Block cords and outlets with furniture so the rabbit cannot reach them. Carpet: Cover a favorite chewing area with a large ceramic tile or a plastic office chair mat. Choose low-pile carpeting that may be less tempting. Baseboards and corners: Use plastic or decorative wood corner protectors (home centers).
Rabbits can live quite happily indoors and they should be provided with secure accommodation where they can feel safe, sleep, use a particular area as a toilet, and be confined to when unsupervised.
How do I protect walls? Clear plastic panels from the hardware or plastic supply store can be affixed to the wall to protect against your rabbit chewing into the sheetrock or tearing off the wallpaper. Placing furniture over that spot can also conceal the damage and protect against further chewing.
Scare them away. Lights, shiny aluminum pie tins, and motion scare devices can be enough to ward off rabbits, at least for a time. Dogs and cats running free in the yard are a great deterrent, too.
Garlic, peppers, and strong herbs like ginger and mint tend to keep rabbits away from your yard. A light mixture of water and strong-smelling liquid soap should also do the trick.
It's not that rabbits themselves are all that smelly, but for house bunny owners, living spaces can end up a bit stinky. An RHH (Rabbit Hole Hay) fan recently brought it to our attention that there aren't always great resources out there on the topic of reducing unwanted odors from living with rabbits.
Allowing your rabbit to roam freely through your home comes with its own unique challenges, but it is definitely achievable with a bit of effort and education on how to take care of your pet rabbit. Best of all, it can be incredibly rewarding, creating a more intimate and open bond with your pet.
A cardboard box, turned on its side, will make the perfect bedroom for a rabbit. This provides your bunny with a dark, warm and quiet place to close their eyes. They're also shielded and enclosed, which makes a rabbit feel safe. Here's some info on whether rabbits need the dark to sleep.
The best places to pet a rabbit are their forehead and behind their ears. The cheeks and strokes down their backs are also good spots. But rabbits dislike being pet on their bottom, feet, chin, and underside.
Rabbits are social creatures, so they'll need a lot of attention while you're awake. They might be thumping and rattling the sides of the enclosure all night because they are lonely and bored and just want to spend more time with you. They get frustrated overnight and end up making noise to try to get your attention.
If a rabbit comes next to you and lays on their side, they are telling you that they trust you. This is even more-so when your rabbit goes to sleep next to you. If your rabbit ever completely flops down next to you or starts nodding off, you can be sure that they trust and love you very much.
Rabbits like to play and need plenty of exercise to stay healthy and happy. Ideally you want to provide them with up to 4 hours daily of supervised time out of their cage. Rabbits are subject to depression and poor health if they're not provided with daily interaction and mental stimulation.
Your rabbit does not need a cage. However, an untrained rabbit probably should be kept in a home-base of some kind, like an exercise pen (x-pen), a large cage, or some other protected housing, while you're not home to supervise and at night when you sleep.
As their twitching noses indicate, rabbits sniff a lot. Try sprinkling dried sulfur around or on your plants. Rabbits also dislike the smell of onions, so try planting these around your garden to further deter the furry creatures. To discourage pesky rabbits, try dusting your plants with plain talcum powder.
Conventional wisdom suggests that rabbits sleep in a hutch at night. But small animals, such as rabbits, like to sleep next to their owners. They enjoy the soft bedding, warm, and companionship.
As with most pests and nuisance wildlife that take up residence inside your home, urine and feces can create damage in addition to an unpleasant scent. Wild rabbits are chewers and can damage walls and electrical wiring, putting your home at an elevated risk of fire.
If your rabbit chews the carpet, some rabbits will dislike the taste of bitter sprays for pets, hot pepper sauce or flakes, vinegar, or rubbed-in Ivory soap, but they can be a hit and miss. Some bunnies will not care or even love the taste.
Rabbits and hares
Droppings are left in clusters of little, round, hard balls. They are usually yellowy-brown or green in colour, and full of grass.