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I just can't believe what she has done.

flowergirls

Warren Scout
:cry::cry: Daffodil is nearly 6 months old and is companion to Blackberry- we have had her for 4 months - Blackberry was an indoor rabbit who I felt would be better outdoors with a friend.
They get on great- Daffy due to be spayed next month. Doesn't seem 'hormonal' yet.
Bought a brand new hutch and hutch cover for the newly bonded pair - but Daffy won't stop chewing it- I have got through 2 bottles of chew stoppa in the last couple of months- but it only deters her for minutes. What was a brand new hutch is now a chewed patched up mess.
Daffy and Blackberry have almost complete access to the garden in the day so it can hardly be boredom- often I have found her chewing the hutch when she could be running round the garden- it's like an obsession for her.
Came down this morning and she has chewed a big enough hole to escape- AND through the hutch hugger :(- and is running round the garden- still coming back for the odd chew though. She's got a new obsession with chewing under the hutch so the floor will go next I think.
Blackberry is too big to get through the hole and could possibly get stuck.
I could cry-what can I do to stop her chewing?
I can't afford a new hutch and cover 3 times a year.
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the bad girl herself after escaping
 
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Try giving her other things to chew like branches of unsprayed apple trees? It sounds like territorial behaviour so the spaying should help...
 
we've got a Dutch bunny that does this - I think the wood used on hutches is quite soft which doesn't help.

We bought some planks of wood from Homebase and made a frame to go inside the hutch, which they chew instead. There was no great DIY involved, just cut the wood to size and jammed it in. She now chews the wood, but that is cheap to replace and I think at least it is good for her teeth!
 
Is that a Lavender Lodge from P@H? I have one too and the wood is really soft and just waay too irresistible to nibbling little teeth (I think the joins are too easy for teeth to get into! :lol: )... Frankie chewed a hole in the corner of mine one afternoon too, about the same size as the one Daffy has made in yours :( My husband has strengthened it by cladding the outside of the walls with 2 x 4, so as Frankie nibbles through he just hits these great big thick bits of wood, but it's not ideal.

I don't think it's just boredom, as mine have loads of toys and things to play with (plus the little monster chews things when he's out in the garden too, and he can't be bored then!) it just that, as Squizz says, the wood on those hutches is too soft and easy to chew.
 
Try using a block of ivory soap on areas where she's chewing and see if that has any effect in stopping her.

Wouldn't the chemical be too strong and can harm the digestive sys. of the bun?

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Flowergirls, when you give them the backyard hopping space, then put them back in their cage, you reduce back their territory, so it's their nature to try to re-claim their territory. My bun is also very territory too. She fights w/ the other for 6 mth. for her territory before they finally bonded.

But I do agree if the wood is not soft, that is hard wood, then their teeth can't puncture thru easily.
 
Oh my, norty bunny! :shock:

The inside of Alfie's hutch has got battens of wood along all the joins and he's taken to having a nibble of these but nothing like as bad as your bun. I'm planning to line the inside of the hutch with thin plywood, so that there are no edges that he can get his teeth round and chew - maybe you could do something similar?
 
Strangely my dutch did the same to her Lavender Lodge, If it is a P@H hutch you could ask your local store to order you a new panel to fit on. They do take a while to arrive tho. I had to do that a few months ago but before the new side was put on we tacked some mesh onto it to make it chew proof!
 
My french lop did this to a hutch from pah home. Funnily enough she wasnt actually in the hutch, the hutch was inside her shed when i was getting her used to her "potential" partner. My dad fixed the back of it, but now she lives in a hutch/run combo, made by a joiner, no way she can chew out of it.

All i would say is give her plenty to chew, cardboard boxes are a fav of my lot and willow sticks and balls!!

x
 
as someone said you should be able to get a replacement pannel. Also I'd stop further break outs by either lining the hutch with a good quality lino & securing the edges with wood (she can chew that if she likes insted). Makes the hutch easier to clean & is harder for her to get her teeth into or use a very thing sheet of MDF cut to size, staple gunned in place & again the edges secured with wood. As MDF and lino are both smooth and shiny she might not be able to chew them.
On the outside I'd nail a wood "sacrifice" around the wired opening....that way you only replace a bit of wood and her hutch is still secure.

distraction is also good...why not give her a little wooden box to play in the garden so she'll chew that instead.
 
must be the lavender lodge :lol: the one i have gets chewed by any bun i have in it, luckly i have it in the garage, just in case any foster bun i have does an escape to victory, mind you saying that doc whos a dutch is currently chewing a slipper, a car wash mitt and a tea towel must gooooooooooooooooo
 
Wouldn't the chemical be too strong and can harm the digestive sys. of the bun?

=============

Flowergirls, when you give them the backyard hopping space, then put them back in their cage, you reduce back their territory, so it's their nature to try to re-claim their territory. My bun is also very territory too. She fights w/ the other for 6 mth. for her territory before they finally bonded.

But I do agree if the wood is not soft, that is hard wood, then their teeth can't puncture thru easily.

A natural ivory soap.....the bun will taste it and hopefully stop what it's doing. They're not ingesting it.

Mind you, I used it on the woodwork to stop the rats chewing and they just got worse. For some it does work though.
 
Strangely my dutch did the same to her Lavender Lodge, If it is a P@H hutch you could ask your local store to order you a new panel to fit on. They do take a while to arrive tho. I had to do that a few months ago but before the new side was put on we tacked some mesh onto it to make it chew proof!

Ooo, top tip - thank you! :wave:
 
:lol: i'm sorry i know i should laugh cos hutches aren't cheap but when you said she was chewing on it thought it would just in a few places but she's actually chewed every bit of it. sorry don't have any advice other than is she bored? does she have any toys in it? mine have a toilet roll tube in their hutch to chew on.
 
I've repaired a few of these at the rescue - some buns just love to chew, and given the tiniest bit of an edge of wood and they're away.:lol:

I'd recommend lining the entire inside with hardboard/plywood in full sheets with no edges that she can get a start on, and if she still finds something to chew then overline that with 1" mesh - that should stop the most determined bunny.

I'd also cover the mesh on the front of your hutch with the 1" weld mesh as rodents could get through the gaps on the current one.
 
Buy lots of willow from petshops, mine don't really chew their shed now because I chew proofed it and its the cardboard boxes and willow balls they gnaw on thankfully
 
Thanks SO much for your words of advice everyone- I will patch up the hutch with plywood- so she can't get a grip on it as Karen? suggested. I am rubbish at DIY and have no one to help so it will be interesting!!
And yes, it is a PAH hutch- I guess it's the soft wood that's the appeal.
I know she'll start on the legs next if I patch up the inside!
I am really hacked off about the hutch hugger too but it's easier to fix I suppose.
It's a good thing she's cute.
 
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