Need to curb bad bar-biting behavior...

[Jenk]

As of late, my bar-biting bun's behavior has increased, and I'm not sure how to curb it. My husband and I have decided that hanging Plexiglass on her NIC-panel door would weigh it down too much. And we don't give her cardboard to chew--due to her stasis issues--so placing a piece of cardboard on the pen wall is out, too.

My only recourse, thus far, has been to make loud noise to get her attention and, thus, also get her to stop biting the bars. Honestly, though, it gets to the point that my hands hurt (from clapping them) and my right foot/leg hurt (from stomping them). Noise distraction is just a temporary fix--and it doesn't really work very well. Heh.

I'm about at my wit's end with her bar-biting behavior; I'm afraid that she'll hurt her teeth/mouth and, as a result, cause unnecessary vet bills.

She's a very independent bun and, yes, wants full run of our home; that just isn't possible.

My only other thought is to attach a timothy hay mat to the pen wall that she bites. (I suspect, though, that she'll just find another section of wall to bite.)


Thank you,

Jenk

 

[mdith4him]

Our bunny does this, too, but he also pulls on the bars which moves the pen across the floor at times! I'm interested to hear ideas on how to stop this. We've been doing the clapping/stopping as well and it works (sorta), but something I actually have to go over to him and move him away! Stubborn little thing...! :rollseyes:

 

[Jenk]

mdith4him wrote:

Our bunny does this, too, but he also pulls on the bars which moves the pen across the floor at times! I'm interested to hear ideas on how to stop this. We've been doing the clapping/stopping as well and it works (sorta), but something I actually have to go over to him and move him away! Stubborn little thing...! :rollseyes:

If we're near her pen, we, too, move Emma away from the pen wall. Typically, she goes right back to biting the bars within seconds. *sigh* I'm scared that if I'm not home, she'll continue chewing until she hurts herself because, of course, no one would be here to distract her.

I have hung two sets of plastic baby rings--both with a set of plastic baby key rings attached at the end--on the pen wall that she tends to bite. Now, she's been chewing on the rings until she's biting off bits of plastic. (I can see the wear on the rings, and I saw her chewing after chewing on/flinging around one last night.) So I may need to remove the plastic toys, too. She also tends to push the toys aside and bites the bars. Oy.

Jenk

 

[qtipthebun]

I read this post to Q-tip who looked at me like "who me?" and continued to nibble the bar of her cage.

I have tied up some cardboard panels to the inside of her cage to play with and cover the bars (she ignores them and chews the door part). I've tried the spray bottle. Have you tried that yet? A lot of people hate spraying their bunnies, but she'll just groom the water off. I couple the spray with a loud "no!" It deters her for a few, at least while she grooms away the water. I've also tried the apple spray and hot sauce on the bars of her cage (both are yummy to my silly bun).

I've found the only thing that shuts her up at night is throwing a towel over her cage, or she'll chew her bars and wake me up during the night.

 

[LakeCondo]

I think I'd try rinsing the panels after each cleaning with a drop of hot sauce added to a gallon of water. If that doesn't do the trick, add another drop or 2. Also give her something she CAN chew on, like twigs. Hope this helps.

 

[MagPie]

Yeah I've tried throwing a towel over Harvey's cage when he got really bad at night, but he got upset by that. He was quiet for about a second and then let out a big thump. soooo I just uncovered him and stuck in ear plugs.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I know there are mesh grids available. Would you be able to find some and try them? They seem to be harder to find than the regular ones, but you might be able to find them online somewhere. You could either use them in place of the regular grid, at least in the problem areas, or put it infront so she can't bite the bars. There are also solid grids that are made out of a plastic type stuff, I would not use them alone as I don't think they would hold up well if there was a hole.
Solid ones: http://www.target.com/p/StSo-13-3-Cube-Storage-Cube/-/A-10501127#?ref=tgt_adv_XSN10001&AFID=Nextag_df&LNM=|10501127&CPNG=&ci_src=9324560&ci_sku=10501127
Mesh ones:
http://cdiannezweig.blogspot.com/2010/09/using-wire-cube-shelving-storage.html

Another option could be buying some wire mesh and putting that around the grids. Coroplast could also work, or something similar that is light and solid.

 

[Jenk]

Korr_and_Sophie wrote:

I know there are mesh grids available. Would you be able to find some and try them? They seem to be harder to find than the regular ones, but you might be able to find them online somewhere. You could either use them in place of the regular grid, at least in the problem areas, or put it infront so she can't bite the bars. There are also solid grids that are made out of a plastic type stuff, I would not use them alone as I don't think they would hold up well if there was a hole.
Solid ones: http://www.target.com/p/StSo-13-3-Cube-Storage-Cube/-/A-10501127#?ref=tgt_adv_XSN10001&AFID=Nextag_df&LNM=|10501127&CPNG=&ci_src=9324560&ci_sku=10501127
Mesh ones:
http://cdiannezweig.blogspot.com/2010/09/using-wire-cube-shelving-storage.html

Emma's pen is put together with NIC panels; I'm unsure if another type of panel would fit (and would hate to have to buy an entire box of something to find out). We'd have used Plexiglass by now, but it's very expensive (and too heavy to hang on the pen wall).

Another option could be buying some wire mesh and putting that around the grids. Coroplast could also work, or something similar that is light and solid.

The wire mesh option might be something to consider, as long as it's small enough that she can't manage to get her mouth around the wires. Heh.

Coroplast is out because I'm scared she could find a way to ingest it. (She has stasis issues; I don't take chances with things that most buns are able to ingest without issue.)


Jenk

 

[Steph16]

I have this same problem with Jacob. Actually I am at the exact situation as you are... trying to get him to stop, he will just continue biting.

Things that I have tried and kinda work:

-ziptying a tea towel to the side of the cage, kinda like their own personal wall paper.
*Jacob bites more of the bottom of the cage, so I fold the tea towel in half and hang it up. Doesn't really stop the behaviour, but it softens the noise. Also have a beach towel tied to the door of his cage and it trails off onto the floor. He loves to dig it and rearrange it, so it keeps him busy.*

-making sure that he has enough hay and pellets in his cage to satisfy him. *again, doesn't really stop the behaviour, but it gives him something else to do, until like 6am.*

-Putting him in a carrier for the night.
*This is the only way I have actually had him stop biting his cage. I have a plastic carrier that I use to take him to the vet in. So I thought, if he can't handle not biting his cage, then I will put him in there for the whole night. I put his water in there, with some pellets and hay, then put a little pile of litter in it, so he cane use the bathroom. Sometimes I will just have it set up the night before and if he gets too annoying, I will just put him in there for the rest of the night, not the whole night.

I too have also tried the spray, but he just liked the taste of it, and it was useless. I have tried the "No" and he also doesn't respond to it too well... although he is getting better.

Don't know what they put into the cage bars that tastes so good... maybe I should try it

Hope some of these tips help you out.