How to Rabbit-Proof a Room/House? Room-wise Checklist!

I am more of a think and research before I do kind of a person.

So before I got my first rabbit, I knew I had to make sure my bunny would be safe in my home.

During the research, I also learned I had to protect my belongings.

Unaltered rabbits can display aggressive behaviors, and even cute mini rabbits like to chew, dig, and scratch.

So if you’ve wondered how to rabbit-proof a room and your house, you’ll learn everything you need to know.

Rabbit Proofing a Room/House

Rabbit proofing a room starts with understanding that a rabbit likes to dig, chew, scratch, forage for food, play, and explore.

In light of understanding this, look around each room in your house and see what could pose a danger to your rabbit and also what your rabbit can damage.

From there, you can make plans to protect your belongings and your rabbit.

In general, you want to ensure no curtains hang on or near the floor and you’ve placed carpet runners or thick plastic mats over your carpets and rugs.

All electrical cords are out of the rabbit’s way or encased in polyethylene hard tubing.

Place wooden frames, cardboard boxes, or tubing around wooden furniture legs to block your rabbit from nesting underneath sofas, chairs, and beds.

Remove toxic plants and keep all food and cleaning solutions out of reach.

Equipment You Need to Rabbit Proof a Room

Here is what you will need to rabbit-proof a room.

However, keep in mind your unique situation and adapt the equipment accordingly to make the space safe for your rabbit and your belongings.

  • Spiral cable wrap, cord concealers, PVC pipes, or split polyethylene hard tubing
  • Wooden frames
  • Carpet runners
  • Curtain tie-backs and cords
  • Pet fence
  • Cat scratcher
  • Childproof latches
  • Wooden planks
  • Cardboard
  • Flexible cat scratchers
  • Fireplace screen
Also read: Can Rabbits Go Up and Down Stairs?

Rabbit Proofing Your Home: Room by Room

You could potentially rabbit-proof your whole house, but that is a lot of work. And will your rabbit have free reign in all areas in your home?

Most people limit the areas their pet bunny has access to. So in this case, you can focus your energy on bunny proofing those areas only.

I’ve included a complete room-by-room guide to rabbit-proofing the areas in your home.

Each room has a list of potential hazards and solutions.

Rabbit Proofing Your Living Room

There are various hazards in your living room that are unsafe for your rabbit and that your rabbit can damage:

Electrical cords

In your living room, you need to protect all the electrical cords.

These cords could be from a landline telephone, TV, stereo, radio, chargers, and other appliances.

The danger: A rabbit can damage electrical cords they chew on. The danger to your bun is severe burns or electrocution that could be fatal.

The solution: A few options are available to protect your electrical cords. You could get spiral cable wrap which is a flexible plastic sheath that can be wound around the cords.

Another option is cord concealers so your bun won’t even know there are cords to chew on.

You can also get a split PVC pipe or polyethylene hard tubing and slip your cords inside.

Don’t leave phone or laptop chargers lying around. Leave these in an area your rabbit isn’t allowed in and can’t get to.

Blocking off the areas where there are cords with a pet fence keeps your rabbit away.

Carpet, rugs, baseboards, curtains, and drapes

Any carpets, rugs, curtains, or drapes in your living room need to be protected from your bun.

The danger: Anything that’s fabric is like a neon sign that tells your rabbit, “Come here, dig/scratch/chew me!”

The solution: Try to use drapes and curtains that aren’t floor length or pool on the floor.

Alternatively, use drapery cords or curtain tie backs to lift your curtains from the ground. This ensures the curtains and drapes aren’t at a rabbit-reachable level.

To protect your carpets and rugs, cover these with wood or carpet runners.

Use a flexible cat scratcher to cover your baseboards. Attaching wooden planks to the baseboards is the best long-term solution.

Cardboard is a cheaper and temporary solution, especially if you rent a place.

Sofas and upholstered chairs

Anything that has or is covered in fabric like sofas and upholstered chairs is a tempting hazard if you own a rabbit.

The danger: Your rabbit may chew, or scratch against the fabric, which ruins your furniture.

If you don’t see any visible damage on the sofa and chairs, look at the underside.

Rabbits are small enough to get underneath your sofa and chairs and cause damage there.

With recliners, rabbits can also get into the mechanism underneath, so use with caution.

The solution: Look for your rabbit before you use your recliner chair.

You can also place wooden frames against the underside of sofas and chairs to prevent your rabbit from crawling underneath.

These frames can be painted or stained to fit in with your decor and not look like a sore eye.

Wooden furniture

Wooden furniture in your living room could be the TV stand or cabinet, coffee table, a small writing desk and chair, and sofa or wingback chair legs.

The danger: Rabbits chew instinctively. Your wooden furniture provides an ideal opportunity for your rabbit to shorten their teeth that always grow.

The solution: Place PVC pipes or hard tubing around the legs of your furniture.

You can also place hard boards in front of baseboards and provide plenty of rabbit-friendly chew toys for your rabbit.

This will curb their need to chew on your wooden furniture.

Plants

If you have any plants in your living room, make sure they aren’t toxic to rabbits (and other pets).

The danger: Toxic houseplants like nightshade, chrysanthemum, lilies, hydrangea, pot marigold, philodendron, and aloe vera can be fatal if your rabbit chews on these. Plastic plants can cause blockages in your bun’s digestive tract and this can be fatal.

The solution: Move any plastic and poisonous plants to an area in your home where your rabbit isn’t allowed.

Place non-toxic plants in your living room and other areas your bun has access to.

Hang plants from the ceiling or place them on stands or tables that are high enough so your rabbit can’t reach them.

