Angry bunny?

[Samantha1357]

my sweet little bunny seems to be mad at me. She goes into her cage in another room at night and comes into a big xpen in my room during the day. I was so busy yesterday i didnt even get a chance to let her out but did change her box and give her fresh food and veggies. When I let her out today she jumped on my bed waiting for me to come in and lay down but I was in the bathroom getting ready to go out when I came back in she had peed on my bed and pillows. She has NEVER had an accident. When I came home she was thumping everywhere, usually shes doing binkys. Could I have made her angry by not being in my room giving her my undivided attention or am I just making things up in my head?

[LittlePuffyTail]

Well bunnies don’t really have the ability to hold grudges. While she may have been put off by her routine being disrupted, that’s not the reason she peed on your bed. I’m sure it’s unrelated to you not letting her out.

How old is she and is she spayed?

[Samantha1357]

Shes 11 weeks old not spayed because the vet said shes too young

[bmt87]

Before Lola was spayed she went through about a week period where her hormones must have been raging and she would pee on EVERYTHING my boyfriend touched – it’s like she had to mark things that didn’t smell enough like her. I would be willing to bet your bun might be starting to go through something like this. 11 weeks is a tad young but it wouldn’t surprise me. I bet it gets better when she is spayed. Hang in there!

[Samantha1357]

I already went through it with my other four but they never really potty trained until they were done and I got them at 7 weeks. Shes totally fine now I guess maybe she just didnt like her routine messed up or its the stupid hormones again

[bmt87]

Bunny puberty sucksssss.

Random aside: I have no idea why I always end up commenting on your threads! It’s so random! Your buns are just too cute….maybe that’s why!

[Samantha1357]

it certainly does! question you might be able to answer, three of my buns are absolutely horrible! I have no clue what has happened to them. They were spayed/neutered over a month ago still are not potty training, still humping one another, and chasing eachother pulling fur but then the next minute theyll be snuggled up cleaning each other. They had to be caged as they dug through the dry wall and were ruining the floors. They have over $2,000 worth of toys, tunnels, huts, etc so they cant be bored. We are in the process of building them a huge NIC condo enclosure so that they will have plenty of space. Any idea why this is still happening? Derek who was done at the same time (then got kicked out of the group, poor guy) is great. very loving no accidents and so well behaved. Annabelle and Derek will be bonded a month after we get Annabelle spayed. I just dont know what to do with the other three anymore, Ive given them time in hopes they would calm down and train because I dont want to get rid of them as theyre spayed/neutered AND microchipped to me. Plus I dont feel like anyone else would keep the three together and feed them Oxbow and the proper amount of veggies. Im stuck.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m confused. Are your 3 bunnies your having trouble with living together?

[Samantha1357]

Rosie Rascal and Charming are my trio, Derek used to be bonded with them until they got spayed/neutered. After that he got kicked out of the group so I separated him for his saftey. He is doing great behavior and potty training wise. The trio on the otherhand is a different story, they all get along but are still pulling their own fur out like a false pregnancy and trying to hump each other. They love each other, clean and sleep together. But they are SO destructive I had to cage them. They lost their potty training when they were spayed/neutered and are getting better but still having accidents. They also dug through the drywall in my bathroom. I dont understand why as they have tunnels, huts, coconut mats corn mats timothy mats grass mats seagrass mats, and toys. They say bored is destructive but how can they be bored? So we are building a very large NIC cage for them as I dont want to get rid of them after spending that kind of money to have them spayed/neutered and microchipepd..plus I dont think anyone will want three destructive buns. I just dont get why this is still happening

[Samantha1357]

Annabelle is the bunny that I mentioned in the first post that peed on my bed. She is not with anyone and lives in my room since she isnt spayed yet but once she is we will bond her with Derek

[bmt87]

Hmmm….I don’t have a ton of experience with home bonding (I’ve only helped in rescues with other buns) since my little diva refuses to allow anyone on her turf. It could be that maybe they are still territorial (spaying and neutering can sometimes be like setting a reset button with bunny relationships) and even though they may seem completely bonded – they aren’t.  My guess would be maybe they are just trying to establish who is the dominant one.  I am willing to be that has to be what it is….

