Help with Rabbits constant chewing of my clothes!

Question
Hi,

It is me again, I ask some time ago about my rabbit Peter and the fact that he loves water. Well that is going well, he enjoys his daily dips in the bath tub. I increases level of the water each week. He enjoys it a lot, walks around in the water and does little jumps in it, it is only comes up about 1/3 up his sides right now, so I still don't know if he'll swim or not.

Anyways, I must admit that since I work at a pet shop Peter is pretty spoiled. He has all kinds of chew toys, chew sticks, and some other toys to keep him busy when I am at work and can't let him out of his cage. Even with all his toys, such as his toss and chew toys, regular chew sticks, toilet paper rolls stuffed with hay, and some treat chew sticks, he seems to like to chew on my clothes. Last night he chewed a medium size hole in the jeans I was wearing, he has chewed some tiny holes into one of the blankets on my bed. At first it was hardly nothing and so when he would do it I would just tell him no and put him back into his cage. That did the trick for awhile but now he is doing it more often, and I am not sure what to do about it now. Is there anything I can do to get him to stop this or lessen it?? I really can't afford for him to chew through all my clothes and the blankets on my bed. Please help!

Please any advise you have will be of great help.
     Thanks for your time.
             Julia

Answer
Hi Julia

I am sorry it took me a while to get back to you.  I was trying to think of a good answer for you.  Unfortunately I am having a hard time coming up with one.

Peter sounds like he already has every chew toy there is and that is normally what I would suggest.  There is something else you can do to deter him from chewing things he isn't supposed to but I don't know if you would want to do it to your good clothes.  There is this spray called apple bitter spray that you can spray on the things he is chewing.  It should make him not want to chew on the things he isn't supposed to because it tastes horrible.  Since you work at a pet store you should be able to find it there.  If you don't have it at your store you can do a search on the Internet for a place called The Ferret Store.  I buy my apple bitter spray there.  I have never tried it on clothing but I know it works on my carpets and my blankets.  I imagine it would do the same thing to clothes.  After a few times of getting the taste in his mouth he should learn that he doesn't want to chew on you.

One other thing you can do when you are holding him is to put a thick towel between you and him.  I know that it gets kind of annoying but it would save some of your clothes.  He just sounds like a chewer and really it is hard to teach them what is ok to chew and what is not.  I would try the apple bitter spray and continue to tell him NO.  With some positive reinforcement such as a little treat for being good he should learn quite quickly.  If you do give him treats make sure you give him a rabbit safe veggie for a treat such as cilantro rather than a sugary treat.

Good luck with Peter.  I am happy to hear he is still enjoying the water.

Sincerely,

Pam