Bunny Biting Cage

[kcomstoc]

 So my bunny has NIC cage and i can only let him out at certain times (the cage is the minimum size just until August because then I will have more space so I can build him a 3 story condo). He keeps biting and then shaking the cage and I don’t want him to hurt his teeth (I read somewhere that if he bites his cage he can damage them). Today I started spraying him with a spray bottle of warm water just to get him to stop. Is this the right thing to do? He isn’t doing it right now just because he finally understood that every time he bites the cage he gets sprayed. So since he stopped biting the cage I gave him an orange piece (it’s a part of his pellets that he absolutely loves *we went over this before his food is fine for him*). Should I be trying something else?

[RabbitPam]

First, it really isn’t terribly harmful for a bunny to bite the bars of a cage. Most of our bunnies do it, and after a while the tend to do it less as they get older, but Sammy still does.
Unfortunately, negative training doesn’t really work well with bunnies, so spraying him may just result in his being a bit afraid of you. Positive reinforcement works, which is what the orange bites are, but then it sounds like you may be giving him a mixed message. ie, he may be learning that if he bites the bars, then stops, he gets rewarded.
I would totally ignore him when he chews on the bars. If he does other behavior you like, such as using his litter pan, you can praise him. If he lays there and you go to pet him and he stays, then praise him again. The water bottle spray in his own habitat is not really a good tool. Since the bars won’t hurt him that much, mostly ignoring all behavior you don’t like just tells him he isn’t getting anywhere and it may lose interest for him.

The need to chew is important, however, so I would urge you to get him some healthy willow toys to chew on instead. A good willow ball (plain ones, not ones with junk or bells inside like you find in pet stores) or a willow ring will be excellent for his teeth AND digestion. You can again praise him when he chews on one, and maybe reward him with a little raisin.

[kcomstoc]

He has several chew on toys including apple wood, willow links, a willow tunnel, and other chew things. He didn’t run from me when I went to pet him for being good, but I will stop spraying him (I just did it today for a few minutes so he shouldn’t be too sad about the negative reinforcement) I don’t like negative reinforcement myself but i thought that it was really bad for his teeth and didn’t want there to be damage to them. If it doesn’t hurt them then i will ignore the behavior.

[Chronicambitions]

One of my bunnies broke his tooth doing this. It didn’t come back in right and we almost had to get his teeth removed. Most bunnies are usually ok though. You could put wire mesh over the bars to keep him from getting to the bars.

[kcomstoc]

I was thinking maybe of putting plastic sheets (it will cover the wires but he won’t be able to bite the plastic) when i mean sheets not like shower curtains or things like that I mean the solid plastic *does that make sense?*

[RabbitPam]

I’m sorry to hear about your bunny breaking a tooth. I hadn’t known anyone who had a bad problem like that. I’m concerned that wire mesh would actually cause small cuts to the mouth if chewed as well.
Another suggestion would be to wipe the wires with a damp cloth soaked with a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water. It’s also handy in a spray bottle, not for spraying the bunny at all, but on things that you don’t want chewed like baseboards and furniture legs. The only reason I suggest wiping not spraying bars is because it is a noxious odor that repels bunny, and a spray would put it all loosely within the habitat. You don’t want his home to be unpleasant for him.

[kcomstoc]

it won’t hurt him if he licks the vinegar will it? I would never spray a bunny with vinegar/water solution. I will try wiping it on the wires though to see if that will work.

[RabbitPam]

No, that’s what’s good about it. It’s perfectly healthy and natural. Just stinks to them like old socks do to us.

[RabbitPam]

BTW, white vinegar in a litter pan after you’ve emptied it, with some baking soda sprinkled on it, will sizzle, then remove all soiled stuff and make it very sanitary and clean. Just be sure to rinse it all out well with water before adding fresh litter so it doesn’t smell to the bunny.

[kcomstoc]

I love the smell of vinegar actually lol that’s good I’ll make sure to do that so that he won’t bite it anymore thank you for all your help rabbitpam

[Nicolene]

My mini rex did that, she wanted OUT and actually broke out a few times, even eating through zipties. As for spraying with water.. we have used that method with great success, so I’m partial to it. We only spray them when they bite baseboards or the tile around our fireplace because they chip off pieces of paint and eat it. They KNOW now, they will try to bite that while staring at us and we just shake any water bottle and they run away and go bite something more appropriate. I do think people should provide them with a TON of their own stuff. We have a who toy box filled with plastic and wicker toys, measuring cups, small boxes, telephone books, anything you can thing of. They also have a big cage and a rug that is all their own in the living room. Cardboard castles and tunnels. Our rabbits are not destructive at all anymore, but I think it’s because they have so much of their own stuff now.

[Nicolene]

We also do positive reinforcement. We clap our hands and say “goodnight” and they run to their cage and they each get a treat. If we had to go find them and carry them to the cage they didn’t get a treat. It took a little training, but they run “home” every night now.

[kcomstoc]

I think that as soon as I build the 3 story condo in August he will be better with it (I think he feels cramped or something even though his cage is big enough for him) I usually can take him out in the morning but not on weekends soon I can let him be mostly free range (when I move). He did stop when i sprayed him but I don’t want him to be scared of me, but I also don’t want him to chip his tooth or something like that I am going to try what rabbitpam says and wipe the cage with the vinegar/water solution.

[kcomstoc]

IT JUST HIT ME!!!! i know why he was chewing on his cage, I usually give Caleb his lettuce around noon and I just realized I hadn’t given him his lettuce (I just gave it to him and he is just eating it up like a lawnmower) lol oops poor little bunny

[Chronicambitions]

Pam: thank you, luckily his teeth are wearing down evenly so they didn’t have to be removed, although they look kinda funny now. You’re right about the mesh. That would hurt them too.
I know that momo breaking his tooth is very unusual. That’s why I’m not really worried about it happening again. Now he’s older and a lot less aggressive.

Kcomstoc: glad you figured out why he was doing that. They usually bite on the bars to tell you they want something.

[kcomstoc]

lol yes he was just trying to talk to me (too bad I didn’t learn bunny as a second language instead of spanish) thanks chronicam, also I am glad that your bunny’s teeth are getting back to normal

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