excessive chewing and waking up around 3 am

[Michelina]

Is there any toy or type of mat I can give my bunny to keep him busier? What are seagrass mats?  He still has leftover wicker balls to chew on and a few toys, but is there anything else I can do? I also think because spring time is approaching, I have a feeling that is why he is acting more hyper than normal…. Any advice?

thanks so much for any ideas! Even though he is driving us nuts, I still adore him, but I need my sleep !!!!!

[LoveChaCha]

Hi there

Where is bunny in your place? If bunny is in your room, you won’t get sleep! From experience, I had interrupted sleep from having my bunny in my bedroom. I decided to move her into the living room and the arrangement is a lot better.

Seagrass mats are mats that rabbits can chew and play with. Also, unpeeled and peeled willow baskets are great for holding hay and for chewing. Just make sure there are no chemicals. The safe bet is stores online that sell rabbit toys (binkybunny store!). Also newspaper is great. It is safe as the paper is made of soy. Phonebooks. Just remove the cover.

Rabbits are active during dawn time and late nights. They tend to snooze around daytime

Welcome to BB!

[peppypoo]

Agreed with LoveChaCha – if possible, moving your bun’s cage out of the room might help you get some better sleep. Chewable toys that give them something to “work on” might be a good distractor. I give Peppy timothy hay cubes before I go to sleep at night, and she chews it all night, lol.

[K.in.VA]

My little guy also sleeps in the same room as me. I’ve found that he’s a little quieter if I cover his cage with a sheet for the night. I guess he’s a bit less rowdy when he’s not sure if he has an audience!

[Michelina]

Thank you all for your advice!! You are all sooo kind.  Nice to find a place where everyone is a bunny lover like me and my hubby.

Marley is a free range rabbit. He gets to roam freely, as our place has been bunny proofed… but he still loves to chew… I put a gate near the spot that he was chewing and this helped a bit. I do want to get him some more toys and things to keep him happy and busy.

[RabbitPam]

I love seagrass mattes. They are sort of healthy, woven hay, so great to chew. But they are especially good to use to cover any carpets or floor areas that have been chewed already, to stop that behavior and give a chewing alternative. I broke Sammy of the habit of pulling up carpet edges by cutting my seagrass into 2″ strips and covering along the baseboards in tempting areas. They are good for better traction on tiled floors, too.

More toys and chewable distractions, yes. Just don’t get up every time he chews on bars to wake you. It will teach him that making noise will get the result he wants, your attention or treats, and he will do it more, not less.

If you ignore him now, just completely stay still and don’t get up or speak, he may soon realize it isn’t working. If you give him a bedtime toy before you get to bed, so he associates it with “here is tonight’s toy. Don’t expect me to get up for you again.” he may learn that is his new routine and that’s all he’ll get. It’s positive reinforcement for NOT chewing. Negative punishment, or actions resulting from negative behaviors, do not work on bunnies. They are smart enough to train and to teach results from positive behaviors. For now, do nothing when you hear noise.

[Michelina]

 Thanks RabbitPam! Sounds like Excellent Advice! THANK YOU !

[Lintini]

I have 5 rabbits in my bedroom…I don’t want to jinx myself right now but I’ve been sleeping well. Haha!!

I really love the seagrass mats, in fact you have reminded me to order some more!! I give them lots of things to chew on to keep them busy and also I try to feed veggies and pellets before bed so they have stuff to eat through the night too. That’s how my schedule with them is though, I do pellets/veggies in morning before I leave to work/school then another round and night before bed.

[Deleted User]

I can’t sleep with racing/nibbling rabbits around me so I too recommend moving the bunny to an area where you can’t hear him, just for overnight. You need your sleep, that’s important too.

[Author]

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