a little help and advice .....

So i need a little help to solve a problem we are having with Sheamus.

So Sheamus is my boyfriends rabbit, he lives indoors and is starting to drive my boyfriend insane
He was recently neutered and has moved into a brand new indoor rabbit cage that Marshall nicely brought him for Christmas
But, he seems to have developed a annoying new habit. He has started to chew the bars of his cage, he used to do it in his old cage but seems to do it even more in the new one even tho he has more space. Its annoying as he has started doing it constantly and I'm sure its not good for his teeth and its keeping my Boyfriend up at night. He doesn't want to have to move his cage into another room as it would limit the time that he could be out during the day [as he needs constant supervision as he likes to destroy things] and it seems to effect their relationship a little as my he has a heavy work load at the moment and the lack of sleep is making him very cranky.

Are there any of you out there that have experienced this? do you have any tips to stop him from doing it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Im afraid i havent got much advice. Perhaps he feels his cage is too small? and he needs more free range time? Dolly chews the bars for 2 reasons. Either because i havent got my bottom out of bed early enough to feed her or 2 because ive been a bad bunny mummy and not let them out as often/as long as i usually do.

I bought them a lot of hanging toys, which they now chew/bite instead. It isnt solving the problem though but its not as bad for their teeth. Dolly has one with a bell on - its like her breakfast bell

I find the more freedom i give them, the better behaved they are and the less they chew the bars. Its hard to learn to let go with destructive bunnies, but from past experience, they seem better behaved when they have more freedom/time out.

Apart from that, im not much use. Im pretty lucky with my 3 really. Im sure someone else will be along soon...

Mine used to do this A LOT when they were just in a cage. Now I have a pen attatched to their cage and they have much more space and barely do it. The only time they do it now is at about 4 in the morning cus they I know I will get up to feed them to shut them up

LilyGrace wrote: The only time they do it now is at about 4 in the morning cus they I know I will get up to feed them to shut them up

They have trained you well Lily!

I know, terrible isn't it ha ha ha!!

Flo will do this. If hte piggy pen is up in the garden she goes and chews their bars! I think she must get something out of it. What I have done on their indoor cage is to cut lots of squares of cardboard and stuff them all the way up the side of the bars so they are really tight. It makes a good alternative chew and is less noisy. I think your bf needs to accept that Sheamus is going to chew stuff and that is going to be noisy. However he will get used to it.

Have you tried adding extra chew tubes, theres a big one charlie loves, its about £9 - £11 but he loves it, sort of red in colour, looks like a hollowed out log. This might be better, they chew to keep there teeth in great shape, also try adding extra hay they also chew this for same reason as well as for digestion.

Tigger used to do this when she was little before I'd let her out in the mornings because she wanted to get out and to be fed.

She hardly does it anymore, sometimes she will do it on the odd occasion on the top level of the hutch because she's hinting for a fenugreek crunchy

Sounds like perhaps he is bored and needs some more space?

Perhaps putting a pen around it like icedancer has with florence will help?

will suggest all these things thanks for the help everyone

he does it mostly when he wants out/wants food [which is always ] but we make a point not to do either of these things until he stops so he cant use it to get what he wants. Most days he is let out for most of the day to free range, but i expect with all the work the bf's doing at the mo he may not have been out as much.

we are going to try come cardboard in the wires and some extra chews in the cage to give him something to do while he is in there. We would use a pen for extra space, but he jumps like a mountain goat and im pretty sure at some point during the day he would escape. we are going to look into some way of getting him more space, and when its warmer he will be spending the warmer days out in his run, its just while its still cold really.

It does sound as if it is a cage vice from being bored and it's his way of telling you he want's to come out. Ignoring him won't make him stop as he will just do it all the more it will become a habit with him and he won't be able to stop. It's the same as animals in zoo's that pace from one end to another or elephant's that sway they are all signs of being bored.
Is there space to attach a play pen or something like this below and put a tunnel and some toys in it to keep him occupied. Or a few hours out of his indoor cage daily should help

have suggested this to him and he thinks its a great idea, not only to stop him chewing but also give him extra space. Any suggestions of what he can use as to pen in an area, a pretty high one as like i said he jumps like a mountain goat. Whats the recommended height?

I've got a trixie pen and it comes with a net you can put over the top of it..maybe that would work?