Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR Experiences on bunny proofing, and good tips??

Viewing 5 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • Bentley Bunny
      Participant
      21 posts Send Private Message

        Hey guys! So I did some reading on the Binky Bunny’s site for bunny proofing. So I wanted to ask a couple questions regarding those and what experiences you all had with what ways YOU bunny proofed (Good or bad)

        My Bentley has three pens. He has his two story wooden hutch, plastic cage for nighttime, and his outdoor kennel for grass and sun time. I would like to set up a pen in my bedroom that attaches off his cage, so he can be in his hutch or free roam some space in the bedroom. Here are a few questions I have:

        1. Spraying- I read on here about some people using Bitter Apple Spray or even spraying perfume on a paper towel and rubbing on areas that they don’t want the bun chewing on (floor boards, wooden floors, walls, wooden hutch…) What are your thoughts on that and how well did it work? Is it safe? (If it is on the Binky Bunny website it must be safe right? )

        2. Best pen building material- I have seen people use “grids”, child block barriers, etc for building a pen for their bun. What worked best for you and how did you go about building it? 

        3. Bunny proofing the area- With the possibility of using a spray to stop chewing, what works well for keeping a bunny from chewing a wooden floor or the walls or even the floor boards? I have read about using metal or plastic? If so, what worked?

        4. Bottoms of free roam pens- I have seen people use totally separate bottom pieces for a pen so the bunny isn’t on direct carpet or wood floors, such as plywood, linoleum on plywood, just a fleece blanket, etc. What did you do? 

        Any other advice would be greatly appreciated!  

        Thanks for reading! <3


      • So Fluffy Bunny
        Participant
        120 posts Send Private Message

          As far as your questions goes, I’ve not had to use the bitter apple spray with bucky yet, although I have experience with it due to one cat who like a bunnie loved to chomp down on wires. It helped to keep the cat not so interesting in the entertainment center and the wires behind. To me, since I like the smell of sour apples, it smelled good while to my roommates not so much. I would think that you would want to provide toys for the bunny like a small cardboard box filled with newspaper to shred and stuff. After a while though the cat started to like the taste and smell of the bitter apple and would still chomp down on cords, whenever I left the house I would have to unplug all my appliances that the cat could get too.

          Now, the second one, I am using grids and me and boyfriend have gone around about on how big to make the cage since the rabbit will have free run of our new living room once we bun-proof including placing wooden blocks underneath the couch and putting the wires in protective covers. We also have to move around on the walls some of his sword collection because one block of swords is way to close to the floor for my liking, however that is easily moved though. The only one problem is finding something that can be put underneath a recliner so that bucky doesn’t hop underneath when my boyfriend wants to sit with his feet up. I however am happier to not sit in a chair that moves back, I have trust issues with recliners. Also to keep the dog out while bucky is free-roaming the living room we are either going to baby gate the living room and make some sort of gate after the bathroom and bun proof our bedroom so he has a bigger area to roam during day while being kept in his cage at night so my darling boyfriend can have the dog sleep with us. Basically bun-proofing is making sure that all the areas that would be problem like underneath the couch, behind it and wires and such that would be dangerous have been worked with so that they aren’t as dangerous to the health of the bun.

          The bottom of the pen that I am looking having made is going to be birch since I cannot find untreated pine in our lumbar stuff here. Basically, I am going to be buying a piece of birch plywood and then giving it to one of our friends who works with wood and stuff to cover the piece of plywood into something that I can slide the c&c cage into so that the bunny has more than enough room to run and skip. I will also be using no pile carpet if I find it cheap enough in the bottom to keep the bun from having fun with the plywood.


        • divinelle
          Participant
          4 posts Send Private Message

            Hey there! Your Bentley looks similar to my Buttercup. So cute!

            BC is a major digger/chewer. I had to keep my eyes on her every second. I was advised by her vet that spaying her would quell a great deal of this impulse, but of course it didn’t fully eliminate it. I tried the bitter apple spray and other suggestions mentioned online to no avail, so here is what has worked for me. I’ve also discussed this with the vet, and so these are mostly her suggestions.

            As previously mentioned, bitter apple spray went over like a lead balloon. It was suggested that I try a homemade type of vinegar spray, because bunnies are supposedly rather offended by vinegar, but not mine! So, it was suggested that I try the Keep Off stuff that is actually used for cats and dogs to keep them off the furniture. So far, it has worked great! I always spray the places that I want her to stay out of before I let her out, just so she won’t inadvertently inhale any. The first time she went towards an area that I had sprayed, she stopped in mid track a good distance from the spot, turned around, and kicked imaginary dirt towards it LOL. After about a month of consistent use, she doesn’t even bother to go in this particular corner anymore, so I don’t have to spray it there any longer. It is the indoor use kind that you can find in any pet store. It smells quite similar to cilantro. Doesn’t stink per se, but it doesn’t smell like air freshener either.

