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Eating the carpet!

lenslady

lenslady

Alpha Buck
I have 3 Rabbits, our 3rd one came home yesterday and we love him dearly. I noticed earlier on today that he quite enjoys digging the carpet (its a long pile rug not a full carpet). I didn't think anything of it. Anyway i have just caught him pulling up the strands of the carpet :shock: I immediately went over and i managed to prize quite a long piece of carpet out of his mouth :shock: My heart went into my mouth. I have since removed the rug :cry:, I love that rug :( because I can't risk him eating it! why is he doing this do you think? I can understand digging but not actually consuming it!

It was really frightening because given half the chance he would have eaten it! and he would have been very ill.
Hopefully removing the carpet for a few weeks will break this horrible habit.
x
 
Some Rabbits are just chewers and nibblers. They will eat carpet, cardboard, skirting boards, cable wires, mattresses.......... the list is endless !

Sometimes a Baby Rabbit will grow out of the behaviour but some never do.
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Some Rabbits are just chewers and nibblers. They will eat carpet, cardboard, skirting boards, cable wires, mattresses.......... the list is endless !

Sometimes a Baby Rabbit will grow out of the behaviour but some never do.
Click to expand...

Obviously I have been on guard with him, due to his low weight, possible deafness and his sneezing. I had to go to mothers today and i worried the whole 2 hours i was there. I am so scared something is wrong with him or will happen to him :(. Maybe the rug was causing the sneezing. I am not sure if he has eaten any of it but i definitely caught him with a long piece in his mouth. Trouble is my other two rabbits love to binky on the rug but i don't really have a choice in regard to removing it, if he is going to eat it. I have a thick fleecy blanket that i use in the winter on my bed, its a big king size fleece. I might put that there instead. xx
 
My first house rabbit ate the corners of every carpet he had access to. He ate wires, wall paper, lino and even the plaster off of the walls once :shock:

Bo might grow out of it but he might not. My buns now are not destructive... or maybe I'm just much better at bunny proofing now :lol: I actually think trying to stay one step ahead of a destructo bun is part of thier charm. It keeps you on your toes!

Also whilst obviously eating non food items can cause issues and should always be prevented it is often amazing what they can eat and still be fine! :roll:
 
lenslady said:
Obviously I have been on guard with him, due to his low weight, possible deafness and his sneezing. I had to go to mothers today and i worried the whole 2 hours i was there. I am so scared something is wrong with him or will happen to him :(. Maybe the rug was causing the sneezing. I am not sure if he has eaten any of it but i definitely caught him with a long piece in his mouth. Trouble is my other two rabbits love to binky on the rug but i don't really have a choice in regard to removing it, if he is going to eat it. I have a thick fleecy blanket that i use in the winter on my bed, its a big king size fleece. I might put that there instead. xx
Click to expand...

Sometimes there's not a lot you can do about a bunny who intends to eat your home and furnishings. When I am rehoming rabbits I make sure people are aware how destructive rabbits can be :shock:

I find the rugs from Ikea - very flat 'mat' type things are much less munchable ... It may be he will get bored of your rug, but it's a risk.

I find it helpful to understand how they would live in the wild - digging, pulling up plants, ripping the bark off trees .. etc. Then it's easier to understand why they treat their surroundings, i.e. your home, as they do!
 
Thank you. Well the rug has gone now but he has resorted to chewing the tassel, tie bits that are on his tunnels :roll: Mind you it appears he has nibbled them and maybe sucked them as they were just wet and he can't actually eat them unless he chews them off.
MightMax you did warn me he might be a naughty one :roll: Seems you may be right! xxx
 
Erm - would you like to see pics of my carpet. :roll:
My living room and dining room don't have carpet in any of the corners. I didn't realise until too late what chewers they can be (wish I'd known about this forum & the info) ... and how sneaky they can be behind the furniture.

And as for cables, I think I'm lucky the house is still standing.

My rabbits are all outside now.
 
