Furniture and wood

Bunny proofing furniture. How to stop a house rabbit chewing wooden furniture. Prevent damage to table legs, chairs, & soft wooden furniture

It's hard to keep your eye on your rabbit all the time and it only need to be distracted for an instance for the corners of soft wooden furniture or table legs to become damaged by a rabbits sharp front teeth. Applying bunny proofing techniques can help prevent damage alongside providing lots of safe and acceptable alternatives to keep your rabbit out of trouble.

What problem can occur

Soft wooded furniture if left unchecked can be badly damaged by chewing over time.
If you live with a house rabbit that likes to chew things you will know just what they can do to the soft wood of your furniture if left unchecked. Starting with rounding the corners off of chair or table legs or chewing at the side of a coffee table in time this can build up and you can find some quite serious damage has occurred.

Reasons for behaviour

Wild rabbits love to chew on twigs and roots Rabbits eat many things that we would consider indigestible like wooded furniture.
Rabbits have a varied diet which includes many thing we would normal consider inedible. Unfortunately the soft wooden furniture in your home is on the menu for your rabbit and can receive quite a significant amount of damage as they go about there daily business of wearing down there teeth and looking for some interesting non-digestible fibre to eat that forms a natural part of their diet.

Bunny proofing solutions

Some bunny proofing is essential to protect your wooden furniture from chewing.
You can’t stop your rabbit chewing altogether but you can go a long way to slow down and limit the damage with some simple bunny proofing techniques including protecting, making it less appealing with bitter sprays and providing safe and acceptable alternatives.

Metal and glass design

Metal or glass furniture is much more resistant to damage caused by chewing.
If you are replacing some of your furniture is well worth choosing something that will avoid many of the problems. Modern furniture constructed out of materials such as glass and metal will largely be ignored by you bunny and will survive with little damage. Wooden furniture with rounded edges will also avoid damage as it will prove hard for your rabbit to get its relatively small bite around.

Block of awkward gaps

Gaps or awkward spaces behind or between furniture can be safe if not blocked off.
Block of areas that your rabbit could crawl as they could be dangerous if your rabbit were to get stuck and hurts its self in a panic trying to escape. Moving items of furniture up against each another to block gaps or moving the item far enough away to leave a substantial gap. You can also use blocking material such ply wood or a wire fence from a pet pen to seal off and area.

Blocking off underneath

The underside of furniture can be dangerous hiding exposed nails or staples.
Block off or fill in narrow spaces under furniture as these areas often have rough finishing’s and nails underneath that can hurt you rabbit. You can use an armaments or a blocking material such block of wood or ply wood to restrict access to and area.

Bitter spray

Apply some bitter spray regularly to prevent damaged from chewing behaviour.
Bitter sprays can help make an area a lot less appealing to chew on. To stop the spray going everywhere spray some into a cloth then wipe the liquid directly onto the areas affected. Remember to keep reapplying the bitter spray regularly so it doesn't loose its effectiveness. Avoid home made remedies such that may be suggested to you such as perfume or chilly oil as these can be harmful.

Chewing alternatives

Provide some safe and acceptable alternatives to chew on to act as a distraction.
The skirting boards may become a target of gnawing behaviour as bunny rabbits tend to seek out and chew on soft materials such as wood to help wear down there teeth and provide digestive fibber. To help prevent this it’s best to provide some safe and acceptable alternatives that can act as a tasty distraction such as chew blocks, willow sticks, wicker toys, and card board boxes. Remember to replace these frequently as they will loose there novelty and appeal.