Practical bunny proofing help for house rabbits, Doors

Doors

How to bunny proof your doors, door frames and adjacent floor surfaces

The solution and cause of a problem

There are always going to be areas of your home that are for one reason or another you are not going to want your bunny to have access to. It may be the room where your computer or home office is set up which can be difficult to bunny proof adequately or a bedroom which you wish to exclude your bunny from to help prevent alleges. Whatever the reason shutting there areas of your home off behind a closed door is the simplest way of ensuring that these areas become safe.
This unfortunate is not the end to the problem, as your bunny will soon realise it is missing out on something, especially if you use the door frequently or are creating noise on the other side. The result of this is likely to be that the door itself will become the target of unwanted attentions as you bunny try to gain access to the room. This can involve chewing at the door and frame or digging up the adjacent carpet.

Natural instinctive behaviour

In its natural habitat rabbits instictivly create and maintain paths and burrows. They are excellent diggers capable of creating extensive worrens and there razor sharp teeth can make short work most materials that grow in there way.
This instinctive behaviour when directed at a soft wooden door can have quite an impact leading to some nasty damage to the door around its base, the frame and skirting board around the door and the surfaces adjacent to it as your bunny bit by bit chips away and gain access and without direct intervention this unwanted behaviour can quickly lead to what amount s to some extensive and costly repairs.
There is a verity of measures that can be taken to dramatically reduce this damage and in the following section we break these down step by step to make them simple to follow and implement in your home.

Damage to the door

The majority of the damage is likely be caused by gnawing behaviour to the soft wood at the base of the door itself which can easily be stripped of in splinters by your bunny gaining purchase to the underside of the door with its teeth.
The best way to prevent this is by reinforcing a strip along the bottom of the door with a stronger material and by far the simplest way of doing this is by installing a 'Kick plate'. You can purchase a verity of 'Kick plates' in different materials from most DIY stores and they are cheep and relatively simple to install.

Door frames

The door frames and skirting board around the door which are also made of soft wood can also become damaged as they are an easy target. Its very hard to install a permanent solution to prevent this with out a great deal of time and effort needed to install corner strips along every edge, bitter sprays purchased from a pet store can also prove ineffective.
A more suitable solution is simply to lay some ceramic tiles up against these areas around the door when you bunny has access to them. These can then also be packed away when not needed.

Floor surfaces around the door

Another area where damage can occur is to your carpet or floor surfaces adjacent to the door as your bunny may decide to try gain access by digging under the door. The simplest way to prevent damage to these areas is again to lay tiles on the floor which can be packed away then the door is in use or not needed.

Attention seeking

One of the reasons the door may become a focus of destructive behaviour is because your bunny is trying to get your attention especially if you are on the other side making a noise. To prevent this there are a number of products you can buy to provide an alternative such as chew toys with bells on them or rattles. These should be placed next to the door. If you then behave attentively when they are shaken and reward you bunny with some treats it will soon learn to ignore the door in favour of these alternatives.

Alternatives

The door and its frame may become a target of gnawing behaviour as Bunny's tend to chew on soft materials such as woof to help ware down there teeth and provide digestive fibber. As a rule its always good to provide safe and acceptable alternatives that can act as a tasty distraction such as chew blocks, willow sticks, wicker toys, and card board boxes.

Pet gates

Pet gates are a great way of restricting access to a room without leaving your bunny feeling shut out. They can also take the brunt of the damage and are a lot cheaper to replace. If it is a room you enter frequently they can also be a useful safety feature preventing instances of you unknowingly opening a door onto your bunny or stumbling over it.

Deterrents

It is unlikely that you will be able to stop your bunny from chewing on a door but you can make it a little less desirable with the use of a bitter spray