Chewing every carpet I own and more

[Jules]

My bunny just won’t stop chewing the carpet. The edges are protected so now she just chews wherever she feels like. I have had her just under 3 months and is around 9 months old, her first few months she didn’t have the best of starts always well cared for but due to other bunnies being miss sexed went from pillar to post. She has loads of toys and things she can chew apart from food toys and cardboard she is just not interested. She will take treats from me but won’t come for a cuddle so I wonder if she needs a pal. I am at my wits end on what to do next. Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Wick & Fable]

There are many suggestions and trial and error things users will suggest, so hopefully we can help save your carpet! I’m sure other users will have plenty of suggestions.

Is she spayed? This can help really reduce those “destructive” tendencies rabbits have. There is also an especially health-focused reason to have females spayed in particular.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Jules]

She was spayed 4 weeks ago and has made a excellent recovery xx

[Hazel]

She might like the carpet better because it doesn’t move around and she can get a good grip and tear into it. Try attaching some cardboard to her cage, that might make it more enticing.

[Dface]

Is she eating the carpet or just ripping it up ? My female went through a phase like this and my god she was like a dog with a bone. My main solution was to cover the carpet with cheap rugs that she could wreck without costing me a fortune, until I found her things she would rather be doing.

You could also purchase fleece and lay it down smooth as possible over the carpet. I think there is something about carpet being textured that is the appeal – my girl loved ripping each individual thread up, and it allowed her to get the sensation of digging.

Similar to that, lay lino over the carpet, or interlocking foam mats-this will block the carpet and hopefully she will forget the bad habit and you can then remove the lino.

I am a huge advocate for diggy boxes- You can fill cardboard up with shredded paper, or shredded fleece pieces and hide treats in there.
If you are brave (or fool hardy like me) you can give her an actual container with soil or sand, or grow grass in one of those underbed storage containers and let her tear at that for a bit.
I used to think rabbits chewing and digging were two  separate activities, but from watching them, they actually use their mouth while digging as much as their paws, so for mine dig boxes helped a lot with the chewing of the floors/walls

Keep in mind this is not a boredom behaviour, this is a rabbit behaviour. She is designed  to chew and unfortunatly your carpet is the substrate she has landed on.

 

[HipHopBunny]

Agree with @Dface, you should make the carpet uninteresting to her. Another way is too put down lots of toys, and when she chews on something more appropriate, reward her with extra pets, or a treat. You could also put down little toys where she is digging, such as cardboard boxes, and hidey houses. One thing my buns LOVE is grass mats, which are usually gone within a day or two. 🙂

Wishing you a whole carpet 😉

[Wick & Fable]

I agree with @Hazel that toys have hold a variable amount of interest, depending on their material, weight, and “anchor-edness”.

My Fable has “chewing times” every day, which are very routine. She also has “tossing times” too. During chewing times, I need to be holding onto the piece of cardboard or the willow toy so she can really tear and chew at it. During tossing times, she just likes tossing a box full of junk over and then I put everything back, in which she responds by tossing it again. Notably, chewing time is her favorite, most frequent, and longest activity period, so I do think there is simply more interest in pulling and tugging at something that someone or something is holding.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[DanaNM]

She might still be going through a bit of “post-spay craze” which will hopefully die down in a couple more weeks. That said, my bridge bunny Bertha was a serious carpet digger.

What worked with her was to cover the carpet hot spots (as she seemed to have specific areas she would get obsessed with) with a heavy ceramic tile, and then give cardboard cat scratchers as alternatives. Something about digging at and ripping up the cardboard cat scratcher seemed to satisfy the same urge. This was discovered accidentally because I also have a cat!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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