Roman can be a bad bunny, as I have blogged many a time. We have tried lots of ways to discipline him – all humanely, of course. This afternoon, we found a trick which might just work…

When in his run, Roman loves to bite his toys. Most of these are made from wood or cardboard, so not a problem. He also has a long tunnel, made from plastic.

Roman loves his tunnel. He will run through it at great speed, over and over again, before skipping in the air with delight. The problem is, he also nibbles this tunnel. The issue is not the damage caused – we would happily buy Roman a new one. We are concerned that by biting his toy, he could injest plastic; potentially making him very ill, or worse.

Speaking to him sternly, or clapping, sometimes stops this destruction, but not always. We therefore decided to exploit Roman’s weakness – the front door.

Since bringing Roman home in April, he has grown in character and confidence. The bunny who would once cower in his bed, whenever a stranger entered the room, now runs towards the side of his cage or run, whenever he hears somebody entering the house. He’s basically a dog.

One of the triggers, which sets of this bunny greeting, is our front doorbell. We had a look on YouTube and found this – a chime, which is almost identical to our own doorbell!

We tested our trick. While Roman was happily munching on plastic, we played the video. He immediately stopped. He knew something wasn’t right. For added effect, I shouted “Come in”, to our imaginary guest. Roman walked away from the plastic tube and hopped towards the end of his run, closest to the entrace to our living room. Of course, nobody entered. He must have been left confused and disappointed. We don’t like teasing our rabbit, but at least he doesn’t have a belly full of nasty plastic!