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rabbit-proofing question

22 11:09:12

Question
Mr. Meyer,
I have a male holland dwarf rabbit, neutered (age unknown, from humane society)can't hear, anyway he is a house rabbit.  He literally has full run of my one bedroom apt. all day and is litter-box trained.  I'm moving to a place with hardwood floors and wood molding etc.  What can I do to MAKE SURE he doesn't chew on any of the wood? I don't want to put him in a cage.  Also whats the best way to cover electrical cords? I've gotten tubing and sliced it and put the cords in but he still chews through them.  Other than that he's very good.  Please help!!
P.S. Is it true that neutering male rabbits changes their personality for the worse or is that a myth?

Answer
Hi Becka,

first, thanks for adopting your rabbit from a shelter.  You actually save two rabbits when you adopt from a shelter - the one you have, and the next one that takes his place.

To be honest, there is nothing you can do to 100% guarantee they won't test the woodwork.  But there are things you can do to discourage it.

1.  Apple bitter spray on the woodwork.  That could get expensive and I it needs to be periodically re-applied.  Further, it may not stop him from nibbling.

2.  Alternative wood pieces to chew on.  You can get untreated pine pieces and coat them with vegetable oil (they won't go rancid with vegetable oil).  Most of the time they will chew the corners down.  Once the corners are gone, you'll need to replace them.  They like corners as this is what they bite into.

3.  You can get dried apple twigs from a place like Busy Bunny or your local pet supply store.  They must be dried (and they will be at the pet supply store) because otherwise the tree sap can kill them.

Covering cords:  two options if he chews through plastic tubing.  First is using PVC tubing from the home store.  The second option is to use metal conduit designed to hide cords (basically you install these directly above the baseboards.  The PVC solution will probably work better for you, cost-wise and installation-wise.  You can get whatever size diameter pvc pipe you need based on how many cords you are running.  

Further, it is always good to have a cage for a house bunny, for a number of reasons.  First, they can learn it is their private, safe space.  Second, if you ever need to protect them from something, it's there.  Third, if there is a chance they could get hurt because a lot of people are there or you really need to deep clean and you want to keep him from getting hurt, you've got that for him.  Fourth, if your place isn't completely bunny-proofed, it may be safer for him to be in there until the proofing is over.  That, and if you ever worry about crushing him/stepping on him at night, if he's in his house, that can't happen.

For example, all of our guys are in their houses at night.  During the day we open up their houses and they can decide to either be in their cage or out in their areas.  Personally I do a lot of projects around the house, and for their safety and mine, I can't have them out without fearing I'm going to hurt them.  Since your guy cannot hear, he can't normally be alerted to you by sound, so that makes things even more complicated.

Sometimes we'll find them in their houses even though they could be outside if they wanted to.  

Write back anytime.