            As far as bunny proofing goes, the spray would probably work just fine for the floor boards and corners. BC doesn’t chew on the walls; it’s mostly the corners of rooms (and furniture!) But just keep in mind that wherever you spray they will not want to go near that spot, so I don’t know if spraying the floor is a good idea or not.

            My bunny literally eats plastic, so I keep all plastic away from her. I’m afraid she will develop some horrible digestive track problem. Metal isn’t good for bunnies either per the vet, so if you want a good floor for your free roam spaces, I feel that the plywood is a good choice. It’s cheap, you can get large pieces, and if Bentley scratches at it, it will maybe file his nails

            Another cheap suggestion for chewing: BC gets all of the empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls. She also likes paper bags. She has a cardboard box that I keep everything in, and she digs and scratches at that. It gets messy, but I’d rather clean up cardboard pieces than any alternative.

            She also likes cloth, so I’ll give her old clothes and blankets to push around and dig at. That seems to keep her occupied rather well. She doesn’t tend to eat/chew these, but that doesn’t mean other bunnies won’t.

            It’s a game of trial and error, but you’ll eventually find out what works best for you and your bun


          • Bentley Bunny
            Participant
            21 posts Send Private Message

              Well I know my Bentley loves cardboard, toilet paper rolls mostly, but he HAS already gone through GI Stasis and I am so paranoid about what is good for a bunny as I never want to experience that again, as we are not sure what exactly caused it. I thought it could have been the toilet paper roll he chewed, or that I gave him a carrot too young, or that he may have eaten some of the towel cloth I had in there, or anything else imagineable. The vet said it was most likely the fact that when we bought him (Then the GI Stasis happened a week later), that it was most likely caused by the sudden change for him coming to our home. Not having his littler mates, new food, added hay to his diet, etc.

              I have been especially paranoid since I lost my other bunny Duke this last year due to Bunny Fever. (I got him at the same place I got Bentley and I loved him dearly) I wasn’t so much paranoid with him because I didn’t do the research I have been doing recently, and he was an easy keeper. There is really no way for me to find a right answer on what is OK for buns. Is cardboard ok? Cloth? (As I read fleece is the only safe material) People say don’t give them cardboard that has any sort of writing on it, or drawings. Only plain cardboard. Or don’t give them newspaper with printing on it. Or don’t give them paper. Or paper bags. Etc. I want to make him some things with cardboard, like a house or toy box, or hay roll, etc. Maybe I am just a paranoid bun bun mommy.

              I also always used Pine shavings for my bunny Duke, but I read that you should not use pine or cedar…… I believe his hutch is made out of cedar though so he is chewing on that?


            • divinelle
              Participant
              4 posts Send Private Message

                I fully understand the worry about GI Stasis, especially if you’ve gone through it. After losing my first bunny, I am probably overly paranoid as well with injuries. But like you, I’d just rather err on the side of caution. I would think the “no cardboard or paper with writing” probably addresses the ink on the paper, and it seems reasonable that the ink would be bad for them. I have noticed that Buttercup doesn’t really eat the paper towel rolls and such; she mostly just scratches at it and bites at it. I watched her for a long time to see if she was eating it or not. I don’t think she is. Plus, her bowels are all working properly and she eats like a horse, so I assume that she is just chewing/playing with it. Just keep an eye on him when you introduce something for him to chew on.

                The shavings are bad for them on several levels. The vet told me it affects their liver. I have probably read the same things you have read, as I too saw where pine and cedar are both bad. I used aspen for a while, but then I got Buttercup a cage that has a pull out tray that is metal. I use Yesterdays News for her litter box. Assuming that his cedar box is relatively hard, he probably can’t eat a ton of it, even if he is chewing it, but I’d ask someone more in the know rather than just going on my assumptions.

                I think you are a wonderful bun bun mommy. Don’t be too hard on yourself You’re just trying to make sure Bentley is all well and good


              • Bentley Bunny
                Participant
                21 posts Send Private Message

                  I have just had THE worst luck with bunnies. My first bunny died in my mom’s arms, my baby bunny I had my grandpa ate, though he said it ran away. My favorite bunny my parents dogs killed. We bred our bunnies, once was on purpose, and the other was an accidentt due to someone WANTING them to breed without our consent, and the runt whom we fed and kept alive was smashed. Then my bunny that my boyfriend got me in 2012, died in 2014 due to Bunny Fever. THAT was the worst. These were all accidental, but still. So receiving this bunny for Valentines Day from my boyfriend really meant a lot so I will be very paranoid as I don’t know what I would do if something happened to him too. He is still pretty young so I assume he will grow out of the baby stage with chewing on everything.

              Viewing 5 reply threads
              • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

              Forum BEHAVIOR Experiences on bunny proofing, and good tips??