• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

he wont stop chewing!!!

nitza

Young Bun
My little boy James constantly chews his hutch, especially the ramp! Im fairly certain it is not out of boredom, as he has Lily for company, is let out everyday from about 10-6, unless the weather is bad, and even then he has loads of toys to chew on. He also has only tried to nibble his run (which we built), but he absoloutly goes to town on the hutch!! Lately he even started chewing the roof!!! Most of the time, he doesnt actually eat it either, just leaves wood chips everywhere. I also know that it could possibly be her, but I have actually seen him chew things, not her, and if ever there's anything that looks un-chewable...he's the first one to try!!
We are in the process of re-building, but I don't want to have this problem with the new one obviously, is there any way to stop him doing this???
Also, he has recently started 'scratching' at the grass sometimes when he's out in his pen, and he started to build a small hole yesterday too! We have bricked it up, but i really dont trust him :lol: he has escaped twice before!!
Any help would be much appreciated!!
Thanks :wave:
 
Sounds like natural behaviour. Especially the digging. Do you give him new toys frequently? My bun is a chewer and will often bar bite (even though he doesn't ever get lock in his cage) just for the hell of it. I find that if I get him something he really enjoys then he will "forget" to bar bite or chew my furniture. A lot of the time you can't stop it unfortunately. I've never had a bun who digs so don't have much advice on that but I don't think you can really stop them doing it.
 
Sounds like natural behaviour. Especially the digging. Do you give him new toys frequently? My bun is a chewer and will often bar bite (even though he doesn't ever get lock in his cage) just for the hell of it. I find that if I get him something he really enjoys then he will "forget" to bar bite or chew my furniture. A lot of the time you can't stop it unfortunately. I've never had a bun who digs so don't have much advice on that but I don't think you can really stop them doing it.

The have grass corn/carrot toys, cat balls, and toilet roll balls with treats inside, we also sometimes put their pellets in their treat balls too, so yes, he definitely gets his toys rotated :lol:
I do understand digging is a natural tendancy, but is there a way to deter him?? He is a pretty timid bunny, who is not easy to catch when he escapes, especially as we have a pretty big backyard and a cocker spaniel! :lol:
Plus, holes in the grass reaaally dont impress dad hahaha :lol:
 
I don't think there's anyway to deter him unless you put in a box that he can dig? That way he might dig in the box instead of the actual grass. Like I said, I've never had this problem so never had to deter them lol.
 
Doughnut loves chewing my lining paper, every corner of the room she has a little chew. She doesn't like the willow twigs or chew toys but she does love her willow tunnel which she eats a lot and also apple twigs. Now she's into them she doesn't go after the lining paper so much so that may be worth a try. I think different buns like different things, it's just finding what your little one likes.
 
It might be worth looking in the housing thread some of the pictures show that some people have covered chewable edges of sheds with metal or plastic edges (like the things used for corners when tiling) so that might be worth a shot.
How long have you had them? When I first brought my 2 home they would chew and dig anything and everything except their toys! They've now totally settled down and are getting more confident and often throw toys around ruin cardboard boxes and generally have fun, without destroying my house.
I really don't know if it's true in all cases but I've found that the more time I spend with them and gain their trust the less destructive they have become.
Good luck I hope you find a solution :D
 
It might be worth looking in the housing thread some of the pictures show that some people have covered chewable edges of sheds with metal or plastic edges (like the things used for corners when tiling) so that might be worth a shot.
How long have you had them? When I first brought my 2 home they would chew and dig anything and everything except their toys! They've now totally settled down and are getting more confident and often throw toys around ruin cardboard boxes and generally have fun, without destroying my house.
I really don't know if it's true in all cases but I've found that the more time I spend with them and gain their trust the less destructive they have become.
Good luck I hope you find a solution :D

I've had them for about 5 months now, but neither of them chewed anything up until about a month ago. I did find one morning after we'd had a storm, i pulled back the tarp to some excessive chewing!! There was wood everywhere!! But that was clearly stress, I'm not sure why he is still doing it....:?
 
Back
Top