Digging Distractions

[belleandferdinand]

Ferdinand (since destroying the ottoman on the first days of his new anti-obesity diet) has now taken to digging in the rug – luckily a cheap IKEA one, but he basically burrows into it then shreds it. He has a few toys, but I haven’t added anything new recently. Does anyone have any ideas on a digging distraction?

[dmh426]

Sophie is a digger. I shred all my bills and junk mail in the shredder and put the shreddings in her cage and she digs away. I also bought her a cheap hand woven mat from walmart and put it in her cage for her to lay on and dig at. Boxes full of shredded paper. An old phone book. I had to get creative to save my Pottery Barn furniture. Good luck!

[belleandferdinand]

Thanks.. I just ordered a shredder from Amazon and I hope that will do the trick. They have the run of the living and dining room, so I just hope I can distract him from a new source of destruction

[CaptJackRabbit]

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a newbie with a bunny. I’ve had him for 2 weeks, but he is also a digger. Knowing that, I bought him a hand towel from Goodwill. He LOVES digging with it. I just leave it in his cage. Also, from the clothes I’ve been wearing, he like flannel alot, so I’ll probably get him some of that as well. He also likes newspaper bunching and shredding.

Also- is my bunny the only one who eliminates (both pees and poops) while digging? I’m trying to litter box train, but you can only have some many boxes of shredded paper! Suggestions?

[x liddo bunny x]

well first of all like your other topic, fix him, he would be much easier to potty train. try making his digging box different from his litterbox. mine now knows the difference between their bed and their litterbox. in their bed/digging box i have a bunch of towels. you dont even need a box. just a pile of towels probably 2 -3 hand towels (not the tiny face towels, the larger one) and both of my bunnies dig and nibble till they are worn out. =P well that or till they get bored. mine dont dig so much but for their digging needs, that works. either that or mine digs on those small carpet blocks. they prefer those more than my carpet. hopefully that helps. =)

[Hedi]

Another idea is to get an extra litter box and put a little sand in it from a hardware store. Huge back for just a few dollars. But that gives them something to dig around and play in. Just make sure its in a place for easy cleanup.

[belleandferdinand]

I was thinking about a sandbox but then my friends said I was nuts.. at this point I might try a deep box filled with shredded paper , a towel and sand (and on the spot where the ottoman was.. which is the same spot where the rug that he’s destroyed is). Ferdinand is consistent in his bunny destruction

[Hedi]

I agree a sand box sounds crazy but if you can contain the mess its perfect for digging. Plus if you buy sand for a childs sandbox there is no worries about bugs or anything from real beach sand. I have a hedgie as well and they burrow in the wild too so a sandbox is perfect for them as well.

[Deleted User]

Oh and i forgot to say.. Teddy too was a digger (on my sofa and bed mainly) anyway i got him a blanket that he could dig but he eats it so that went in the bin.. then i shredded loads of paper and filled a material pet house i found for a £1 and filled it to the brim with the paper… and now he digs around in that.. it keeps him occupied for ages rustling around in the paper… he goes in straight underneath it all then flies out at top speed and the paper all comes out with him.. he then looks at his mess as if to say “cool! look wot i done!”

[skunklionshow]

Jessica prefers to dig into my flesh….at least most of the time.  Our diggers at work love shredded paper.  My supervisor has a shredder for confidential docs and it creates enough shreds for 2 bunnies. 

Leo loves having the shreds in his bed…the more the better.  For Trigger, I bought a cardboard tube for cement.  I filled the tube w/ balled up newspaper.  He loves to dig through to the other side.  Both "toys" are cheap and easy.  Shredded paper is great b/c we need to shred our personal documents…but…be careful what you shred and don’t mix in plastic windowed envelopes, strange paper materials or colors, or shiny papers.  Many buns eat the paper and that stuff is obviously no good!

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