First of all, I think you should put him back in the cage and not let him be free roam – it sounds as if he was given too much space too soon. I would only let him run free when you are around to supervise. Some rabbits take awhile to be trusted to run freely and that is the case with him. Sometimes too it takes them awhile to calm down after the neuter as you can imagine their hormones are whacked out and that cannot feel good to them.

I agree that you must wait to get him a friend – you may find that you are more frustrated with bad behaviors with 2 rabbits and bonding.

hey Karla, I know this isn’t funny at all, to come home to a mess, but your description of what Karl did reminded me of my Mops when he got his first set of boxes… and it was hilarious to see him get so busy with it.– Your bunny has just been neutered, the marking could still be hormone-driven even now. Or, maybe he had never been on that sofa and being a new place even a neutered bun likes to mark especially a soft surface like a sofa.
My suggestion would be to not let him range freely when you are away from home, especially if you are planning on getting a second rabbit. It will help with the bonding by giving you the option of keeping them close, but separate in their enclosures. Depending on your space, you could set up a pen or a condo for him, if you make it interesting he might just love it in there, day time is lazy time for rabbits anyways.
another thing, I am not at all surprised that Karl threw out the litter box out of the diggy box. Cardboard boxes make buns do just that, dig, shred, chew, throw, it’s very natural behavior for them. Modify his environment so that you can decide where he makes a mess, and let him have his run time when you can supervise.

The new chewing does make me wonder if he isn’t bored or lonely. However I would discourage you to get him a companion if you are experiencing the frustration with the litter box habits as well as the chewing. I would be afraid that getting the companion might stress you out more and if it doesn’t stop the behavior, well, that doesn’t help at all.

Also he is only 9 months old so as he ages then the chewing will hopefully lessen as well.

I hope your frustration will subside as you find a solution. — how big is this cage? again think about a condo, there are some great condo ideas on this site and many members have reported that their rabbits love their condos so much that they hardly come out.

What is a toilet house? Is that some type of litter box?

I agree it’s frustrating but you are going to have to do a process of elimination to see what is going to work. It would be nice too if we could read their minds too or if they can talk, but they can’t so it is a challenge to figure out what the solution might be.

Like Petzy suggested, perhaps look at the housing section to see if there are some condo ideas and also consider an x-pen or puppy pen to house him in.

…let us know if you can figure out what’s going on inside your bunny’s head. we’d all like to know how to do that !

Molting can cause a bun to be rather upset. have you been brushing him daily to help?

Posted By Karla on 06/23/2009 07:37 AM

Just before he was neutered, I took away his cage, and gave him two big cardboard boxes instead, which he has been absolutely crazy about. …now he is more naughty than ever. He has a strong opinion about his boxes – and has begun pulling the litterbox out of the box. And throwing things around that don’t suit him, though he never had a problem in the cage or just a week ago.

 Why is he suddenly being all territorial, when he is neutered and has never been like this before??

 

I think you’ve hit on something here.

Rabbits are, if nothing else, very needing of ROUTINE. If he was comfy in his cage, then that’s where he really feels safe. Even if he’s running about  the house the rest of the time, the cage must need to be somewhere nearby so he can retreat to it when he feels threatened. You can probably just leave it open during his exercise times and supervise him, then he will go back to it when he feels the need.

A destructive bunny is either feeling lonely or bored, or sometimes just scared. My rabbits not only thump when they sense danger, they tend to throw their litterboxes as well to let me know they want me to check out the situation, a.s.a.p.!

Bunnies make mental maps of their surroundings also. When items in their territory are moved or shifted, they have to make a new map. If it happens enough, bunny will not appreciate that things keep changing. If you can keepsurroundings as simple as possible for him and not alter his routine (feeding, cleaning, playtime, etc.), he should calm down.

My bunnies get angry when they shed. Really testy too. I get nipped a lot from all three of mine during molts and they are all altered bunnies for over a year now. I would guess this is probably part of Karl’s agitation. Hopefully he’ll calm down more as the shed resolves itself.

Take heart! This too shall pass!

 

Partly the hormones partly the age.  And molting can make them moody.  It will die down. There is hope.

do you have an xpen.  A big expercise pen about 3 ft high.  If you can get one you can put it around his cage and put another littebox in it as well.   As his hormones die down and stuff he should get better.

though age can be part of this too.  Does he like wood chew toys.  Mine are so picky they only like the 3 wood chews and won’t chew anything else.

there is a toy section up above in the green tabs somewhere maybe get some ideas there too. 

Some bunnies can get a little whacky if they get stressed. (I may have one of those!) And going to the vets, dealing with a bunch of strangers (vets and vet techs), then coming feeling in some pain, along with molting, etc, this all can help contribute to some destructive behaviors. Also, a big stressful change can make a rabbit want to re-establish territory and so in addition, you may have some of those territorial behaviors.

So I agree if you are able to confine him. Xpens are great but if you can’t do that, the cube cages are great way to go. (Check out the Cool Habitats Section)

I have found that with my bunny Jack, who seems to get stressed with change, does better when I try to make things more predictable – feed at the same time, clean at the same time, and offer lots of chew distractions. I don’t know how affectionate your bunny is, but Jack loves to be pet and just be in the presence of us when he is feeling insecure. So I offer him extra love and attention during stressful times.

Regarding rabbit toys in London – I know there is a great UK based site – don’t know what city, but you may be able to order from them.
http://www.thehayexperts.co.uk If they don’t ship to Denmark, when you go to London you may be able to have it shipped to someplace you are staying there?

You’ve gotten great advice so far! Just my two cents… many rabbits do want a cage/enclosure/condo of some sort. They may not spend a lot of time in it, but it’s good for them to have a safe space to retreat to, and it’s good for you to have an option of some place to confine the bunny if necessary. It’s possible that he may be able to be free-range the entire time you are home, but just when you leave, he needs to be confined. Do you have NIC grids available where you are? Remember that your bunny is still young, so neuter or no neuter, there will likely be some behavioral challenges over the next several months as he figures things out.

My bunny Samantha always goes back to her cage to use her litter pan, but when I had Spockie he didn’t like the trek back, so I had an outside-the-cage litter pan in one room, and one in his house. He would use the outer one when he just needed to pause while playing.

I think the cage in combination with an x-pen style set up of NIC cubes, or if you can find one, an x-pen, will give him comfort but space.

Some people will use a traditional store cage as a litterbox area. So rather than having a litterbox inside of the cage, the whole cage is the potty area. Maybe something like that would work for him.

Can I ask what you are cleaning his cage with? I notice if I use something that smells too strong, my bunny will leave droppings around to mark territory. (He’s not the neat freak that I am apparently.)
Denmark, huh? I don’t recall just how far north your country is, but… What are your daylight hours like there? I am in Alaska and we’re up to 21 hours here (losing about 1 minute per day.)
I ask because my bunnies tend to get harder to handle during times of excessive light or dark. Might be adding to the problems, not necessarily the cause.