Video:How to Rabbit-Proof Your Home

Transcript:How to Rabbit-Proof Your Home

Hi, I am Dr. Rebecca Campbell, of Symphony Veterinary Center in Manhattan, for About.com. Now I'm going to talk about how to rabbit-proof your home -- which is essential for the rabbit's safety as well for the integrity of your possessions.

View Your Home With Rabbit Eyes

Because rabbits like to burrow and chew, they can really make a mess of your home, and it can sometimes be dangerous to them as well. One of the most important things to do before you let your rabbit loose in your house is to make sure that he or she will not be injured or killed by chewing on electric wires or by burrowing behind appliances and getting under recliners. So the first thing you need to do is to get down on all fours and look around the house as if you are a rabbit and see where are the things that you can chew and where are the things that you can hide behind!

Rabbit Proof Chewable Items

To protect the electrical cords, you can take heavy-duty plastic wrap that's available at hardware stores, and wrap all of the available electric cords. It's not sufficient to just hide them behind furniture, because rabbits can get behind almost anything. Once the electrical cords are safe, then you need to protect upholstered and wooden furniture. That can take a lot of creativity, because rabbits will chew at baseboards, they will chew at bookcases.

Rabbit Proof Plants

Many ornamental houseplants are toxic to rabbits, so you need to put your houseplants up very high -- preferably hang them from the ceiling. But be aware that falling leaves will be immediately ingested and they can be toxic as well.

Rabbit Proof Floors

It's very important for rabbits to be able to navigate on a floor, and slippery surfaces like tile and hardwood floors are terrifying for them and can also cause orthopedic problems if their legs splay out. So for households that have rabbits as pets, we recommend that they have short pile carpeting that they can navigate on. Some of the indoor-outdoor carpeting or runners that you can purchase inexpensively can be good surfaces for rabbits to run on. But long pile carpeting will be chewed, and the chewed pieces of fabric and carpeting will be dangerous to the rabbit's G.I. tract.

Litter Box Training Rabbits

If a rabbit is spayed or neutered, you have a better chance of getting him or her litter box-trained. The litter needs to be safe for the rabbit to chew, so a litter box can be packed with hay or with recycled newspaper pellets.

For the rabbit's health and also for his mental well-being, you do need to exercise your rabbit every day. To reduce damage to your house and also for the safety of the animal, you do need to take many steps to rabbit-proof your home.

Thanks for watching. To learn more, visit us on the Web at About.com.