Rabbit advice please

Ruffles_2

Just wondering how big the cage is and what breed of rabbits they are?
Do they have access to fresh hay all the time?
Do they have toys in so they can play and work for their food/treats?
Do you provide them with branches they can knaw on?
How much time do they spend out of the cage?

Rabbits teeth grow continuously and they have to knaw to keep them trim. If they are unable to wear their teeth down, it can cause abscesses and other problems.

If they have lots of things to do in their cage, it could have just become a habbit that needs breaking. I've never heard of using pepper- if you do decide to use it, I'd give the vets a ring just to make sure it's safe.

If they don't have much to do in their cage, they're probably chewing through boredom and giving them toys, branches and plenty of time outside the cage should help.

4li5on

Sounds to me like they need more wooden toys, hay, string covered cat toys etc. to keep them entertained and give them something to help keep their teeth down. It's a natural thing, and if they need to do it, they use whatever they can!

Sirbendy

Our guinea pigs try to eat EVERYTHING..it seems to be the unspoken rule.."it might be eatable, lets see." The cage gets it, the teatowel(!) got it last night, the washing basket..it's not like they're starved either!

We've been letting them loose in the kitchen for 20 minutes every night while we cook and sort their food (having shut the cats out first)..this seems to help. They're based in the kitchen though. Big outdoor style hutch on legs, also the favourite sleeping place of the cats (who are entirely neutral with regard to the GPs).

I tend to give them apple branches and old seasoned logs to chew on. Seems to work OK. They also have a wooden "ramp" cat toy covered in sisal. That seems to be most enjoyable..

LittleTinker

Rabbits will chew all the time.....and they have to to keep their teeth trim.

Sounds as though they havent enough roughage to knaw on.....they need plenty of green stuff.....and lots and lots of hay.

gabyjane

Well they have a huge double level cage with run attatched that they can go in all the time so plenty of room. In that they have a wooden ball, a wooden cube, a hay bale tunnel, a plastic ball and a log, in the cage they have a hay holder thing filled each morning, a treat at times and a mineral disk, there is a ball that there food is held in that they have to play with to get the food out and they have dried as well as the fresh. They are let out at least once a day to run free in the whole of the garden where they eat tons of grass and get lots of exercise, there bedding is changed daily by dd...im at a loss really as it has happened as soon as we got them, what are we missing?

They are both male lop eared bunnys.

Notsosharp

I would probably say that they are just doing what rabbits do - chew! Sorry if its not very helpful but sometimes you can give them all the toys in the world and they will still prefer to chew on the hutch. Maybe you could put something on there to stop them doing it? I have a rabbit and she has more or less decimated her hutch and my friend had one that did the same thing too. I think part of the problem is that rabbit hutches aren't actually that good for keeping rabbits in!

Its like my cats, they have stratchy posts but they still insist the upstairs bannister is the place to do it no matter how much catnip I put on the post!

clutterydrawer

Some rabbits are just big chewers. Get them neutered, make sure they have plenty of hay and chew toys, and if that fails you'll need to get some wire mesh and a staple gun and mesh the inside walls of the hutch to stop them getting at it.

ClareEmily

gabyjane wrote: »

We bought a rabbit a few months back and then another a couple of weeks after that, they get on well..too well at times and are both male! The problem with them is that they have eaten loads of the cage, it cost a fortune and we have bought them a big run to go with it and they have desicated it already which is annoying me as together it is a lot of money going down the drain..
IF it is their teeth should they be like this when we bought them (both around (16 weeks ish) and if not is there anything else we can do about it or is it normal ?
Thanks

Hi there

Well firstly a male + male (especially if unneutered) is a BAD combination and they will probably end up fighting, and rabbits can have horrid bloody fights.

Best combination is neutered male and female.

If you do end up with rabbits which have fallen out have a word with your local rabbit rescue centre for advice about bonding issues. Ours is Bobtails.

A useful leaflet here about outside bunnies:
http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/leaflet_pdfs/SECS130807.pdf

They need LOTS of good quality timothy hay every day this relives boredom. There are also lots of willow toys you can buy.

I think also they are both really young bunnies so will probably settle down.

Good luck Clare x

dolally_2

You can help avoid potential bonding issues by never splitting them. I agree that they need to be neutered but take them to the vets in the same carrier and request that they are kept together. Also, for, future reference, if only one rabbit needs to see the vets then you still take them both.

Some rabbits do form very strong bonds but it is more common that the bonds are easily broken which is why it is important that they are always together once bonded.

tiamai_d

Lack of roughage can cause excessive chewing but mostly it's just bunny behavour.

Are they chewing the structure of the cage (doors, walls) or the bits that seperate living and sleeping quarters? Many bunnies decide that having a bit of wood seperating up their hutch is a silly idea and rectify the situation. They also decide that really the design's of these fancy hutches are a bit naff and need a bit of decorating too!

Get them neutered if not allready (both at the same time is best). They may be best friends now but that may change when summer arrives. (the humping will still happen though :rolleyes: )

Lots of chew toys, you can buy rabbit ones pretty cheap. Inventive toys to provide entertainment. Get an empty loo roll tube, stuff some treats or fruit/veg in the middle and fill the ends with nice hay (timothy hay is best as it smells delish to rabbits). Cheap toy. My old lady bunny was especially fond of the rabbit treat balls that dropped treats as they were rolled/tossed around. Although her very best toy was a large plastic beetle car she stole from DS1!!!

Things such as an apple hanging from a bit of string in the run works well too (not too long to cause problems).