Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

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.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

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 First Time Disciplining, Did I Handle it Ok?

Viewing 19 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • Hokankai
      Participant
      252 posts Send Private Message

         So I had my first tiff with Theodore this evening, and I just wanted to make sure I handled it ok. Every morning and evening he gets 1 tablespoon of pellets, which are basically the highlight of this day (he doesn’t enjoy hay). This evening when I put his scoop in, I reached down to pick up a poo to toss in the litterbox and he lunged (I was already pretty close to his head though), grunted, and very lightly nipped my hand. Granted, he’d been waiting for his pellets all day so I understand, but he still needed to know that you do NOT mess with mama. 

        Because he’s deaf, thumping is the only way to voice my disapproval. Immediately after he nipped me I loudly thumped the floor of his cage twice with my hand, took his bowl away and held it for about 10 seconds. After that I sat on the floor and made him eat about 10 pellets from my hand one at a time. He also had to get a stroke on the head before he could get his pellet so it was a short training/positive association session as well.

        How did I do? This is my first run in with a hungry, grumpy (and recently neutered, haha) bunny and I just wanted to make sure I didn’t make anything worse. I feel like my instinctual reaction was good because I talked to him in his language and coupled it with reinforcement training…but I don’t know, haha. Him being deaf has definitely made communication a little bit of a challenge but I’m learning my bunny-talk


      • bmt87
        Participant
        305 posts Send Private Message

          Does he only get one tablespoon of pellets a day?


        • bmt87
          Participant
          305 posts Send Private Message

            Or twice a day I mean. That seems like so little to me. I don’t know his size though – you’ve probably already referred to something like this but just in case: http://sandiegorabbits.org/diet/pellets.html. Also, I think you handled it quite well.


          • Hokankai
            Participant
            252 posts Send Private Message

              He’s barely 3lbs

              2 tablespoons are about 1/8 cup. He also gets a handful of veggies in the afternoon after I get home.


            • Huckleberry
              Participant
              972 posts Send Private Message

                Sounds like you did ok to me. I would guess that taking his food away may have been unnecessary because he won’t think in terms of cause and effect, simply that you took his food and gave it back. No food! Food!!!!! Thumping on the ground is a great way to communicate with him though. You could also try giving him the bunny butt. Be sure to look over your shoulder so he knows he messed up. When he comes around and bumps you, that is him saying “I’m sorry”


              • FrankieFlash
                Participant
                1710 posts Send Private Message

                  have you already read http://language.rabbitspeak.com/ ? I just wanted to throw that source out there if not. It’s a little long so after I read it once, I studied it section by section when I saw him do the behaviors mentioned. But thumping is a good idea. I never thought about how I would have to communicate “NO” or “ow” with bunjamin if he couldn’t hear. Although I agree with huckleberry about he probably didn’t understand about you taking the food away although having him have to be nice to get the pellets and you hand feeding him was probably good. I didn’t train bunjamin to do it but people are impressed with how gently he takes treats. I’m unsure if Theodore is one of your fosters but if he is, him being gentle when given treats is a good thing for his resume


                • Hokankai
                  Participant
                  252 posts Send Private Message

                    I have no idea what the bunny butt is…haha! It would have been hard to do though because his cage is an xpen and I have to bend over to put stuff in there.

                    I figured taking his food away would make him pause for a second rather than ignoring me and continuing to eat. I think he understood because he just kind of sat there where the bowl usually is and then looked up at me for it, which is when I sat down and fed him.

                    And nope, Theodore is mine ^_^. However my foster mama does take treats very nicely and I hope her babies do too


                  • Huckleberry
                    Participant
                    972 posts Send Private Message

                      Bunny butt is a way that rabbits communicate disapproval. http://language.rabbitspeak.com/ Talks about it, thanks Frankie for adding that.
                      When a rabbit is upset, they turn their backs to you. They might look over their shoulder to make sure you are watching. You are getting the bunny stink eye!
                      I give Huckles the bunny butt when she nips or snarls. She immediately puts her head down and bumps me like crazy until I continue to pet her. It’s like saying “Im very disappointed in you!”


                    • bmt87
                      Participant
                      305 posts Send Private Message

                        Ha – ya I guess that makes sense. I just never thought about it that way. A tbsp for some reason seems so small to me but 1/8th a cup seemed like a ton!

                        I get so sad when I get the bunny butt. It breaks my heart. However, when Lola is REALLY mad at us after she gets in trouble for something major – she immediately jumps off the couch and backs into the corner closest to her litter box and pees out of spite. UGHHHH.


