And I thought chins were psychotic!

[mk94]

It's me again. So Mr Bunny has been acting a little psychotic lately. I'm not really sure what to do. I let him out to play every night and he's fine for the first 20-30 minutes. I have some cardboard boxes and paper that I put out for him to play in and he seems to like them. Then I guess that isn't good enough and he starts being a little terror. Tonight he went into the corner and started tearing at the wall. I mean he was latching onto the drywall and trying to take chunks out! I told him no (although I'm not sure if rabbits understand this like dogs do) and I placed my hand on his little behind and scooted him away from the wall. Well he immediately turned around, pushed my hand out of the way with his head, and went straight for the wall again. So I go to remove him from that spot again and he tried to flatten himself against the floor and he latches onto the wall hoping I won't be able to make him budge. So after several attempts, I finally gave up and decided it was time to go back in the cage. Agh! Am I going about this all the wrong way? And why the heck is he so determined to carve his escape root out through the wall? It's not like he doesn't have plenty of toys. Plus he gets let out every day for play time. AND he gets a treat for being a good boy while he's being held since we want him to think being held is a wonderful thing (and hopefully claw trimming won't be so traumatic).

PS (I remember my chins having a thing for dry wall, but shooing them away was enough to get them to stop persisting).

 

[CommonYak]

This makes me wonder what drywall tastes like.. is it at all flavorful? sweet?

 

[tkc1038]

I dont know, I have a friend that has Bunnys and they chewed a huge hole in her wall that they just constructed(re-hab, they are always constructing something) so she gave them a piece of extra she had to chew and they left the wall alone. maybe you can try that. I think it is the gypsum and possibly glue that sets them to chewing, not sure just a guess.

 

[Dragonflye]

Do you have an exercise pen for him to run around in? That way you can throw some toys in there and block off anythig that's usafe for him to chew on. I used to help out a lady who did bunny rescue and she always recommended X pens...

 

[addictedtochins]

Has he been neutered?

 

[mk94]

Do you have an exercise pen for him to run around in? That way you can throw some toys in there and block off anythig that's usafe for him to chew on. I used to help out a lady who did bunny rescue and she always recommended X pens...

No we don't have a pen. We were just going to give him free range of a room... but that doesn't seem to be working out too well. LOL

 

[mk94]

Has he been neutered?

Not yet, but we're planning on it. We've only had him a month so far.

 

[CJR]

I dont know, I have a friend that has Bunnys and they chewed a huge hole in her wall that they just constructed(re-hab, they are always constructing something) so she gave them a piece of extra she had to chew and they left the wall alone. maybe you can try that. I think it is the gypsum and possibly glue that sets them to chewing, not sure just a guess.

Wouldn't the glue and such be bad for bunnies though?

 

[minrex]

This is why I wouldn't allow a rabbit to have free run of a room. There's too much damage that they can do, whether it's to the carpet, the walls, baseboards, curtains, really anything they can get their claws and teeth to. Neutering probably won't stop all of the destructive behavior that a rabbit will want to engage in. Digging and chewing are just natural to them and aren't necessarily connected to any sexual behaviors. I would recommend getting a pen that you can let him run around in. It won't kill him to not have free range of a whole room. Besides that, chewing on walls and possibly accidentally ingesting drywall isn't good for the rabbit either.

 

[mk94]

What sort of exercise pen would you suggest? I checked out the ones they have at Petsmart but they didn't seem very big and they cost $80.