Chewing on the Cage

[Quinn_the_Cutest_Bunny]

I have had my bunny for about 3 weeks now. I got her from a pet store, so I don’t know exactly how old she is (my best guess would be 10-12 weeks old) or even what breed she is (again, best guess is mini lop, as she has already surpassed the size of a holland lop). Since we got her, we have litter trained her and allow her to run freely around, for the most part. When we leave or go to sleep for the night (usually around midnight), we put her in her cage with plenty of food and water and easy access to her chew toys and cover her cage with a blanket. For the first couple weeks, she would stay quiet all night. And in the morning we would let her out again. However, over the last week or so, she has been waking up about halfway through the night (around 4 am every night) and started chewing on the bars of her cage. When I get up to check on her, she still has plenty of food, water and access to her chew toys. The only other thing about her behavior that has changed is that she has almost quit eating her hay. I have switched her to a different type of hay in the hopes she’ll start eating the hay again. How do I get her to stop chewing on the cage?

[Luna's Mom]

Hello! Luna does the same thing with her cage and I found hanging lots of toys from the bar helps. One thing I hung was a lava rock star (I think that was what it’s made of) and she chews that a whole bunch.I think they are just bored or want our attention because her door is always open except bed time and she would still do it until I hung enough toys. Her favorite are toys made from cardboard or loofah. Most of the store bought toys she pays no attention to them.

[tobyluv]

At her age, she may be getting an influx of hormones, due to approaching puberty. That could make her more restless or agitated during the night. Although even spayed or neutered rabbits may chew on cage bars, spaying her should help her to calm down. You won’t be able to do that for another couple of months or so.

You really need to make sure that she is eating hay. Try different varieties or different brands to find ones that she likes. At her age, unlimited pellets can be fed, but you don’t want her to overdo the pellets, in lieu of eating hay, so you might have to cut back a little on her pellets.

[Quinn_the_Cutest_Bunny]

For the last few weeks she’s been eating the timothy hay and has been loving it. All of a sudden she just quit eating it. Since that change I have only been feeding her pellets twice a day (once in the morning and once at night. I have tried moving where I put her hay. I’ve tried incorporating her hay into her favorite ball. I’ve tried mixing timothy hay and orchard hay. I’ve tried just orchard hay. I’ve tried putting her vitamin drops (which she LOVES) on her hay. I’ve tried mixing pellets and hay. I’ve even tried mixing romaine lettuce with hay. Any other ideas I can try to get her to start eating hay again? 

[Quinn_the_Cutest_Bunny]

Thanks for that! I think I’m going to have to try that. Do you have a blog or youtube channel where you give some insturctions on how to make some toys? My Quinn doesn’t seem to pay much attention to the store bought toys either. She has one ball she plays with and that’s it.

[tobyluv]

You can sprinkle a little alfalfa hay on top of her timothy or orchard grass. It’s very fragrant and the little bits can filter down through the other hay, so hopefully that would entice her to eat all of the hay. There are some other kinds of hay you could try too – oat hay, meadow hay, blue grass hay, botanical hay (timothy hay with some dried flowers and herbs mixed in).

[Author]

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