General Behaviour

[purplegem1985]

Hi there

I’m Gemma and new to the forum.  I bought our first ever bunny on Friday he’s a sooty fawn dwarf lop called Milo and he was born on 11 June 2006.

I have looked everywhere for a good explanation of general bunny behaviour as I’ve never had a rabbit before and so I want to make sure i’m doing the best possible things for him.  I’ve got 10 guinea pigs so i have a lot of experience with them although i just done know much about bunnys. 

I understand that they get depressed when bored and so i just want to know what i can do to make him happy.  I have bought one of those wooden things that you bend over that he can go in and chew and i’ve got a mineral block, massive amounts of hay, a few toys and a litter box which i’m hoping to train him in.  He lives in a shed at the moment with my guinea pigs.. although not together!! as i am fully aware that they do not mix.

I get Milo out for a run around in the evening and i’ve noticed that if i say "come here milo" he will come to me and stand up on his back legs and look and sniff me and i say "good boy" and he goes running off. 

He seems to want to get behind our tv unit at the moment and i put a bit of wood up to stop him doing it as there are lots of wires there and he got a bit narked over it was standing up and running around all over the place..

after a while he was just hopping around frm one sofa to me and then going back and doing this over and over again.. does this mean he’s happy and is just playing..

is this usual?

What does it mean when a bunny turns their back to you also and sits and cleans itself…

sorry for such the long post i just am keen to learn everything i can to make Milo the happiest bunny around.

 

Gem x

[Anita Stark]

Welcome Gem!  I’m still fairly new with the whole bunny relationship thing myself, but I can say you’ve come to the right place!  You’ll get lots of information and support here.

I think you’re doing well when he’s already coming to you if you call.  Our bun did the hopping around on the couch, running up and away all the time when we first got him at the beginning of June.  Now he explores a bit more and just in the last week he’s getting more and more adventurous.

I would take the cleaning with his back to you as a sign that he’s comfortable and trusts you. 

As for the tv unit, definitely try to keep him out of there.  We seem to have successfully trained Sable to stay away from ours, but every now and then he gets curious about it so we did pick up all of the cables in case he manages to slip through.  It only took seconds for him to have the covering off one of the game controller cables before we had him trained.  If we catch him looking like he’s about to try for that corner we just say "bunny No!" and he turns around and hops away while giving us a look as if to say ".. but I was just looking "

[purplegem1985]

hehe thanks for that information. He was yesterday going over to the tv unit and i was like "Milo NO!" and he’d look at me and hop somewhere else and then go back and i was like "Milo NO!!" and he was good for a bit and didnt go in but curiosity got the better of him so i had to put the wood up there.

i’ll see what tonights installment brings lol.

He will only let me get him out of the hutch too which is funny. At last tho.. out of our 10 guinea pigs.. Milo is the only one who is a mummy’s boy hehe.

[PhanRiver]

Hi Gemma, welcome.
Here is a site I enjoyed and thought was very useful. Hope it helps you too.

http://www.paperglyphs.com/rabbits/rabbittalk_intro.html

[BinkyBunny]

Phanriver – That is one of my favorite sites! Thanks for sharing that link.

[BinkyBunny]

Welcome Gem!  And welcome to the world of bunnies!  Wow, 10 guinea pigs, now that’s quite a crew.

Did you know rabbits can actually be litter trained? Maybe soon you can have him as a full time house pet.   How os Milo right now in the house?

Regarding wires – You may also be able to purchase wire covers at a local hardware store or online. 

Many bunnies know their name and can come when called.  They are intelligent creatures – they can even be clicker trained.  I went to a clicker training class and  the teacher had a bunny that could flop on command.  We also went throughout the shelter putting the tools into practice and within minutes were training bunnies.  It’s pretty amazing.

Regarding him hopping from one sofa and back again:  This could have meant a number of things:

First:   He might have been mapping out his territory.  Slowly going from what was safe – adventure out, back to safety again – Rabbits explore things over and over to solidify a mental map.  It’s a survival tool

Second:  He could have been inviting you to play or even mate.   Sometimes bunnies will run circles around their potential mate, and maybe since he couldn’t run circles around you he just ran back and forth.

Turning his back to you and cleaning:

Many times a bunny will deliberately turn his back to you if you offended him.  But since he was cleaning himself then I’m not exactly for sure.   Maybe he was just getting into position.  He might be saying I don’t see you as a threat, and I’m not a threat.   A sort of ignoring behavior which actually means I am open to a friendship.  It’s really hard to tell for sure unless I know what goes on prior to him turning his back.

Chew Toys: Phone books, boxes, paper bags (which you can fill with hay and treats) are other good options too.

[purplegem1985]

Hey there

thanks for the tips

well after an intensive weekend of spending a lot of time with Milo and letting him run riot in the house we have learnt a few things hehe

He is now sucessfully litter trained!! it only took like 2 days hehe.. All i did was leave the toilet thing in his hutch and then the next morning he had been in there and only there.

So i took it into the front room when i got him out and it was such a proud moment to see him hop in there push out his bum and go to the toilet hehe i felt like a mum hehe..

Milo also understands No now hehe i’ve said it sooooo many times.

We put a bit of wood up by the tv unit now as he’s forever going to it so i’m like “Milo No!” and he looks at me and so i say good boy and i say come here and he comes to me for a rub on the head and then hops off

He’s very inquisitive.

I was led in the way of him the other day and he was nibbling at my top so i presume that means that he wanted to get past me.

Also i was holding him and he was starting to nibble my top so i took it as he wanted to go back.

Milo doesnt live in our house he lives in a little outhouse in a two tier hutch x

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By purplegem1985 on 09/18/2006 1:21 AM

Milo doesnt live in our house he lives in a little outhouse in a two tier hutch x

Wait, did you say "outhouse"?   I only know outhouse as an outside toilet.  I can’t imagine you meant that,  But I just have to ask.

[purplegem1985]

lmao no no no he doesnt live in a toilet lol

its kinda hard to describe what it is.. its like a brick building with a window.. kinda like a shed but not wooden if you know what i mean.. we just kinda keep the exercise machine in there with the pigs and of course milo hehe

[BinkyBunny]

Ah, okay.  Well I figured there was a good explanation.

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