[Jess]

Has anyone used this for their buns before? http://www.doggyfriend.com.sg/Fooey-Ultra-Bitter-Gel_p_4653.html
Smudge has a pen that I put around his closet at night, and as some of you might remember, he likes to dig at and chew the bars. I put a piece of fabric along the bottom to cover up the bars, and it worked for a while.


But lately his bar-chewing has gotten worse. He used to only chew/dig at his pen on the weekend when I slept in and let him out later than usual... So that was understandable. Now he is doing it randomly throughout the night, and he refuses to stop unless I either let him out, or give him his Slim Cat ball to distract him. But once his gets all the food out of it, he just starts again.


I've tried saying "NO" really loudly and turning him away from the bars when he does this, but he doesn't seem to care. When I block off one section of is gate, he just moves over to the other section. He has tons of toys to play with and plenty of space in his pen too.


I don't really like the idea of using the bitter gel stuff on his cage bars, because I know he is just doing it because he is bored and wants attention... But I don't know what else to do, and he is driving me insane!

 

[Blacksheep]

I havent tried it mostly because every animal I get is an oddball. The buns I had when I were a kid used to chew and we used tobasco sauce. Needless to say, Johnny LOVED tobasco sauce so it just made it worse lol.

But maybe hes bored. Have you tried getting new toys?

 

[Dragonrain]

It's probably not amazing for his teeth to be chewing on bars either, I'd imagine.

Waaaay back when I had Zeus I used Fooey, but I used the spray not the gel. It actually did seem to work, but I didn't like the spray. When I sprayed things I wanted to bunny proof some of the spray would go into the air and if I accidentally breathed it in I could taste it, and it was really really gross. Not a taste that was easy to get out of my mouth either. I would think the gel would eliminate that problem though! Just make sure to wash your hands really well after using it or after touching the bars after you put it on. I remember with the spray, it seemed hard to get the taste off my hands even after washing them.

I don't remember why I remember this so clearly but I remember once I touched a wire that had the Fooey on it, then washed my hands and went to eat a sandwich for lunch, but the Fooey didn't wash off my hands all the way. Yeah...I don't recommend Fooey sandwiches.

Annnnnyways, like I said I haven't used it since Zeus so that was years ago now. They could have changed the formula since then and apparently came out with a gel instead of the spray. But back when I did use it, it worked for me.

 

[Jess]

@Blacksheep: I bought just about every rabbit toy the pet store I work at sells, and he just got 3 new ones for Christmas. I think I'm going to order him a couple more that we don't usually carry as well.


@Michelle: Yeah, I don't want him to hurt himself either!
I bought the gel stuff, and it actually has a little sponge on it so I don't have to touch the gel myself. So no Fooey food for me LOL. But I tried it just to see how bad it was, and that stuff is nasty... Poor Smudge! I'll put it on the bars tonight.

 

[Purple-Hops]

I didn't know they made Fooey gel!! I would try that. For the same reasons as Michelle, I would NOT recommend the spray :< Blekky indeed. That stuff gets in the air and affects e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g!

 

[Jess]

The Fooey gel actually worked!! I took off the fabric and put the gel on the bars of the pen, and he must have tasted it because the next time I cam in my room he was cleaning his face, and sniffing all of the bars but not chewing on them. He did nibble on one of the bars twice last night, but it wasn't nearly as obnoxious as his full-blown attacks on his pen, and he stopped after I put some more gel on.


A didn't get ingnored either this morning, so I don't think he realizes that I'm the one who put the icky stuff on his pen LOL.

 

[Jess]

Update: Smudge decided that he LIKES the Fooey gel. When I coat the bars with it, he will sit there and lick it off.


His chewing still isn't nearly as bad as it was before, but I'm still frustrated with him. What else can I try?

 

[Sasami]

Something I've done with other animals is to weave palm shredders (often sold for making parrot toys) through the bars. They'll want to chew the shredders instead of the bars so it's less noisy and they're also kept occupied.

Another idea would be to try to exhaust him before bed. A lot of house rabbits spend most of their time lazing around, ha, so I think some of them have too much energy at night/early morning. You could try working on tricks (using a clicker or some other positive reinforcement method), hide treats around the room (not sugary ones, we don't want him to have a sugar rush!), and maybe even make a small obstacle course with jumps. Anything that gets him to use his brain will make him sleepy.

