Chewing on carpet

[Kimmerre]

My lionhead bun gets a lot of exercise out of her cage almost daily (for hours). She has free range of my room and loves to pull up carpet underneath my bed. I now have some bald spots where carpet once was. She's about a year old and early on I would squirt her with a water bottle but that quickly didn't scare her anymore. She's not afraid of anything, she even lets me use the vaccuum hose on her...

She has lots of toys under my bed, carboard tubes to play with, hay, a litter box, and granite to cool down on. I tried today to put a rug on top of the carpet that that was ripped up in a matter of seconds.

Does anyone have any ideas? I was hoping maybe there is a spray that tastes bad to buns like they have for other animals....

....any ideas would be helpful at this point!!!! I'm about ready to go buy a piece of plywood and cut it to fit under my bed!

Thank you,

Kim

 

[Myia09]

Two of my rabbits are doing this;

Any advice would be appreciated on this side too!

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Hi there

I've got a digger & buncher too, so I'm in the same boat.

Honestly, your plywood idea is probably a good one. Another option would be to buy some NIC grids (like the ones used in the DIY cages around here), and fence in the underside of your bed.

I am also wondering if she is damaging your boxspring?

Can you offer a digging box of shredded newspaper, or an old phone book to shred?

Either way, I hope we come up with a solution... last thing you need is an emergency due to ingested carpet .

 

[Kimmerre]

I could offer a digging box pretty easily. She has a box with all sorts of holes and she doesn't care for it too much. Also if I provide a phonebook she won't just shred it, she'll also eat it. So if that's okay I'll do that too. My box spring sits on top of a metal frame and there are two 2x4s on top of the frame. She chews on those 2x4s on a daily basis which I guess is fine...just annoying. It helps her teeth and those would be easy to replace someday. She doesn't ingest the wood...just leaves little piles all over. The only damage I've noticed to my mattress/box spring is my bed skirt is ripped/torn/missing pieces. So that's all tucked in now.

She was doing this underneath my futon as well so I moved all my under the bed storage containers underneath there and she doesn't go under the futon as much. But when she does she tries to dig a hole on top of the bins, and it also put her that much closer to my futon mattress (and the sheet on that) which she's destroyed too.

I love her to death but she's pretty destructive!

Any ideas on a good place to buy these NIC grids?

 

[Kimmerre]

Update: I filled up a box yesterday with paper towel rolls, shredded paper, timothy hay, and equine fresh for my bun. She ran up to it and of course starting eating everything but didn't seem interested in it for long...never even climbed in it! Little stinker. I think I'm going to have to resort to the plywood.....

I did also throw more stuff under my bed that she'd hopefully like. Looks like a little jungle gym under there now.

Thank you for the help!

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Hope the little bum finds something to keep her busy

 

[Sweetie]

My lionhead, Sweetie tears up the carpet in my apartment as well.

Try spending time with your Annie. Maybe she is trying to tell you that she wants you to spend time with her.

I spend time with my rabbits and they don't tear up the carpet anymore. But once I don't spend time with them, they will tear up the carpet. I have not had an issue with ingested carpet, of course my bunnies get a lot of fiber.

 

[Kimmerre]

Well I'm in my room the whole time she's out. She doesn't exactly come to me for attention...in fact its a hassle to catch her at night if she doesn't go in her cage on her own. If I have a good opportunity I'll snatch her up and pet her for a good 20 minutes but she's not always a fan of that. As of now there are about 20 different items under my bed for her, and earlier I heard her chewing the carpet again.

She loves to dig...she even acts like she's digging to China on top of some of my tupperware storage bins! lol I'm trying to buy a house right now and if I get the one I want it has hardwood floors in one of the bedrooms (which will be hers) so I won't have to deal with her digging anymore!!!

 

[Sweetie]

Kimmerre wrote:

Well I'm in my room the whole time she's out. She doesn't exactly come to me for attention...in fact its a hassle to catch her at night if she doesn't go in her cage on her own. If I have a good opportunity I'll snatch her up and pet her for a good 20 minutes but she's not always a fan of that. As of now there are about 20 different items under my bed for her, and earlier I heard her chewing the carpet again.

She loves to dig...she even acts like she's digging to China on top of some of my tupperware storage bins! lol I'm trying to buy a house right now and if I get the one I want it has hardwood floors in one of the bedrooms (which will be hers) so I won't have to deal with her digging anymore!!!

Yeah Sweetie is pretty much the same way, except she will come to me for attention. She is my heart bunny. She will eat anything out of my hand and she gives me bunny kisses on my nose. Bunnies do love to dig.

 

[AquaticRex]

try making drawers that go under the bed. it makes for a useful place to put some stuff and it will make it too big for her to go under. just an idea...

 

[AquaticRex]

or even get some plywood and have it cut so that it splits the under side of your bed in half, then make it into a box on both sides. once thats done, put some old clean blankets in a pile under your bed for her to dig in. it makes a nice little cave for her and once she's used to digging in the blanket, you might be able to slowly move the blanket to another spot in your room. that and the reason i say box the underside of your bed in is it will make it easier to catch her when you need to. there will be a nice big area for her to run to, but when you need to, you can catch her.

 

[treasuresandstuff]

Maybe try a plastic tote with one hole big enough for her to get in and out with dirt or sand in it? I had a cat that would kill carpets when I was a kid and that was what my mother did for her. She stopped digging the carpet in that room and soon had a box in every room. Since it was not the same "stuff" as in her litter pan she never pottied in it but I bet rabbits would, so you would have to watch for that.

Also there is this stuff called bitter apple, it is supposed to be a chew deterrent but you have to watch it some animals LOVE it!

 

[fancybutterfly]

I live in an apartment and my two bunnies have their own room. THey also have the opportunity to run around the apartment when I am home. At my old place I never had to worry about them chewing the baseboards. But here, ICANNOT get them to stop!:dunno

I have tried giving them more of their own toys, and I have evensprayed apple bitter ALL around the baseboards. BUt it doesn't seem to be helping!

Any other suggstions? thanks!

 

[ninetoes01]

ok, so there are a couple of products on the market that are harmless, but work wonders! There are two that I know about. The one I bought is called "Bitter Yuck!" it's by naturvet, and it works really well. I generally don't give anything to my little boy that I wouldn't consume myself, so I sprayed it once on my hand, and rubbed it in a little... then just barely touched my tongue to it and dear god... I've never tasted anything so disgusting in my life! The taste wouldn't leave my mouth for at least an hour... But it worked!
I sprayed it all over the carpet, it's completely non-staining, and after Cinder started chewing, he was licking all over the place to try and get rid of the taste, he even chewed a couple more times to try and get rid of it. He now rarely, if ever chews on the carpet, so it's definitely helped. The other product I know of is called Bitter Apple. It's usually meant for dogs, so they don't chew their paws or bandages, but it's also used often for horses, and it is safe for rabbits too.