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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.

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Forum BEHAVIOR Bedtime Problems

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    • Eucalyptus
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        Hi guys. I’m having a little problem that I’m not sure what to do about. It’s been about 3 weeks now, and every, single, night, Java will fiercely chew at the blanket at the bottom of his cage once my boyfriend and I go to bed. He chews like he’s literally going crazy – like he will do these small nips and pulls rapidly all over this corner on his pen, along with occasionally yanking the blanket really hard and chewing or banging the pen’s bars. He will do this for anywhere between 5-20 minutes before finally settling down.


        Usually, this type of behavior is … boredom? Or not enough time out of the pen. But, Java’s pen is open at all times when we’re at home, and I would say he averages 6-10 hours of “hop time” unless we both end up working really odd shifts that overlap and leave Java home alone for most of the day (which is rare). When he’s out, he’ll actually end up snoozing in this box we cut for him for a while, especially while we cook dinner (he doesn’t like when we cook … I’ve assumed that it’s all the sizzling sounds and unusual aromas). But we spend a lot of time with him, petting and handing him things to chew or throw. And almost everyday, we have a nightly treat time with a banana, where he’ll dash around chasing one of us and then we all enjoy the banana together.


        Any suggestions about this, though? This is becoming a little bit of an inconvenience for us when we try to turn out the lights and settle down for bed. On top of that, though, is he angry with us or something? He’s so rapidly ripping up his blanket and banging the pen walls. I feel like he’s really upset about something. But in the morning, he’s totally normal, binkies and everything while I get him breakfast. He does bunny 500’s, tramples my boyfriend, and smells his face. All the usual. He’s only like this when we go to bed, and then sometimes when we close his pen because we’re about to leave somewhere – that’s about 50/50. But going to bed has been every single night now.


        We tried giving him extra attention (my boyfriend spent over an hour just petting and snuggling with Java last night). Last night was actually the worst – it was nearly 25 min that he was violently banging the pen walls.


        Please let me know what we can do – or what we might be doing wrong.


        UPDATE: He just started doing it now …. I don’t know why. I just took a video of it to show you guys.

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YyBei1kcdI&feature=youtu.be

        He wasn’t doing it nearly as rapidly as he usually does at night, this was just him kinda pulling at the blanket. He does this in that corner and the opposite corner as well.


      • LBJ10
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          Sounds familiar. LOL
          What is his feeding schedule like? Have to tried giving him his food at bedtime? I do it get get mine to willingly go to bed, but I imagine it could be used as a distraction too.


        • Cristina
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            Bertie did this and it drove me nuts. He would literally hang on to the bars on the roof of his cage, and hang down pulling as hard as he could. Or he’d latch on to the sides and yank. He actually ripped apart his cage several times, not to mention it was very loud and it made me feel like I was torturing him, and I was only putting him up at night! With Bertie, it was a typical I want OUT. It’s taken some finesse and lots of fine tuning to get it right.

            For one, I cover all the boys cages with a blanket at night and leave 1/4 uncovered. They get free range from 6pm till bedtime plus their daily play time. They each get held and cuddled before they are put up for bed. If Bertie misses this step, he literally will not go to bed and he’ll yank on his cage as if screaming ” I WANT OUT!!!” . He absolutely has to have his evening cuddles or he goes nuts. I typically rock him a bit ( he’s such a baby!) pet his head gently and love on him. Once he gets nice and calm I put him in his cage, and they all get their apples which is their nightly snack. Then the lights go out, the blankies go up and they all settle right in for bed. Like I said, if we litterally skip one step from the routine because we’re in a hurry or it’s late, he will wake up and make a fuss all night.

            Maybe you just need to find a routine and stick with it. Sounds like your bun just wants attention and doesn’t want to be put up at night.


          • Eucalyptus
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              Hmm, maybe we should try doing something routine-like. It’s going to be hard, because depending on if we have to wake up for work early, or late, or don’t have work at all, we tend to sleep at different times. And sometimes, my boyfriend will just be up playing video games all night. Java will NEVER have these freak outs if I’m in bed and my boyfriend is just up doing his thing, even if he’s up super, super late, but will start once my boyfriend goes to bed. In fact, my boyfriend has said that he’s shut him in his pen so that he can’t bother me (because he loves to binky and zoom all over the bed while I sleep, and will end up trampling my face a lot), and has told me about how he’s just binkying and zooming around his pen the whole time, not upset or anything.


              Not sure how we can cover the pen. It’s an x-pen that’s like 7′ x 7′ and it’s an octogon shape. I can’t even imagine what blanket would fit over the entire thing.

              We never had a routine before, either. I wonder what changed that he doesn’t like … Hm.


