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By Edison T. Rabbit -
November 1999
So you have decided to
bring one or two of us bunnies home as a pet. Again,
congratulations! Since you will want to give your new friend some
exercise and allow him or her to run around the room supervised, how
do you modify your own home to make it more of a place that we
bunnies would like to live in? Here are some ideas that my pet
humans discovered that made their hutch more "bunny friendly"
First, we rabbits love to chew things and it's not because we like being
destructive. Our teeth are constantly growing and the only method we
rabbits have to keep our teeth from growing too much which is VERY
dangerous (as we will soon see) is to keep chewing on something!
Even though we are no longer in the wild,something deep with in us
clicks back into that time and we begin to chew on anything that
even remotely resembles a twig or a branch.
So what most closely resembles a twig in the home? You guessed it,
electrical cords!
I was a little terror when it comes to these things. Actually my pet
humans think I'm lucky to be alive and in a way they are correct. A
lot of bunnies haven't been as lucky as me. Some rabbits have either
been electrocuted or suffered severe mouth burns as a result.
So what can one to do to make a room or a house more rabbit
friendly? Well A few things were tried on my behalf:
My pet humans read in a few books that if you spread some thing
called "Grannick's Bitter Apple" (available at any
pet shop) on electrical cord's,
so we
bunnies will stop chewing on them. The Bitter Apple substance is
supposed to leave a bad taste in our mouths. We are supposed to
hate the taste of the stuff and not go near the electrical cord ever
again.
For some bunnies, this approach actually works. For me, I'm the
exception to the rule! I LOVE the stuff! My pet humans tried
spreading bitter apple on a few of the cords around their house and
I just loved the taste! I couldn't stay away from the cords, so it
was back to the drawing board for them.
After a few more experiments, 3 alarm clocks, a lamp cord, 2
telephone cords,3 laptop computer power cords, and an external phone
power cord (which has yet to be replaced), A solution was finally
devised: plastic PVC piping!
I live in sort of a den or study which where my pet human has most
of his computer equipment so a lot of cords were exposed. The
exposed cords were incased in the same type of plastic tubing that
one would use for a sump pump. The tubing was inexpensive, thin
enough so my pet humans could to work with, small enough not to
create an eyesore in exposed areas and thick enough to protect the
wires from the ravages of my gnawing teeth! This system of tubes has
been in place for some time now and I have yet to break through the
plastic.
Just in case you are wondering how do my pet humans deal with my
chewing; they do leave a lot of other stuff for me to chew. I have
gnaw sticks, timothy
hay chew blocks, and plenty of cardboard boxes to explore dig and
gnaw, So I'm taken care of on this front! I even have my own cardboard
tower so that I can gaze at my "kingdom" form my lofty
perch!
So a word to the wise, before you bring a pet, not just a rabbit,
into your life. Make your home a pet friendly home before you bring
your new friend to you house. You both will be happier for it!
Warm Regards,
Edison T. Rabbit
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