Furniture chewing

[Alyssa]

My 7 month old neutered male has recently started chewing/digging at the drawer where I keep his food, treats, bedding, etc. I’m really not sure what to do here, because I know that he does that when he wants more food, but I don’t want to encourage the behavior by giving him more food when he does that. I can’t sit there on the ground and watch him whenever he’s out to keep him from doing it, and it’s wrecking my furniture. 

I really don’t think that he’s actually hungry when he does it. He just wants treats. But he’s on a diet of about 1/4 cup pellets per day, 2 cups leafy greens, and unlimited timothy hay so I really don’t think that I need to be giving him more food. Plus, he still chews on it even if I throw some treats in his ball for him to roll around and eat. 

I’ve been putting him on “time out” in his cage when I catch him repeatedly digging and chewing, but it’s not really helping. Distracting him with toys and other things to chew on doesn’t help either, he just really wants what’s in the drawer. I’m at a loss for ideas here. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[LBJ10]

What about fencing it off for awhile?

[Alyssa]

I haven’t tried that, it’s not really in a place that’s easy to fence off. Also I don’t have any kind of baby gates or anything and they’re sooo expensive to buy.

[BunMom#1]

What I would do is move the treats to a different location, and take the drawer out of the frame and position it so your bun can see, smell, feel, that there is nothing inside of value or interest. Its kind of a long shot, but rabbits are smart. Your bun could eventually stop scratching at your furniture if he knows that there is nothing in there. Of course, he could also see the open drawer as an invitation to jump in and chew, in which case I have no clue what to do. But DO NOT give him treats whenever he wants to because this could bring on obesity, which is not healthy for rabbits.

[Author]

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