            • Beka27
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                The blanket chewing sounds like playing. Is the blanket just in the pen or is it on the floor and underneath the xpen panels? Rabbits naturally want to “burrow”, so from your description, it seems like a burrowing/digging behavior. Have you tried just removing the blanket?


              • Eucalyptus
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                  Posted By Beka27 on 02/07/2013 04:12 AM

                  The blanket chewing sounds like playing. Is the blanket just in the pen or is it on the floor and underneath the xpen panels? Rabbits naturally want to “burrow”, so from your description, it seems like a burrowing/digging behavior. Have you tried just removing the blanket?

                  We don’t want to risk removing it and having him destroy the carpet .. since we promised that we wouldn’t let him damage the apartment (we’re the only ones allowed to have a bunny).


                  I’m just confused about what the reasons behind the digging/chewing are. He has toys, he gets lots of time out of the pen, but there are times he will actually leave us to go back into his pen and start ripping the blanket. Oh, and the blanket is basically a “bedding,” so it covers the entire bottom of his pen and overflows under the pen walls. It doesn’t come up, but after 20-25 min of him tugging, it either rips, or he does pull it all the way from under the bars and reaches carpet – which of course, is a problem.


                  He’s starting to do this during the day sometimes. Like I said, he’ll often go back into his pen to rip it up.


                • Cristina
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                    hmm…perhaps he is having a love affiar with his blankie?  I know that sounds rediculous but I am totally serious!! Toby was in love with his litter box for quite some time and it was horrible! He’d cuddle with it, and play with it. DO everything BUT use it as it was intended. He started off using it as a potty but then apparently grew to like it so much he would cuddle and play with it. He refused to potty in it. He’d poo everywere BUT in his litter box. I finally took the grating out, so his feet touched the pellets I put in it, and he finally got the sense that it’s not his friend. bahahah He still cuddles and chews on it from time to time, but it’s not nearly as bad.  Perhaps your bunny just really really really likes his blankie? Sounds like there’s something there with the bf tho! I know my sister’s bun Gus LOVES my dad and goes NUTS when he sees him or hears his voice. He gets distraught if my dad doesn’t play with him, and so even if he’s busy he has to take a few minutes out for him. Silly buns!


                  • Cristina
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                      I guess what I’m trying to say, is there are several possibilities. I’d investigate them all and take time on each one testing out theories until you get it resolved!


                    • LBJ10
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                        What about giving him a hidey house with a little blanket inside? He could burrow in that if he indeed wants to burrow.


                      • Beka27
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                          Have you looked into getting a piece of linoleum cut to go underneath? That would provide more protection (from spilled water or a urine accident) and he would not be able to chew at it.


                        • Eucalyptus
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                            Omg the litter box lover story was hilarious. Okay, I’m just going to reply to everyone.

                            First off, it’s not his “blankie,” it’s the sheets/blankets that we have as a floor of his pen, and he will chew/dig/tug on it in a couple of different spots. He has his own actual blankie, but he doesn’t really care for it (we mostly have it in there to keep his scent and then we use it in his carrier for the vet). He has a little hidey-home box that he goes in sometimes if we’re cooking, because he doesn’t like it, or if he’s a little nervous from visitors, which is rare. Otherwise, he will very occasionally go into the box to dig and chew, but that really is only occasionally. As mentioned, he prefers two different corners on either side of his box.

                            Java seems to really like both my boyfriend and I together the best. When I’m the only one home, he’ll come up to me and enjoy petting and cuddling, but rarely binky. He naps quite a bit, too. Same if my boyfriend is the only one home. But if both of us are home, he’s so excited. His favorite is if we’re sitting on our bed together – that’s when we get lots of zooms and huge binkies. This might be a part of why he’s always going crazy when we’re in bed, since that’s where he likes us best and likes to join us. I’m not s ure … if this really is the problem, then I’m not sure what to do because we do live in a studio so there’s no way to put a door or wall between our bed and his pen.

                            Also, yes Beka we actually have a thick layer of cardboard under the half of his pen that he digs at. It’s definitely saved our carpet for now. But that doesn’t help the loud sound of him digging, chewing, ripping, tugging, and worst of all – banging and rattling the bars of the pen.


                          • breannaloo
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                              My newest bun does this, too! I have Louie out in my big hallway all day long with a pen up to keep him from getting to the living room area. Then I put him in his cage at bedtime. The second I put him in there, he thumps loudly at me several times, and then destroys the cage to his liking. I just kept ignoring it and not reacting to it anymore. I’ve found with all of my buns, if they’re doing something I don’t like and I keep making a fuss about it, they do it even more. But if I tell them no once, and then ignore them the rest of the time, they stop. And surely enough the thumping got less and less, and now it’s stopped. So has the destroying of the cage for the most part! Bunnies love the reaction sometimes, almost like little toddlers do! Haha.

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                          Forum BEHAVIOR Bedtime Problems