House rabbit - should I rehome

Hi Guys
I am having problems with my lovely Mojo, I got him from Pets at home , rehoming section, he is a lovely rabbit (English lop VERY long ears) loves out time, good tempered (neutered) only 6 months old and house trained, BUT as rabbits do, he is a chewer and I never realised how many cables/wires etc there are around the house, from,storage htr, mobile phones, tv/hi-fi,computer,wind turbine ,fish tank,nest box camera etc etc...
In short totally impractical for a house rabbit, impossible to cover all these wires, and my hubby wont have them done.....
I really feel for his and our safety I will have to pass him on...had I bought him in spring I would be considering a nice big outside covered area and hutch etc etc. BUT that is months off ...
I love him to bits but I cant risk letting him lope around free and to see him in his cage is doing my head in ..Pets at home rehoming contract say he should be returned to them, but they seem more keen on pushing their products onto you, and certainly do not get enough details from people offering rabbits....I wonder if this contract IS binding, I also wonder if their is any poss. foster home in Scotland to gethim thro to spring and hopefully he can have a wee pal.......Please please try to give me some contstructive ideas....ASAP

Why don't you just bunny proof where he is?
Protecting the wires/ blocking wired areas off?
Is he chewing because he's bored?
Is he neutered?
Has he got tunnels toys?
What about a friend?

What a shame that you are thinking of rehoming him

Yes, rabbits chew! I don't let Louie in the front room as there are lots of TV cables etc. In the kitchen, we have a few wires so I've blocked them off with a barrier. The back room I've done the same so he can freerange everywhere except the front room

You could also cover them with conduit which you can get from DIY stores and also Wilkinsons.

If you take these steps there is no reason why you shouldn't keep him. He could also go outside from Spring so only a few months

rabbits chew and chew they will, this forum is full of tales of wires being chewed, its not the end all there are various things you can to prevent,

i have 2 pairs in my flat, one pair are excellant but they do like my woodchip wallpaper, my other 2 are chewers i have all electrical stuff at one end of my living room and blocked that area off, im sure others will be along with other ideas,

you have to work around the rabbit, not bun round you, is there a room where you can take all lecy stuff out, bedroom, hall, kitchen ??

Can you limit his freerange area to a room/rooms with less wires that are easier to bunny proof?

My two live upstairs in a bedroom and have access to the landing and stairs as well as their room, so they have plenty of space but are away from wires. They can also play in the kitchen and living room when I'm supervising.

It would be a real shame to rehome him if you can avoid it.

House rabbit rehome

He chews when he is hopping around the room, wires, furniture, he lives in the living room and to block everything off is impossible , I just have to follow him around and try to stop him , sometimes I am successful, sometimes he is, he goes upstairs, into the kitchen, but I have to stay with him all the time, so every night my evenings are taken up following him around so he can get the exercise, also as I wrote my husband does not approve and will not have the wires covered or barricades etc etc.

I know this sounds feeble but I have tried my best for the last couple of months to get around this , but I am just discreetly following him around filling and touching up the damage so I dont get ear ache from hubby.
I feel a rehome IS the only option but a short term foster would be absolutely magic.........even with a rehome centre that could partner him and I would take both bunnies, sadly I have plenty of outside sheds and ground which would be superb once he is acclimatised etc etc.
I have bred and shown rabbits in the past so I am not a total novice but I have never shared a home with a rabbit and husband, at this moment dont ask me which I prefer............

Do you have a spare bedroom you could bunnyproof perhaps? It seems a shame to rehome him if you have suitable space outside that he could move to in the spring.

I've got 2 giant buns in my bedroom at the moment who will be moving outside in spring,they were meant to move out before winter but both got poorly so they ended up staying in....I've had to bunnyproof until they go outside too.

For me, I've found the kitchen to be the safest place for Louie, he goes in there overnight and when we are out. The only wires we have in there are for the TV and the fridgefreezer. These we have blocked off.

Spring is only 3 months away :wave: It's not too difficult to move wires out of the way or block them off. You could move wires that can be moved or buy wire protection products to block them off Alternatively you could put him in a spare room/area of your house, if you have one, or buy NIC cubes to make him a large enclosed space around him, or use the NIC cubes to block off the wire areas.

Make sure he has lots and lots and lots of toys to entertain himself with, especially wooden/willow toys that he can focus his chewing attention on. I recommend Weave-A-Balls for chewy bunnies

It's not the end of the world, you can get through these 3 months with some temporary measures, then he can go outside in Spring (and maybe get him a friend too for company)

(EDIT:- sorry you re-posted again whilst I was posting this so some of the above has already been answered/covered. If my OH wouldn't do something that meant I had to rehome my pets then he would be out the door faster than he can ring the local pet rescues - and he knows this very well! :lol

Where does he go when you are out, does he have a crate, could you attach a run or build something with NIC cubes so he has his own safe space.
Unfortunately people do not realise the destruction housebuns can cause, hence the reason they end up back in rescues or P@H adoption centres.
I have 3 housebuns at the moment, 2 live in the hallway and have access to the kitchen, but when I'm not around it is restricted to the hallway which has a wooden floor, one of them chewed the carpet that was under the stairs so that has now been covered with lino with ceramic tiles on the edge to stop her chewing that.
I also have one in the living room, the wires in the living room are all hidden behind things, and I have to block each end of the settee off to stop him getting behind there, it is hard to hide everything but if I distract him with enough toys, including his treat ball he leaves our things alone.

