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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR How do you punish your bunny?

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    • Hopscotch
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        Hoscotch sometimes chews on things that he is not suppose to. I try and take him away from whatever he is chewing on and I give him something else to chew on. Sometimes he is fine and chews on a toy but other times he is so insistent on chewing on our bookshelf that i will have to take him away 7 or 8 times before he gets the hint or he becomes preoccupied with something else. Some time he also chews on the bottom of our cupboards and i hate that, I was wondering if anyone had any ideas to “punish” or just to get him to stop chewing on stuff that he isn’t supposed to be chewing on. Obviously I don’t want to hurt him and I never yell at him, it just frustrating when he has so many wooden toys and other things to chew on and he always chooses my bookshelf or my cabinets. Has anyone tried putting bitter apple (I think its called) on stuff they don’t want their bunnies to bite? 


      • Stickerbunny
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          About the only thing you can do is take him away from what he is doing and give him something else. When he goes to his toy instead, praise him lavishly, if he’s food oriented you can even offer a treat. It is called positive reinforcement and it is the only training that works. You can say “Hopscotch, no” when he chews something he isn’t supposed to, but with rabbits they listen when they feel like it, just like cats. Best way to get stuff to not be chewed is bunny proof. Put a smell on it he doesn’t like, or a taste he hates, or cover it so he can’t do damage. For my kitchen cabinets/drawers I have very LOUD crinkly paper from a paper roll (industrial type) on them so when Stickers goes near it, it makes noise and she doesn’t chew it. Not the prettiest thing in the world, but it works.


        • Monkeybun
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            Bunnies don’t understand punishment, but they do respond to positive reinforcement. Redirect them, and block off stuff you dont want them chewing on


          • Hopscotch
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              I will try the crinkle paper. He has a cage but he is only in there when we are gone. When we are home he gets the whole house to run around. It’s just hard to block off the cupboards and the big bookshelf. I will keep trying to redirect him and make him not want to go over by the kitchen and chew on stuff he isn’t supposed to.


            • Molzy
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                I’ve only had luck with blocking areas off. When Riley is chewing on something, I will clap my hands loudly to distract him (not loud enough to scare himj, just to redirect his attention), and then he usually bounds off to something else.

                I have tried Bitter Apple, and I think it does work a little for Riley….but you have to remember to reapply it (a fact I was reminded of yesterday when I saw that he had once again started in on my new faux-leather chair!). Sometimes I just have to laugh at him and remind him that he is the reason I can’t have nice things!


              • LBJ10
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                  If one of the rabbits is being exceptionally naughty and removing them doesn’t work, then I will give them a time out meaning they get put in the cage for awhile. I don’t know if they understand or not, but when I let them back out they usually forget about whatever it was they were doing before.


                • bunnyfriend
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                    I agree with Molzy, clapping just loud enough to get attention helps. Spraying my curtains with vanilla perfume keeps Wilbur away from them.


                  • Jaguara
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                      I agree as well, making sound kind of loud noise followed by a stern No worked for Cinnabun. Now the chewing of things is kinda harder, he really likes base boards, I usually spray them with perfume and he tends to leave them alone for the most part. for digging I pick him up and place him in an area where he can dig.


                    • RabbitPam
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                        Another spray that is not at all harmful for bunnies, but they find repulsive, is white vinegar and water. It has the advantage of dissipating in the air sooner than perfume so it won’t bother you (or have unknown chemicals in it) but your bunny can still smell it.

                        I have also found that a stern voiced (not loud) NO, or a command like No Wires, will be learned by a bunny to mean stop what you’re doing. And, they often decide to continue after thinking about it. Sigh.


                      • Sarita
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                          I usually try to pet them or grab and hold them – they hate that :~) Seems like it’s punishment to them but it’s pleasurable for me.


                        • RabbitPam
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                            Also, I don’t let her have the remote for the rest of the night.


                          • Ali925
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                              lol RabbitPam!