When you let him out at any time, make sure he's not chewing on the bars and has stopped for at least a few minutes if he was. Help him learn that chewing on bars=not coming out of the pen. Elvis tends to chew at the door in the morning to come out and can also get quite nippy when I'm just trying to open the door. So I started waiting (even turning my back) until he settled down and backed up a bit. Then he was immediately let out and given praise. As time went on, he started "patiently" waiting for me to let him out in the morning...no chewing or nipping. He realized that sitting quietly meant he got out sooner .

 

[Dragonrain]

Maybe could you give him some kind of an extended pen area to play in at night? So he can come out of his cage (I know his "cage" is a closet) a bit? Maybe that will be enough to keep him content, but he wouldn't have the run of the whole room to make trouble in.

I dunno, just an idea. I have a pen with a door on it attached to my bunnies cage. When I'm around they get to free roam but at night I usually close the pen door so they can only access the pen and their (huge) cage. Even though their cage is big, I don't think they'd be very happy if I locked them in it, spoiled bunnies. Especially since my two are usually a lot more active at night and early in the morning than they are during the day. Having the pen to run around in as well as their cage seems to keep them content enough that they don't wake me up too often.

Ugh Smudge is nuts if he likes the Fooey stuff! Yucks!

 

[Jess]

Michelle, that is exactly what he has now! This all started when I bought him a pen so he would have a little more space over night. The pen extends from the entrance to the closet about 2-3 ft, and makes a half circle across the 4 ft entrance. If that didn't make sense, I will take a picture LOL. So in addition to his 2ft x 6 ft closet, he has the pen space to play in too.
Before when I just had a gate going straight across the entrance, he never chewed it. But once he figured out he could jump over the gate I bought him the pen, and that's when the chewing started.


@Sasami: The shredder things and giving him exercise are good ideas. I will try to tire him out a little tonight! And his new toys will be here by the end of the week.
And that's what I already do. When he chews the bars I ignore him and leave the room, and I let him out when he is keeping himself occupied with something appropriate. When I actually let him out he is good at just waiting at the bars and not chewing them.

 

[Dragonrain]

Ah okay. I wasn't too sure of what your current set up was like.

Is he bad if you just let him free roam your room at night? Or are you not able too?

I know someone who uses plain bar soap to deter her bunnies from chewing. Apparently she rubs a bar of soap on her baseboards and stuff and the taste stops her rabbits from chewing on those areas. I've never tried it myself though.

 

[Purple-Hops]

I'\d be too afraid of them ingesting the soap!!
If he's a chewer, over night free roam might be just too much for him. You'll end up on chewed bed legs and whatever else he can get his teeth in. I had bunny sleepovers before, Akina peed by my pillows -L-" (yes, I rolled into to find out) and Acacia chewed boxes, rugs, toys, anything.. I couldn't bear it.

 

[Jess]

Well, the good news is that he hasn't chewed the bars for the last two nights! I had him do some tricks and run around for salad pieces the other night for exercise, but I think it just made him grumpy.


I have a tendancy to kick blackets and stuff off of my bed at night, and I don't want him to eat any fabric. There is also a pretty good chance that I would accidentally step on him if when I stumble out of bed, since he HAS to be at my feet constantly. I would just be too worried about him getting hurt if he roamed at night! I wish that Smudgie could have his own room.

 

[Dragonrain]

Ah yeah, I'm very lucky that my bunnies do have their own room. Well actually they share it with the geckos, but still. I just did some major bunny proofing in that room so I don't have to worry about them getting their teeth on things they're not suppose to.

The soap thing, I would assume the soap is non-toxic. I've read that people use Ivory soap, whether that matters or not. I mean I'm sure humans get some in their mouth sometimes and survive to tell about it, even babies and such. I wouldn't imagine that plain bath soap would have too many more chemicals than something like that Fooey stuff would. I've read on quite a few rabbit oriented sites, rescue sites and even some chapters of the House Rabbit Society that using soap that way is apparently safe. But like I said, I've never personally tried it.