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Forum BEHAVIOR Bun keeps flicking pee at specific person

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    • Sleepy
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        My rabbit’s a 6-7 year old dutch bunny. We didn’t get around to get Whisky neutered (yes, bad, and I wish we had when he was younger) but he’s usually been well-behaved for the most part and uses his litter box/goes in a set area. 

        However, recently, he’s started flicking pee at my sister almost every time he sees her. He doesn’t do this to anyone else but her and we’ve been having problems getting him to stop. We’ve tried disciplining him (saying “NO” and putting him back in the cage right after; my sis has also tried giving him a light spray of water recently whenever he does it), my sis has tried giving him more attention during the day, we’ve sprayed the areas he pees in with vinegar-water, and we’ve tried looking into anything that might’ve caused him to recently change his behavior. This has been going on consistently now for at least a few weeks to a month and curbing his behavior hasn’t been working well. The closest we can think of that’s really ‘changed’ for him was we switched to giving him more hay rather than hay-pellet replacements along with his regular food.

        Any ideas on what might be causing his recent behavior or ideas of how to curb it better?


      • Megabunny
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          I don’t really know what to say. Rabbits do tend to have favorite people, but to like everyone but your sister…well…how old is she? I wouldn’t have her make him madder by spraying him with water. Is she too young to handle him and inadvertantly hurt him at some point? I had a chinchilla who was OK with me, but peed on my husband any time he got close to the cage. He never did anything wrong to the chin. I think she just knew he wasn’t me ha ha.
          Sorry that’s all I’ve got


        • Sr. Melangell
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            My Olly flicks water at me from his bowl if he is not happy he is getting his cage cleaned, but I don’t worry and tell him. “I’ve already been baptised thank you very much.” I’m just trying to think here to help you, OK I know dogs that are not neutered can sense females are about and tinkle, are you sure its tinkle and he is not spraying her? Also tinkle and spraying on things and people can mean this is/she is/he is mine, or tinkle can mean “Get away human so.” he is not doing anything wrong, (In his mind.) but to us it seams dirty or wrong, I wouldn’t use a water bottle as a punishment. “NO” is OK to use, tell him “NO” Right when he is doing it, not after because he might be thinking ‘No what?’ Before I developed an allergy to cats my mother’s cat used to jump on me and tinkle then rub my face with his chin, all we are to small animals are big animals and they don’t realise we don’t understand why they are telling us.
            Please leave the spray bottle out, Bunny could get very grumpy and ignore you, it could even catch on to something electrical and you could have an indoor fireworks display party with a fire and the fire brigade as the main guests putting on a show.


          • Sleepy
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              @Megabunny: My sis is about mid-twenties. I don’t know if it’s a matter of her having hurt him at a point (I did tell her to stop using the sprayer/just keep putting him back in the cage whenever he does it) but she does try to ignore him more often/give him less attention on a regular basis/avoid letting him ‘mark’ her. So I’m not sure if he’s interpreting that as a need to flick to catch her attention since he runs right up to her and flicks so it’s been consistently deliberate.

              @Piny: I’m pretty sure it’s been a spray than a tinkle. He’s rarely gone on the floor over something but with her he’ll hop right up, flick, and spray (which like I said, is odd since he’s never done that before). The closest that’s coming to mind in that case is that, since my sister’s been fairly adamant (especially recently) about not letting him rub or mark her, he might be trying to say ‘mine’ in a different way? I usually pet him/don’t mind him rubbing me on a more regular basis compared to her and I’ve never gotten the flick pee treatment.

              I have told my sis to stop using the water sprayer though and stick to “NO” and shoving him back in the cage. Hopefully he’ll get the message soon with just that.


            • Megabunny
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                That is just weird. Sorry No other ideas. Really doesn’t make sense to me, either


              • JackRabbit
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                  Since he’s not neutered, he may be spraying her to mark her.


                • Megabunny
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                    Tell her it’s true love. See how that goes!


                  • Eepster
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                      That sounds sexual, not angry. Has your sister been hanging out with a person who has a female rabbit? Started a new job at a pet store or vets’ office? Wearing a new musk based perfume? Anything that might maker her smell a bit like a fertile female bunny?


                    • Sleepy
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                        @Eepster: I’m not sure. I’ll ask her next time I see her if she’s made any changes like that.

                        The closest thing that comes to mind is she’s been spending more time in the yard (since we tend to take him out so he can have at least an hour outside while the weather is good) and I know we have wild rabbits in the area who occasionally wander around the yard. Whisky also used to get more horny if he saw my sis wearing shorts, hence why my sis started wearing pants around him more. From what I understand, though, he mostly attempts to flick pee on her while she’s wearing pants.


                      • Bam
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                          It rather sounds like he’s “in love” with your sister. There is a possibility that spring with all the extra light + the extra natural light he’s getting has triggered a hormonal surge.

                          If this is the case, his behavior is highly motivated and won’t be punished away. I don’t know if you can neuter a rabbit at that age. I don’t know how old Bam was when I had him neutered for similar reasons, but he was fully grown when I got him and I’d had him for a year before the problem started. There’s chemical castration available for bunnies, but I don’t know anything about it, like if it would put an end to this behavior. You’d have to ask a good rabbit-savvy vet.


                        • Toni
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                            I agree with Bam – Fred did this to me every time I saw him for the first couple weeks after we had him neutered. For him… he was a lovesick bunny who thought I was his girlfriend. He did it only to me , and no one else in the house. Almost 5 weeks after his neuter and he still does it occasionally if I ignore him. I also agree that it won’t work to stop him/punish him…. in his mind he is doing exactly what nature is telling him he is supposed to do – he can’t help it. He’s got a crush on her. My only recommendations that at least “helped” with us…… every time I was around him when he was doing it a lot…. I would immediately be ready as he approached and I would put my hand on his back and apply gently pressure down to the floor so he couldn’t run around to “flick” at me…. I’d then either pick him up or pat him heavily and he’d usually get distracted with the rubs and settle down to be petted (because he loved that too). If he didn’t settle down…. I’d flee. This method may/may not help… depends on how agreeable/calm your bunny is…. Fred was so desperate for any love/attention/affection he would just take whatever I dished out – but not all buns are so easy-going. Of course, neutering would be a more permanent solution, but like Bam said – you’d need to talk to a rabbit-savvy vet.


                          • Sleepy
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                              @bam and toni: Thanks for the advice. I’ll see if we can consult a vet about it, since while I’m worried about neutering at his age I’d rather not completely take away his time of other things (such as, the time outside and sunbathing).

                              I’ll also pass the tips onto my sis and see if it helps her with avoiding flicks until we have a better solution.


                            • Sr. Melangell
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                                OK what ever you do, because I was thinking it could be he wanted something, don’t leave those 2 alone in a room listening to Barry White.

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                            Forum BEHAVIOR Bun keeps flicking pee at specific person