Question
My bunny is about 6 months old and he's getting much more bold and playful lately. Previously he mostly ate, slept, and eliminated, saving his energy for the daily walk outdoors. He's very mild-mannered, even obedient, so he's had free run for 2-3 months now.
Before he got free run, he was trained not to chew wires by pushing him away from them. It's seemed to stick pretty well, because some of his favorite spots are near wires but they're not damaged and we never see him doing anything.
Just now, he picked up a wire while I was watching. I made noise, so he dropped it. But then he playfully hopped backward and just touched it again, apparently to test my reaction. I didn't say anything because it wasn't in his mouth. After a second he lost interest and merrily ran off. (It was undamaged.)
There are only a few wires he can usually access. Is there perhaps something unpalatable or nasty to the touch that they can be covered with, so he won't see this as a game?
Answer
First I would not trying to make wires (or anything) unpalatable. I am not sure anyone knows for sure why rabbits chew electrical wires, but they do. I have had first person accounts of electrified wires killing house rabbits (so that makes this a second hand report). Physical separation of the rabbits and the wires is required.
Wires laying on the ground are an invitation to sample... "What kind of hay is that?" My wife has had more than one headset wire snipped in two, by a bunny while she was using it on the floor while petting a bunny.
Getting the wires off the floor is generally sufficient, for most situations where rabbits have full run of the house. Some of my fellow house rabbit parents will wrap excess lamp cord around the table lamp so it does not droop to the floor, essentially going up from the outlet to the table. Rabbits can stretch a couple of feet up a wall to explore, but generally do this in new areas, once acclimatized to an area, they tend to stay on the ground, occasionally getting up on couches or beds.
You can't always go straight up, some times wires need to travel along a wall. You can use plastic staples to quickly and easily attach wires to a wall above bunny stretch height.
My wife and I have desks separated by a printer, with wires running in all directions. In the image above, I have attached the surge protector to the side of her desk cabinet, and used plastic staples to mount the wires to the wall. This keeps them off the ground and away from the rabbits. It is not pretty but it works. Home office was designed pre-rabbit, so this is an adaptive solution.
In my answer to How do you bunny proof behind the couch? I use more a visually pleasing solution. In the picture there you can see the outlet cover, but you can't really see the wire cover, so here is a picture of what the wire cover looks like. You can purchase these at the DIY store, there are two pieces that snap together to cover the wires.
Where possible try to place appliances or furniture in front of the outlet, close enough that your rabbit can not get behind. Make sure that all of the cord stays behind the item. In some cases like with a TV, VCR, and all the other junk that connects to it there simply is not room to hold all the wires behind the item.
In the image below we use a cabinet under a television which is mounted to the wall. I used wood to create a box type enclosure that fits between the cabinet and the wall. There is about 3 1/2 inches of space enclosed, all the wires and the surge protector are in this space. The cabinet has doors on the front, so the VCR, DVD player and WII are inclosed except when we are actively using them (and supervising bunnies).
Answered By - James Jenkins