Keeping her entertained

[DakotaSkye]

Hi Everyone,

My six-month-old bunny, Freya, has been getting a little destructive.

Here's some background: A couple months ago, we had to move her to my fiance's mom's; our housing situation is tricky and an unexpected problem occurred (we're hoping to be out within the next few months; then she can be with us again.) I was heartbroken, but his mom was able to put her up for a while, and I'm incredibly grateful. My fiance and I go to see her every day (we both work full-time, but we make the time to see her every day; she's the light of our life). We also constructed a large NIC cage for her to prevent her from getting cramped since she is cooped up for long periods of time. I didn't want it to feel like a cage to her, but more like a place to explore and sleep and play. It's two levels, with a sleeping area in the top and a big open area in the bottom for her to stretch out in. She's a dwarf/lionhead mix, so she's really not that large and it's a lot of room for her, though eventually I'd like to make her area larger.

The problem is this: Despite the size of her cage and all the enrichment toys, she still destroys things she shouldn't be destroying. We put linoleum on the floor of the cage (to keep her feet off the metal and give her something cool to lay on), and she's been systematically chewing it to bits, mostly near the door and in the back corner (she's not ingesting it though, thankfully). She's also destroyed the towels I put under the cage as an extra layer of protection on my fiance's mom's carpet by digging at it until she gets a corner within her reach.

We provide her with new toys every week or so: balls, hay bales, new treats, bells, things that hang from her cage, boxes, fabric to rip and chew, twigs, rings, anything we can think of that's bunny safe, but it doesn't seem to be keeping her entertained. We also throw in soft things to lay on, like a blanket or a t-shirt, and stuff it in the corner where she's been chewing, to try and keep her mind off it, but she always pushes it aside. When she's out of the cage, so rarely chews on anything and she's super happy, binkying about like there's no tomorrow. I just wish she would chew on the things we've given her to chew. That's what makes me think it's not just her desire to chew coming out, it's boredom that's driving her to act this way.

I feel so bad because we just don't have the time that we used to to devote to her, and it breaks my heart, but I want her to enjoy her time even when we aren't around. Are there any suggestions as to how to keep my little bunnykins entertained during the day? She's got treats and toys galore, but maybe there's something out there I haven't thought of yet. Any advice would be appreciated.

I've included some pictures of her enclosure (right after we built it; before the sleeping loft, the water bottle and all the toys were added), as well as some pictures of my little bunny face in her natural state :3

 

[tamsin]

That's a nice looking cage and a very sweet rabbit

I think your right. The chewing is just her way to express boredom/frustration rather than just her wanting to chew.

Can I ask what her feeding regime is? If she's getting less exercise she'll need less energy intake. If you don't already then restricting her dry food and increasing the hay/veg will both reduce the energy and increase the amount of time she needs to spend feeding. Rabbits would usually spend hours per day feeding so it's a good time filler. I would remove the food bowl, if she has one, and replace it with a treatball - again this will increase her time spent feeding. If she likes shredding they try wrapping up food (either pieces of dry food or veg) in paper for her to shred. You can do the same with small boxes/egg cartons etc. Also hag food up, wedge it in the grids etc. The will all encourage her to work her brain, her body and use up her spare time so she is less frustrated.

How much time does she get outside the cage? Would a fold up puppy pen be a possibility - you could use it to extend the area temporarily for example overnight when the rest of the room is not in use.

Rabbit's get bored of toys very quickly so you really need to think of something every day for her to do. Remember even excluding sleeping time there is 12 hours a day when she needs to have something to occupy her time. You can rotate things so you don't have to have something totally new just something that has been in her cage for awhile

Tam

 

[AquaticRex]

the easiest thing ever.... tie a string to the top of the cage.. lol, my bunny has fun trying to tug it loose lmao. also, does your mom-inlaw let the bunny out and play with her? that may do a bit to help

 

[Nancy McClelland]

we have quite a few hanging toys made of string and wood chews from Petsmart. You might want to put some wood in place of the linoleum and use a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet that you can get from Home Depot. Also keep in mind that no matter what you have for them to play/chew they will always find some new way to show you up. Like rabbit proofing a room--only true with concrete floors and cinder block walls. Other than that, you can try. Very cute little girl.

