Long rant – Teenager rabbit driving me CRAZY – Need some serious support?

[hportland]

Hey everyone, I desperately need some supportive words & advice here. I’m about to scream!! This is a bit long, but I cannot beg you guys enough for help here!

So I have a six month old unneutered New Zealand White named Pinkerton. He is very sweet, but he is SUCH a handful. I’ve read so much about how their adolescent stage takes a lot of patience, but I never expected it to be this hard I have seriously considered taking him back to the adoption place a good five times now, all in the month that I’ve had him. And I can take a LOT from my pets (I’ve had tons over the years!).

1. The tall fencing I have can’t contain him. He can jump over it! It’s annoying enough that he can get out of his pen (not a huge issue, I’m going to get him a big kennel soon), but he also manages to jump into poor Mr. Pickleboots’ area and start fighting with him. Mr. Pickleboots is a seven year neutered old Dutch rabbit, and obviously doesn’t stand much of a chance. I need to keep them separated until I can get Pinkerton fixed, which won’t happen for a few more weeks. This is a problem, because I work and do volunteering stuff as well, so I can’t be home all the time to supervise. Whenever I have to leave the house, I either need to lock Pinkerton or Pickleboots in the one cage I have, which makes me feel bad, because I don’t like confining them to such a small space. Both of them normally have pens where they can free roam. Lately, the one to go into the cage is Pinkerton, for reason #3. Which makes me feel bad, because the cage is too small for him, and work takes four hours. Poor guy

2. He jumps on my bed all the time, and has peed on it multiple times now. I push him off, he jumps back on a few minutes later. And he’s gotten on it while I’m at work. The worst was when he left two big puddles on my bed and a dropping (which I rolled onto). I discovered all of this at three in the morning, while I was sick. And let me tell you, having to get out of bed in the middle of the night with rabbit pee on your leg to wash ALL of your bed supplies (mattress cover included), while being sick with the flu, is HORRIBLE. I actually teared up from being so angry and frustrated. And even if I blocked off my bed with fencing, he could still jump over it!

3. He. Poops. Everywhere. He is hardly litter box trained. I’ve praised him and given him treats for using it, but he only goes in there if he feels like eating any of the stuff that I’ve put in the box. As I mention below, I can’t really put him in there myself because he kicks and scratches. Otherwise, he poops everywhere. And I’ve read that adolescent rabbits tend to drop their litter box training anyway, and since I just got him a month ago, I don’t even know if he ever WAS litter box trained. I only know that he was purchased at the fair (sold by a breeder) and then given to the adoption place because the new owner was allergic. What I’ve read online makes it sound like litter box training teenage rabbits is basically a lost cause until they’re about a year old. Any input?

 4. Some of the problems he poses could be helped if I could just pick him up and put him in the cage or something. That always worked with my Pickleboots, as he learned that peeing on the bed would lead to restricted freedom. But Pinkerton is too big to lift and scratches like crazy. And I can’t really herd him places because he can run under my bed.

5. All of this is confined to my room. I live in an apartment with roomies, and one of them doesn’t like the idea of him getting out elsewhere because she’s terrified of him peeing and ruining the carpet. I could obviously clean it up, but I don’t want to argue with her much because I had to fight very hard for her to even let me keep him when I adopted him. I had to give my cat back to my dad in exchange :/ So on top of all these problems, it’s so overwhelming having such a messy and chaotic room!

 Advice, a pep talk, supportive words, etc, would be VERY appreciated right now. I feel like he’ll be such a perfect bun once he’s older, because he’s like a sweet, energetic little lap dog right now. And I DON’T want to be that person who returns an animal for temporary problems. I got him specifically to be a companion to Pickleboots, and he was the one that Pickleboots got along with best when they met. I just need help getting through this torturous phase

 

Here’s Pinkerton, during one of his lovable moments. He was relaxing with his head on my leg

[hportland]

Oh, nuggets. The picture didn’t post, hopefully it works now?

 

Edit: Gah, no it won’t The attachments option isn’t working for my photo. Sad day!

[kathybunny]

I am pretty new to bunnies but my one is rather naughty too and I’ve contemplated finding a home for her. She is most naughty chewing cords and digging carpet.

He must be really big! I hate when my girl goes under the bed, it’s impossible to get her out. I’ve been so mad I’ve cried before trying to get her.

Is he fixed? Do you think that would help?

I hope he chills out soon!! I know just from my girl how frustrating he must be.

[Little Lion Head]

I don’t have much advise but I will say Hang In There!!! I’m convinced things will get better after you get him neutered. Hang in there!

[Kyrkogrimr]

Puck went through a crazy phase just before I neutered him – I was just grateful that he didn’t actually spray; I only had puddles on the floor to clean up. By the day he was scheduled to be neutered I was ready to cry and/or hide in the hallway cupboard permanently. I think it was most frustrating because he’d been reasonably good until then, and then one morning BAM! pee on EVERYTHING, wait until the human cleans up, then pee on it again. I swear he started drinking more just so that he’d be able to pee more and leave more and bigger puddles all over the place x_x Once we got him neutered he changed almost overnight (ok, it was about a week) and I look back and feel a little bad about how frustrated I was lol
The point of that rambley anecdote being; hang in there. It’s hell right now (and I say that in full awareness that aside from copious quantity, Puck wasn’t actually that bad) but it will improve. I was very lucky in that he improved dramatically very quickly, but don’t be disheartened if he takes more time to adjust, it’s normal (from what I’ve read) for it to take 4-6 weeks for all those hormones to work themselves out. Just keep reminding yourself that in all likelihood (can’t say for certain, there are bound to be exceptions to the rule, and I don’t want to jinx it ) he will be so much better once he’s been neutered and the hormones are out of his system – and then you’ll have years of snuggly bliss with both Pinkerton and Mr Pickleboots (whose name I just love, by the way.)

