Chewing baby

[Chelsea]

We have a new 4 month old neutered male mixed breed bunny and a 3 year old neutered mini lop. Our three year old has free roam of the house and doesn’t chew on anything at all (I realize this is unusual and we got very lucky). The baby (Jasper) is currently confined to my daughter’s bedroom with a baby gate. The two rabbits have sniffed each other through the baby gate, but not met at all other than that. It is a good thing the furniture in there is not furniture we care about, because Jasper is doing an excellent job rounding all the edges on everything wooden. 

Have you ever had a baby rabbit grow out of extreme chewing? Because much as I would like the two bunnies to become a bonded, free-roaming pair, I’m not sure we’re going to be able to unleash Jasper’s teeth on our living room. I’m not sure if we should even try bonding them, if it means we would have to keep both rabbits confined to just my daughter’s room.  

[Mikey]

How many chew toys does he have? If he specifically likes wood, he might need a lot more wooden chew toys. When you catch him chewing, distract him by giving him one of his chews instead. This is how we got my three boys to stop trying to chew on our tables

[Chelsea]

Yay, it sounds like there is hope! Thank you. We went out and cut off lots of apple branches yesterday and put them all around the room to try and distract him from my daughter’s loft bed. He definitely likes them and has already stripped off most of the leaves and bark. I also ordered him a couple of willow/wicker balls to chew and picked him some fresh grass. I’m just hoping this constant wood chewing calms down a bit as he ages, because I’m not sure I could possibly trust him to have free reign right now when we’re not home.

I’m also not sure how this would work with bonding – could we bond him to our existing free range male Silas, and then just only let Jasper out when we are home? This just seems a bit mean, given the whole point of getting Jasper was to give Silas a companion during the day when we are at work. Confining Silas with Jasper might work, but also seems a bit mean. Of course, this is all assuming we can get them to bond in the first place.

[Mikey]

Awesome! Its good you were able to find something he likes so quickly It should slow down as he gets older, but some rabbits are just big chewers. If hes one of the chewers, is it possible to leave him in the room whenever you arnt home? I had a bond similar before i was able two get my first two boys used to sharing a cage. They had their own cages but had free roam time together. It worked out well for them, so maybe that could be an option for you?

[Chelsea]

We actually don’t own a bunny cage, so we would have to buy or build one to have them in the same room. Otherwise they can just sniff noses. The baby gate we use has very small holes to prevent any damage before they bond.

[Mikey]

Thats what i meant. For my boys, i had two cages. The separate rooms with the baby gate would have the same effect One in the room while you are away, and them both free roaming while you are home

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