Give your bunny lots of rewards (like pets, cuddles, and occasional treats) when they are not chewing or when they are chewing on things they are allowed to chew. You can also teach your bunny simple commands such as HOLD, which is training your bunny to stop what they are doing.
Destructive behaviour in rabbits is usually caused, or made worse, by boredom and lack of stimulation. It can be greatly reduced with boredom busters... The term "destructive behaviour" in rabbits means things the rabbit may do either to itself or to objects around your home or garden.
Here's why rabbits need to chew.
Unlike our teeth, rabbit teeth grow constantly throughout their life and because of this, rabbits need to spend plenty of their time nibbling and chewing to wear their teeth down.
Usually younger bunnies will chew more than older ones. They will often chew less and less as they get older. Rabbits who are not de-sexed will chew more than those who are desexed. Female rabbits will chew more than males.
Around 3 to 4 months of age, the baby grows into a “teenager,” and then the hormones start to rage. This causes your dear sweet bunny to become aggressive, often biting, spraying urine, tearing at her cage or your clothing, destroying your towels, furniture, or electrical cords.
When animals perform stereotypical behaviours like chewing the bars, pacing their cage, rattling their water bottle, or over grooming, it is a sign they are bored, stressed, or frustrated. It means that something about their living arrangement isn't meeting their needs.
This means that in most cases a rabbit will chew and destroy furniture, wallpaper, cables, carpets etc. no matter how many toys and other distractions you may give them.
If rabbits live in small hutches with nothing to do and no space to move, they get bored. Boredom can cause some serious health problems: Bored rabbits will fill their time by eating. If they eat too much and don't move around they'll put on weight.
Depending on the severity of the offence, a rabbit can hold a grudge from hours to several days. Sometimes, a simple stroke on the forehead or an apologetic treat can remedy a miffed bunny, but if your rabbit is truly offended, they can sulk for quite some time!
A: Rabbits usually show aggression towards humans (and other rabbits) because of fear or frustration, or because they want to defend their territory. This can include nipping, biting and thumping their feet loudly on the ground; some rabbits also scream, which can be unsettling.
You don't need to clean your rabbits' teeth, but they do need a little day-to-day help with dental health. Give your bunnies something extra to chew to help them wear their teeth down naturally. Small, fresh branches from fruit trees are ideal, but a daily diet of hay and greens is the best way to keep teeth healthy.
Yes, but be careful with the amount of cardboard that they eat. Probably the reason why pet rabbits love to eat cardboard is that it packs on cellulose, which is a significant component of leaves and vegetables that they eat.
If your bunny shows actions of exploring, digging, jumping and chewing, it most likely means they are happy. To have the perfect playtime, you should make a safe play area with other furry friends.
It might surprise you to learn that some rabbit owners consider rabbit hutches a form of animal cruelty. But in some cases these owners may be right. Like all animals, pet rabbits require a certain amount of housing for living. If their environment is too small, all pets can suffer mentally and physically.
It's a commonly known fact that all rabbits enjoy chewing on anything within sight – chairs, beds, baseboards, rugs, etc. But how can you stop them from destroying everything around your home? To ease them away from your furniture you have to know the reasoning behind their constant chewing.
You may have heard at some point that rabbits are smelly and messy animals. But this is a myth. Most of the time, rabbits will not smell up anyone's house and you won't have to worry about covering up their odor. Rabbits will spend a good portion of the day grooming themselves to stay clean.
Rabbits and guinea pigs can chew their hutch excessively if they are feeling bored or frustrated. This can be caused by not having regular interaction with other pets or people. It can also be caused by being in their hutch 24/7 and not having time outside or floor time to exercise.
Rabbit spritzer
You can use a plant spray/mist bottle to gently spray water on your rabbit's ears which can help them to cool down.
Pay attention to the pecking order.
Give the dominant rabbit their treats first and give them their first choice of toys. You can provide equal treatment to the second rabbit, but you do want to pay attention to who gets stuff first.
Many rabbit caretakers struggle with behavior problems that include destructive digging and chewing behaviors. Some rabbits also develop bad litter box habits. Other rabbit behavioral problems include fear and aggression toward humans and other animals.