Deterring Bad Cage-bar Biting?

My one bun, Emma, is horrible about cage/x-pen bar biting. She'll chomp on them at all hours, and I'm afraid that she will (or already is) harming her teeth.

My husband is thisclose to putting plexiglass on her side of the x-pen walls to deter the chewing. I've considered tying grass mats to the bottom of them, although I don't really want my other bun chewing them from the other side of the wall. :?

Some people may fault me for not having chewable toys in her cage area (i.e., no cardboard, phone book, etc.), but my reasoning is that her fecals decrease in size on a dime (as does her appetite/thirst); I can't rationalize putting non-ingestible items in her area because: 1) I know that she eats them; 2) I can't risk herhaving evenmore digestive problems. (She has plastic cat balls, a large rubber ball, plastic baby key rings andplastic baby rings.)

Any suggestions on other methods we may try to stop her from biting the bars (including other toys that she couldn't likely chew/ingest)?

Thanks,

Jenk

Alot of the time chewing on the bars is a sign of boredom. Maybe letting her out more to run around.

paul2641 wrote:

Alot of the time chewing on the bars is a sign of boredom. Maybe letting her out more to run around.

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She is not confined to a cage. She has an open-door cage within a very roomy area, which is blocked off by an x-pen and NIC panels. She has half of a large room to herself.

My husband and I can't have her running all over the house because she will nip/eat things that she should not (e.g., wood furniture, walls, etc.). And we can't have our eyes on her at all times except for the nighttime outtings that we designate for her. As it is, we spend (some would say waste) 1.5-2 hours' every night just watching our three rabbits running around the house. (All three will nip/eat things that they shouldn't; we don't know how else to give them time out. We're not about to spend yet more money on x-pens and NIC panels just to block off entire walls/baseboards from them, either.)

Jenk

Fine wire mesh. She won't be able to get her little nose through and it's easy to attach with zip ties.

naturestee wrote:

Fine wire mesh. She won't be able to get her little nose through and it's easy to attach with zip ties.

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I'll see if Hubby's game to try that option....

Jenk

Lover_Of_Lopz wrote:

Try wiping vinegar on the bars.

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That won't work because we'd have to remember to do it--likely several times a day. So if wewere to forget, she'd be back to her chewing ways.... It's not a bad suggestion, just not a feasible one for our particular situation. (She is just too tenacious about bar chewing.)

What about wooden toys?

Flashy wrote:

What about wooden toys?

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I know that she'd consume them, rather than just chew them. And I'm leery as to what their consumption may do, considering that her gut seems to struggle on its own anyway.

And then you have the reports/opinions that chewing wood products (e.g., fruit-tree sticks) isn't necessary or normal for rabbits. But who knows? There's no one agreed-upon opinion when it comes to rabbit care.

There's no one way to do things in any part of life, unfortunately. It would certainly make it easier if there was. All we can do is make the best choices we can at any given time, with the knowledge we have.

Flashy wrote:

There's no one way to do things in any part of life, unfortunately. It would certainly make it easier if there was. All we can do is make the best choices we can at any given time, with the knowledge we have.

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I don't disagree with your statement, but I've been chastised in the past (not necessarily on this forum) for following various vets' treatment/instructions. That said, it's been very difficult for me to find any sort of balanced with regards to my bunners' care, since I started out with one having chronic megacolon symptoms. (Not a good thing for a first-time bun owner.)

I'll give you an example: One well-respected member of RO has stated that some megacolon buns do best on a hay-only diet. But I've been practically flamed on another forum for stating that my megacolon girl is fed hay only for weeks (even months) at a time. Which view is right? Darned if I know, but I hate being made to feel like absolute crap over a decision that I've made that allows me to function somewhat normally simply because it (for the most part) allows at least one of my rabbits to function thus.

But that's the point isn't it, those people have stated what they think is best. Ok, so some of them did it in a less than ideal way (as in the flaming), but the point is they have their own opinions, and you have to work on gaining knowledge and forming your own opinions. Also remember that everyone has different rabbit experiences and knowledge, and some people have less knowledge than others, which is why we have to pool all out info and those we know to be more knowledgable should carry more weight with their opinions, but basically its about taking all the knowledge we can and forming our own opinion.

