Chewing on Cage Bars…

[FredsDad]

Just curious as to why bunnies chew on cage bars. Fred seems to do it a lot in the morning and late at night. Is this an attention getter? He’s also recently started chewing on his litterpan.

Thanks,
Tom

[xnovalentine]

Well for one thing – bunnies chew on EVERYTHING! So watch out for cords and unsafe materials that Fred may get ahold of. They’re teeth are always growing and they have a natural instinct to chew as they must in order to wear down their front teeth. If they’re teeth get to long, it causes problems like not being able to eat, etc. If this happens you have to take your bunny to the vet to get them trimmed.

My rabbit – lullabelle – she chews on her cage bars as well and it only means one thing: “LET ME OUT!” Rabbits are more active during dawn and dusk hours, and this is when lullabelle starts chewing on the bars in her cage because she’s restless and wants to run (i mean RUN) around. So typically i am awoken by the crashing sounds of her cage being destroyed, her food bowl flipped, chewing on the cage, and the water bottle falling off from all the chewing.

For the litterbox chewing i would probably say that he is just chewing on it to chew on something. It’s not unusual just watch out for him ingesting plastic or alot of litter. This won’t be good!

[Molotov]

One of my bunnies does that as well, I think its to get attention/food/let out to play. He knows whenever he does it I immediately acknowledge him so I guess its his way of getting service quicker. “Lemme outta here! Why is my bowl empty? Why aren’t you looking at how cute I am?” etc

[FredsDad]

He has a towel in his cage that he lays on, but he pulls the threads out of it as well. I thought he was eating them at first, but I watched him and he pulls out a thread and then moves on to another piece. I was gonna go play with him right now, but he is laying next to the litter pan and taking a rest while watching SportsCenter.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Oh my SportCenter! You simply cannot interrupt that!  My two also chew on the bars when they want out.  They way bunnies explore their enviroment is by chewing also, but it can also mean that they want that litterbox or object moved some place else out of their way. I am thinking the chewing on the litter box is because it is not exactly how he would have it arranged as Fred may have wanted to lay in its spot but relented and laid down next to it instead.

[babybunsmum]

maybe freds seeing too much ufc on sports centre & trying out some moves? 

[Gravehearted]

ha ha babybunsmum! i love it

[skunklionshow]

Trigger used to do this all the time when he was returned to his cage.  He had free roam in his classroom from 7:45 am to about 4pm.  Ocassionally when the kids had a test or were too distracted by Mr. Triggs, he would get sent to his cage.  He would immediately start gnawing his cage bars.  He also did this when I let him out first thing. Like he was saying "your here, great…let me OUT!". He’d also gnaw when he got locked up in the evening.  Sometimes, we would let him stay out all night, b/c the custodians loved him.  He too would gnaw on his litterbox & throw/tip it.  I had to get a $ store dishpan w/ curved edges.  I zip tied it to a cage bar and things were well.  The kids frequently brought him cardboard rolls, cardboard pieces, and built him a wood box, all of which he gnawed to his heart’s content.  I also bought him willow and grass balls.

[lucygoosey]

Lucy does this EVERYMORNING. Again I agree it has a lot to do with the extra energy in the wee hours of the morning. She’s pretty good though she will wait until she absolutely CANNOT WAIT ANY LONGER and then it will be like a tornado in a bunny cage.

I usually wake up let her out and fill in the bowl with pellets. She will then proceed to do binkies back and forth from the kitchen to the cage which just makes even more noise but I’m just glad she’s happy.

I am quite a napper too so when I nap Lucy seems to know and will quite down. However, I’ve noticed that she will bite the cage for no reason (even if the doors are all open) and some of the bars the paint is starting to chip off so I have covered them with towels clamped onto the side of the cage because I was afraid she was eating it.

I don’t know about you but I have a bunny who is WAY too smart for her own good. She has mastered the untying of knots, removing clothpins (used to hold up her towels and keep her blanket in place) and she constantly opens her gate to get in under my bed. Such a naughty bun.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

One thing you could try and has mostly ended up working for me is those chew toy ka bobs with the bell on the bottom (as long as the noice doesn’t bother you)…Kokanee and Kahlua mostly ring that when they want out rather then chew now…I joke that they are ringing for service-fresh towels and the bedsheets turned down!

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