Learn · Housing & Environment
How do I bunny-proof my home?
Start with electrical cords—chewing a live cord can be fatal. Cover every cord with hard plastic protectors or lift it completely out of reach before giving your rabbit floor time. Remove or raise houseplants and treat every one as off-limits; block access to baseboards, stairs, and gaps behind appliances; and provide safe chewing alternatives. Use a spacious bunny-proofed room or exercise pen with solid flooring and enough room for normal movement.
Last reviewed September 12, 2026
- Why
- Rabbits chew instinctively — it is normal behavior, not misbehavior. Proofing removes the dangerous targets and replaces them with safe ones.
- Watch for
- Nicked or chewed cords, gnawed baseboards or wallpaper, and nibbled plants — each one marks a spot that still needs proofing.
- Note
- Skip wire-floored enclosures — wire hurts rabbit feet. Smooth or carpeted flooring with traction is what their feet are built for.
- Note
- Keep books, papers, shoes, and remotes off the floor — anything at rabbit height is a chew target.
Sources
- House Rabbit Society — Outdoor and Indoor Hazards · Care → Habitat → Outdoor and Indoor Hazards — "Cardiogenic shock from chewing electric cords" (indoor hazards); the belief that a rabbit "will instinctively avoid poisonous plants… this is not so" · accessed September 12, 2026 · CM-HOUS-008
- RSPCA — Creating a Good Home for Rabbits · Advice & welfare → Pets → Rabbits → Environment — "we don't recommend having a wire floor as this can hurt their feet"; "Provide hiding places" (boxes, tunnels, more than one opening); "safe objects to chew and manipulate"; "Rabbits are inquisitive and will chew" · accessed September 12, 2026 · CM-HOUS-005, CM-HOUS-009
- Red Door Animal Shelter — Basic Bunny Care Booklet (rev. May 2022) · Basic Bunny Care Booklet p.9 "Rabbit Habitat" (page read 2026-09-12) — "Cover all exposed wires, cables and cords with hard plastic protectors"; "Block access to any baseboards with lead paint or wallpapers with glue"; "Remove or relocate all houseplants, as most are toxic to rabbits"; "Block off dangerous areas such as stairs and major appliances"; "Keep important books, papers, shoes and remote controls off the floor"; exercise pens, plastic play pens or DIY storage cubes; smooth or carpeted floors; place to hide, chew toys; large litter box with timothy hay; heavy or non-skid water bowl · accessed September 12, 2026 · CM-HOUS-007, CM-HOUS-008, CM-HOUS-009
Going deeper
Chewing is what rabbits do
A rabbit exploring your home will chew — it is instinct, not bad behavior, and training will not remove it. Bunny-proofing accepts that and works with it: take the dangerous targets away, block the ones you cannot remove, and offer better things to chew instead.
Cords come first
Chewing a live electric cord can be fatal. Before a rabbit gets any floor time in a room, every cord in reach needs to be covered in hard plastic cord protectors, routed behind blocked furniture, or lifted completely out of reach.
Houseplants: treat every one as off-limits
Rabbits do not instinctively avoid poisonous plants — they will happily sample plants that can seriously harm them, and a number of common houseplants are toxic to rabbits. The safe rule is to treat every houseplant as off-limits: move plants to rooms the rabbit never enters, or raise them well out of standing-on-hind-legs reach, and check for dropped leaves.
Baseboards, stairs, and the gaps you forget
Block baseboards where the rabbit spends time — chewed paint and wood are hazards in themselves. If baseboards may contain lead paint or walls have glued wallpaper, block access completely. Use furniture, pen panels, or purpose-made guards. Block stairways so a startled rabbit cannot take a fall, and close off the gaps behind and under appliances, where cords, heat, and tight spaces meet.
Give them something better to chew
Proofing works best when the rabbit has an approved outlet. A good setup includes a hide box or tunnel to retreat into, safe chew toys that get rotated, a large litter box with hay in it, and a heavy water bowl that cannot be tipped. A rabbit with its own things to chew and dig at bothers your baseboards less.
The space itself
Use a spacious bunny-proofed room or exercise pen with solid flooring and enough room for normal movement — easy to clean and easy to expand as the rabbit’s space grows. Whatever the enclosure, the floor should be smooth or carpeted with decent traction — wire floors hurt rabbit feet and are worth avoiding entirely.