 

[DakotaSkye]

Thank you all for your responses. You all had excellent suggestions, and I now have an idea of a few ways to keep her entertained during the day.

Tamsin, to answer your questions: She gets about a quarter of a cup of dry food, as well as 4 or 5 big romaine leaves, and one "treat" (carrot, apple, cilantro, etc) every day. She also gets a full rack of timothy hay, though she doesn't go through it all in one day. I refill it maybe every third day. I never thought about how "foraging" could increase the amount of time she spends feeding. We bury treats in her hay rack, but I don't think it takes her long to find them.

We have a kabob stick that hangs from her roof that includes wood blocks, a salt lick, and then we add nibble rings of concentrated hay to it, so she spends a good amount of time trying to get those off of there. I'll try hanging/hiding other things to get her attention.

I'm sad to say this, but she only gets probably a couple of hours outside of her cage every day. By the time I get home from work at 6 and get over there, she only gets a couple hours before it's time to go home, eat, then go to bed :\ It's really not fair to her, but I'm not sure what to do about it. All our free time is spent with her. On the weekends she gets closer to 4 or 5 hours out, but we're also house hunting on the weekends and I still feel bad that she's confined for so long. The puppy pen is a good idea; I'll look into that possibility, though I know we're already pushing our luck with my fiance's mom as it is. She wasn't crazy about the idea of having her there in the first place, but everyone seems to have grown attached to her. I'll see what can be done.

Tying a string to her cage is a good, simple idea, too. I can see her now, going absolutely crazy trying to get it down, haha.

My fiance's mom likes Freya, but she doesn't really know how to act around her. It's funny, we had to give a training lesson to everyone in the house the first time we left her there overnight; no approaching the cage suddenly, no loud noises, kneel to her level when she approaches you, don't try to pick her up if she obviously wants to get away, etc. Everyone knows how to interact with dogs and cats, but most people haven't been exposed to rabbits. Even my fiance. When we first got Freya, he asked if he'd hurt her ears if he spoke to loudly. I said that yes, maybe if he was yelling in her face, but those satellite dishes on her head aren't supersonic, so don't worry. Haha, I love that man.

I digress, but my point is if his mom felt more comfortable around her, she may be able to let her out when we can't. Though she's a busy lady, too... I'll have to ask her.

Carpet from a hardware store is a good idea, too. She always finds a way to get underneath everything and tear at the one thing she shouldn't be destroying, which I'm afraid will be the carpet in his mom's den. If I preemptively give her a chunk of carpeting, maybe she'll destroy that instead. Funny how she knows what she shouldn't chew. We're trying to match her creativity, though. And once we get our own place, hopefully it won't be as big of a problem. She'll get out more often then.

 

[AquaticRex]

if you go to the grocery store and get the mini pop bottles (chubby pop. mostly meant for kids lunches lol. i still love them ^_^) and empty it, i put treats mixed with hay inside it and Dante had fun getting it all out. dante dont go nuts over much other then banana, but for some reason his favorite treat is, his pellets.. lol, don't matter where he's hiding, if i so much as go near his pellet bag, he comes running lol. so i just put hay in the bottle and put pellets in and shake it to mix it in there. he goes for that before going for the hay i have in his 4th floor lol.

 

[AquaticRex]

also, does bunny dig? go and get a hooded cat litter box and try putting sand in it. just make sure you get one of them carpets down in front of the entrance to catch the sand still on the bottom of her paws..

 

[AKJulie]

You could use the plastic mats for desk chairs under the cage instead of the towels. They are designed to be placed on carpets. You could use cardboard box instead of linoleum - then if she diggs or chews it - no big deal and it's not so expensive. Just a thought.