Couch biting

[auntie]

When my rabbit is free roaming with supervision he likes to lick my leather couch. He also has chewed my leather couch in places . I’ve put blankets on my couch in which he licks the blanket but tries to get the blanket off.

is there something I can do to prevent chewing my couch?
he is like a kid in trouble because when I catch him he looks at me and flops over and acts really cute

 

[BrunosMama]

Haha, they always seem to know when they’re in trouble! Mine always give me the “What? I’m not doing anything!” face (usually as they are sitting right next to the evidence lol). Or, our girl bun Georgia will do binkies when she gets scolded for digging in the cat boxes and we shoo her out lol.🙄

The blankets or a slipcover were my first thought, something you could maybe tuck into the cushions that would take some effort to dig out. The other option would be to block off access to the couch while Bun is out playing. You could use an xpen to pit around the front of the couch so he can’t jump up.

Is he free roam all the time or just for playtime?

[auntie]

He is free roam during play time , but I have a huge cage with his door open 24/7 and I have a large dog pen attached to the cage with a door that is shut. That way he can still run around and have lots of room if I can’t supervise him. And that way he can’t get into trouble

[LBJ10]

I like the idea of a fitted slip cover. And if it gets chewed, it’s just a slip cover.

[auntie]

I’m going to check Amazon. Hopefully I can find one for leather couches that way it stays on and not slip off

 

 

thank you 😊

[Wick & Fable]

It’s tough to cover things they want to chew since rabbits are very drawn to things with “give”, so unless the cover is super tight, it might actually exacerbate the behavior!

Maybe try offering something more appealing on the couch (though I understand you don’t want random junk on your couch…). Plain cardboard cat scratchers are pretty well contained and you can throw one on the couch to redirect the chewing energy perhaps.

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.

[mia]

One of my buns is attracted to leather and pleather and will nose and move things to get to it. I wonder if there’s a smell that even covering and blocking didn’t really help  Luckily for me, I only have small items so I relocated them to cabinets.

[Author]

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