Chewing bunny

[Carolyn]

I adopted my bunny Lucy about two months ago. When we recived her she was in a typical rabbit cage with a litter box that was all chewed up. Since then we have upgraded her cage to a large dog crate, a big wooden house my father inlaw built for my bunnies, a new litter box and some toys.  As well as her cage is right beside my other bunny Scamper.

Anyways over the last week or two, I have notice that Lucy has decided to chew on her litter box. We have it tied down to one corrner of the cage. So we don’t know if its because she can’t move it or  she wants out of her cage or if she is board. Anyways its my fear that Lucy is eatting the plastic and I don’t want to have an emergancy vet vist over somthing I feel could be advoided.

So any surgestions on what I can do to hopfully get her to stop her chewing on the litter box????……

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[Candace]

At Petsmart they sell a product called “Grannick’s bitter apple spray” It is a top seller and alot of people swear by it. I need to get some for my wires!! Anyways, try spraying her litter box with that (before you put the hay and litter or whatever you use in yours) and maybe that would stop  her from chewing on the plastic. It is worth a shot. Hope it helps!!

[Beka27]

does she have other toys when she’s in the cage? it could be boredom, definitely. is she actually trying to chew parts off, or just rough up the edges? some people have suggested making a wood type rim for it, but i’d first try giving other chewing distractions.

[Carolyn]

Lucy has lots of toys in her cage. She has a stuff bunny she likes to role around the cage when she plays with it (  before we got Lucy she had chewed off its ears and arms but has not done any more chewing on it since she gotten here)  She has baby keys, a toss toy that looks like a carrot. Papper towel roles and a box for chewing.  Plus a big wooden house to hide in or chew on or jump on and off the top off, Although she not very gracful.  I really never see her play with any of that stuff other then her bunny.

She is chewing the litter box only in one spot, right in the front where the door is ( it be right around where the clip is in the picture)  I know the last three weeks my work scedual has change so the bunnies routines have change as well. They are not getting out of the cage as much as I like them too. They are only getting out of the cage once a day insted of twice a day.  But when I let them out at night is any  where from an hour to an hour and a half depending if my boyfriend is home or not becuase he seems to get upset with the rabbits.

Wonder if it her way of telling me she dosen’t like the new routine….ugg….two more weeks of training and maybe I can get the rabbits on a better schedual again.

[Carolyn]

Thanks for the advice I got some of that “Grannick’s bitter apple spray” to spry on her litter box to see if that helps. I figured it be ok since I don’t but hay in her litter box. They have hay bins that hand above their litter boxes. As well as since I was the pet story I bought a couple of toys to add to her cage to see it it well also help her stop chewing her litter box…

so keep your fingers crossed it well help. As well if anyone else has any other idea which would be great….

[Beka27]

try getting her some willow toys. they are chewable, but i think they taste a whole lot better than cardboard. my bun goes nuts for willow. the hard plastic toys are safe and everything, but they can’t be chewed so they tend to get ignored i think.

[Carolyn]

I have looked for willow toys for my bunnies but the pet store around here dosen’t have any. Its very hard to find stuff for my rabbits I usally have to be creative not thats a bad thing to come up with things for them.

[Beka27]

i’ve never seen willow stuff available in pet stores. i know it’s available online. BB doesn’t ship to CA yet but i think some of the other bunny toy websites do.

[Gravehearted]

i have to admit that Hareiette has every toy under the sun and occasionally likes to gnaw on the corners of her triangle high corner box too. she doesn’t really eat any great amount though. the bitter apple may work – but my bunnies seem to like it enough to lick it off stuff i recommend some wood kinds of toys she can gnaw on and see if it helps at all.

[Carolyn]

I haven’t seen Lucy chew on her litter box since I put on the bitter apple but its only been two days since I have used it. Plus it was the weekend so the bunnies get lots of attention becuase I feel bad about the work week. lifes little bumps in the road everyone has to deal with. I’ll have to keep an eye on Lucy to see if it helps.

