Carpet Chewing

[Heather]

Does anyone know anything that is good for chewing on carpet? He has a bed that he can dig in and he knows to, but  For some reason my rabbit chews and pulls up my carpet, it’s terrible, mostly cause I rent my home and my landlord is not going to be happy. I was wondering if there was something anyone had used that worked, I tried some stuff called Bitteryuck, but he still chewed, didn’t phase him at all. Anyway thanks for any suggestions.

[BinkyBunny]

Does your bunny generally chew in one or two hotspots, or will he find a new place to chew? If it’s just one or two hot spots, then rub a little perfume on those spots. If he just finds new places to chew, you may need to do some behaviorial training – if it’s the later, just let me know and we’ll go from there.

[Heather]

he has spots he likes better the others, but if you shoo him away from one spot  he will generally go and find another one before I can get sat back down haha. And I have a hard time dealing with him cause I don’t know how to disaplin him when he’s doing something wrong, loud noises don’t startle him enough to make him stop doing something.

[BinkyBunny]

How old is he and is he neutered?  Younger bunnies and bunnies that are not neutered can be more destructive.

So here are some tips to try:

1. Since rabbits are pretty busy creatures when they are out and about, then you may need to get creative and put some unique toys/distractions out during his playtime. They don’t have to be anything fancy.   A phone book, a lunch paper bag filled with hay and a little treat inside (since this can make a mess you can put it inside a large cardboard box with exit and entry holes cut out.  Also check out some boredom busters and distractors in our Homemade Toy Test section under bunny info  - be sure to click on the archives for past home-made toy ideas. 

2. I know first hand carpet chewers can be very difficult.  When Jack was younger, we taught him not to chew on carpet….but it only worked while I was around.  If I left him alone for a bit, he’d be right back at it.  (he’s older now, and seems to have no interest in carpet anymore).  But still that helped because at least I could hang out in the house in peace.   So what worked for me was was using a squirt bottle.  I would say a Quick “No or EH!” and squirt at the same time.  The squirt bottle helped out because I could get him from across the room. 

But in order for this to work, you have to take the time to watch carefully.  The very moment he leans his head down to chew, you do it then…right at  his “intention”.   In the beginning, when I was doing this with Jack, it took alot of repetitiveness.  The first few days were like this:   Jack’s head goes down to chew, I  squirt, head goes back up to look around…head goes down, I squirt, jack hops away, comes back…head goes down, I squirt, his head goes up, and head goes down.  I did this over and over until he, himself, would pop his head back up without even being squirted.   

Now, here’s one theory I have of why he chose at the time to still chew while I was gone.  I think I made the mistake of saying “eh, or No” while I squirted him so he could associate the squirt with me AND his behavior.  So if the squirt just happened without my voice, he might have just figured that the squirt only was associated with his behavior regardless if I was around.  Since at the time, I didn’t squirt only, I don’t know for sure.  But if, I were you, I would try the squirt without the voice correction.  

If he is still not deterred after squirting him, then put him back in his cage for a while.  Staying consistent with this will help him understand his freedom is taken away with this behavior.  With rabbits, it’s especially iimportant to be consistent and repetitive with this.  It can be a huge pain for us humans for awhile though.  But stick with it.

3. Sometimes, especially in rentals, other animal scents are in the carpet and rabbits sometimes are digging that up.  It may help to clean the carpet, but if you feel that it has already been thoroughly cleaned enough, then don’t waste your time.  Rabbits have a great sense of smell, so if they are still smelling other animal scents even after a good steam clean, then you basically are stuck because the scent of the other animal could have already been soaked into the all the layers beneath.

 

I know others have had similar issues too, and they can tell you what worked for them.

[Beka27]

i try to keep some (non-glossy) junk mail around. a new piece of paper can usually deter the bun for a short time. the little all-paper envelopes that they send with the mail are great. i think most of it is just redirection. i have not done a squirt bottle, but i think it could be handy. Meadow doesn’t startle anymore with loud noises. she will stop what she’s doing if i stand up and start to walk over to her. i usually only have to take one or two steps. i have done the perfume thing. i have to refresh it on our couch every couple weeks. Meadow is more of a digger than a chewer, and the couch is her domain. you might try to give your bun an old blanket or towel that he can dig at. phone books are awesome. we just got a new one (and since we have the internet i don’t need a hard copy) so i gave it right to Meadow. if your bun is a puller but is not eating the fibers, you could also try getting a cheap carpet square where chewing is allowed. it doens’t decrease teh behavior, but it might save your carpet.

i don’t remember if your bun is young, but if he is not neutered yet, that will help like BB said. also, maturity. sometimes you just have to wait out the bad behaviors. it might be a couple years, and some buns will always chew, so this is when bunny-proofing and supervision are very helpful.

edited:  also, what kind of toys does your bun have?  i have a lot of the willow sticks (and other willow toys that BinkyBunny sells) and i keep them in reserve for when Meadow needs a ten minute diversion.  you want to give acceptable chewing alternatives.

[Heather]

Huey is about 8 months or a little younger, I got him nuetered pretty quick after I got him, the research I did all suggested it. He keeps lots of toys, he has some baby keys and rattles, and a balls he likes to toss; I keep a tunnel and a blanket in the floor and both he’s allowed to dig and destroy as much as he’d like. He used to be good about not chewing the carpet, and reading the last post I realized he isn’t eating the carpet he’s just pulling it up. I’m going to try the water bottle cause he also has a habbit of moving cords with his teeth, he isn’t actually eating them but I worry he might one day so that will probably help with that and the carpet. Sometimes I wonder if he’s doing it to try and get attention as well cause sometimes when I go to tell him no or put him up when he’s doing it he’ll flop over like he wants to be petted, which is semi-rare with him anyway cause he’s totally boss and only wants attention when he wants attention.

[Beka27]

i’m betting it’s just boredom. even with lots of toys, they seem to get disinterested in them after awhile. maybe try some new things.

[BinkyBunny]

Since he does not eat the carpet, then Beka’s suggestion of getting a carpet square (samples from carpet stores, or carpet mats from target or walmart usually are fine) The House Rabbit Society also recommends this – but again ONLY if your bunny really doesn’t eat the carpet. If he does, then you’d be asking for digestive troubles.

The toys you have sound great for tossing, but is sounds like you could add more “chewing” distractions, and I also ditto Beka’s suggestion of exchanging toys out. Have a few different things to offer. Bunnies do get bored with the same thing, cardboard boxes, cardboard tubes (from paper towels and toilet paper rolls – minus the paper) and all of the things mentioned above may really help.

Regarding your cords. With those, I recommend getting cord covers and putting perfume on them. Rabbits can bite through those in one second, and it can ruin your stuff, can put your bunny at risk for electrocution and/or cause a short or fire risk (depending on the the cord type) We have all of our cords covered with corregated plastic tubing that we got from our local hardware store, but you can also order “critter cord” which is a scented cord cover (supposed to be offensive to bunnies).

Keep us updated on what works for you.

[bunnymama]

My few suggestions — redirect his attention to something else when possible.

Cover the hot spots with either 12 x 12 ceramic tiles or an old phone book or even an old beach towel or blanket. He will try so  hard to move it he’ll forget about diggin and chewing.

Good luck bunny slave!

 

Bunny Mama

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