Chewing Help! Not sleeping thanks to bunny antics...

[Spikethebunny]

I'm not sure what to do about Spike. He has always been a very chewy bunny. As in, he chews EVERYTHING. We even sometimes find holes in our shirts and pants after he pays us a visit. The problem is, he generally also swallows what he chews, instead of spitting it out. This limits us in a lot of ways. He is neutered and lives in a large dog pen. When we are home, that is open and he is free range (though he mostly chooses to stay in his pen all day - even when the door is open). But due to the excessive chewing and his ability to get out of the bunny-proofed areas no matter what we do, we do close his pen when we are out or sleeping. We have a very small apartment, so are pretty much always in the same room as him, even at night when the pen is closed. He has a gazillion toys, hay mats, tunnels, and absolutely loves chowing down on his never-ending Tim hay. There is almost always someone home with him, and we play with him daily as he is very social. Hubby is usually even up playing with him till at least 2am since that is when he goes to bed. There is no lack of attention or playthings. Literally the only time this little dude does not get attention is from 2am-6am when I get up. But the last couple weeks, Spike has taken to obsessively rattling and chewing the bars of his pen at night, to the point where it wakes us up (the other night, I got four hours of sleep because of him). I don't know what to do. His teeth look fine (not long) and he still eats hay constantly. I've tried changing up his toys, giving him more hay...We've tried ignoring him when he does it, giving him attention, giving him food...anything to try to get him to stop, but he isn't. Short from sleeping in the pen with him, he honestly can't get anymore attention from us. I'm getting so tired and frustrated with him because I'm not sleeping. Leaving the pen open overnight is not an option with him. We tried once, and it did not go well. Does anyone have any suggestions to get him to stop rattling the bars?


The other thing I need suggestions for is the bottom of his pen. Originally, he was on carpet, but he kept eating that so we took it away and replaced it with those styrofoam playmats for kids. He ate those, too. Now, he has towels strewn about the pen, which he loves sleeping and running on, but also loves eating. We keep finding giant holes in them. Does anyone have any flooring suggestions for a pen for a bunny that chews everything?

 

[Blue eyes]

I was just checking these out as a possibility for a flooring option for you. Then I saw in the description...
Some bunnies love to rattle the pen door at night or early in the morning. Weave this mat through the pen bars over and near their door and it keeps them busy with a new chewing project.

http://store.binkybunny.com/sea-grass-mats---3-size-choices-the-busy-bunny-p48.aspx?widget=mp

So maybe these will help solve both your problems. (Of course they will need to be replaced as he chews them down, but at least they are perfectly safe for him to eat.)

They have a couple other mat options too.
http://store.binkybunny.com/categor...nInputToUpdateATBuffer_CommonToolkitScripts=1

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We have one that is a carpet chewer, so she gets wood and grass mats. Good luck.

 

[Spikethebunny]

The mats on the pen seemed like a good idea, and I happened to have some, so last night I weaved them through the bars where he chews. The good news is, he didn't chew the bars. The bad news is that little destructo-bunny (as I like to call him lately) obliterated the mats and there were pieces everywhere (including on him and in his water, etc). I can't really afford to change them every night, so not sure that will work.

What about moving the placement of his pen? Could moving him to a different spot in the room make things better? It would mean re-arranging all my furniture, but I'm considering it. This morning he woke me up and I had a massive migraine and he just wouldn't stop destroying everything. His pen was open for him to run around, he had been fed...he just wouldn't stop. I'm starting to lose it...

 

[LakeCondo]

You might also try covering the bars with cardboard.

Have you gotten up & played with him when he's been noisy at night? Maybe he now thinks you'll come play if he makes enough noise.

 

[Spikethebunny]

Oh, the cardboard sounds like a good idea! Maybe I'll try that.

And yes, I made the mistake at first of getting up every time he did that to see what was going on and try to distract him with pets or hay or something. When I realized he'd made the connection to making noise and getting attention, I started ignoring him when he did it, but perhaps it is too late...

 

[Spikethebunny]

You might also try covering the bars with cardboard.

Stupid question. Do mean cover with cardboard inside or outside the x-pen?

 

[SteviesMom]

I would say inside. If its on the outside, he will most likely still be able to grab hold of the bars. You could also try some corrugated plastic sheets (I'm not sure of the exact name) but it looks like this up close

You can thread wire through it to attach it to the cage sides. It should be sold at most craft stores for pretty cheap. It may be helpful to post a few pictures of his cage too Good luck!

 

[tamsin]

I imagine the issue is that he can't get to his territory (the whole apartment) and he thinks he can make an access hole if he just tries hard enough.

How big is the pen? One option might be to make it larger with some folding panels so you can unfold them at night whilst you don't need to space and fold them up again in the day when you want to be able to walk about.

The other thing which might help the sleeping, although won't address what's upsetting him, is to cover the mesh with wood - which is quieter to chew and fine to ingest. If you can get some fresh fruit tree branches eg apple that would be the best - just cable tie them where he chews most.

 

[holtzchick]

I have had the exact same issue with on eof my buns! It made me rip my hair out every morning! Instead, I actually just zip tied NIC cubes all around the perimeter of her pen so she couldn't move it even if she wanted to chew on the bars and eliminating the noise. If you would like a picture theres one on my blog Phoenix from the Ashes. Good luck I know it helped me and I can EVEN sleep in if I wanted to now

 

[JBun]

I have a bun that likes to chew on the bars of his cage. I bought some 1/2" hardware cloth, folded the sharp edges to the backside of the cloth, and zip tied it to the inside walls of the cage. The 1/2" holes are too small for my rabbit to get a hold of and chew on or get a hold of to shake the cage.