Rabbit Chewing Activities

Rabbits are delightful animals who make excellent pets. Intelligent and inquisitive, they can learn tricks and even learn to use a litter box. Rabbits are also unintentionally destructive, causing damage to household items. Chewing is an action rabbits must do daily to keep their ever-growing teeth at manageable length; rabbits are unable to exercise discretion in the items they chew, often causing damage to furniture and other items.

  1. Why Rabbits Must Chew

    • Rabbits have continuously growing open-rooted teeth, with dentition consisting of two upper and two lower incisors, cheek teeth and molars. Excessively long teeth can cause rabbits to starve; chewing becomes impossible. Without chewing activity, rabbit incisors would grow until protruding from the mouth like tusks, or inward, eventually embedding in the roof or floor of the rabbit's mouth. Maintaining healthy tooth length is one reason rabbits must chew.

    Reasons Rabbits Chew

    • Aside from chewing to reduce tooth length, rabbits chew for a variety of reasons --- not all of them positive. Chewing activity marks territory, expends energy and expresses boredom or loneliness. Rabbits chew for attention, and like children who behave badly, negative attention is better than no attention. Chewing is also hormonally driven, with females chewing more than males, especially after reaching sexual maturity.

    Spaying Or Neutering

    • Since many destructive chewing activities are the result of hormonal changes, spaying or neutering pet rabbits should be done before the rabbit reaches sexual maturity, between three and six months of age. Neutering or spaying reduces chewing urges, especially as the rabbit gets older, saving furniture, moldings and carpet the rabbit might otherwise chew.

    Things Rabbits Can Chew

    • A rabbit should not be sequestered in a cage without something to chew on, and if loose in the house, providing it with toys may protect your sofa and table legs. Items like small wood blocks or terrycloth towels satisfy a rabbit's need to chew. The wood should be limited to pine, apple or willow and any cloth should be 100 percent cotton. A rabbit must not chew on carpet; the fibers are synthetic and will cause damage to the digestive tract and create blockages that could result in death.

    Rabbit Discipline

    • Rabbits can be trained to use a litter box or walk on a leash.

      A rabbit is trainable, and owner response to unacceptable behavior has an impact. Clapping the hands loudly with an emphatic "no" can avert additional chewing damage provided the discipline is consistent. Keep in mind that although rabbits are intelligent, they will not understand punishment given unless done while the inappropriate chewing activity is happening.

    Rabbit Proofing

    • Chewing wires can mean electrocution for a rabbit.

      Rabbits chew just about anything they come across, including electrical wires, such as stereo and cable connections. These items must be "rabbit proofed" by removing them altogether or raising them to a position the rabbit cannot reach. Chicken wire barriers work well to protect table legs and wall moldings.

    Veterinary Care

    • Regular check-ups are vital for rabbit dental health.

      Rabbits need regular check-ups to ensure proper health. Timely examinations detect conditions causing poor health, such as the teeth being out of alignment or excessively long. If this is the case, the veterinarian is able to shorten the teeth, with the rabbit maintaining the length with chewing activity.

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