Flooring troubles

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

I am making a new cage for my bunnies once they are bonded. I have a cage for one of my bunnies which is a exercise pen with a luces of wood covered in vinyl squares as the floor but that is slippery for her. The other cage I have for Ollie my other bunny is a c&c cage the bottom is coraplast which used to have fleece on the bottom for the floor before he started to eat it now it is just coraplast which is slippery for him but better than him eating the fleece. The cage I am planning to make for them when they are bonded is a 4 by 3 c&c girds ( each panel is 13.8 inches). I can’t use vinyl or just have coraplast because it is slippery. I also can’t do fleece or foam mats because Ollie would eat it. I am out of ideas please help, and thank you.

[Wick & Fable]

You can try low-pile carpet squares, which are typically easy to find in hardware stores! They usually have a rubbery-backing, so they will stay firm on top of coroplast/vinyl without needing to tape them down or anything.

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.

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

Thank you for the idea. I found a loop pile carpet tiles. Do you think that they would be able to tear this up? They are very dedicated to ripping thing apart, and have done so to all of the things possible to rip up, books, their beds, fleece, my medium pile carpet, bedsheet, purses, wires, curtains, harnesses, leashes, brushes, litter boxes, my bed and more.

[Wick & Fable]

So it is important that you provide plenty of things for them to rip up when they want to– that drive to chew/dig is not going change, so it is the responsibility of us rabbit owners to provide each rabbit with as much stimulation as their energy level seems to require. If yours are higher on the spectrum of destruction, you need to get more toys for them more regularly (as rabbit toys tend to be consumable and do not last long). That overall should reduce their destruction towards your actual property. If you’re having trouble finding toys that keep them occupied, feel free to start a new topic about it and active members can help you brainstorm and give ideas.

Hard to say without being able to feel the carpet itself, but you want it to be a bit “tight” so it’s not as easy for a rabbit to just bite the floor and be able to get a tuft to start pulling on.

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.

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

Ok. I do get tons of toys for my rabbits many different type they play with them the first day then don’t. I think I will start a new topic. Thank you again.

[RabbitPam]

I found this rug at Home Depot on display under patio furniture. It’s only a foot larger around an X-pen, is smooth low pile so hard to chew. The best floor cover so far cause that cute little tail has a front end that chews a lot!

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

That sounds like it would work great. Could you put the link in. I can’t find it.

[DanaNM]

For my chewers I use a vinyl layer on the bottom that is a bit textured. They usually have some options at home depot that are not too slippery. Then I add seagrass or paper mats on top for a bit more traction. You can also even put down pieces of cardboard over the vinyl, and then just swap them out when they get soiled. It’s not the nicest looking but it is safe and not slippery!

Phone books (if you can find one) are excellent for destructo-bunnies with the urge to dig and shred. I’ve also had a lot of luck with cardboard cat scratchers.

. . . 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.  

[RabbitPam]

I’m sorry but I don’t have a link. I bought it in the store long before Covid hit, so in person, and I wanted a second one some time later and they were sold out. I posted so you could see a tight, low pile area rug. I’m sure you could find one like it in stores like Home Depot, Lowes, or Target. Don’t get one with a chemical coating for outdoors, but this was for porch furniture so more firm than soft. They would have rolls of the area rugs of different sizes and you can measure the area your xpen covers and look for the next bigger standard size. I tell by feel.

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

I found lots of rugs and carpet tiles have recycled plastic is this okay?

[DanaNM]

I think the plastic in carpeting should be OK as long as they don’t end up eating it.

 

. . . 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.  

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

That is what i am worried about. I don’t want to spend the money, then stick them on the coroplast, only for them to eat it. I would have to get more coroplast then figure out another flooring. Have anyone ever tried this and had them chew it up?

[DanaNM]

Coroplast is pretty soft (relatively speaking), so they could chew it if they can access the edges.

What about a sheet of plywood with peel and stick tiles or a sheet of vinyl attached to it? Then some grass or paper mats on top?

. . . 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.  

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

They won’t have access to the edges there will be nibble guards on it. One of my rabbit cages ( I have two currently) is plywood with peel and stick tiles on it and it is slippery so there would have to be like you said grass or paper mats on top. I don’t know what grass or paper mats are though?

[DanaNM]

There are quite a few options for seagrass mats in the Binky Bunny store, my bunnies really like them. They do nibble on them so it doubles as enrichment, and they are woven in a way that they don’t fall apart right away.

I’ve also bought various timothy mats, but they tend to fall apart too quickly for me.

You can make mats out of newspaper or cardboard, if you google “paper mat for bunny” there are several tutorial options, and they are all generally the same technique! I used to have a favorite tutorial for making one out of newspaper, but the website isn’t showing up anymore! Going to try to find it so I can share. It’s pretty quick to do and the bunnies do tend to love them.

. . . 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.  

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

My rabbits dig on cardboard and there is holes in it in less than an hour, they really enjoy it, but it wouldn’t work because of that. I don’t have any newspaper like ever so I don’t think I would be able to to do that. I put seagrass toys in there cages which fall apart in about one day, so that most likely won’t work too. Timothy my sister and mom are allergic to. Thanks though.

[Wick & Fable]

So redirection can be very important. Rabbits won’t just chew anything all the time without preference. Low pile carpet might be a chew hazard, but if you have the Timothy mats and cardboard on top, the rabbit may chew those instead of the carpet. It sometimes takes the owner to shape that behavior too, so if you notice your rabbit is chewing the flooring, hold up other things in the way and let the rabbit exhaust the energy on that.

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.

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

Okay thank you I am going to try carpet tiles, hopefully I don’t wake up to holes in them.

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

The carpet tiles I ordered didn’t work. I am thinking I want to put green  carpet/carpet tiles. Do you guys know any?

[Wick & Fable]

By they didn’t work, do you mean your rabbits are chewing at them? If so, is it in the middle or at edges/corners?

If they didn’t work, I am slightly confused why you’re interested in green carpet, but I think you’d need to look online or go directly to the store to find where green ones are available.

If by ‘green’ you mean environmentally friendly/natural, then it’s likely you’ll want 100% cotton rugs or something instead.

This link outlines some other flooring options to consider: https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Housing#Enclosure_Setup

 

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.

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

The one I ordered wasn’t cuttable to the size I need like I thought it was. I want green colored carpet/carpet tiles because it would go with the theme of the cage.

[Wick & Fable]

Oh got it. Also I understand wanting to get the green to stick to the theme, haha. If it is simply a thicker carpet, you could potentially bring it to a fabric or hardware store and they could cut it to size for you! They are better equiped with carpet cutting tools.

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.

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

would it be okay if it was made out of recycled plastic bottles.

[Wick & Fable]

Natural fibers would be best, in case your rabbits ingest it. You also want to make sure it’s somewhat soft, not rough.

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.

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