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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Do your buns go bonkers in Spring?

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    • DianeK
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        I’m a pretty new bunny slave, I have two young girls (both under a year, both spayed) It seems like the last week they’ve just gone completely cray-cray. Jeffrey (my older girl) has what I call frantic “diggy fits”, digging in corners like there’s no tomorrow. She hasn’t done that in months, since her spay. She’s also pooping everywhere. More poops land around her potty/haybox than IN her potty.

        My younger one, Lilly, has somewhat abandoned her impeccable litter box habits, peeing in corners (there’s now an extra box there)… very twitchy and jumpy, and also leaving her little brown business cards everywhere in her area. This is just not like her, she’s a very tidy rabbit.

        Absolutely nothing has changed in either of their environments. Both have adequate hay/potty boxes that are cleaned regularly and supplied with fresh hay. Is this just normal Springtime rabbit behavior? Could there still be residual hormones left from their December spays?

        Thanks in advance for any insight!


      • LongEaredLions
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          Ooh, hard to say. It does sound like “mating season” hormones but since they are both spayed….
          No new smells, perfumes, etc? Do you have wild bunnies near you?
          I have no clue…


        • Bam
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            This spring I’ve seen craziness in my bunnies, esp in Bam. Bam, who was neutered more than a year ago, has actually taken to peeing and pooing in the sofa again so I have to block it off. He hasn’t done that since his neuter took effect.

            In people and in many (intact) mammals, an increase in amount of daylight exposure to the retina affect sleep hormone (shuts its release off) and sex hormones (turns their release on). Most of the testosterone production occur in the testis, but there is also a small amount that is secreted by the adrenal glands, so I suppose castrated animals can get a surge in sex hormones in the spring, although not at all as powerful as in intact animals.


          • DianeK
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              I was wondering about the adrenals. Lilly continued to display hormonal behaviors well after her spay, and after exhaustive internet research, the possibility of the adrenals sort of “taking over” for the removed glands came up.
              We also live in Alaska, the increase in daylight in the last few weeks has been drastic and sudden. My chickens are acting strangely too. Bam – do you live in a northern climate as well?
              Thanks for the replies!


            • jerseygirl
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                That’s interesting bam! I had read there was a slight hormone rise still in desexed rabbits so its interesting what effects daylight have.

                DianeK, I love that one of the girls is Jeffrey. Haha!

                MimzMum is in Alaska also. Ill get in touch to see if hers have acted this way over the years.

                Pre-molt and/or molting bunnies can act a bit funny. I guess that can tie in with cicadian rhythms & hormones also.

                ETA: Its not spring here but we have spring-like weather and daylight hours shortening. Regarding going bonkers; well I’ve twice now come home from work to find a couple bunnies broken out of their rooms.
                Rumball, who is 7 1/2, jumped a coreflute door barrier then broke down the one to where TimTim is. So I can home to fur tufts everywhere and Rumball sulking up on a recliner. He got quite a few bites that luckily have healed well now. Tim definitely came out of that better. I was lucky they didn’t cause each other more injury. I have to say, I was surprised by Rumball! He’s spent 2 months of summer in my living room with a NIC door barrier without breaking out. Yet, a few days with a higher, solid barrier and over he goes??! My experience had been they didnt go over things when they couldn’t see landing area on other side.

                Then last night, I found Gooseman and Potamus out roaming. I know Goose was trying the gate before I left so I think it’s highly possible he’s the one that managed to break the tie.
                He’d also managed to get up on a desk in their room earlier, using their cardboard hidey box. So I’d done some rearranging to prevent that happening again.


              • Roberta
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                  My bunz are bonkers all of the time……. They just take turns at being really loopy…. I’m hoping a change to the cooler weather may see them napping a bit more in the early morning.


                • LittlePuffyTail
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                    My buns don’t act differently in the Spring. Maybe because they are older. They are both around 7.

                    My horse on the other hand….she is 13 and acts like a yearling this time of year!!!!


                  • justwildbeat
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                      Funny that you mention this because last week my bun started to furiously shred all of his cardboard boxes. He also began to toss his litter box and food bowl around when I’m not home. He hasn’t done that since he went through his teenage phase. Plus I haven’t changed anything (food, cage setup, etc). Thankfully this crazy spurt is starting to fade away.


                    • DianeK
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                        I’m glad I’m not the only one with crazy Spring time rabbits…

                        Lilly launched a full scale assault on me today – bit me twice and boxed me. I had the audacity of picking up three turds off of her sleeping area. I guess she put them there on purpose? So NOT like my gentle little lamb. Jeffrey is continuing to poop every where but her litter box. She’s also bossing the cat, she either demands he lick her head, or false-charges him when he’s in the area. It’s actually pretty funny.

                        I never thought I’d want to hurry Spring along! 


                      • tobyluv
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                          I had one past female rabbit (spayed) that really got “spring fever” in a bad way. Isabel would furiously dig in her litter boxes – spraying litter everywhere, she would rip newspapers into confetti and rip and chew holes in towels and mats. She would go into an old cage that was always kept open, that had a litter box in it. The floor of the cage had some give to it. She would get in the litter box and bounce up and down, like she was on a trampoline.

                          My current female rabbit has a touch of spring fever, but she is not nearly as crazed or destructive. Thank goodness.


                        • jerseygirl
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                            Gooseman and Potamus roaming around again when I got home last night.
                            Then Alice and Rumball at about 5am.
                            I have to do overhaul on the gates this weekend.
                            Gates that have been fine for months but now they’ve figured way past them, they keep doing it.

                            I’d been giving them time outdoors the last several days also. For stimulation, exercise, etc etc. It’s made no impact on their desire for early morning escapades.


                          • Lucybunz
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                              Is there such thing as winter fever? Both of mine have been going crazy the last week or so. It’s exhausting me constantly watching and following them. They are both fixed


                            • Bam
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                                Lucybunz, winter fever is not sth I have heard of. Increased activity in spring is attributed to increase in amount of day-light that reaches the brain – light has a very profound effect on all kinds of hormones, not just sex-hormones.

                                But in winter, there’s very little light and many buns become calmer.

                                Could something else have changed? Diet? Environment? Could it be Christmas spirit? (Only half joking, pets tend to pick up on the general “spirit” among the people they live with.)

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                            Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Do your buns go bonkers in Spring?