Why Is My Rabbit Scratching The Floor? + Other Q’s

When your rabbit scratches the floor, it’s a little alarming at first.

Sometimes, they’ll go at with a huge amount of energy!

Usually, it’s nothing to worry about, but I did want to talk more about the question: Why is my rabbit scratching the floor?

Rabbits typically scratch the floor because they either want attention, are bored, or their digging instincts are kicking in. It’s not a worrisome behavior, but if they do it without stopping, make sure they have some items to interact with and space in their hutch.

Let’s dig into the details in the rest of the article here to make sure you know when something may be wrong.

Table of Contents

Why Do Rabbits Scratch The Floor?

If you keep a rabbit in your home and they’re scratching or digging at your floor, it’s pretty alarming.

Are they mad? Do they want out somewhere?

Their little nails can scratch the wood or linoleum of your house pretty quickly too.

For feet-related questions, you may enjoy reading our article on if rabbits have paw pads.

The reason for all this is hard to determine, but if you’ve had your pet a while, looking at the main reasons will help you determine if there’s something bigger to be worried about.

Desire Attention

Rabbits are social creatures, and they love their owners!

But if you get busy and don’t give them enough loving, they’ll let you know.

They don’t whine or mew as dogs and cats do, but they can dig and scratch.

One easy test to see if their scratching is a call for attention is to leave them alone but stay out of sight and sound.

Then, if they start up again when you come within eyesight, you know it’s a reaction to seeing you!

Your furry friend is just being a little clingy and pushy about wanting out to explore, get some treats, and maybe cuddle.

Boredom

A bunny’s life is pretty busy in the wild. Sure, they spend a decent amount of time sleeping, but they also do a lot.

If they don’t have a lot to interact with or enough space in their hutch, they’ll get bored and seek to entertain themselves.

This often crops up as digging or scratching types of behaviors.

Get them something to chew on and pull, such as these hanging chew toys or maybe a chew-safe activity ball.

Remember, the bare minimum space for a pet is 6’ feet long by 2’ feet wide by 2’ feet long.

If the hutch or cage is too small, consider upgrading or building your own.

If these two things fix the bunny scratching and digging, you’ll know it was from boredom.

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Normal Digging Instincts

Rabbits are creatures who live in a shelter and hide. One of the places they do this is through natural or rabbit-made warrens.

The instinct to find shelter or make it is strong in bunnies, even if the one you get comes from a long line of domesticated ones.

Without ground to dig in or trees to scratch on, they’ll find the next closet thing they can inside. Often, this is the floor.

You’ll be able to tell if the scratching is just natural instincts if they don’t do it a lot, and they stop when other things are going on.

Anxiety Or Incorrect Environment

Anxiety is common in rabbits and may be deadly if left uncared for. If they don’t feel comfortable where they are, their escape instincts will kick in, and they’ll scratch at the floor in a desperate means to escape.

By a similar token, if the environment is unsafe (too hot, too cold, too many predators, etc.), they’ll try to escape in the same way.

It may look like any other scratching, but usually, observant owners can tell if something is off.

A good rule of thumb is if they constantly scratch and appear extra jumpy.

This may also be a sign of illness and an attempt to get away from everything to rest.

If you’re concerned about any scratching being a sign of a bigger issue, contact a rabbit expert or a vet right away.

Why Do Rabbits Scratch The Carpet?

Rabbits scratch carpet because it feels soft, like some dirt to them. The feel of the carpet or rug is enough to trigger their digging and scratching instincts. Distract them from scratching without yelling at them and scaring them.

They’ll scratch for the same reasons we talked about above, but in this case, we’re assuming your bunny friend is scratching at the same carpet repeatedly and not messing with other floors as much.

Why Does My Rabbit Scratch At The Bottom Of Its Cage?

When a rabbit scratches at the bottom of its cage, it’s typically a sign of boredom. In cases where the hutch isn’t set up correctly, they may be trying to escape or find someplace with more room.

Make sure they have something to interact with, as we mentioned above, and have the 6’ feet x 2’ feet x 2’ feet of space.

Rabbits do between 55-70° degrees Fahrenheit (12-21° C), with outside numbers of 40° degrees Fahrenheit (5° C) on the low end and 85° degrees Fahrenheit (30° C) on the high end.

Why Is My Rabbit Scratching The Wall?

A rabbit scratching the wall is an unusual habit, and it’s either a random effect of their digging instinct or an attempt to run away. Gently move them away from the wall and see if they run back to it or another wall and scratch more. If they don’t stop, check them for illness or injury and take them to the vet.

Scratching the wall isn’t nearly as common as digging or scratching the floor, so it’s a good sign to do some further investigating.

Tips For Stopping Rabbit Scratching

Scratching is a hard habit to break, but we’ve got some tips we’ve collected from our own experience and that of others:

Cover any scratch-attractive carpets with protective layers or cardboard when the rabbit is around.
Check to make sure they have toys and enough space in their cage or hutch.
Use a pet-safe bitter spray to repel the bunny.
Offer them a digging box as an alternative to carpet.
Make a firm (but not loud) noise and move them away to another spot when you see them scratching.
Spay or neuter your pet for their overall good health but to lessen the digging and scratching instincts.