The Day My Rabbit Chewed Through the Ethernet Cable: A Blogging Disaster
My rabbit has always treated the house as a testing ground. Skirting boards, cardboard boxes and the corner of an old game controller have all received his attention, but I thought the Ethernet cable running beneath my desk was safely out of reach. I was wrong. One quiet Brisbane arvo, while I was preparing a post about dogs chasing a rabbit, he found the cable and turned my home network into a pile of green-and-white fragments.
The timing could hardly have been worse. My Animals blog was waiting for photographs, a video upload and a database update. The browser stopped loading, the upload froze, and my carefully written notes appeared to vanish. What looked like a small pet accident became a full blogging disaster involving cable repairs, internet troubleshooting and a rabbit who seemed pleased with his work.
The warning signs I ignored
The first clue was the sudden loss of connection. My laptop showed that the network was unavailable, while the modem lights flickered in a pattern I usually associate with an NBN problem. Brisbane storms can make home internet unreliable, so I initially blamed the weather rather than the animal sitting under my desk.
Then I noticed the cable sheath near the skirting board. It had several neat tooth marks, and the exposed wires were bent like tiny strands of cooked spaghetti. My rabbit was nearby, calmly chewing hay as though he had spent the afternoon doing nothing more suspicious than rearranging his litter tray.
I should have remembered that rabbits need safe chewing options and secure cable management. A loose wire at floor level is an invitation, especially in a room filled with warm electronics, cardboard packaging and interesting smells.
When the blog went offline
The damaged cable interrupted a video upload about a squirrel. The progress bar reached the same point repeatedly, then the content management dashboard returned a database connection error. I could not tell whether the broken network had caused a temporary failure or whether the upload had left a process hanging on the server.
That uncertainty made the problem feel larger. I checked the modem, restarted the router and moved the laptop closer to the wireless signal. The Wi-Fi worked intermittently, but the connection dropped whenever I tried to access the media library. My notes about anime, games and animal behaviour were still saved locally, although I had not backed up the latest draft.
The episode reminded me of a database crash I had recorded while working on another animal video. A failed upload can resemble a hosting fault, a timeout or corrupted data, so troubleshooting requires patience rather than random clicking.
The rabbit’s version of events
There was no evidence of malice. Rabbits explore with their teeth, and the cable had been placed at exactly the height where a curious pet could reach it. The problem was my setup, not his personality. I had provided a soft play tunnel and willow toys, but the Ethernet cable was apparently more appealing.
I moved him into a secure pen while inspecting the room. This is a practical habit for Australian homes, where open-plan living areas often combine a desk, television, gaming console and pet space. A rabbit can cross that distance in seconds, particularly when someone is distracted by a stubborn upload.
The cable was disconnected from the power board and router before I touched it. Ethernet cables do not carry household mains voltage, but damaged wiring should still be handled carefully, especially around pets that might chew again.
Finding a replacement in Australia
The fastest repair was a new Cat6 patch cable. In Australia, a replacement is easy to find at retailers such as Officeworks, Bunnings or an electronics shop, although prices and lengths vary. I bought a longer cable so it could run through a protective sleeve rather than lying along the floor.
This was less dramatic than waiting for an internet technician. If the NBN connection itself had failed, I would have needed to check the provider’s outage page and modem diagnostics. Because other devices connected normally once the cable was replaced, the local network had been the real culprit.
I also labelled both ends of the new cable. That small detail matters when a desk has separate lines for a computer, printer, game console and network switch. It saved time when I later rearranged the room and moved the blog workstation away from the rabbit’s pen.
Rebuilding the upload and the post
After the connection stabilised, I checked the website before uploading anything again. The draft was intact, but the squirrel video had created an incomplete media entry. I removed that entry, cleared the failed upload and made a fresh copy of the file before trying again.
The replacement upload completed in a few minutes. I then exported the article, backed up the images and downloaded a copy of the database. Keeping local files is especially useful when a personal blog covers many unrelated interests, from anime reviews to creature notes and game screenshots.
The rabbit remained part of the story because his interruption exposed weak habits. I had relied on a single live connection, stored a current draft in one place and left a chewable cable unprotected. The technical fix worked, but the useful lesson was organisational.
What the incident changed
The cable now runs behind a rigid trunking channel attached to the wall. The rabbit cannot reach the connectors, and the spare cable is stored in a sealed box. I added a second set of chew toys and created a small exercise area away from the computer desk.
I also changed my blogging routine. Before a large video upload, I save the article, compress the media, check the available storage and confirm that the latest backup exists. A short test upload is less frustrating than discovering a problem after an hour of editing.
This approach suits a hobby blog better than an elaborate technical system. The aim is to protect time and memories without turning every animal post into an IT project. A rabbit, a cable and a slow upload can still produce a useful maintenance checklist.
Preventing another furry outage
| Risk | Early sign | Practical response | Suitable Australian option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chewed Ethernet cable | Tooth marks or intermittent connection | Replace it and use conduit | Cat6 cable from Officeworks or Bunnings |
| Failed video upload | Frozen progress bar or duplicate media entry | Cancel, clean up and retry a smaller file | Compress video before using NBN upload |
| Lost blog draft | Missing recent edits | Save local and cloud copies | Keep a backup on a laptop and external drive |
| Rabbit near equipment | Repeated interest in desk cables | Add barriers and safe chew toys | Use a playpen, cable sleeve and willow toys |
| Suspected provider fault | Multiple devices disconnect | Check modem lights and outage information | Contact the NBN retailer only after local checks |
Habits that protect a small blog
- Keep cables off the floor or cover them with rigid, chew-resistant protection.
- Save drafts before starting a large image or video upload.
- Maintain a recent database export and a separate copy of important media.
- Give rabbits safe chew toys, tunnels and supervised exercise space.
- Label network cables so faults can be isolated quickly.
- Check the modem, router and individual cable before blaming the internet provider.
The replacement line has worked without interruption, and the blog is back to its usual mix of animal observations, game notes and fandom references. My rabbit has also moved on to a cardboard tunnel, which is considerably cheaper to replace. The incident was inconvenient, but it turned a quiet afternoon into a practical reminder that reliable blogging depends on both digital backups and sensible pet-proofing.