Jenk wrote

And then you have the reports/opinions that chewing wood products (e.g., fruit-tree sticks) isn't necessary or normal for rabbits. But who knows? There's no one agreed-upon opinion when it comes to rabbit care.

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Again I am only talking from my experience. My rabbits that have the garden to themselves seem to spent quite a lot of time chewing wooden branches and anything woody. That type of wood can also be found in any rabbit's natural invironment. So if they're doing it I would just assume it's normal rabbit behaviour as I am not putting the wood there for them.

Sabine wrote:

Jenk wrote

And then you have the reports/opinions that chewing wood products (e.g., fruit-tree sticks) isn't necessary or normal for rabbits. But who knows? There's no one agreed-upon opinion when it comes to rabbit care.

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Again I am only talking from my experience. My rabbits that have the garden to themselves seem to spent quite a lot of time chewing wooden branches and anything woody. That type of wood can also be found in any rabbit's natural invironment. So if they're doing it I would just assume it's normal rabbit behaviour as I am not putting the wood there for them.

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This is very true. I have come across a few rabbits that if there are safe trees in their territory, will choose to chew the bark.

Is Emma bonded ?

Perhaps she would like grooming her mate more than chewing bars.

Paired rabbits do not get bored so easily.

We have the same very frustrating problem with our 2 one and a half year old mini rexes. Both males and neutered, but they bite on their NIC cage panels all the time! They are in our living room, so it is so annoying while we are watching TV. They do get a fair amount of time out of the cage to run around, but sometimes they still bite even when their door is open. We had a NIC cage built with the mesh squares when they were babies, but found that if they were running around fast in the cage, it was easy for them to get a nail caught in those tiny holes. We have still not found a good solution to the biting. For the area they bite the most, we put a piece of plywood against the panels so they can't get their noses in it. They have plenty of toys to chew on in the cage, and it seems unusual that they bite the NIC panels so aggressively, since they are not aggressive with us and never have bitten us. Plexi glass is the option we will go for when we build a newer phase for their cage. Wish their was a better answer for these biting rabbits!

PS we have noticed the biting comes and goes in waves. Perhaps associated with their molting patterns???

Ninchen wrote:

Is Emma bonded ?

Perhaps she would like grooming her mate more than chewing bars.

Paired rabbits do not get bored so easily.

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Yes, and no. She gets along with her sister; due to their various digestive issues, though, they're separated during the day. (Honestly, I don't believe that they're 100% trustworthy with one another anyway.) But they get time out to play together each night, and they groom one another through the NIC panels that divide them during the day.

Gilbert and Sullivan wrote:

PS we have noticed the biting comes and goes in waves. Perhaps associated with their molting patterns???

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Someone once mentioned that tooth issues can cause a bun to excessively chew on cage bars. I sure hope that's not the case, though.

I'm thinking of ways to make Emma's enclosure more cushy and fun, so that she decreases her cage-biting frequency.

I know what you mean about eating wooden toys--the first time I got branches from outside for Tony to chew on he just ate them like hay! I think the grass mat might be a good idea, as well as the wire mesh.

tonyshuman wrote:

I know what you mean about eating wooden toys--the first time I got branches from outside for Tony to chew on he just ate them like hay! I think the grass mat might be a good idea, as well as the wire mesh.

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She has an Oxbow (timothy-hay) tunnel in her area. She's only nibbled it a little bit; she prefers to run through it just because she can.

I may get her more timothy-hay mats. I'm not sure if I'd just lay them on her floor, or if I'd tie them to the lower portions of her NIC panels (to prevent her from chewing them). On the negative side, I don't want Zoe chewing the ties on the mats, which she would definitely do from her side of the NIC panels.

My hubby did put wire mesh on the x-pen wall that Emma chews the most; she's at least stopped chewing those particular bars.