I hope he grows out of it so you can worry less, and have a nice non chewed home! Jake is a nightmare for wires, plastic and paper, we've had to block off the letter box from him as he destroyed the post! He's also nibbles holes in a couple of my cushions so now everything is well out of reach but he hasn't bothered with the carpet or wallpaper whereas beano and Gordon have been known to chew the wallpaper and the carpet in the night so I try to give them something new to do on a night to keep them busy, we have less problems with them since the addition if a treat ball uses at night and new toys, can be as simple as cardboard stuffed with hay etc.
 
Babsie said:
Erm - would you like to see pics of my carpet. :roll:
My living room and dining room don't have carpet in any of the corners. I didn't realise until too late what chewers they can be (wish I'd known about this forum & the info) ... and how sneaky they can be behind the furniture.

And as for cables, I think I'm lucky the house is still standing.

My rabbits are all outside now.
Click to expand...

Oh really :shock: We don't have much carpet downstairs apart from my very favourite rug and its now been pulled up and put a way :( My room looks so bare now. My other two love the rug too, they love to have a good old binky on it. I wasn't worried to much about chewing, digging or damage, i am more concerned about him consuming it :(, I can always replace my rug but i'l never replace Bo.

xxx
 
lenslady said:
Thank you. Well the rug has gone now but he has resorted to chewing the tassel, tie bits that are on his tunnels :roll: Mind you it appears he has nibbled them and maybe sucked them as they were just wet and he can't actually eat them unless he chews them off.
MightMax you did warn me he might be a naughty one :roll: Seems you may be right! xxx
Click to expand...

:lol: Sorry about that!

Your photo of him is absolutely delicious though .... He looks the piccie of innocence there :D
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Some Rabbits are just chewers and nibblers. They will eat carpet, cardboard, skirting boards, cable wires, mattresses.......... the list is endless !

Sometimes a Baby Rabbit will grow out of the behaviour but some never do.
Click to expand...

this, also if you see him doing it trying saying a firm no word, that's how I taught mabel when I first got her, not to nip at me
 
Liz47 said:
I hope he grows out of it so you can worry less, and have a nice non chewed home! Jake is a nightmare for wires, plastic and paper, we've had to block off the letter box from him as he destroyed the post! He's also nibbles holes in a couple of my cushions so now everything is well out of reach but he hasn't bothered with the carpet or wallpaper whereas beano and Gordon have been known to chew the wallpaper and the carpet in the night so I try to give them something new to do on a night to keep them busy, we have less problems with them since the addition if a treat ball uses at night and new toys, can be as simple as cardboard stuffed with hay etc.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that advice. I knew that I might have rabbits that chew and caused some damage, i have been very lucky with my 1st two so far but the way i see it is, i can always replace my material things, I can't replace my rabbits. I am petrified he is going to eat something he isn't supposed to and then he will die. I feel very protective of him because there are some issues in regard to getting him that i am not happy with which i don't want to go into right now. He is already so tiny, he only weighs 2.1bs, 4 oz. Maybe i am being a bit over the top and worrying for nothing. But i have seen to many horror stories online about what they arnt supposed to eat and it causing fatalities. Maybe i should also stay of google :roll:

Thanks again for the fantastic advice and reassurance. :love: x
 
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Awww bless him (that picture of him with the ribbon in his mouth is gorgeous). Frosty and Snowflake had carpets down for months then suddenly one day started chomping away at them.

All mine are outside now!
 
Thanks guys ;), I know he looks cute but he has been a constant worry since i've had him. He is so very tiny, he looks like a dwarf rabbit, my mum even said he looks like a baby Guinea pig. I am not sure how big a baby french lop should be but Gypsy was treble his size when we had her at 10 weeks. xx
 
Thank you all. In general he is such a happy little boy, he loves his freedom, he is always binkying and doing that really fast run they do. I think I am possibly over worrying but he is such a lill tiddler, he's my little white fluff ball :lol:
 
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