Chewing on cage constantly!!!

[BbsBunny]

My youngest rabbit, Frankie (5 mths), has been chewing on his cage constantly.  My older bunny, Binny (1 yr 10 mths), did this when we moved him to his new cage but we sprayed him with water and he would immediately stopped. And hasn’t done it since.  Frankie just takes the water doesn’t move looks me right in the eye, and continues chewing. He has started to chew a lot of the white paint off, and i’m very worried it is going to hurt his tummy or something.

And my boyfriend works 3:30 pm-2:00 am. So he can get no sleep.

Is there any other disciplinary action i could take?

[NewBunnyOwner123]

Harley does this if he’s feeling cooped up and not getting enough free run time.

[NewBunnyOwner123]

You can also try lacing the wire with bitter spray so it won’t taste pleasant when he chews. When Harley kept chewing on my wall I had to put hot sauce and water droplets on it because the spray didnt work. People on here say not to do it but its the only thing that keeps them from chewing my stuff up and none of them have had adverse reactions. Better than ingesting paint, IMO. I washed the hot sauce off after a few days and he hasn’t gone back to it yet

[Beka27]

Does he have things to chew in his cage? Maybe try weaving a grass mat through the bars where he is chewing.

Another option is to attach an xpen to the cage so he can come out when he wants, but isn’t completely free.

As a last resort, you may want to consider relocating him so he isn’t disturbing your sleep.

I am assuming the paint used on the cage is non toxic. To be on the safe side, maybe contact the manufacturer and ask.

[Brandi Lynn]

I used to keep my bunny, Pongo, in his cage for the majority of the day, letting him out to play in my bunny proofed bedroom for about 4 hours a day. Progressively, he started hating being in his cage and would CONSTANTLY be chewing on the bars and scratching at them (he eventually learned how to push the cage door open, somehow) and I could never get any sleep. I ended up leaving him out his cage constantly, as you would let a cat (in a bunny proofed room, of course, and it helps that he’s potty trained). I don’t know if this would be a viable option for you, but I would consider it if letting him out of his longer than what you’ve been letting him doesn’t help. Really, he’s chewing his cage out of boredom. Especially a 5 month old bunny who’s reached/reaching sexual maturity, he’s got all of this pent up energy that he needs to release.

I truly believe that any disciplinary action won’t work, since you’ve already tried to discipline him. You shouldn’t try disciplining a rabbit who just wants to release his energy that he has stored. He needs to be let out more and exercised.

 

EDIT** I also recommend getting him neutered, as that will also tame him. 

[61Rabbit]

I attached chew wood blocks to the area where my boy rabbit would chew on the cage bars, and that reduced the time he chewed on the bars! His pair doesn’t chew the bars at all, so sometimes some rabbits prefer to chew more than others! Putting toys in their cage (cardboard crawl-through size tunnels; kitchen roll cardboard; wooden tunnels, etc.) helps keep them stimulated, and as everyone has posted above, increasing exercise time should reduce bar-chewing time – especially as he is a young rabbit who’ll have bundles of energy and needs to be active physically and mentally.

Edit: I second the opinion that neutering/spaying calms rabbits down, too! They seem to mellow out more once they’ve had their ops! 

[BbsBunny]

Yes he loves to chew wood and has plenty of chew toys in his cage and out! (And an old tshirt he loves to dig in) I let him out all day, everyday and put him up at night (8hrs). So that is why i am so confused. I tried letting him play in a cardboard play house but him and my other bunny just did not like it at all. Binny likes roll toys more and paper bags. And Frankie just like to chew i guess LOL.

[61Rabbit]

I found that as my oldest rabbit passed the age of 6 months, she also stopped her habit of digging frantically in a specific area – aging itself can mellow them out, and the neutering op certainly helps too! My boy rabbit is 7 months old and he has stopped chewing as frequently as he did a couple of months ago, even!

If he chews later on at night after he has been running around outside his cage, I’ll check to see that the hay is topped up, chop up some peppers and hide them around the cage, move around toys in his cage for him to investigate a ‘new’ set-up, that kind of thing! I only wish my girl rabbit would tell him to quit making so much noise, too lol!

[BbsBunny]

Can you make the bitter spray at home?

[rosie_b]

I am having this very same problem, but Rosie is never locked in her cage, constantly has free-range of my room, and access numerous toys scattered about that she does play with. She only chews on on one section of the cage wire too, and it makes a lot of noise.

My rabbit has such strange habits that never fail to puzzle me. I can’t think of anything to stop her from doing it because she doesn’t react to a spray bottle, and she doesn’t react to my change in tone of voice.

[Rufus]

I have this problem too. I got my bun a double x-pen to run around in with lots of toys, wood to chew, tunnels etc. because I can’t bunny proof my house since it belongs to my housemates. With all of that stuff to do and space to run, Rufus just wants to chew through the bars of the x-pen. It drives me crazy! Yesterday I tried the water spraying method and just ended up with a very wet bunny. I tried the bitter spray too and it seemed like it would work for a second but then he seemed to decide it didn’t bother him that much and kept chewing.

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