Digging carpet

[Sugarbear]

Since we got Cinnabun from a county animal shelter in July, she has had a rather smooth transition into our family.  She still is a little skittish, but she and Sugarbear are bonding easily.  Since she is getting more comfortable with us and her surroundings, more of her personallity is coming out.  She has started chewing baseboard and digging up large amounts of carpet.  We made her a diggy box that doesn’t really interest her.  She squeezes into tight areas and digs there, like between her pen and the wall.  Or any corner in the house.  We put items blocking off these areas and it seems to help but we are always one step behind.  We put chew toys near where she is eating the baseboard and that seemed to help.  Is there any thing that we might try to help her dig somewhere not so expensive to replace?

[Otti]

My rabbit does that too… I’m hoping his neuter on Saturday will help some with this (fingers crossed). I’m guessing Cinnabun is already fixed though right?

What has helped for me is mainly covering every corner in which he digs with parts of a yellow page book. I split one book up into smaller sections just ten or so pages thick, and place them along the walls in the corners in which Sammy likes to dig and chew. That has helped a lot. Most of the time he doesn’t move them and go for the carpet, but chews on the yellow pages instead.

I used to spray the area with perfume and it would deter him for a few days, but that no longer works and I don’t want him to ‘eat’ a ton of perfume lol Also, I stay pretty much on top of him all the time while he’s out by listening for the tell-tale chewing noise and immediately finding him and saying NO firmly, and moving him away if necessary so he gets the picture. He totally knows what No means, and I think being consistent is what’s most important…

I also think that adding more things for him to chew on seems to help as well. He went about a week and a half without a willow chew ring from his pen (he loves the binkybunny ones) and I really saw his rug chewing spike during that time… it seems to have calmed down a bit now that he has a new ring and more stuff to chew on.

Hope this helps!

[dmh426]

My bun is a five year old spayed rex and she still loves to dig at my carpet. i put down the pet fresh powder everytime i vacuumn and that seems to deter her- the perfumey smell, plus it is approved for pets. she has lots of other stuff to play with, but always goes for my carpet!

[jerseygirl]

My approach probably enables the behaviour, I guess that is what the diggy box is for too. If that doesn’t hold appeal for her, I would put things can be dug at in those places in the places she favours. Wedge them in or anchor them. It would keep her occupied and she’s digging at something safe that can be destroyed. Try grass mats, thick cardboard or carpet offcuts if she doesn’t eat it. To her it’s a project, like digging at a boundary fenceline, creating a bolt hole “just in case”. Some bunnies view barriers as a challenge.

[Chazz]

I sorta do the same thing as Otti, but I use plain index cards tied together. Fun to chew and pull apart. And since they’re plain white cards, I’m assuming they are ok to eat small bits of. Its to keep him from chewing on my bookshelf, but same idea.

[RabbitPam]

I took a seagrass matte and cut it into 2″ wide strips, laying them right at the edges of the carpet where she’d started to dig. She lost interest soon.

[lwayne]

Posted By dmh426 on 09/25/2010 07:51 PM
My bun is a five year old spayed rex and she still loves to dig at my carpet. i put down the pet fresh powder everytime i vacuumn and that seems to deter her- the perfumey smell, plus it is approved for pets. she has lots of other stuff to play with, but always goes for my carpet!

Whats the name of that power stuff? Is it Arm& Hammer brand?  Do you vacuum it up?  My buns chew in the middle of the carpet, and there are only so many spots that can be covered.

[Beka27]

If you can wedge tiny boxes into these areas so she can’t get back there, that may help. Laptop boxes, or BB shipment boxes, or shoeboxes all might work. A flattened piece of cardboard anchored down in that spot will protect the carpet.

[Nibbles_NZ]

Baxter was notorious for digging up carpet. Baxter only did it in corners and along baseboards and by the edge of his pen too. I don’t think it is just the digging they are wanting to do. The rabbit instinct is to escape from anything that confines them. A cage, a pen or a house. I think Baxter and your bun were trying to dig out. Otherwise they would be doing it in the middle of the carpet too. I covered those areas with a ceramic tile. If that is an eyesore for you than block it off in any way you can when they are out.

[Dreya T]

Frankie is notorious for chewing, so we keep a pile of carpet offcuts and when he starts showing interest in a new area of carpet we don’t want him chewing, we put a piece of carpet over the area – and this is the important bit – and we secure it down so he can’t pull it out of the way. He’s not so fond of digging the carpet offcuts and tends to lose interest quite quickly.

[Alina]

I need help with that too. How do you make them interested in the diggy box?

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By Alina on 10/01/2010 06:26 PM
I need help with that too. How do you make them interested in the diggy box?

Some bunnies just naturally find it more fun than others.  Rucy loved playing in the diggy box.  Jack not so much, and it seem to confuse Vivian.  But they are also much older now and not so active — but they did start diggin’ a bit when I hit pellets and treats in the shredded paper.  You might try that. 

 

 

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