As it is only until spring can you not just get a dog crate and attach some puppy pen panels to it...It may look a bit unsightly but it will only be for a few months?
Some people on here have made cages/runs from NIC cubes which are really versitile and can fit any room. I am sure there are other options before you have to rehome

if you truly do not want to rehome him, i'm sure that you can find a way to section a safe area off for him somewhere:? i understand your concerns about wires - we had the same issues in the beginning - but i found that bundling them neatly, tucking them out of the way and covering any exposed ones actually looked way tidier, house rabbit or not

I have house buns....Blue is a non chewer...but marnie hasn't learned yet. All we've done is covered all the wires that she can get to in the living room with plastic cable tidy thingies. It doesn't look unsightly ( infact...it looks a lot better ) and run the fish wires round the back of the sofa (she cant get there)
We also have baby gates all over the house to stop them going places they shouldn't, and also to contain them if need be.
It really would be a shame if you have to rehome him.....and I would be really cross at my OH if he told me I had to get rid of the buns, or if he was intollerant of them (that and if he gave me the ultimatum, he would be out of my life so quick he wouldn't know what hit him)
what kind of wires are they that he is getting?

Just to echo what others have said, I had 2 house buns, and they didn't have access to the living room, which was obviously full of cables. They had the hallway, the kitchen, stairs and landing, which was actually loads of space, and meant I didn't have many cables to bunny-proof. I used aquarium tubes for the cables, which were really cheap to buy.

House rabbits

Thanks for the suggestions guys, Mojo has a large indoor cage, which is in the living room , it is the only place big enough for it, but the room is currently cramped with furniture and Xmas tree, I work 3 days a week , so all the other days are spent at home , mainly revolving around the rabbit, which in itself has problems, the more he is out , the more he wants to be out and positively sulks when I have to put him back..
The chewing is the Big problem though I have given him chew toys , wood, and hay, he seems to need to test lick or chew everything he comes across, which is 'rabbits' I know..(not to mention digging the carpet)
It is everything including skirtings, paper, clothing, shoes...
Yes I do try to move as much as I can, but the other problem is my husband who either cant be bothered or doesnt see why he should move his phone wires or computer wires (awkward b----r) he also resents me spending money on any of my pets, hence the reason I havent enlarged the cage area, although in fairness we really havent room.
I guess I should not have got him , but I cant believe I would ever rehome a pet, ironically I found this site to rehome another to go with him .........

house rabbit

Where could I get these NIC cubes

Having a house rabbit isnt for everyone you certinly cant be house proud:lol: Lyric has done quite a bit of damage but thats rabbits for you,We have put wire panels round all the wires but she still managed to chew through my laptop cable, if your bunny is causing you so much stress it might be better for him to rehome him

davinab said:

Where could I get these NIC cubes

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I think B&Q somtimes do them, or you can buy them online, although I guess postage must be high? They are sometimes called mesh storage cubes?

davinab said:

Thanks for the suggestions guys, Mojo has a large indoor cage, which is in the living room , it is the only place big enough for it, but the room is currently cramped with furniture and Xmas tree, I work 3 days a week , so all the other days are spent at home , mainly revolving around the rabbit, which in itself has problems, the more he is out , the more he wants to be out and positively sulks when I have to put him back..
The chewing is the Big problem though I have given him chew toys , wood, and hay, he seems to need to test lick or chew everything he comes across, which is 'rabbits' I know..(not to mention digging the carpet)
It is everything including skirtings, paper, clothing, shoes...
Yes I do try to move as much as I can, but the other problem is my husband who either cant be bothered or doesnt see why he should move his phone wires or computer wires (awkward b----r) he also resents me spending money on any of my pets, hence the reason I havent enlarged the cage area, although in fairness we really havent room.
I guess I should not have got him , but I cant believe I would ever rehome a pet, ironically I found this site to rehome another to go with him .........

Click to expand...

I'd rehome the husband. No seriously! Selfish whatnot, if you earn money, you have the right to spend it on what you want! And if rehoming the bunny would make you sad he should want to avoid that and should be helping you keep bunny safe!

Can't you restrict him to one room and just bunnyproof that room? How about the kitchen? No doubt your selfish husband doesn't spend much time in there!! :lol: It can be so cheap! I am lucky that Beau doesn't chew skirting etc, but an easy way to solve that is to get some of these:

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/play...mster+pen&msg=MSG_SEARCH_ONE_MATCHING_PRODUCT

They're a little pricey for what they are to be honest, but fairly unobtrusive, make no permanent damage to the surroundings and are mobile, so you can move them if you decide to let him in another room. Obviously they are meant for hamsters so you couldn't use them to pen him in, but they are ideal for blocking things off, like spaces under desks, skirting boards, etc.

I have 5 house rabbits and boy yes do they like to chew, especially the boys. it does mean that when they are out and about the house I have to keep and eye on them and make sure that all wires are either hidden behind something or protected with a cable protector (tubes of plastic). They (until recently) spent most of their time in the utility room which with a hard floor and no wires was ideal. As the house is now being renovated they live mainly in a pen a little like some of these http://www.therabbithouse.com/indoor/rabbit-pens.asp which is for dogs or bunnies for temp outdoor use, although it makes a good indoor pen. it does mean that they get the room they need to excercise properly with minimum disruption and you can let them out to play when you can supervise.