New to town! Kirby's here

[kirbyultra]

Hi everyone! Kirby is my beautiful new (and first) adopted bunny. He's approx. 2 years old and a lovely satin. I've had him about 2-3 weeks and he was an absolute sweetheart the first week. Now as each day goes by he is getting increasingly naughty it seems. He is chewing on the carpet on his condo ramp, chewing and tugging at the rugs that line his play pen and would rather gnaw at paper than his greens... Sigh. I don't know what else to do than to brush his head away when I catch him. I spend almost every moment with him in the evenings after work but I can't possibly watch him all the time. His favorite toy is a cotton hand towel. He's been chewing up all the fibers there too. He eats plenty of hay regularly. I feed him some mixed lettuce greens and parsley and he gets 1/4 cup of timothy pellets too. I'm worried that he might hurt himself chewing things up or get his tummy in trouble eating up all that paper/rug/carpet/towel fiber. I also recently bought a ramp so he can get in and out of his condo easily but he is strong enough to tug the whole ramp out of place!

Rabbits chew up cardboard boxes, so is paper ok? What about the wood on the ramp? Carpet and rug? I'm so worried! is he just a chewer? Is there anyway to stop this behavior?

Kirby's mom

 

[Amy27]

I think that is good Kirby is showing his naughty side. He must be getting comfortable with you and his enviroment. I do let my rabbits chew boxes and paper. But a limited amount. I would try to have less things in his cage that he can chew. Can you limit the amount of carpet you have in thre? I would take out the hand towel if he is eating it. I would try to give him some toys he can toss. There are tons of good bunny toys online. I can also find some in pet stores. Also hay cubes are healthy things they can chew. My buns like to throw paper towel rolls. When my bunnies eat my carpet int he room I let them out in when I am home I would say no loudly. I don't think that would work in his cage though because he will just eat it when you are gone. Hopefully he will stop chewing as much once he tastes everything in his enviroment. Good Luck.

 

[Maureen Las]

Rug fiber , carpet and cloth that is eaten (sometimes they rip it up but don't ingest it) can be dangerous for rabbits as it often will not be passed through the GI tract but end up causing a blockage in the stomach...
Since you are a new bunny owner it isn't something that you might know. I doubt whether anything has harmed your bun at this point but there are a lot of articles that I will post here for you to read regarding both bunny proofing your home but also on how to make a rabbit habitat safe.
paper products that are untreated like paper towel rolls are fine and can be stuffed with hay to make them more tasty and interesting. Parrot toys which are made of wood can be hung on sides of cages for rabbits to dissemble. rabbits also like plastic(hard balls (for cats)with bells in them to throw about, also plastic baby keys that jingle. untreated willow baskets are also safe for rabbits to chew.

cardboard boxes are great toys for rabbits.
You may need to redo the flooring of your condo and replace with tiles or something with a wood base rather than fiber ... You will be able to get many ideas from other members.

the towels and blankets should be removed if he is chewing and ingesting the fibers. you will be able to tell because when you pick up the towel the tiny fibers will fall all over if they have just been chewed and not eaten. stuffed animals and other soft toys are not safe for rabbits.
Congrats on your wonderful new bunny and I'm sure that you'll learn a lot on RO

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11792&forum_id=17

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12079&forum_id=17

 

[kirbyultra]

Thanks!! Kirby is behaving a little better and not chewing so much anymore! I don't know. Maybe he was just being naughty those few days...