Having a bunny at your place is a nice experience, but you need to remember that this particular pet loves to chew, scratch, and dig around places as rabbit tends to hide from any carnivores. And it will become a disaster when your bunny decides to chew, scratch, and dig into stuff in your house or your garden. Of course, we don’t want that to happen, and fortunately there are simple things that you can do to prevent such disaster to happen. Here we will explain about 5 easy ways to rabbit-proof your house, and after this you will let your bunny roam around your house and garden with zero worries for any damages on your stuffs! Here are some guide of owning a rabbit : Most Important Guide To Take Care of Baby Bunny Without Its Mother and Steps to Build A Comfy Cage for Your Rabbit
Why rabbit-proof your house is important?
Rabbit-proof your house is a way to keep both your stuffs and your bunny safe. Your stuffs will be out from your bunny’s curious bites or scratches, and also your bunny will be protected from any damages due to chewing unusual things like wire. If you don’t do this while you’re having a bunny roaming around your house, it might have turned bad for both you and your bunny. Luckily, there are easy ways to do some rabbit-proofing around your house and garden which we’ll discuss below.
1. Keep wires out of reach
Wires are the most common things at home which usually just left all tangled up together into a bundle of wires at some corner of your house, and this might attract your bunny’s attention. And if your bunny decides to come closer and chew or scratch on it, that will turn into a disaster. Which is why you need to do some coverings on your wires before you decide to let your bunny roam around your house.
There are may ways to cover your wires. One of the simplest way is to cover them with plastic tube, like the one that usually used inside fish tanks. They made from a hard, rabbit-proof type of plastic so it’s safe to cover your wires in it. It might need some work to do so, otherwise you can move those wires into the walls where it will be out from your bunny’s reach. It will save your pocket as well, though might need more work to do so. The point is, don’t let your bunny notice any single strand of wire left unguarded in your house.
2. Cover your wooden stuffs
Since bunny’s teeth and claws are keep on growing every single day, it’s a common for them to chew and scratch over something to keep it on its comfortable length. And stuffs made from wood is one of its favorite thing to chew and scratch on. Unfortunately, most of our stuffs and furniture are made from wood as well. Of course, we don’t want our beloved stuffs get bitten or scratched by our bunny.
A good solution for this problem is to cover your wooden stuffs with hard, solid plastic which hard and impossible for your bunny to chew and scratch on. Or you can cover it with some boards so instead of chewing and scratching your stuffs and furniture, your bunny will do its routines on the board instead. Though after some time, you might need to consider about changing the board since it will be full of bite and scratch marks after a while. Most people use the second option, since they think that covering stuffs with plastic is too risky for the bunny. They will never know whether the plastic cover is really rabbit-proof or not, and they prefer their rabbit to chew and scratch over some boards rather than unsafe plastic covers.
3. Block some areas
One of the easy ways to rabbit-proof your house, is by blocking the way! Rabbit is very exploitative pet, and it tends to follow their curious side about its surroundings. If you put a rabbit in a room alone and leave it for a while, I can guarantee you it will disappeared once you get back into the room. They’ll try to sneak under the sofas, or hopping under the table, or even scratching the cushion. That would be a very hard work to clean them all up.
The most effective way to rabbit-proof your house is by blocking the way outside the bunny’s territory. You can use baby gates or puppy pens to block the way out of the bunny’s room, and make sure the gate is made from metal. Since it will be useless if it’s made of wood. It’ll chew it all and finally make another private door for the bunny. Also, check the width of each slats so your bunny won’t be able to slip out between the slats. Lastly, make sure it’s high enough so your bunny won’t be able to jump over the gate.
4. Pay attention to houseplants
Most of us put some houseplants to decor some empty spots. But when we decide to have a bunny roaming around the house, we need to reconsider these houseplants since it might not save for your beloved bunny. Some houseplants are quite toxic for bunny, such as tulips and tomato leaves. You might want to reconsider its placing to avoid your bunny to reach or even worse, chew on it. Or you can change your houseplants into other plants that friendlier for your rabbit. Even though it means there are some risks that your bunny might explore the plants, at least you don’t have to worry about your bunny’s health.
Another option, if you love your plants as much as your bunny, you can put them at the terrace or the garden. As long as it’s not in your bunny’s reach then it will be just fine. You still able to enjoy your plant’s beauty and also enjoying your bunny hopping around the space without any worries!
5. Give some distractions
Rabbit tends to explore everything that’s unusual for them, especially when you put it inside your house. In a blink of an eye, your bunny will already hop around and you’ll find it difficult to get a grip on them. This is why give some distraction, such as toys or its favorite snack, is important to keep them around your sights. You can give them rabbit-friendly and chew-able toys, since it will distract them to chew on your wooden stuffs and furniture. Giving it snack is another option, though it’s not quite recommended since too much snack might lead your bunny into overweight. But it’s not hurt to try once or twice, as long as you don’t try to do that daily. Try to look at useful tips to make your bunny busy at home, you might get some ideas about distractions there.
And poof! That’s the 5 easy ways to rabbit-proof your house. Main point from all of them is make sure that your rabbit keeps its eye on rabbit-friendly things and don’t let them chew or scratch on the unfriendly one. Good luck with your beloved bunny!