Ensure these plants are safe for your rabbit as leaves may fall to the ground.

Floor Fan

Beware of floor fans in rooms your bunny is allowed to roam and play in.

The danger: Your rabbit can push against the floor fan and it can topple over. If the fan is so low on the ground, a rabbit nose or ear can get caught in the blades. Your rabbit can sustain serious injuries.

The solution: Don’t place floor fans where your rabbit can reach them.

Fireplace and space heater

Never leave your bun unattended in a room where there is an open fire or a heater turned on.

The danger: Your rabbit can jump into the fireplace and get burned. Your rabbit can also burn itself if it gets too close to the space heater.

The solution: Place glass doors or a screen in front of the fireplace. This prevents sparks from reaching your rabbit and your rabbit from jumping into the fireplace.

Don’t leave your bun in a room with a turned-on space heater (and beware of the rabbit chewing through the electrical cables).

Rabbit Proofing Your Bedroom

Rabbit proof the following areas in your bedroom in addition to curtains and drapes, carpets, wooden furniture, and electrical cords:

Bed

You don’t want your rabbit to crawl underneath your bed and nest here. Plus, they can dig holes in your carpet that you may not even know about until it’s too late.

The solution: Block the area underneath your bed and any other furniture with wooden panels or even zip-tying storage cube fencing together.

Closets and wardrobes

An open closet or wardrobe is like a wonderland for your rabbit.

There are shoes, clothes, belts, and more – all potential chew toys.

The danger: Your rabbit can scratch and chew through your shoe collections and your clothes. Plus, your bun could accidentally be locked in the closet with no access to hay, food, a litter box, or water.

The solution: Keep the doors closed and attach a childproof latch.

Ensure your bun is in its cage when you dress and need to go into your closet to prevent your rabbit from being locked inside.

Rabbit Proofing Your Bathroom

It is best to keep your rabbit out of the bathroom as this isn’t a suitable place for a bunny to play.

The danger: Your rabbit can chew through towels if they are hanging low enough and bath mats.

The toilet bowl also posed a danger as your rabbit could hop or fall in.

In an attempt to get out of the slippery surface, your bunny can injure themselves, which can be fatal. And a dwarf rabbit may even potentially drown.

They could also fall into the bathtub, get hurt, and not be able to get out.

Most people also have cleaning products, medicines, and cosmetics in the bathroom, all of which pose numerous hazards.

The solution: Close the door when you are using the bathroom and also when you are done. It is simply best to keep your rabbit out of the bathroom.

Rabbit Proofing Your Study

In your study, you would want to bunny-proof any electrical cords, appliances, carpets, curtains, and wooden furniture.

Books, files, newspapers, etc.

You will also want to keep books, newspapers, and magazines out of your rabbit’s reach.

The danger: Petroleum-based ink is toxic for bunnies. While chewing paper can cause a blockage in your rabbit’s gastrointestinal tract.

The solution: Place books and stuff for work in a glass-front bookcase or in chew-proof bins and filing cabinets.

Rabbit Proofing Your Kitchen

Any electrical cords from appliances pose a danger, so you’ll want to make sure these are tubed in hard plastic or out of reach of your bun.

Other things to rabbit-proof are:

Kitchen cabinets and drawers

If you have any kitchen cabinets and drawers that your rabbit can open or that you leave open, then beware that your bunny can go exploring.

The danger: Rabbit can get into floor-level kitchen cabinets and move pots and pans onto the floor. In general, they can cause havoc.

The solution: Don’t leave cabinet doors and drawers open. Attached childproof latches to keep your kitchen drawers and cabinet doors closed.

Food

Food in floor-level cabinets and drawers, waste baskets, on low tables, and anywhere else in reach of your rabbit should be removed. The same goes for food that you keep for other pets.

The danger: A hungry rabbit will eat anything it can find, and there is pet food and human food that isn’t suitable for a rabbit to eat. It can cause internal blockages, be toxic, and lead to death.

The solution: Use waste baskets that are big and heavy so your rabbit can’t tip these over. Cover the waste basket with a lid so your bun can’t get in.

Food should be kept at least two feet off the ground so your rabbit can’t get to it.

Alternatively, close off the kitchen with pet gates and other methods.

Cleaning supplies

Cleaning supplies include any chemicals, rags, sponges, rubber gloves, and detergents.

The danger: Cleaning supplies are highly toxic. Even if the cleaning solutions are in bottles, your rabbit can chew through the bottle.

The solution: Keep your cleaning supplies far away from your rabbit, so place them high in cabinets and secure the door with a childproof latch.

Rabbit-Proofing a Room FAQs

How much does it cost to bunny proof a house?

It can cost between $300 to $1,000 to pet-proof your home; however, how much you spend depends on how big your house is, the areas you need to pet-proof, and what you need to pet-proof the rooms. You may need furniture covers, pet gates, and a fence in the backyard.

What does it mean to bunny proof your house?

To bunny-proof your house, you make your home a safe space for your pet rabbit.

Rabbits like to chew, scratch, and dig, so they may dig holes in your carpet, chew through electrical cables, and more. If you’ve rabbit-proofed your home, you protect your furniture and other belongings from damage while keeping your rabbit safe.

Will rabbits destroy your house?

Rabbits will probably not destroy your house but they do like to hop, dig, and chew.

These behaviors can result in damage to your household items. For example, if your pet rabbit chews on electrical cables, they may electrocute themselves and you will need to fix the cables.

Final Thoughts

Rabbit proofing a room isn’t an easy task. You need to place yourself in the shoes of your rabbit and see what can be potentially dangerous and what you need to protect.

Following this guide will ensure your house is ready for your rabbit.

Other articles you may also like: