Bunny eating her cage

[Frikadellen]

We had had Snuffles since early November and she is a utterly adorable lionhead.. Officially dd3 (age 10) pet but adored by the entire family.

However lately she has started eating her cage (she is in a 2 story one) it is the mid section she gnaws at and i am getting concerned she will eat that much of it thatit will not be possible to slide in the mid section.

I did some googling to find out what to do when she first started and bought her a salt lick. She uses this happily and it stopped her gnawing at the top corner of the cage but now she has started on the middle bit. She has wooden "carrot and pineapple" to chew at and uses both of these (especially the carrot) and also a toy that clearly gets played with but seems to also go for the mid section.

Anything I can do to stop her doing this?

She really is just the sweetest little rabbit and I hate to think she is not getting something she needs.

Never had a rabbit but they are like guinea pigs in that their teeth never stop growing, so they need to wear them down. Unfortunately she has chosen an inconvenient part of her hutch as her favourite gnawing area .

There is not a lot you can do except try to distract with toys and plenty of hay or do rabbits only have straw ,sorry not a bun owner

Have you tried a wooden hazel stick arch? I think they are called Fiddle Stiks or a rabbit sized 'Chube' which is cardboard tube sold in pet stores. These are popular boredom busters with my guinea pigs.

I'm sure a bun owner will come along shortly with good advice Good luck.

she is getting a Chube for Christmas

Just keep trying different chewy things until you find something she prefers. Rabbits are contrary creatures and once they have decided they like chewing something will persist. I have just had to mend a large hole under my sofa which Current Bun had created.

Try giving her cardboard boxes to chew. All my buns have loved a good box. I cut doors in it to make a playhouse and after a week it's normally chewed to bits. If you really don't want her to chew something you could try rubbing a little lemon juice on it - that sometimes works.

Just keep going with alternatives - tubes from kitchen rolls, boxes, Chubes are good.

Good luck and Merry Christmas to you and Snuffles.

Does she have plenty of fresh hay (not straw) ? Hay should form the majority of her diet. Roughage is really important to keep teeth worn down to the correct length .That might account for the chewing .

I agree with the cardboard boxes my bun loved them and it really helped with her chewing habit and saved the sofa and the carpet! She also loved fruit tree wood, don't know if it had a different texture or flavour but was definitely a favourite!

Is she a house bunny or a garden bunny?

I'm a guinea-mum (never had a rabbit) but I'm wondering if the chewing is boredom because she's alone?

Indoors she'd get the day-to-day noise.

Outdoors she's got herself.

Where did you get her from? Did they suggest a mate for her?
Have you had your rabbit neutered? Could you look for a neutered buck?

Is she in the hutch most of the time? Rabbits need an awful lot of space and exercise. They are also much happier living in pairs so she has company of her own kind. The rabbit welfare association has lots of good information www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/ahutchisnotenough.htm.

you can buy hay tubes which look fun to eat, my rabbit likes to eat her plastic tube

thank you everyone I went down sick over Christmas and Is only just recovering.

She spends part of her day inside in a playpen surrounded by us all and part of the day in a hutch in the garden shed. In the summer the plan is she will spend the day in a enclosure in the garden. she really likes her chube and I shall be giving her the kitchen roll to eat too (empty rolls obviously) she has hay and a big hit is her willow ball she got just before Christmas (I think we found her preferred flavour with that)

Will consider the 2nd rabbit... (kinda looking forward to running THAT one past dh laughs) she is neutered we got her from someone who needed to get rid of her due to allergies. Would need to look into how to introduce another rabbit I read that can be hard?. Would need a bigger cage though if we do as the one she is in is only just the size that link suggests.

Checked with a vet friend who said to smell her breath and it smells well fine (breathy laughs) but not bad. Will try the lemon juice too.

If you go to a good rabbit rescue then they will do 'bunny dating' to find a bunny yours has an instant like for and they will then either give you advice on how to continue bonding at home or board your bunny short term to do the bonding for you. It's fairly easy to do once the initial introductions are over if the rescue person is experienced though, especially if you bring them back in a car. (The car journey makes them nervous so aids the bonding as they want to be close to each other for comfort).

I suspect the chewing is probably down to loneliness/boredom, your plans for bigger accomodation sound good. You do need to be careful about bringing bunnies indoors during winter as it will be very warm and sudden temperature changes can make them really ill.

Is there any way you can consider making the entire she'd a home for the bunnies? Then using a runaround tunnel (in link or google runaround) link to a run on the grass when you can supervise to ensure no digging out/in? Or connect the hutch to a run via a runaround? Our bunnies have runs on paving slabs/the patio for 24/7 access and then a runaround connecting to a run on the grass for daytime access. The minimum space for one or two buns is 44 sq feet and although ours have a Wendy house and run and dog kennel and run, without the extra runs on the grass, they only just meet the requirements. It's surprising how much space they need.

Branches or twigs are good for chewing. Apple trees, willow, amongst others are safe.

You've had some really good advice already but I just wanted to add.
Over winter it's not recommended to bring rabbits inside due to changes in temperature if they love outside.
Make sure she has good quality hay, I get mine online at £22 a huge bag from Timothy hay.co.uk. It's great stuff.
Rabbits need lots of space, much more than you'd expect. A hutch is not enough, they need 24/7 access to a run attached to their hutch. You can join a wooden run with tubes attached to the hutch.
Please get your rabbit spayed when she's old enough as it cuts the chance of her developing cancer, will give a longer life and she will be more content. Consider a rabbit friend too so she won't get bored, a male would be the easiest combination, I'm sure a rescue centre could help you bond her once she is spayed.

I have two mini lops who live indoors with the whole of the kitchen to themselves. They are surprisingly easy to litter train! Before that they were separated (before the buck was neutered) and lived in one of the bedrooms. Now they have much more space and are together they are so much more relaxed and haven't chewed anything they aren't supposed to. I give them boxes, pets at home have a cardboard castle which they love, and their carrier to jump on top of. I use a dog crate as a base for them where they have a lidded box with bedding and hay in which they use as a litter box. Their latest toy is a ball which I put pellets in, keeps them busy chasing it around!