My rabbit won’t stop digging in the same spot

[Saurad]

Hi everyone,

4.5 months ago I adopted a 2years old rabbit (Muffin). He is awesome and very cuddly and sweet. He is an indoors rabbit and is currently free roaming. Recently, he started digging and biting one corner of the bed. He wouldn’t let it go. Even if I try to distract him with food he just wont stop. I have to sit on that corner until he decided to leave the room and give up. It lasted 1h today. It’s a mixture of grunts, diging like crazy and biting the sheets. To me, it feels like he is frustrated, but I don’t know what about. I don’t mind he destroys my sheets, I much worried about anything I might be doing that makes him unhappy. I thought it was a call for attention at the beginning however he won’t want anything to do with me while he is digging. I also thought he might be bored but I have tones of toys that he ignores completely, different boxes with 2 entrances at every room, a digging box, and soft bed in every room too.

Does anyone see anything I am missing? Any ideas of what could be going on? Anyone with a similar experience than can share how they made them stop?

Many thanks!!!!

 

 

[HipHopBunny]

Hi @Saurad

His set-up around the house sounds great. 🙂 Does he have lots of toys throughout it too? Toys can help take your buns’ mind off digging and some other bad behaviors. Interesting about is being in only one spot. Could you describe the spot he is digging at more? Is it just wall, does it have something different about it?

Is he neutered? Rabbits who are not neutered tend to be more restless too, and if he is not, then he could get really bad hormones, which are hard to deal with.

Wishing you luck and a wall with no bunny scars 😉

[Saurad]

Thanks a lot for the reply.

Toys are everywhere too, and I moved them around so he has to look for them etc. I feel sometimes he would benefit from a bunny relationship as he follows me and grooms me a lot. It’s on my plans but I have to move cities soon so I’ll wait for that to happen first.

The spot is one corner of the bed, next to the pillows. He also bites the pillow cases in the process but it only happens in that corner. When I sit there he is clearly disappointed and waits until I get tired and move. Then he jumps back up and starts again.

He is neutered.

I also moved the mattress around in case there was a different smell in that corner, but it didn’t make a difference.

[prince dorian the bun]

My bun get’s certain corners where he get’s obsessive about digging in corners, blankets especially add to it. I find making the area less appealing get’s him to stop after a while. Usually a board, piece of cardboard, or such in the area and removing blankets helps. Or a box with some shredded paper or one of his blankets if you want him to be able to dig and just not destroy your bed? I don’t think your bun is mad per say just caught up the high of a good dig 😀

[HipHopBunny]

Hmmm, that is odd. 😕  I don’t get why he would be digging in just one corner.

Here is a website that might help https://myhouserabbit.com/rabbit-behavior/how-to-deal-with-chewing-digging/

I hope that you find the answer. Good luck!

[DanaNM]

Bunnies can get obsessed about digging in specific spots. On the floor, usually putting a heavy ceramic tile is enough to get them to give up (or at least protect that spot). Maybe you could try that on the bed corner?

Other than that, probably easiest to keep him off the bed unfortunately.

. . . 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.  

[Saurad]

Thanks alot to everyone!

I will try to cover the area with different things and let’s see how it goes. If I find anything that stops his obsession I will add he info here in case it helps someone else too

[Saurad]

Update – he has periods where he doesn’t care about digging and others when he goes back to be very into it. I have upgraded his digging box with another type of sand and making it bigger, but it doesn’t look like it makes him be less obsessed with the bed digging. I now cover the bed with a velvet texture cover and it prevents him from digging. He pretty much stops digging as soon as the cover is on.

[DanaNM]

Glad you found some sort of solution! That’s interesting about the velvet texture, I’ll have to keep that in mind!

. . . 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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