Giving buns more free space

[roxyllsk]

Well my boys have gotten big enough that they can't fit under the couch any more (yahoo!). I put an xpen around the entertainment center so they can't get in and chew on wires/books, and I put a baby gate up to confine them to the family room/kitchen.

They've been pretty good - I let them out an hour here and there most of the day. They can go in their cage as they want, and they've been really good about going in there to use the litterbox. Mac is very tame and allows me to catch him to go back in. Molly doesn't - but I have a small broom that I can 'block' him with and he will go back in the cage on his own. (And no I don't chase him with it, I just block him when and kinda channel him back into his cage).

My young Sheltie absolutely adores 'his' rabbits. It's really funny. He lays down and watches them running around, and they come over and visit and actually jump over his back. After a while they will lay down snuggled up to him and they all fall asleep. He is a very gentle dog so no worries that he will hurt them at all. He will play bow to them and try to get them to chase him but unfortunately they don't speak 'dog' LOL.

The only issue I have is that Molly tries to dig the carpet. When I hear him doing it, I will chase him away from the area and he stops. He seems to do this in the same spot. I've put a trash can on top of it so he doesn't dig there, but does anyone else have any suggestions on how to get him to stop this ? He's only done it a few times and I've stopped it pretty quickly.

 

[Shmoo06]

I've mentioned this in other threads, but maybe put a cheap rug (I found some for like 2-3 dollars at wal-mart) over the spot, so if she does try to dig there's something there that she can dig. They basically look like a big carpet sample. lol.

I use them to put on cold spots and put them under my litter boxes in case they miss the box.

My buns actually preferred to dig behind my couch, so I put one of those tubes for cement behind my couch. They love tearing that thing apart.

In their caged area, they love digging at a heavy blanket I have in there that's held down in a couple corners, so it doesn't move a whole lot.

 

[Loopsy]

Some rabbits have a really high instinct to dig. Have you tried giving them a dig box or a safe digging area? You can give them a bin of playsand, shredded paper, hay or a mix of things to dig in, just check to make sure they're not using it as a litter box. I find that one of mine really likes to dig on fabric so I just got a cheap blanket from Walmart to give him to scratch and dig into. He'll get himself all covered with it sometimes, or sometimes just scratch and dig at it for awhile and go about his business. If it's available, he'll usually use it but if I catch him with digging at something else I just give him his blanket. Molly may just have a strong digging instinct and thinks that part of the carpet is his spot, so he needs some redirection.

 

[roxyllsk]

They do have a dig box in their cage.

It's usually got sandbox sand in it, and I dump it & replace when they pee in it too much. I've used the small fleece blankets and also sheets of newspaper too in the bin. They love borrowing under the newspaper.

They always have paperbags and such to shred too.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

I'd put a large litter pan full of shredded newspaper there. Our love to tunnel thru it and dig. We also got a remant from home depot to put down over our good carpeting as we have 2 that would dig thru the earth if you let them.