The Safe House: Tips for Rabbit Proofing

by Sadie MacMillan

Rabbit proofing is about protecting your bunny from the dangers around your home, and your home from the danger of your bunny. Unprepared rabbit owners are shocked to discover how destructive a force their rabbit can be, and how much trouble he’ll get into if given half a chance. That is what makes rabbit proofing so important, a lesson sometimes one has to learn the hard way. If possible, try to do your rabbit proofing ahead of time. Rabbit proofing consists of three basic moves: block it off, take it away, or cover it.

Take a good look at the room or rooms in question. Identify the areas that would be tempting or hazardous to a bun. Don’t look just at ground level: Bunnies can springboard from one piece of furniture to another and reach astonishing heights. They can also squeeze into tight spaces, almost as if they can magically go boneless. But squeezing into small places doesn’t always mean being able to squeeze back out. They can get stuck behind appliances and in heating vents and other dangerous places.

So if you find there’s an area you need to keep your bunny away from, your best bet is to block it off with a baby gate or animal exercise pen. Make sure the gate or pen is tall enough to do the job, though. Some buns can jump as high as 36 inches! If there’s something you can’t block off with a gate, or take out of the room altogether, you’ll need to protect it. Some people manage to train their rabbits not to chew, and you may want to try it. You can give a squirt from a spray bottle of water, or clap your hands loudly and say, “no,” in a stern voice, whenever your bunny starts to chew.

To make sure the conditioning is effective, you’ll need to be present and ready to apply it consistently whenever he’s out and about, at least initially. In time, he should learn which things he shouldn’t chew on. A more passive way of discouraging chewing is to use a repellent on the surfaces you want to protect. It’s designed to make those surfaces taste so bad that your rabbit will find them too unappetizing to chew on. You can find repellent sprays and gels at the pet store, usually in the dog or cat section, but some people have experimented with homemade repellents like lime or hot sauce. Many others recommend unscented Ivory dish or bar soap. (They specifically recommend Ivory because it seems to be safe for pets.) It’s important to note, however, that for a large number of rabbit owners, repellents do not work. Some rabbit owners even joke that the repellents are more like seasoning than anything else. And remember that not every rabbit takes easily to behavior modification, and even a welltrained bunny might behave differently if he’s stressed.

A move to a new house, the loss of an animal friend, or the introduction of a new animal, could all trigger a relapse of destructive chewing. That is why there are some things you should take the time to bunny proof anyway, even if your bunny is well-behaved.

Cords – Bunnies are drawn to cords and cables; it’s like a force of nature. But nibbling on cords puts your bunny at severe risk of burning or electrocution. So while it may be possible to train your bun not to chew, when it comes to cords you should not rely on training alone. Your best option is to encase the cords in a protective material. Fortunately you have many options, and most of them are inexpensive and easy to find. There are products made specifically to organize and protect electrical cords. Spiral cable wrap, for instance, is made of polyethylene and looks like a curlicue phone cord. You can find it at places like Radio Shack and Staples. It’s easy to work with and is effective against most buns. If you need something stronger there is split-loom tubing, which comes with a slit down its length to allow the cords in. You can find several other options at a hardware store or home center like Lowes and Home Depot. Flexible vinyl tubing, used in aquarium filter systems and evaporative cooling systems (“swamp coolers”), is one option; polyethylene tubing is another. With either kind of tubing you’ll use a utility knife to cut a slit along its length. Home centers will also carry PVC pipes and shower rod covers, which would also work. Another option is to use channels or raceways, which are long pieces of heavy-duty plastic designed to cover cords and guide them along the baseboards, keeping them protected and out of sight. They require a little more effort and planning to install, but they have the advantage of blending in with the décor better than aquarium tubing usually does.

