Rabbit wont chew on anything/ Also nibbles cage door?

[buddytherabbit]

Our new bunny doesnt chew on any toys, his hay blocks, bowls, or anything at all for that matter. I am concerned that his teeth are not getting dulled down by chewing and we will have to trim them...Any suggestions?

Also, he has been nibbling the cage door a lot frequently until we let him out...Spoiled brat is out all the time and has plenty of toys in his cage. Why does he do this?

 

[Whipple]

He'd rather be out. Thats why.

As for not chewing, Im sure he's getting his chewing need out somewhere. What kind of toys does he have? Maybe he doesnt want to chew on the ones he has.

 

[JimD]

Unlimited hay should be enough to keep his teeth in good form.
The silica content in hay helps to wear the teeth during normal chewing.

 

[Sweetie]

Have you tried different toys? Like balls that are safe for rabbits to chew? My Netherland Dwarf loves the balls I get him and he chews on them. He also chews on the cage bars sometimes but not all the time like he used to.

 

[adr06e]

My rabbit does this too and it's driving me crazy because the cage is in my bedroom. She chews on her toys, and I know its because she wants out, but she says out all day from 10am to usually 1 or 2am. I tried clapping at her, but she only stops for a second.

What can I do to make her stop? It wakes me up everyday, I don't just want to let her out all the time and reinforce the nibbling.

 

[tamsin]

It sounds like she gets a lot of time out but rabbits are often quite active over night. You need to give her enough to occupy her whilst she's in the cage so she's too busy to want to be out. Things like a treat ball, hiding her food in boxes, things to chew etc. toys that are interactive and give her a reason to work for something.

If there is enough room in your bedroom and her cage is too small for lots of toys you could attach a fold out puppy pen at night to give her more space, then fold it up in the day to give you more space

 

[Whipple]

Ooh! I like tasmins ideas!

What can you use for boxes to hide food? Can you use treat balls made for dogs?

 

[JimD]

Whipple wrote:

Ooh! I like tasmins ideas!

What can you use for boxes to hide food? Can you use treat balls made for dogs?

There are treat balls made for smaller animals/treats.
I think ElfMommy got one for her bun Poe.

I sometimes stuff toilet paper tubes with hay, or tie up small bundles of hay (use longer strands of hay for tying).
I also stuff small paper bags (lunch bags)with hay. You can also hide treats in the bag with the hay.

 

[kahlin]

I like the paper bag idea. I may have to try that.

Our J.Behr doesn't chew much either - except for his cage bars. I knew that he was bored and am working on bonding him to Finley. Now that they are caged side by side he's chewing the bars less.

I also found that he likes to tug/pull/dig cardboard. He won't do it if it's loose on the floor though - so I stick a flattened cardboard box under something heavy that he can't move (we use a full water cooler bottle) and he loves to pull and dig at it.

 

[catcheng]

Oh wow! I thought my bunny was the only bunny that rattled the cage! I'm glad that's normal-ish =) She still does it although not as much as before. I think it might have to do with a little bit of bunny conditioning. I may be wrong, but it did work for me! When she rattled the cage I always opened it for her, so maybe she thought that once she rattles the cage, I'll always open it everytime. I started ignoring her for a few minutes until she stopped and then I let her out and gave her a treat for waiting. Now she waits in front of the cage and only rattles when shes hungry or really wants to come out.

adr06e, I know how you feel! I'm currently a college student and I'm sharing a house with 4 other people so she stays in my room most of the time. She used to drive me crazy at night banging on the cage, but I just leave her in the common room now:biggrin2:

Does anyone know what kind of chew toy I can get for my Rabunzel? She doesn't like chewing on wood, but she likes nibbling on softer things like plastic and cords.