[Jess]

So, as I posted before, Smudge had figured out how to jump the gate to his closet. I just bought him a pen on CL, and I detatched 3 panels from it that I'm using as a gate now. I thought Smudge would like it, since it goes around the entrance to his closet instead of right up against it, so he has a little more room now at night.


Well, now he has decided he will obcessively chew on and dig at the bars of the gate! In his 8 years, Smudge has NEVER been a bar chewer. I'm kind of frustrated with him right now, because it feels like as soon as I fix one problem he starts another one. And chewing on the bars can't be good for his teeth either.
He was so loud and annoying last night that I took his new gate off and put the old one on, and he has no interest in chewing the old one what-so-ever.


My mom suggested I put lemon juice on the bars, so that it won't taste good to him. Are there any better ways to get him to stop chewing/digging? My only other idea was to put NIC panels around the bottom of it, since he isn't too interested in chewing those.

 

[Purple-Hops]

Hm, good question bc Acacia has just started chewing the bars when I close her in at bedtime too!! Smudge won't chew nic?? I would use that then. Lemon juice might offend his sensitive nose, I would think. What I've been doing is scolding Acacia- when she starts (bc she only does it initially in protest then accepts it) I snap my fingers and tell her "no". When she stops I praise her. Is there a bunny equivelant to senility and alheimer's?? Like canine cognitive dysfunction?? Maybe he's just makig sure you remember him forever! muwahahah!

 

[Jess]

Well, he will bite them once in a while, but he doesn't obsessively attack them like his new pen. So I'll try that for tonight. I didn't think lemon juice would be very nice anyways!
But when he started chewing them, I would push him away from it so he faced the opposite direction... Usually he gets the idea pretty quickly when I do that, but he just went right back when I got in bed again.


If he doesn't want me to forget him, he's doing a pretty good job of reminding me of his existance! Geesh. But I tend to get really spazzy at him when he continuously wakes me up at 3:00AM LOL.

 

[Purple-Hops]

Understand. Waking up at ungodly hours for temper bunnies makes me mad too. I'm guilty of scaring the bejeesus out of both bunnies in the past to rip cardboard and rattles from them during the night. Then I (mostly) learned to watch what they have at night.

 

[Jess]

Hey, I think I figured out what Smudge's problem is!
You know how he has a black mat in his closet, that kind of seperates it from the carpeting in the rest of my room? Usually, I put the gate right up to the black mat, so he can't get one the carpeting. So last night, I tried putting the new pen right up to the mat like his old gate was, and he didn't bother it at all last night (I didn't put the NIC panels on it either, BTW). He chewed a little at first when he realized he had been captured, but after a couple minutes he stopped and ignored it the rest of the night. He is reponding a lot better when I say "NO" too.


My theory is that he knows he is supposed to stay on the black mat at night, so he doesn't spaz when he's confined to it. But he associates carpet with his floor time, so he was frustrated that he only got to be on a small part of the capeting when he can usually go anywhere on it?

 

[Purple-Hops]

hmm, interesting that you would associate that!! Very in tune with him ^^ Glad he's okay and not sooking over his mat

 

[Jess]

Actually, I have to admit that it was more my mom's idea! But it makes sense, doesn't it?

 

[Purple-Hops]

lol he wanted it all to himself!! If you were to lock him in