Baseboards and Walls – Bunnies will also very commonly chew baseboards and walls. You can try setting up one or more exercise pens along the room’s perimeter, creating a buffer zone between the baseboards and the buns. Another option is to cover the baseboards with a “bumper” by tacking on pieces of untreated wood. This will simultaneously protect the baseboards and give your bunny something safe to chew on. If it’s your drywall or wallpaper you’re worried about, you can protect the walls with a clear panel of acrylic, polycarbonate, or plexiglass.

Flooring, Carpets, & Drapes – You may want to protect your floors as well. You can cover the floor with an area rug that you aren’t too attached to, or you can use one or more carpet remnants, which are usually less expensive than a rug and can come in a wide range of sizes. However, you should use a rug or carpet remnant only if your bunny does not chew it. The fibers can be very dangerous to your bunny if he ingests them, so if you catch him chewing the rug you’ll need an alternative material, like ceramic floor tiles or a plastic office chair mat (available at office stores). You can also buy seagrass mats, sold specifically for rabbits. Individually they won’t cover as large an area as a rug, but they are inexpensive, disposable, and 100% chew-friendly. Floor-length drapes can be fun for a bun to hide behind but they are also fun to nibble on, and curtain cords can entangle or choke a bun on the run. Tie them both up and out of reach.

Furniture – Furniture is an inviting bunny playground. The legs are good for nibbling, the upholstery is fun to dig at, and, best of all, upholstered furniture and box springs have soft undersides that bunnies just love to burrow into. Protect the legs of your furniture with cardboard (you might want to use a few layers) or PVC tubing. You can protect the upholstery with old blankets and towels, but you may need to tie them down so the bunnies can’t tug them out of place. And to keep them from making a nest out of the back of your couch, cover the surface with hardware cloth (wire mesh), which is available at hardware stores and home centers.

Houseplants – Houseplants that are within reach are like a naughty bunny buffet. But a nibbled-on houseplant isn’t just annoying – it could be a real danger to your bunny’s health. Several common houseplants are toxic to rabbits, like amaryllis, daffodil, philodendron, chrysanthemum, lily-of-the-valley, peony, poinsettia, tulip bulbs, elephant ear, and narcissus. You can put your plants in hanging planters, but watch out for falling leaves. And if any of yours are among the plants that are toxic to bunnies; you should remove them from the room entirely. For a more complete list of houseplants that are toxic to bunnies you can go to: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=18+1914&aid=1616 For a downloadable PDF list that includes a picture of each plant, go to: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/ GI_diseases/Food/Toxic_plants_ en.pdf The Kitchen Kitchens present several unique bunny-proofing challenges. You will need to make sure your household chemicals are well-secured, either with a child-proof lock or out of reach in an upper cabinet. You also won’t be able to put ant or roach traps or powders down if the bunny is going to be in the kitchen. Your garbage can holds a world of delightful possibilities, and your bunny may very well try to knock it over. The larger and heavier the garbage can, the more difficult that will be for your bun, but you still might want to invest in one with a lid that latches. You will need to make absolutely sure that your bunny can’t get behind the appliances. Don’t necessarily trust your judgment of what kind of space is too small for a bunny to squeeze into. Block off any access points, taking care not to block air flow.

The Right Kind of Chewing – Chewing behavior is not bad behavior. Rabbits need to chew; it’s important to their physical and emotional well-being. You should actively encourage your rabbit to chew by giving him plenty of chewable toys such as: Disposable baskets of straw and untreated, unpainted wicker Wooden pet toys Cardboard (paper towel and toilet paper tubes, cardboard boxes, cardboard packing, oatmeal containers) Apple twigs Providing toys won’t necessarily stop all of your bunny’s chewing behavior, but if you don’t provide him with chewing material, he will find his own and you won’t like the results.

Once you’ve completed your preparations, watch your bun carefully the first few times he comes out to play. Make sure the bunny proofing is doing its job, and see if he finds anything you overlooked. There may be a round two of bunny proofing in your future. But be patient with your bun, no matter what he nibbles on. He’s only doing what it is in his nature to do.

Which of these techniques have you tried? What has worked or not worked for you?