How to get your bunny to chew?

[Jenner]

 Hey everyone!

My bunny doesn’t chew much at all. I hear of other bunnies destroying toys in minutes, but Jenner barely makes a dent. I’ve gotten him all different kinds of wood, willow, flavored woods like apple sticks, loofa, pumice stone…basically every different kind of chew toys I could find at pet stores. The only thing he has really chewed on is his plastic house…but he’s had that for a year and its not even that chewed.

I know chewing is very important for their teeth, so that’s why I am concerned.

Any tips on how to encourage him to chew on his toys?

When I had the other bunny, Odom, he destroyed a toy within a night – this wood/loofah toy – and he would chew up toliet paper tubes, but Jenner won’t.

 

Thanks!

[peppypoo]

None of my bunnies are big chewers (except for chewing the carpet LOL)…I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Eating a proper diet and plenty of hay is actually the most important thing for keeping their teeth in check. As long as Jenner has normal healthy teeth (without malocclusion) his lack of interest in chew toys shouldn’t be a problem.

[Sarita]

Does he eat his hay? That is the most important thing to keep their teeth “filed” down. It’s the motion of chewing the hay with their teeth that helps.

Most of the other chew toys are for reliving boredom moreso than helping keep their teeth healthy.

[KytKattin]

I agree with what the others have said. Hay is the number one thing for keeping rabbits happy and healthy overall. Though keep in mind, that as rabbits age, they will often need at least one filing for spurs in their lifetime. Our rabbits live significantly longer than their wild counterparts, not to mention all the odd things we did when breeding them (short noses in particular). It is just like for people who keep horses and need to “float” a horse’s teeth. Yearly checkups with a good vet should prevent teeth from ever being a problem (unless your rabbit is particularly young, in which case a more permanent problem might not have been noticed yet).

That also brings me to the idea that if your rabbit is particularly young (under 6 months) his raging hormones might not have hit yet, making him seem like a docile little creature. He might become more interested in toys with age. Or not. My girl can’t bother giving two hoots about most toys.

[RabbitPam]

As long as he eats his hay, he’s OK.

Bunny toys are sort of categorized by what the bunny likes to do, ie. chewers like chew toys, diggers like diggy boxes and shredding, jumpers like ramps and heights and burrowers like tunnels and tents. So your bunny probably likes one of the other things as play better. If you watch for which of those he prefers, and get him toys for that, it will save you wasted money. (Says someone who had a dozen ignored toys for a burrower.)

[Elrohwen]

Yep, hay eating is the most important! I’m happy that I don’t have big chewers, because a bunny who destroys his toys will probably want to destroy your baseboards another day. Chewing on toys is really to alleviate boredom, not to help their teeth. Plenty of toys, like phonebooks and cardboard boxes, are fun for bunnies who don’t enjoy chewing – mine prefer digging and ripping them up.

[Jenner]

Thank you everyone for the responses!

I am glad to hear that his disinterest in chewing on toys is okay! I spent a lot of money on all different kinds of toys, trying to find one he’d like…so I’ll stop doing that now. He has enough chew toys for a dozen bunnies. lol

He is not crazy about hay, but I am gradually reducing his pellet amount, because he used to get however much he wanted. Now he eats more hay…and hopefully with time he will like it even more.

KytKattin – he’s around 1 and 1/2 years old

RabbitPam – Thanks for the info! I will try out some digging and burrowing type toys with him now.

[ChocolateMuffin]

Hi guys, I’m new to bun ownership and to the binky bunny group. I’m having the same problem with my little doe ‘muffin’. She has every kind of chew toy under the sun but shows little interest in chewing. She has unlimited access to hay and she eats tonnes of the stuff. But her teeth aren’t wearing down enough. They are aligned fine so she’s just not wearing them down enough. It might be a silly question but are there different types of hay out there that are better for keeping the teeth in check? Also, any suggestions to get her chewing more would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, stacey and muffin.

[Sarita]

Hi ChocolateMuffin – we ask that members do not pull up and reply to old posts – this post is 2 years old – it confuses members because they reply to the initial poster – you need to start a new post.

In reply to your post however hay is what a rabbit needs to keep their teeth healthy not chew toys – chew toys are for boredom. It sounds like she’s eating plenty. Please feel free to start another post and explain what you mean by they are not wearing down enough – are these her molars or incisors too. In the meantime I am locking this post.

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