Rabbits can make for fun pets but be careful! They can be prone to some behavior patterns that are odd – and even harmful.
They love chewing things, and this could be the electrical cable that’s plugged into the socket. This could spell danger for the rabbit and a cord replacement for you.
Really, you must be careful what you leave lying around. A rabbit’s natural instinct is to chew whatever it encounters. If you think of the staple diet like carrots, think again. It could be anything!
Whatever, you want your bunny inside the home, so how do you go about ensuring that your home is bunny-proof? Firstly, get down and crawl around and see the world as the bunny sees it.
If there are cables lying around, tie them up into a neat bundle and put them high up on the wall onto a wall lever that you’ve cleverly drilled holes for and made sure it’s secure. Do this wherever there are cords on the floor. It’s going to be a schlepp if it’s only one cable that’s going into a socket, but here’s what you do.
Cover cables with tubing
The cables that lead from the socket you should secure on the wall to wherever it goes – to your bedside lamp, or TV – with tubing. If there’s a double adapter or a larger plug floater next to your bed, have it fit against the wall so when the cabling with the tubing comes down the wall it fits securely right next to the adapter.
You can have an adaptor and floater housing case that clips onto it for easy taking off, putting back on. A bit of a mission? Yup, it really is, but that’s the cords taken care of. If there are cord-heavy rooms, such as the main computer area, make sure this room is totally out of bounds for the rabbit.
Other damaging behavior? Yes! Rabbits love digging into carpets. It’s their natural thing, digging, especially with females. In the wild, they dig burrows to nest their babies in, so you can see where this comes in.
You can have huge chunks of your carpet missing with this kind of behavior. If you have hardwood floors, get rid of the carpets, and scatter some plastic mats near the corners as it seems that bunnies make a beeline for these areas. Okay, plastic mats may not look as plush as your carpet, but it could solve that problem.
Going for the baseboards
Rabbit teeth grow all the time, alongside their love for chewing anything that comes their way. While you can give them a myriad of toys they can chew on, they will probably decide that they like baseboards better. Use a flexible cat scratcher to cover those areas.
These cat scratchers can be a real boon for you, not only in the baseboard areas, but also wrapped around table legs, so they don’t get to chew on those. Get the scratchers that are thick so the bunnies will have a job chewing them. Make sure the scratchers are positioned securely on the wall using drilled-in hooks.
You may have to use the scratcher boards right around the bottoms of your entire room and the other areas of your home that are open to your friends. This way they will not have the walls to chew onto.
Rabbits like to nest under furniture or your bed, so ensure there is no carpeting there. That’s where those plastic mats come in handy again. You can also try cubed fencing tied together to fit around the table on the floor and your bed. This is a sure-fire way of keeping those teeth out from where they’re not needed.
Remember to keep all dangerous stuff (like pesticides) out of harm’s way. In fact, put these on top of cupboards. Rabbits can’t hop that high!