I’m sure everyone here will be willing to lend a supportive ear, but you can always message me if you want someone to talk to/rant at about the terrible teenagerish behaviour being exhibited by a certain individual

[hportland]

Kathybunny: Oh my gosh, this sounds bad, I am SO HAPPY that someone knows how it feels to be that frustrated. I have almost cried because of it too! Obviously it’s not a good thing, but it’s nice that someone understands! There are just moments where you desperately wish that they were like dogs, where they instantly know that you’re angry. Gahh!

Thank you, Little Lion Head!! I have since pulled myself together more and am now prepared to be in this for the long haul.

Kyrkogimr, THANK YOU for the support! Seriously, I really appreciate it! Did Puck do anything else that drove you crazy, besides pee? And did he start using his litter box more once he was neutered? I’ve heard that they do that once they’re fixed, but do they just magically start pooping in it more? I wish Pinkerton would use his box more often, there are always tons of droppings to clean up every day. My room is such a dirty mess right now and it bothers me (although it’s only temporary until I get them bonded, then I can condense the mess into a shared area). I normally like to have things neat and orderly, but there’s hay and kiln shavings everywhere, thanks to having two separate rabbit spaces. And I’ve had to rearrange things in a really weird and unattractive way to prevent Pinkerton from getting into certain things. And Pinkerton’s pen is just kind of unsightly since it’s so messy. On the bright side, I am getting him a big dog kennel in the next couple of days and cannot wait! Then I’ll finally be able to put his hay and whatnot in there so it won’t be all over the floor. I am so happy that you have been in the same situation though. Thank GOODNESS your bunny improved! I am so glad for you, oh my gosh. Hopefully Pinkerton follows suit! Thanks again for the support

[Kyrkogrimr]

I can’t think of anything else off the top of my head,but given how much time I spent following him around with a sponge and a bowl of water and vinegar, I’m glad! He was a bit of an escape artist; if it got to late afternoon and we hadn’t had a decent attempt at getting out of his pen I knew he was saving himself for something big XD
He’s not perfect, but a lot of his poop ends up in his litter tray; I think the biggest problem actually is that he either kicks it out of the tray as he jumps out, or jumps out mid-poop lol Bear in mind, that once you get him neutered, Pinkerton shouldn’t have the same urge to mark territory; Puck improved vastly after his hormones died down – it also helps if you make sure he only eats his hay (as much as possible) in his litter box. After we got him neutered and we wanted to tackle the behaviour, we used to lift his bum a little off the floor if he sat outside the tray to eat his hay, to encourage him to jump in. Now we only have to move our hands towards his tail and he jumps in lol Worst case, a tap on his butt reminds him to sit in his tray, and Bunny Poop Mountain forms where it’s meant to lol When he’s in a good mood, I just have to look at him and say “Get that butt in your tray, mr.” and he does XD
I should warn you though, you’ll probably still have hay everywhere – that stuff is crafty; I find it in my BED and he’s never been allowed in there lol One thing that worked when I did it was to have a skirt around the bottom of his cage – he had a long thing piece of cardboard that was bent in the middle and slotted into one of the corners quite neatly. He used to chew it and pull it about a bit, but there was noticably less hay outside the cage on that side. Not sure if that made sense, I can try to explain it again if it wasn’t very clear.
I still think I got off lightly with the little monster’s teenage phase; I’m dreading dealing with it again when we get him a friend O_O We’ll have to huddle in a corner and commiserate each other on the horrors being inflicted on us by our furry little tormentors

[Silverpaws]

HANG IN THERE! Merlin was such a nightmare as a teen. All of those things and more – he pooped everywhere, peed on my bed, and then finally on my boyfriend. He did not like having another male in his area. He would wake up really early (around 4am) and rattle his xpen, or just leap over it and onto our bed. It drove me and my boyfriend MAD. The good news is – it totally gets better after neutering. Merlin is like a new bunny.

The only things you can do is sort term fixes.
For the leaping the pen, i found draping towels over the wire worked for some reason. it also stopped the biting and shaking.
Kee your buns seperate, old fella doesnt need harrassment!
And I know its mean and its a point of contention here, but we use the punishment bottle. its a soda bottle filled with pennies, whenever Merlin got on the bed and into squatting position, we shook it and he’d jump off. After a while, it stopped. We just had to pick up the bottle and he’d leap off.
As for the poops and litter tray, well…. Merlin seriously only started doing it when neutered. You may just have to clean up until then. Sorry!

[Little Lion Head]

Silverpaws, thats funny that the bottle trick works…Pumpkin thinks any kind of noise like that is treats. We keep paypaya in a treat jar and shake it when its time for bed. she goes running to her cage to wait for a treat! I think if i shook pennies, she would attack until she got some papaya! Ha!

[Silverpaws]

lol! they do know the difference between the rattling pennies and the noise of cellophane! cellophane means hay, kibble, and all other delicious things!

[emm_renn]

Hang in there! Just think of brighter pastures in the future. My little bunny is a little over 4 months and she is starting to become hormonal. She has been lunging at me, growling, and sometimes scratching at my hands when I try to move something out of the way. I am praying this will be as bad as it will get until I can get her into a vet to get her spayed.

[Jo Leigh]

I know exactly how you feel. There have been times when I have seriously thought I would have to re-home Merlin. I work from home so I’m constantly with him and witness every naughty little thing he does! I’m renting a fully furnished house and he has completely destroyed the underside of the bed base, no matter what I did to prevent him from going under there! I was literally close to tears trying to coax him out from under there one day. We’re in a good place now though, fingers crossed, so just hang in there. It does get better and you’ll be pleased you stuck through it with him.

[Author]

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