Do Rabbits Use Scratching Posts? [A Complete Guide]

A healthy, well-adjusted rabbit needs a scratching post. Rabbits need a place to scratch, so installing a scratching post will spare your furniture, their cage, and your carpeting from devastation. Rabbits also use their scratching post to stretch and exercise, so finding the right one is crucial to their health and happiness.

Bunny Scratching Post – All You Need to Know?

A rabbit scratching post may appear to be a harmless item of furniture. After all, it’s just a carpeted or roping-covered pole or board. Yet, by assisting you in redirecting your rabbit’s natural instincts and thereby enhancing their health, this little item can help alleviate many of the hassles associated with bunny ownership.

A rabbit scratching post can be used for a variety of purposes, including:

Adaptability

Scratching posts are very beneficial for rabbits who have a lot of stored energy. Rabbit scratching posts give it robust exercise as well as something to attach themselves to in the home from an early age. This will make their transition smoother and eliminate any behavioral issues that may arise as a result of being in a new setting. Scratching posts with dangling toys for them to play with will assist attract these energetic tikes to use it.

Furniture

Rabbits like scratching even if they don’t have a scratching post to do so on, as many owners are well aware. This means they’ll look for anything else to claw at, which is usually your valuable furniture. Adding a post to the mix can assist to stop the scratching. However, don’t assume that simply placing a rabbit scratching post on your furniture would prevent it from scratching your furniture. Instead, you must entice it to scratch the post. Adding a treat or a small toy at the top could assist with this rabbit’s aggressive behavior.

For the Sake of Your Rabbit’s Health

Scratching, while it may appear to be a bothersome behavior, is really beneficial to your rabbit’s health. It is not only wonderful exercise and a terrific method to relieve tension, but it also keeps their claws in good shape. A healthy rabbit can scratch without fear, which is why a scratching post is necessary.

For the Sake of Common Ground

If you have several rabbits, they will tend to congregate near the scratching post because they are all interested in the same thing. This can lead to the scratching post becoming a meeting spot or a gathering spot for your rabbits to interact and play. Because all rabbits enjoy scratching, a post is a terrific method to bring your pets together.

Are Bunnies Easy to Take Care of? 

Best Rabbit Scratching Post – Updated 2022

When getting a new bunny, the list of things required can be daunting. ! From food, toys, bed, scratching post, nail clippers, grooming brush, it’s overwhelming!  When it comes to scratching posts, for example, there are dozens of styles, sizes, and materials to choose from. Thinking critically like Einstein can make things a little easier when it comes to selecting this vital item.

Carpets are used on some scratching posts available in retailers. While the carpet serves the same purpose as sisal, it is frequently mistaken for the carpeting seen on stairwells and floors in homes. Some rabbits may not be able to tell the difference between the carpet on their scratching post and the rest of the house’s carpet. A change to a post made of different materials is usually beneficial to these rabbits.

The sturdiness and stability of a scratching post are more important to most rabbits than the material used in its construction. They expend a lot of effort sharpening their claws, and they won’t be able to scratch as hard if the post doesn’t stay upright. A solid base must be fastened to a wood or sisal post so that it does not wobble when the rabbit is scratching. For added stability, an unstable post might be affixed to a bigger base. Cardboard stakes that are laid flat on the floor should be large enough for them to stand on while scratching.

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Another thing to think about is the post’s height. Because rabbits reach upward and pull against the post, his post should be at least half as tall as he is to allow him to stretch. The higher and more robust the post, the more likely a rabbit will choose it over a couch or armchair.

Finally, the location of the scratching post in the home influences a rabbit’s acceptance of it. Putting a scratching post in a prominent location in the house’s most used room may often encourage them to scratch it.

Do Scratching Posts Trim Nail? 

Just like cats, while a scratching post does not sharpen nails the way a knife does, it does remove the outer coating of a rabbit’s claw, revealing sharper layers beneath, just like cats. Scratching removes dull sections of the claw to make way for sharper layers rather than sharpening the current claw.

Scratching posts are one of the most popular and effective options to declawing, so this may seem a little perplexing at first.

Other Rabbit Scratching Toys to Try!

Rabbits enjoy playing and will turn almost any object into a toy. Here are some recommendations for cheap and homemade toys for your energetic bunny to encourage safe play and prevent chewing or playing on electric lines or furniture.

• Paper bags and cardboard boxes can be utilized as hideouts, scratching posts, and chewing surfaces. Make sure your rabbit has two places to enter and exit. A large cardboard box turned upside down with holes cut large enough for the rabbit to go inside and disappear is a popular choice. Change the boxes every day because bunnies grow bored rapidly. Long boxes, such as fluorescent lightboxes (open on both ends) and computer boxes (turned over with holes cut in either end) can be used to create his own burrow.
• Toilet paper and paper towel cardboard rolls make excellent chew toys.
• For digging and scratching, use boxes full of shredded paper, trash mail, or magazines.
• Bunnies can also be entertained with toys obtained from other sources. Bird toys that can be hung and batted or chewed, as well as cat toys that your bunny can roll or toss, can be entertaining. Even human baby rattles or mobiles are fun for rabbits to play with.
• Detergent and conditioner bottles with hard plastic lids (properly washed and rinsed) make fantastic toys. They’re easy to hold with your teeth and, as a bonus, they create a lot of noise.
• Dry pine cones, straw sweep brooms, hand towels, and even old phone books can occupy your rabbit for hours. Because rabbits enjoy chewing, consider giving them twigs as toys. If the wood was cut from a tree outside, it should be aged for at least three months. An orchard twig, on the other hand, can be eaten right from the tree. Avoid twigs from cherries, peach, apricot, plum, or redwood trees as they are deadly.

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Final Thoughts

Before giving them these toys, make sure that all of the toys are clean and not too little to be ingested. Discard and replace the toy if it has been chewed to a size that could pose a problem. One of the nice things about most handcrafted toys is that once they “disappear,” as they always do behind the sofa or behind the refrigerator, you can bring them out later and they’ll be “new” toys again.