What can I do about the bar chewing???

[FredsDad]

Fred is really getting out of control with his chewing of the cage bars early in the morning. At first it was once every 5-7 days. Now it is EVERY MORNING. Its driving me nuts. Anyone have an idea why he is doing this or what I can do to slow it down? He doesnt do it at all the rst of the day, only really early in the morning. He has things in his cage to chew on too!

Any help would be great!
Tom

[babybunsmum]

hmmm.  funny how ‘gentle woodland creatures’ can be upto such loud mischief in the wee hours ins’t it?  sounds like Fred is still trying hard to shift the schedule more in his favor… ‘let me out now!’   my bun gets sidetracked by paper projects (phone book / newspaper / balled-up paper).  it still makes noise but maybe you could give it a try?  good luck! 

[FredsDad]

It has happened all of a sudden. I finally flip the lights on after he has woken me up and the chewing stops. I am really getting to the point where I will have to take his cage into another room.

[babybunsmum]

all of a sudden huh?  wierd.  i wonder why.  how old is fred? 

[FredsDad]

Fred is 2 yrs and 6 weeks

[babybunsmum]

i had to move my first bun’s cage out of my room.  he was so darn cute but also a cage rattler.  maybe thats the solution for you too like you mentioned.  i’m thinking if fred starts chewing away and it doesn’t disturb you, after a while he might ease up knowing it won’t get a response.  he’s still pretty young so he could settle down a bit as he gets older.  he’s neutered right?

[FredsDad]

No, he isn neutered. He has a blood condition that keeps it from clotting, so surgery, even minor, might be life threatening.
Thanks for all of your support.
Tom

[xnovalentine]

You might want to consider setting up a pen area for fred so that when he rattles his cage in the morning you can let him out and let him think he’s out of his cage a bit but still contained. you can get them at petstores like petsmart. My rabbit has her own room, and when she rattles her cage so it wakes me up i just let her out and run around the room and she’s happy enough to quit making so much noise.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Kokanee did this too…It was pretty much a “wake up wake up I want out!”…Can you let him out in the am and get back to bed? I do this or just let her out while i am getting ready for work…

[Gravehearted]

Yes, it seems highly suspicious that he’s chomping the bars until you get up. Sounds like you’ve got a bunny alarm clock 😉
Do you feed him in the mornings? I agree with Kokaneeandkahlua, it sounds like a FEED ME NOW and PAY ATTENTION to me thing.

Since it sounds like he already has a lot of toys to chew on, adding more isn’t likely to stop the behavior. I wonder what would happen if you ignore him doing it for several days. He may get the point that he can’t train you to come by chewing the bars.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Hehe…I am so bad..I know you shouldn’t cave in to their bad behaviors but honestly when Kokanee askes out I just let her out! hehe…

Sarita is right though, it would be better to ignore him or he’ll have you trained

[LittlePuffyTail]

Stormy does this. He starts when he hears me in the morning feeding the cats cuz he knows I’m gonna feed him next (and apparently I never do it fat enough). He also does it if he knows I’m getting ready to give him a treat or if he hears me open the veggie crisper. I swear, he is the worst brat in the world but I think everything he does is freakin adorable!

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