                      • LoveChaCha
                        Participant
                        6634 posts Send Private Message

                          The thing with rabbits, you will get a huge personality from them

                          Haha, bunnies. I have the biggest diva. She still sit and stare at me until I pet her. If I don’t, she either nudges me in the butt or thumps at me… yup.

                          How come your bunny does not like to eat hay? Have you tried many different types? It is essential to bunny health

                           

                          As for the pellet count, rabbits will eventually get onto a timothy based diet as they are adults. My Chacha bun(4 pound dwarf) gets only a teaspoon of pellets. She gets unlimited hay 24/7 and veggies at night. Pellets are a vitamin supplement..


                        • Hokankai
                          Participant
                          252 posts Send Private Message

                            Thanks for the link! I LOVE learning about animal behavior so I’m going to have a lot of fun with that. And yeah, next time I’ll definitely try the bunny butt to see what he does

                            I have no idea why he doesn’t like hay. Probably because breeders don’t often have it as free choice? He gets Timothy, Orchard, and a touch of Alfalfa to draw him to eat it. He eats a little bit, but he definitely doesn’t enjoy it. It’s more of a “Fine…since there’s nothing else around for awhile…”

                            He’s a year and a half old, but I can’t imagine him eating less than he is now with how much hay he eats.


                          • LoveChaCha
                            Participant
                            6634 posts Send Private Message

                              Chacha bun came from a breeder as a discard. She lacked the typical dwarf like qualities. She eats a ton of hay, haha.

                              how many pellets are you giving him? I noticed that after I started transitioning Chacha from alfalfa based pellets (and free eating, as she was a kiddo once as well) to timothy based and lowering the amount, she started to consume lots of hay


                            • Hokankai
                              Participant
                              252 posts Send Private Message

                                He gets a tablespoon of Timothy-based pellets in the morning and in the evening.


                              • Huckleberry
                                Participant
                                972 posts Send Private Message

                                  Huck WOULD NOT eat hay. The vet had me take her off pellets completely for a week so she was forced to eat the hay. I felt like a monster but I told myself that she isn’t going to stave herself with food right there and I was still giving her greens. It took around 4 days but she broke down. Now, I fill up her hay box every day and she eats about 80% of it (the rest ends up in her litter box). I also noticed that she ate a lot more when I moved it towards her box so she can poo and eat at the same time. She apparently likes to be lazy.

                                  This doesn’t mean you should take your bun off pellets. Its just what my vet said to do. Your vet may have a different method or might feel your bun is doing fine the way he is (mine wanted Huckles to lose weight). I just wanted to share the method I ended up using.


                                • Huckleberry
                                  Participant
                                  972 posts Send Private Message

                                    Also! What brand of hay are you feeding him? I was using kaytee hay when Huck wouldn’t eat hers. I switched to Binky Bunny’s hay. I’m not sure if the brand change really made much difference because I made all of those changes to her diet at the same time, but something worked.


                                  • Sarita
                                    Participant
                                    18851 posts Send Private Message

                                      I would not discipline a rabbit who is trying to defend his own space. The best thing is to clean and mess with his stuff when he’s not in there.


                                    • Hokankai
                                      Participant
                                      252 posts Send Private Message

                                        Sarita, I don’t care that he was trying to defend his space. A nip is a nip, and if I need to get in there for some reason I don’t want to be worried about him “defending his territory”. I just don’t tolerate stuff like that no matter how natural the behavior, for every species. But that’s just me.


                                      • LoveChaCha
                                        Participant
                                        6634 posts Send Private Message

                                          KK, he is defending his territory. Chacha even nips at me when i go and grab her water bowl. To him, you are invading his space and he doesn’t like it. It is the same as an intruder trying to intrude our home – we will try to protect it. Rabbits are completely different and think differently from other animals. They are prey animals.


                                        • Hokankai
                                          Participant
                                          252 posts Send Private Message

                                            I respect that he’s defending his space. He can voice his disgruntledness all he wants with lunges, grunts, and growls…but he is NOT allowed to lay his teeth on me. I’ve had several different prey animals in the past and almost every behavior can be curbed. Rabbits are smart, he’ll learn quickly.

                                            I think he got the idea though because this morning I reached in and he happily begged for his pellets and let me pet him. Nary a peep or nip from him. It was a first time thing so perhaps he was having a bad day.


                                          • Huckleberry
                                            Participant
                                            972 posts Send Private Message

                                              Is there any chance he didn’t realize you were reaching in there? Maybe it startled him. Since he is deaf, make sure he knows your hand is coming and slowly. He might be more accepting of it that way. Glad there was not any further nipping today!

                                          Viewing 19 reply threads
                                          • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

                                          Forum BEHAVIOR First Time Disciplining, Did I Handle it Ok?