A Big Chewing Problem

[ninetoes01]

Cinder has never had a cage from the day I got him. But he likes to stick to just the two bedrooms in my apartment. I'm always around for his active hours, early in the morning and try to spend all this time I can in the same room with him doing other things.

There are no wires for him to chew, it has been bunny-proofed as far as that goes. The majority of what exists in these two rooms are his own toys, beds, etc. Pretty much the only exceptions are my bed, my blankets, the carpet, the walls/baseboards and the dresser.

I constantly remind him what he can and can't chew. His magic word is, "hey!" and as soon as the word is out of my mouth, he stops chewing, looks up and holds completely still. Then he does it all over again! I keep this up, then about the third or forth time, I walk over and gently push him away from what he's chewing. I'll do this another three or four times, then I bring him something that he's allowed to chew instead.

He's not a stupid bunny! I think he gets it, but that maybe he's just challenging me? Help, please, does anyone have any advice?ray:

 

[mardigraskisses]

Bayou does this same thing. Sometimes I wonder if they know you'll get up and chase them off, so they do it on purpose. :grumpy:

 

[Flashy]

Does he get positive attention or only getting attention when you tell him off? He may be attention seeking. He may just be pushing your boundaries. It does sound like you are rewarding him for chewing by bringing him a toy, sort of like, hey, you're doing something wrong, but its ok, here have this toy, which doesn't really inforce the fact he shouldn't do it, so he has worked out what to do to get a toy from you and possibly some attention too.

What is he chewing that he shouldn't? Is there anyway you can block it off, like with some wire? Or NIC Grids or planks of wood or anything?

 

[Amy27]

One of my bunny's have been crazy chewing things lately. She use to be really good at leaving stuff alone. I think she is bored. I think her old toys are "old" in her mind and no longer fun. He box houses are all the same. I just ordered lots of new toys online. When they get here I am going to change things around in her area. Put different boxes in there along with the new toys and some new ones I am going to make. I am hoping the new stuff will get her interested in chewing the stuff she is allowed. I find that sometimes just moving things around will get them reinterested in it again.

I think whatever your bun is chewing, he considers more fun that what you want him to chew. I would try some different things. What kind of stuff do you have for him that he can chew? May be when can give you some more ideas of some free stuff you can make to try.

 

[ninetoes01]

I have a little wooden tower that he's allowed to chew, I let him chew his beds, because after all, they ARE his, a little thing that used to be full of seeds that my rat didn't want the rest of, blankets, hay, the wire tower that I have for the rat to climb (he's never in the same room as the rat unsupervised and the rat stays up high), the wire frame of my bed, pieces of paper, some little celery and carrots toys made of some loofah material, pretty much anything that I can think of really. But the biggest problem of all is when he jumps up onto my bed in the morning and tries to chew my bed/pillow/blankets while I'm sleeping. Oh and did I mention he's tried to get my hair a few times? I mean like, right from the root... I pushed him off the bed for that one! (it's pretty low to the ground - it's actually a cot)
He never jumps up there unless I'm already there. And he never seems to chew on these things when I'm out of the room. *sigh*
Sometimes I even try to put honey and water together and soak his toys in it to make them more interesting. And it works - for awhile

 

[Flashy]

Aw, when he does your hair, he is grooming you. He loves you

I think it's to do with you and how much he loves you and wants to be with you, to be honest. If you don't want him up there though, could you put an x-pen across/around your bed so he can't get to you? Mine used to be able to get to my bed until I kept getting woken up with them jumping on my head-the x-pen worked brilliantly.

I'm not sure honey is ok though, thats incredibly sugary and I wouldn't imagine it would be very good for his system.

 

[ninetoes01]

lol oh I like to think that he was just grooming! But he bit a couple of hairs off and chewed them up. Then tried to go back for a little more!
Oh, I only wish he would groom me lol! I do like when he comes up onto my bed, I just think he's so cute. And he'll lay there as I pat him for awhile, and he licks the bed or the pillow while I do it. Then he'll grab it with his teeth and pull...!!??

 

[Flashy]

That is what they do when grooming. Your hair was probably knotted and he was probably trying to sort it out.

He sounds like he is trying to make it comfy so he can sleep.

I don't think this is about chewing, more about a need for understanding what he is doing and why. He's not being destructive, in my eyes, this is all quite sweet.

 

[ninetoes01]

Oh I hope you are right. I'm trying to get to know him as well as I can, he's my first bunny ever. Although my mum had a bunny when I was growing up, he spent all his time in a cage and never really socialized.

What does it mean when they grunt as they run?

He also growled at me and lunged for the first time when I was trying to keep him from making a hole he had put in the carpet even bigger.

 

[Flashy]

How old is he?

 

[ninetoes01]

3 months now

 

[Flashy]

It sounds like his hormones are coming into play. That would account for the 'talking' as he runs, and also the grunting too.

Have his testicles dropped?

 

[ninetoes01]

I really don't know...I never pick him up, it always seems to break the trust that we have formed. For all I know, he could be a girl, as I only sexed him once when he was 4 weeks old. Although he has definitely done the circling thing a few times.
I'm a little nervous about getting him altered because the best vet clinic in my town gave me quite the warning about how high-risk anesthesia is for rabbits.

 

[Flashy]

Have you checked out our links on rabbit savvy vets?

There is a risk for anaesthetic for any one, animal or human, but with the right vet, a good vet, the risk is minimal. The recovery can be harder, but again, with the right vet and care you should be ok.

I have got 17 buns at the moment, 14 of which are spayed and neutered, and 9 who have dental operations every so often, and we had a girl who had a tumour removed, and we had no problems under the anaesthetic at all, with any of them. Those who had operations with a rabbit savvy vet never had any post op complications either.

It's all about how good the vet is. Have you tried calling different vets in your are? Maybe asking your local rescue/shelter who they use for spays/neuters? because they will presumably do a lot of them.

 

[ninetoes01]

Yes, I have talked to every clinic in town. I live in Prince George, BC. Two of the preferred clinics each referred one another for a rabbit-savvy vet. They said they would do a neuter on a rabbit 3 months old or older. Is that too young? Should I look elsewhere? My options are pretty limited...
Although I did happen to have a nice chat with the store manager at one of the pet stores in town and he got his female rabbit spayed at one of these places and he said it was good. Although the vets there don't seem to want people to get their rabbits fixed at all, they just don't recommend it because of the anesthesia risks are so much higher with rabbits then cats or dogs

 

[ninetoes01]

he bit me for the first time this morning!!! I'm sooooooooooo upset!!! CAn they be neutered at three months like the vet said? Will it help?! Someone please, answer me ASAP!!! All I was doing was cleaning up the poops which he had put EVERYWHERE - something he NEVER does....

 

[tonyshuman]

I think 3 months for a neuter is ok. As long as the testicles have dropped, they can be removed. Spays have to wait until 6 months or so.

 

[ninetoes01]

Well, today is my bday and Cinder is currently in surgery... I'm going a little nuts but I couldn't wait, I wanted to get it over with.
I'm a little worried because after I made the appointment I heard bad things about the hospital he's at...but after talking to the vet, I feel that she is capable...*sigh* we'll see how he is...
I don't have internet at home so I'll be back at the library tomorrow morning to update and see if anyone wrote back! thanks for all the advice,

-Nikki

 

[tonyshuman]

Good luck!

 

[ninetoes01]

oh, I should also add that he responds really well to "hey" and then "good bunny" when he stops chewing lol