I would suggest posting a new thread on it – there are lots of members right now that have been bonding multiples (and tanlover who is crazy enough to have tried bonding – and was successful! – with 4 buns!).  I bet they could give you a better perspective on the poop war/destructo bun/dominance part of bunny bonding.

ETA: are you sure they are pulling their own hair for false pregnancies and they aren’t pulling each others? if they are pulling tufts of hair and you are coming home to see fur everywhere I would separate them immediately. it’s most likely caused by them fighting and bun fights can turn ugly FAST (not to get gruesome but I’ve seen some pretty bad situations where people thought the buns were bonded and that they were just having a minor scuffle and have ended up with huge wounds).  Just wanted to add that just in case!  

[Samantha1357]

no i see them do it, im home majority of the day. i do think they are very tired of being locked up though….my dad is working as fast as he can to finish the condo for them

[Beka27]

So you have 5 rabbits? Are they all adults over 1-year-old? If not, some of that behavior is going to be age-related, not hormone-related. The terrible twos (pre-neuter/spay) advance to the teenager years (post-neuter, but pre-adulthood).

Have you considered breaking them down into pairs with one leftover, or is your goal to have a pair and a trio? You might have to shuffle around the pairings.

[Samantha1357]

Yes I have 5 but they are all under a year, Rosie and Rascal are sisters who are 23 weeks old they are currently with Charming who is not related but the same age..these are the ones with the behavioral issues. They are already spayed/neutered and microchipped. So my trio is 2 girls and a boy. Derek is 22 weeks old and used to be bonded with the other three but once they were spayed/neutered they started going after him so I separated him. I then got Annabelle (who is Rosie and Rascals half sister..they have the same mommy) to bond with Derek a month after she is spayed so all the hormones have time to calm down, she just turned 12 weeks. Annabelle is the one who just peed on my bed, Ive done some reading around the forum and a lot of people have mentioned their buns cant be on their beds because they always pee on the bed because it smells like their owner. Im sure some of her new behavior is hormone related but that is the first accident she has ever had, from the day I brought her home she has been perfect, she wasnt trained before she got to me she just picked it up really fast. Annabelles grandfather and father are the smartest rabbits this breeder has ever seen….so we were thinking maybe thats why she picked it up so quickly? But either way Im just looking for some advice on which way to go…these are my first bunnies and I just wanted a bunny family but it looks like it wont be all 5. Ideally now I would like Rosie Rascal and Charming to stay together and Derek and Annabelle to pair off. Should their behavior calm down once they are older? Im still learning with bunnies…I know with kittens until they are a year old theyre trouble so are bunnies kind of like that?

[bmt87]

I’d say it takes about a year for them to start to mellow and their true personalities to show…. although, every bunny is different.  Lola has always been very mellow – bunny 500s are rare and she binkies MAYBE once a day – she’d just much prefer to snooze all day in her cage even though it’s open 24/7 (but trust me – if you close the door she has a melt down if she’s locked in).

So I think it’s just getting to know their personalities – they are more like dogs than I think a lot of people give them credit for.  

Lola only did the peeing thing before she was spayed and is fine now but I know other’s still deal with the issue after their buns are spayed/neutered.

And I think LPT is right – you may have to  rethink the dynamics of the bonds and who should bond with who. Just because they are blood-related does not mean that they will bond well at all.  My boyfriend’s aunt has a pair of brothers that are DREADFUL and the house is literally separated in half because they hate each other. 

Good luck!

[Samantha1357]

but see when i separated charming rascal went into a depression..those two are so bonded its ridiculous. Rosie Rascal and Charming all HATE Derek even in a neutral zone. I tried rebonding but it wont work. Before i got Annabelle I tried just Derek and Rosie and Rosie went at him and it was so bad I would never do it again. Rosie Rascal and Charming are totally bonded. Im hoping Derek and Annabelle will bond. Would you really suggest trying to mess with Rosie Rascal and Charming and get them to switch around? I dont see them doing that

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