Bunny biting cage bars

[BunnySilver]

My almost 6month old Netherland dwarf, Silver, has recently been biting on to his cage bars and shaking the whole cage while I am trying to sleep. He will bite on to the bars, chew on them for a few seconds, and then grab on to them and start shaking thee entire cage. Not only is this highly annoying and wakes me up, but I am aware that doing that with his teeth could cause dental problems.

I recently put a card board box in his cage and he has loved chewing on that (he's a chewer) and I am wondering if I should remove that because that is what he stands on while biting the bars. He also has other toys, wood chews, colorful chews, a carrot chew, a hanging chew, and paper towel roles. I was wondering how I should make him stop this because it is not good for either me or bunny. Sorry about the long ranting post.

 

[Blue eyes]

There are a number of approaches you can take/try. You could zip tie some cardboard to the area of the cage on which he chews. Eventually he'll chew it up, but it will give him something else to chew.

Another thing you can do (if you don't already) is load him up with fresh hay before bed. The hay should also keep him occupied for awhile. You can also tightly pack those paper towel tubes with hay. That's another boredom buster.

And another option might help too. I'm not sure what size cage you have, but if you wrap an x-pen around the cage and open the door at night, that might give him more room to roam during the night. They are active then, and that could give him some more space.

 

[lovelops]

Chico and Chica have been doing this since they were babies. How it goes with them is bang on the cage like prisoners who didn't get their evening meal. Mom shows up in the room. All is calm. I turn the TV on for them to watch and while I sit with them everything is cool. I leave the room all hell breaks loose. You would think they were fighting the devil.

I started thumping Chico on the nose when he was 2 months old. (Chica is only NOW doing that at night but she is HUNGRY because she ate all her food during the day time I'm finding out. You are making certain your bun has enough food in the night right?) Every time he would do it I would come in and thump him. After three or four times he would stop but now that we have two other rabbits in the house all hell is breaking loose because they can hear us in the hallway with Lady and are getting pissed off. With Chica it's always she is out of food- veggies and wants more. Once I get her food she stops. Chico, he's another story. He always wants attention. I would put pieces of apple wood in his cage and he would get mad and throw them out. They are not free range at night and cannot be. They are olympic grade jumpers and would get in with the dogs and get killed at night. I tried to use zip ties to put apple wood twigs on the areas of the cage where Chico would chew but he would get pissed off, chew enough to get rid of the wood and then BOOM toss the wood on the floor.

I noticed once I moved their cages from my room to the spare bedroom they started this. Is your buns cage with you at night? Was it ever? This might be one of the reasons if your bun was ever with you. When I put one of them in the room with me at night in their cage VOILA.. no more chewing on the cage..

Vanessa

 

[lovelops]

BTW, my guys Chico and Chica came from the same litter and are a year and 9 months. Great teeth. Got checked out by the vet and they have no problems from being cage biters.. but you can also put screen mesh up like from screen doors over the areas to try and see if it will stop your bun from chewing at night.

Vanessa

 

[HyperRabbit01]

Is it possible that your rabbit just wants out of the cage to run around? I mean they are nocturnal, so playtime for them is usually at night.. Mine does the same thing too when he wants out so I just connect his cage to his play area and leave the door open so he can hop in and out as he pleases. That is, when I'm supervising lol.

 

[Magick_mogwai]

Does your rabbit chew on the wooden chews and things in his cage? Sometimes my bunny just isn't interested in the chews I give him and leaves them unchewed then when he is out he has a go at the oddest things, like DVD slip cases and remote controls! If your rabbit is not chewing the wooden things it may explain why they chew the cage, maybe find them something they will chew?

Also I agree with blue eyes, attaching something to the cage where he is chewing should encourage him to chew the right things or at least prevent him getting to the cage bars.

 

[Azerane]

Bandit is also a biter and shaker. No matter how much room I give him, he always wants more freedom!! It does seem to have a bit of a pattern though. If he's throwing his food bowl around, it means I'm slow with getting him his breakfast or he wants some fresh hay. If he's rattling the cage bars, it's usually that he wants attention, and sometimes to remind me that I'm late with getting him his hay But then other times, no matter how much attention I give him, how much fresh hay he has, he just will, not, stop!!! ullhair:

I do find however, that he does have a tendency to do it more often if I've been busy over recent days and haven't had as much time as normal to spend with him. So he's definitely a social rabbit in that regard and just wants to be loved So I can't blame him for it, because it's his way of letting me know that "hey, i want you to spend more time with me"

 

[BunnySilver]

I think he wants to get out of his cage and have attention. He always has food and water and hay along with all his toys to keep him entertained at night. But I can't really let him run around or give him attention at 4 in the morning. 😕 I removed the box that he would climb on to and sit on because he sort of got board with it anyway. I will zip tie the card board to the cage. I am willing to try anything I just need him to stop! Thank you everyone who replied so far.

 

[Nadege]

Mine does exactly the same, she actually did it all night and I couldn't get her to stop! Except when I gave her a bit of food, but that only lasted one hour lol. I have been quite busy these past few days and didn't have much time to hang out with her, so I am assuming that's why. Usually letting her out for a long time before I go to sleep, and giving her some hay when she goes back into her cage helps.

 

[BunnySilver]

Yay!! Since I have removed the box he has not bitten on the bars so far!! If he ever starts again I will zip tie cardboard to the bars but for now, thank you everyone for your extraordinarily helpful replies!! 😊

 

[honeybunnies]

Hi,

Just one more suggestion for bunnies that like to chew.

I have found a willow or wicker ball to be a really good bunny toy. They like to roll them around, chew on them & gradually eat the pieces as they break off.

I have found the really large ones the better ones to buy, as they tend to break down the smaller ones too quickly.

Hope this helps

I'll attach a picture!

 

[BunnySilver]

Oh that sounds like something Silver would like since he loves chewing on wood and wicker!!

 

[Magick_mogwai]

I have a supply of wicker balls I bought from IKEA that Gandalf gets one at a time. He loves them too, plays with them a lot then one day decides it's time for a snack and munches on the entire thing lol

 

[selbert]

Yeah Dope is a biter and a shaker: at first it was because he was desperate to get to the love of his life (who wasn't neutered at the time). Now I have them both in the cage and I guess out of habit he still chews it. Rabbits are most active during dusk and dawn so I guess they're just bored and wanna run around! I got a bigger cage for them, put a lot of levels and whatnot (bunny city I like to call it haha) and hey presto they're happy as ever to be in the cage for a couple of extra hours. But as soon as it hits 8am they team up and make as much noise as possible! Mummy we want food AND we wanna play! Those little munchkins!