Fixed bunny nesting and thumping

FORUM

What are we about? Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules.

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 3sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 1 month ago by Michele823.

Viewing 3 reply threads

Author

Messages
- 03/03/2013 at 11:52 AM
  Michele823
  Participant
  27 posts
  Background information: I have a bonded pair male and female both bunnies are fixed, they were adopted from the shelter 6 months ago.
  
  I have always left them a ton of materials to nest or dig in but they have never made a nest out of any of it.
  
  3 days ago my female bunny got spooked by something and started thumping (she never thumps)
  
  Yesterday my boyfriend sent me a video of her taking hay out of their hay box and building a nest in the covered part of their cage, when my boyfriend went to put more hay into the box for her to take she thumped at him (again she never does this)
  
  Also I noticed she pee’d right next to the litter box instead of in it, my bunnies have been 100% litter trained since we got them they have never had a single accident anywhere in my bedroom. I thought maybe a UTI but she only did it once and has been fine since then.
  
  Other then these behaviors she has been perfectly fine, still playing jumping eating and pooping normally.
  
  My thoughts are is she nesting because it’s getting close to spring time and she’s expecting to have a litter (we don’t know if she’s had one before she was rescued by the shelter) and if she is, I’m concerned she may get upset when she doesn’t have one.
  
  Also I thought being fixed curbed these behaviors?
  
  Honestly I’m not upset with her behavior at all I just wanted to know if anyone has seen their female bunnies act this way before and what I can do to make her feel better.
  
  I also had oral surgery 2 days ago and I was very upset and nervous the days leading up to it and the night she was nesting was the second night I was not home, I’m staying with my mother so she can take care of me and the bunnies are home with my boyfriend.
  
  Is it possible she picked up on me being upset then my disappearance?
- 03/03/2013 at 12:39 PM
  tanlover14
  Participant
  3617 posts
  This is very interesting. I really hope someone comes along and answers your question! I have no experience with anything like this but just the other day when i was at my Humane Society I volunteer at – one of the girls started doing the same thing! Thumping and making a nest in an opposite corner of her cage with newspaper and hay. But she’s also fixed and has been for quite some time.
- 03/03/2013 at 2:37 PM
  jerseygirl
  Moderator
  22356 posts
  I wonder of its has been triggered by stress?
  
  A friends neutered male rabbit displayed nesting behaviour recently.
  
  Is it possible she picked up on me being upset then my disappearance?
  
  Personally, I think it’s possible. I’ve read on the forums here enough times about rabbits reacting to their humans conditions. Some even come and comfort their humans. Little darlings. : )
  
  If possible, ask the HS for her records of where her spay was done. It might be worth finding out the vets usual procedure. Ideally, both uterus and ovaries are removed for rabbit spay. Sometimes just ovaries are removed which prevents pregnancy but not uterine disease. So it’s worth finding out IMO.
- 03/03/2013 at 7:07 PM
  Michele823
  Participant
  27 posts
  I do have her medical records I’ll have to take a closer look at them. My boyfriend said she keeps jumping onto my side of the bed looking for me. He’s starting to think she was storing the hay since I’ve been gone 2 nights going on three and he’s just recently went back to work after being home for a month, he thinks she’s worried we’ll both be gone and won’t be there to feed them. Even though we always make sure they have plenty of food to last them while we are at work, my boyfriends going to put extra in their cage to maybe make her feel better since she was taking the food out of the hay box in the middle of our bedroom and putting it into their cage. We have only had them 6 months so it’s possible they still haven’t realized we’re going to take care of them permanently. I’ll see if her behavior changes once I’m home and make a call to the Vet if she continues acting weird. She’s still eating and pooping normally and she hasn’t had anymore accidents it’s possible she was upset because her cage had just been cleaned even though we do it around the same time every night.
Author

Messages

Viewing 3 reply threads

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.