Have you thought about keeping house rabbits but didn’t want to loose your favourite furniture to the chew-monsters? Perhaps you’ve already crossed the line and wish you knew how to stop the chew?
I wish I could say that it’s not normal, and that it was easy to stop. But it’s natural, and your rabbit needs to be able to chew. The good news though, is that there are a few trick to try to control what your rabbit will chew.
As is often the case with these things, the trick is to occupy your rabbit with things they are allowed to chew, so they don’t get bored and start to make light work of your coffee table.
Consider providing your rabbit with some chew toys. Most pet stores have an excellent range of wooden chews, but it doesn’t need to be as expensive as this. Some cheaper options include toilet roll tubes, old cardboard boxes, garden twigs and branches (as long as they are from the safe-list of plants – willow and apple-tree are best!).
Some rabbits may be stubborn, especially at the start if they’re not used to these kind of things and may need to be encouraged a little. Consider filling the tubes & cardboard boxes with hay, veg or suitable treats (linking back to our earlier blog on foraging, this kills two birds with one stone as they’ll forage for the treats the chew the container).
Again, if this simple trick doesn’t work, consider using the reward technique we mentioned in our blog on digging to reward your rabbit when they are chewing appropriate things.
Finally, if all else fails, there is a product you can buy to treat items that you don’t want your rabbit to chew – Chew STOPPA Spray. Follow the instructions very carefully, and this non-toxic bitter tasting spray will keep unwanted pets away from your furniture.
Remember though, rabbits need to chew. So if you’re going to prevent them chewing your antique grand father clock or your brand new skirting panels then you’re going to have to give them something else to work on.