]

Hi,

We have a free range bunny who lives in our bedroom and bathroom.  She’s perfect in every way, except that she chews… alot!  We’ve tried behavior modification, but have concluded that it’s easier to modify her environment, than it is to modify her.  Since she’s six years old and already spayed, I doubt she’s going to change.  We don’t want to confine her, because we love having her run around.  (every night, she jumps on the bed for petting, then does a flying superman leap back to the floor, so cute!) Plus, she seems much happier than she did when she lived in a pen, in our previous home.

The first thing she did when we moved into our new place, last Nov, was chew on the walls.  My poor bf installed all the drywall himself, then got to watch bunny promptly destroy his hard work.  He solved the problem by installing extra-wide trim made from untreated pine.  This moulding is perfect for chewing bunnies – non-toxic, and easily replaceable – but of course she’s shown little interest in it : )  However, the walls are now protected. 

Now we are trying to figure out what to do about flooring.  Once she no longer had walls to chew, she started digging and chewing away the carpet by the bedroom door.  I’ve (mostly) managed to contain her carpet chewing, by covering all her favorite spots with cardboard, but obviously this is a temporary solution.  We want to pull the carpet and install something more suitable, but we don’t know what it should be.  Ideally, I’d prefer to use some type of flooring that’s installed in sections.  That way if she chews in one area, we can just replace that section.  But since she’s one of those buns with “fear of linoleum,” it needs to be something she won’t slip around on.  Does anyone have any ideas that might work?

Thanks!

[Sarita]

World Market makes a great grass mat that you could try. I don’t see it online to link to you but they come in big pieces with individual squares that you can cut to size if that makes sense to you.

[JezabelRabbit]

Sarita,
That sounds like a great idea. I will go down to World Market and check it out. Maybe we could install the cork flooring that I want, and then put grass mats over it for her.

One more question: Has anyone had problems with intestinal blockages etc from rabbits chewing carpets? Is this something I should be concerned about?

[babybunsmum]

my baby bun ate part of a vinyl swivel chair i have.  she was apparently secretly working away at the side of the chair i couldn’t see because when i went to move the chair i discovered a huge hole in the vinyl.  she *had* to have eaten it because i never saw a bit of vinyl on the floor (and it’s bright turquoise)!  she luckily had no troubles with it.  other buns can eat a small amount of a new veg and have digestive problems.  it totally depends on the bun i think.  all you can do is watch to be sure your bun is still eating it’s food & still pooping. 

as a temporary solution you can lay a fleece blanket down over top of the favorite carpet chew spot.  i find that my buns love to dig on & bite fleece plus it doesn’t shred much so they can’t get a whole lot to swallow.

good luck!

[MooBunnay]

Hi Jezabel! Welcome to BinkyBunny

I’ve seen a couple people use the grass mats as well as a flooring – I think that corkboard under mats would be a great idea. I have carpeting right now, and they sell this clear plastic at Home Depot on rolls that I buy to put over the well chewed areas. Its in the flooring section but I’m not sure what it is called, but its fairly cheap and could be a good temorary solution. They also sell those chair mats at Office Depot type places that you could put where the chew holes are, and in the corners and edges of rugs where bunnys like to go! Another idea would be to go with some kind of hard flooring like linoleum, but put inexpensive rugs on the floor for bunny traction!

My bunnies like to eat carpet as well and I haven’t seen intestinal or tummy blockages up to this point, but its definitely something you’ll want to minimize as much as possible.

What is your buns name? Well, maybe thats a dumb question – is it Jezabel? haha

[JezabelRabbit]

Well, I’m glad to hear that lots of other buns are chewing carpet without any problems : ) We do want to pull the carpet for aesthetic reasons, but our main concern is really bunny’s safety. Sounds like it’s ok to leave it for awhile until we can figure out something else.

MooBunnay, actually Jezabel was my very first rabbit (and also bestest, until now) I’ve probably had 10 – 12 different buns over the years, in various configurations. Currently we are down to just this one. She came to me with the name, Monica, which I then changed to Snowbunny, but that didn’t stick, so now she’s just called Bunny. Very original, I know…

Her boyfriend, Dustbunny aka Dusty died a few years ago, and I’d pretty much decided that this girl would be my last. However, when she became a free ranger last September, both my boyfriend and I fell in love with her in a whole new way. Previously, she’d been living in a pen, so my bf didn’t have very much interaction with her, but now he’s been utterly infected with rabbit fever. He doesn’t even mind that she jumps on his head in the middle of the night. He also seems willing to make drastic modifications to our house just for her benefit. Besides installing the trim I mentioned, he recently built a new bedframe, so she would be able to run laps without any obstructions. Now instead of running OVER the bed, she runs under it. Okay, maybe this wasn’t just for her benefit : )

[Sage Cat]

Both World Market & Target have “rag” rugs that are 100% cotton – some for as little as $4. I have lots of them so I can trade them out and wash them.

Cork flooring is a great idea! Plus, it is nice on your feet too.

How awesome you and you bf have fallen in love with your bunny again! Sounds like he is quite smitten. My husband cant believe how much he likes our bunny’s – and they adore him!

[osprey]

Welcome to BinkyBunny, JezabelRabbit!

One of my bunnies, Curly Sue, has a thing for chewing any kind of cloth. One time she chewed a big hole in a cheap nylon indoor/ouutdoor rug I was using as a binky mat for the buns, and she swallowed quite a bit of the plastic fibers. She ended up at the vet being treated for stasis.

[Jeanne]

A bunny safe rug is one that has low pile, and is sheared…no loops. All of the edges should be inaccessible. If the rug is placed in a large pen, ( ie. the rug exists for the comfort of the rabbit) buy a rug of the size and shape such that all edges are under the walls of the pen. For a rabbit that is out and about, there are two options: 1; wall to wall low pile, non looped carpet (because they can’t chew it or catch a toe nail in it) or a rug made of something that won’t harm it. This could be a grass rug, hyacinth, jute or another grassy material. Make sure it isn’t coated with something toxic. You could possibly deter a rabbit from chewing a rug that you like and have for your own enjoyment by putting a cheap, but rabbit friendly rug nearby, with the hope that the rabbit will chew the cheap one. Try IKEA. Good luck! I have many years of experience and have lost many a rug and rush chair to rabbits. They are adorable, but destructive.

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