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Get Ready Before you Adopt

Humans need to properly prepare their houses to accommodate the natural behavior of rabbits. Without safeguards, it's like bringing a chewing & digging machine in your house. Without protecting your environment, it is dangerous for the rabbit and you will be unhappy with the destruction they can cause. You will not appreciate their curiosity and energy under these circumstances.

It is possible to limit damage by limiting rabbit access, but you will not get the most possible out of your relationship with your rabbit.

Rabbit Proofing

Rabbits are talented & persistent chewers & diggers by nature. They have evolved to be very good at this & pursuing these activities compose a large part of their psychological profile. Females typically maintain the warren in the wild and they are the most likely to dig. All rabbits enjoy the taste and texture of many different materials. Younger rabbits are especially eager to experience the world by this sensory perception. Older rabbits, who have tasted it all, are less active chewers. It is impossible to train a rabbit to completely stop these activities. Disciplining is not a reliable training method. The best thing to do is to give your rabbit healthy, non-destructive and non-dangerous outlets for these behaviors. The following items are suggestions to distract them & give them alternatives to nibbling on things you want to keep.

Click on the pictures for an enlarged view of the material.

Challenge		Solution
Bunnies can find any carpet seam & pull up carpet edges. If they take an interest in a particular corner, place a ceramic tile over it to protect the furnishing from further damage & prevent the bunny from working that spot again.		Tiles are heavy & generally rabbits have a hard time moving them. They are also low profile so you don't have to make an effort to step around them. They are available at any home improvement store
Challenge		Solution
Bunnies may want to chew your baseboards.		Place a 2x2 inch length of lumber in front of the baseboard to give bunny something to chew that you don't mind. These are called "furring strips" and available at any home improvement store. These are spruce. Never use redwood which is poisonous due to the sap and oils.
Challenge		Solution
Rabbits can also go vertical and chew on your molding.		You can discourage them with spraying unpleasant-tasting solutions on the wood, such as Bitter Apple. You may need to experiment with various tastes until you find one that is effective. Maybe garlic or onions might work. Be careful not to use anything that might poison your rabbit. Research carefully.
Challenge		Solution
Bunnies love the "vine" look of your electrical cords. Their sharp teeth can snip through the insulation in one nibble. To prevent electrocution, you can wrap your cords in a variety of materials.		Here a cord is wrapped in split loom tubing. This is only a stop gap measure of last resort. You need to unplug or remove all electrical cords and computer cables that bunny can access in her play area. Bunnies are very skillful chewers and given enough time, she can work through the extra plastic sheathing you have put around the cords. Spiral wrap, and split loom tubing is available at the stores listed below.
		Solution
		Bunnies in the wild spend up to 4 hours a day just chewing to wear their teeth down. Carpet and other plastic flooring material is unhealthy when ingested in large amounts. Give your bunny a natural alternative-- sea grass mats. They used to be sold at Cost Plus. Buy them if you find them anywhere.
Challenge		Solution
Bunnies can chew only what they can fit in their mouths. Corner edges provide a nice angle for them to grip & bite.		This rounded table leg is too large for the bunnies' jaws and has never been nibbled. Your decor might tend to shift to round legged furniture the longer you have bunnies.
		You can shield your square furniture legs by slipping a piece of PVC pipe around it.

These stores have split loom tubing and or spiral wrap of various diameters:
Orchard Supply Hardware, Radio Shack, Fry's, IKEA, Home Depot.

 

Housing

Rabbits can live in a cage or enclosed area. You can section off a part of your room with an exercise pen. Often we start the rabbits out in cages, then give them more space in an enclosed area when they are litter trained so they have more room to relax & exercise. The cage becomes the "nest" where they can retreat & call their own. You may need to confine or separate your rabbit from your other pets or rabbits for medical or behavior issues and the cage becomes a protective shell for you and your rabbit.

Often people will have just an exercise pen with their rabbit supplies without a cage.

Dennis Hopper relaxes in his room, outside his cage. His laundry room has lots of room to run & hide. He has toys, food, water, a hayrack, & litterboxes. He is all set! Notice the wire panels above the storage tubs. He can jump on the cage, then to the tubs, then the wire shelf. Rabbit proofing makes sure the rabbits can't hurt themselves by getting into mischief.		Dennis stays in the laundry room with the exercise pen across the doorway. The pen is secured by weights on the floor. He can hear & see what else is going on the house
Chestnut is in his cage behind his ex pen. The pen is opened up when it is time to play. He often stays in his cage when the door is open.

 

Litter

Rabbits are easily litter trained & this makes them enjoyable pets. However, their litter needs are different from cats. Be sure to avoid clumping cat litter for rabbits. Rabbits may ingest the clumping litter & cause intestinal blockages. The dust will also interfere with their respiratory system. Do not use aromatic wood shaving such as pine or cedar. These have oils which release gasses that have been shown to damage rabbit's livers. We recommend paper or sawdust-based media such as "Yesterday's News", Stall Pellets for horses, or wood stove pellet fuel. These are all biodegradable & are are excellent mulch for your garden.

last updated november 26, 2010