                              I have one that likes to get into everything and then my lazy girl just likes to be pet and sit with us with occasional spurts of activity. But what I’ve noticed with both of them, is that if I let them out to play, they come running out excitedly, but if I’m still cleaning up the kitchen from dinner, etc., and the husband isn’t around, they don’t seem to like to play very long in the family room (next to kitchen)..and often run back to their pens and chill there…I know, odd bunnies, I think of them like children, they need you to watch them even though they don’t always want you playing with them!! So that’s my next point, a lot of times it seems they do certain things to get your attention. They just love you so much they want to be noticed and played with Of course we can’t give them 100% of our time..but sometimes I notice when Blu is being most annoying with his behaviors, he actually just wanted to chase and play with me or have me pet him or something … Both Oreo and Blu always look at me right before they do something they KNOW is wrong…like it’s a game haha. And I might be wrong, but almost like they want you to correct them in way because then you’re paying attention to them.. See a pattern? They are in charge!! Lol

                              I block off a lot of areas and I lay random cardboard pieces/boxes out where they play and have some brown packing paper stuff from when we moved and they love jumping and hiding in it (I put it in a big pile and they burrow through it and chew it up)…not fun cleaning it up when I want my fam room to look normal…but it keeps them from devouring the carpet and molding…


                            • Lis
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                                A single squirt of water but only when they’re doing something really bad that isn’t chewing wires.


                              • kamdynandsunshinesmom
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                                  Sometimes this works. I get down to sunshines level and look her in the face and tell her no. Sometimes it works when she doesn’t have rabbittude. When she has rabbittude look out!


                                • longhairmike
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                                    take a piece of timothy hay and tickle them in the hind leg,, they HATE that.
                                    if you’re feeling particularly vengeful,, alternate one side after the other,, it will drive them crazy.


                                  • Jaguara
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                                      Posted By longhairmike on 09/10/2011 01:41 PM
                                      take a piece of timothy hay and tickle them in the hind leg,, they HATE that.
                                      if you’re feeling particularly vengeful,, alternate one side after the other,, it will drive them crazy.

                                       

                                      lol i will need to try that some time


                                    • Joyfull_music
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                                        Since “No” sounds too much like Momo’s name, we use “Uh Uh!” when she is doing something naughty, and if she does not stop, she gets the water spray bottle. Now that she is almost one, things have really began to sunk in with her, and we find that the “Uh Uh” works well on her. When I do my dog training I use a loud, sharp “AHHHT AHHHT!”, and that is kind of what I base Momo’s correction off of. Also shooing her out of areas she is not supposed to be in, and deterring her from going in there in the first place works. However, she tends to think of that as a game some days. And when she is being very hellish, it is “bedtime”, which she knows means you are going in your cage for a while. It is cool, because once we get up and start telling her bedtime, she knows that means time to go to her cage. Most days she will readily.


                                      • Elrohwen
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                                          I think some bunnies will listen to a “no” and others just don’t understand – I have one of each. For one of them, punishment of any kind doesn’t work because he just doesn’t associate the punishment (either “no” or a squirt with a water bottle) with whatever he’s doing. The only thing to do is redirect him and block off the area.

                                          My other rabbit does understand these things and is easy to train away from chewing things or getting into places she shouldn’t, but I don’t know if that’s typical.


                                        • Sam and Lady's Human
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                                            I use a squirt from a water bottle and a stern NO at the same time (in hopes that one day the No will be enough), we also sprayed the heck out of our furniture with this stuff called Fooey. We keep all cords up or wrapped in that clear aquarium tubing stuff from Home Depot. I haven’t found a solution for digging yet.


                                          • angie-la
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                                              what is this punishment you all speak of… ?

                                              my bunnies are ridiculous, I gave up on trying to punish them because they just give me this stank face like “excoooos me??” and go back to whatever they were doing. -_____- although with the carpet, I spray perfume on it so they don’t chew. I don’t want them ingesting all those fibers o.O I’ve had to bunny proof the crap out of my apartment haha.


                                            • Chessie & JJ's Mom
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                                                ha ha ha … I thought I was the only one who got the “you silly human slave, this is MY burrow” look.

                                                When JJ used to do naughty things, I’d say NO at her level. However, she was full of rabbitude & always dismissed me LOL!

                                                When Chessie acts naughty, I’ll address her with her full name (Chester Pow-Pow) and say NO. She understands the word. But there will be times when she ignores me. Most of the time, I try to re-direct her energy towards something else … on some occasions, I’ll try to cuddle with her – ha ha ha, she runs from Mama cuddles

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                                            Forum BEHAVIOR How do you punish your bunny?