[Carolyn]

ok…so the bitter apple spray did not work, Lucy is still chewing her litter box. So to day I bought her a nob nibbler as they call it. Its a bunch of wood joined together to make a ball and some sort of big nut in the middle, if it start to fall appart I’ll remove the nut and throw it out. I also got apple tree stick as well from the pet store…so hopfully that well help…and a new litter box in hops that if the chewed spot is gone, she well stop chewing in for a little while…..

any other ideas that I can do to stop her from chewing the litter box?

[Jyka]

I think it could be boredom. Can you try and get her out for a run around a bit more? 3 hrs a day out of their cage is reccommmended i thinik.

Maybe fill her litter tray up with a heap of hay so she cant see the sides of the box, and will chew hay instead. Might be messy though.
She has got into a bad habit so to break it you’ll have to either remove litter tray (not practical), or replace the habit with a better one like the chew toys.
Good luck, sorry couldn’t be more helpful.

[Scarlet_Rose]

I agree that it sounds like boredom and she wants out. Rabbits don’t like changes in their routines very much. Is there anywhere you can move the litterbox to? She sounds like my two and the throw and toss toys don’t go over real well and the chewing ones are the star. Apple tree branches work great (do you have an orchard nearby that will give you some? – They can’t have pesticides and must be organic). That wood home looks great! Is there any way for her to hop on top of it? If she can’t get out of her cage much, expanding the space by providing a shelf or higher level in her cage helps too. I had a cae much like the one you have, I cut some board and placed cup hooks on the ends to hook over the horizontal wire. I also covered the shelf in carpet. Try hanging a hand towel or wash cloth for her to nudge around too. Do you have a craft store nearby to you? Natural wicker laundry baskets are great (no coatings or stains), I flip it upside down and cut a larger hole where the hand-hold is so my buns can hop in and out of them.

[kimberleyanddarren]

do you have her out and about in the house for several hours a day or does she spend most of her time in there? is the litterbox side by side to the other buns cage?

[Carolyn]

I have been in training at work for the past 4 weeks and I have one more week to go, then I’ll be giving my shift that I’ll work. That way I’ll be able to get my rabbits on a routine that works for all of us. Just that life has been fliped upside down and around. But I’m sure you all know what that’s like and we just need to get through this hard time the best we can.

I try to get my rabbits out of their cages for 2 hours a day but that dosen’t always happen. I have 4 rabbits in total so it hard to give them more time then that during the week. On weekend they get much more time out of their cages. Although Lucy dosen’t run around much she marks several place in the living room then finds a place to lay down which is usally in front of Scamper’s or Olly’s cage. My rabbits are not bonded together at the current time. Although once things settle down I’m hoping to bond them , in two pairs or a trio and a singal…ect…but I’ll let them decided on who or how they want to live when its time to cross that bridge.

Lucy litter box is place right next to Scampers litter box. and between them we have the 2 hay bins that we over fill becuase scamper eats out of lucy hay bin insed of his own. Lucy has a wooden house that also acts like a shelf but she not very good at gettind down form the top of her house. They have a big bath towel that lays on the bottom of their cages. I don’t use wood shavings. Maybe I should give lucy and extra towel to play with.

The apple sticks that I found were at a pet store. So they were already been clean from any out door elements. So I washed them off myself and gave it to the bunnys. I gave lucy two which she has hidden in her house. So she been playin with them. I’ll have to get more the next time I’m at the pet store that way I can replace them as needed.

[Carolyn]

well I think as of next weeks Lucy and my other bunnies are going to be much happier. Yesturday before I left work I got to pick my new shift since I’m done training this week. I’m going to be working 10:30am to 7:00pm with Thursday and Sunday off. Its funny looking at the list of shifts that I could work I was thinking about what it going to work for my rabbits and whats going to make them the happiest. becuase through the rought time I have had over the past month and a half my rabbits always put a smile on my face. So my rabbits are going back on the routine they had before this hole mess….an hour out of the cages in the morning, with pellets after play time and an hour to and hour and a half at night with veggies after play time.

Thanks for all the advice. I’ll keep it in mind becauseI want my bunny happy and busy insted of bored and getting into trouble.

[Beka27]

that shift sounds awesome! for you too… not too early, not too late at night. and that coincides perfectly with their natural playtime instincts. my rabbit likes to play as late as midnight some nights, so depending on your sleep schedule, as everyone gets accustomed, they might actually be able to have 2-3 hours out at night.

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