Question about Teeth and *trama*

[bunbunbinkie]

Merlin has developed a habit of "chewing" on the wireing of his cage and I wondered if it can/does cause problems in a bunnies teeth? He usually gets 4-5 hours of "play"time out of his cage, but when I put him back in he bites at the wireing like he's mad.:grumpy:

Anyways, I am terrified that this will cause him future problems, as my previous rabbit developed horrible maloclusion problems when he was quite young, and he also chewed at the wire on his cage. I'm not sure that this was the cause of his tooth probelms, but I've always wondered about it.

Any thoughts? What can I do to get him to stop? I'm worried he'll mis-align his teeth... Does Bitter Apple Spray work? I tried rubbing white Vinegar on the bars, but that didn't do much good.

He has a good amount of things to chew on in his house, willow ball and ring, a wood rattle, a hard plastic rolly dumbell thing, a willow hay basket and a grass mat. Fresh Hay 24/7

any help is appreciated greatly!!!

 

[slavetoabunny]

I can't speak for others, but my two have spent the last four years trying to chew their way out of their pen. They have lovely teeth and have never had a problem.

 

[Luv-bunniz]

Caspers chews the bars of his cage all night every night and he has got good teeth. The only thing that previously worked was rubbing dish soap on the bars but that took about half an hour every night so I gave up :?

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

It's not chewing on the wire that causes the teeth to go out of alignment, it's pulling on the wire with their teeth.

Roger

 

[bunbunbinkie]

Hmmm... well, that makes sense then. Oliver (my previous bun bun) DID pull on the wire with his teeth. That must have been the problem, because his molars were fine.

Merlin hasn't started doing that thank goodness... and if he does I guess he'll get what he wants!:surrender Even though Olie was a good boy about his teeth trimming, I still think it was way too stressful for him... I really don't want to go through that again if I can help it!

Thanks Everyone!:sunshine:

 

[juliew19673]

My bun chews and pulls at the bars of his pen as well - and he get PLENTY of run time daily.. I think he just hates to be in there (don't blame him actually - I hate puting him in there).

Does every bun need to have their teeth trimmed in their life? Seems so many do and if not - is it just making sure that they have enough hard things to chew on?

 

[Haley]

I would suggest putting something chewable right where he is chewing. Max used to chew on his bars near where I let him out so I ziptied cardboard to that area and hung a chew toy- that distracted him

Julie- healthy bunnies with good teeth should never have to have them trimmed. Bunny teeth are like human nails in that they keep growing from the base. If they arent worn down properly due to a poor diet or due to mallocclusion (misaligned teeth) then they will need to be trimmed. Providing lots of chew toys and lots of different types of hay helps wear down the teeth naturally.

 

[bunbunbinkie]

That's a very cleaver idea, Haley! i think I'll give that a try.... Merlin goes crazy over cardboard..... maybe he'll take out his frustration on it instead!!!:biggrin: