Advice on Hateful Bunny

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 8sd replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 10 months ago by LeahM.

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- 05/02/2013 at 10:47 PM
  eggobunny
  Participant
  4 posts
  So I have a year and half year old neutered Lionhead rabbit named Eggo. Eggo has always had a very STRONG personality, but lately I’ve been having severe issues with him, two in particular.
  
  The first is litter training. Eggo was litter trained, not necessarily to the extent of others, he will still poop around the house and in his run, but he solely used to pee in his litter box. Recently he has started peeing in every corner of his cage. I took out his litter box for a while thinking he needed to pick a new corner to go in, and no he still goes in every corner. How do I fix this?
  
  The second is about two months ago Eggo got sick with snuffles for he was on two different antibiotics, each for 10 days. He is better now but ever since the whole antibiotic incident he has been very hateful. Eggo usually tolerated you picking him up for a few minutes and then he used to lightly pull on the shoulder of your shirt saying he wanted to be put down, and he used to handle petting VERY well when he was on the ground. Since the antibiotics, he doesn’t even want me to touch him. When you hold him he won’t tolerate it at all and now burrows and bites a LOT, and he runs away when he is just sitting on the ground. He stomps his feet telling me to go away, but I know he isn’t scared bc if I sit in his run with him and don’t touch him he ignores me. I think its because he now associates me with giving him his medicine, but how do I fix this?
- 05/03/2013 at 1:58 AM
  NewBunnyOwner123
  Participant
  1930 posts
  My you have a very stubborn bun on your hands! He is holding a grudge on you lol
  I guess since he is associating you for bad things turn those into good things. Do you feed him veggies? If so, do them by hand every time. It’s bonding time and he will start recognizing you as the person who brings and feeds the yummy veggies.
  As for him peeing in every corner, I would just put a litterbox in every corner. Eventually he may start just using two or three litter boxes the most and eventually you can remove the one he ignores the most. And then eventually he may start just using 2 of the 3 boxes then you would remove the one he ignores and you are left with two boxes. And hopefully, he will start just using one box and you can finally remove the last box. He may always want a box in every corner, or just need 1 or 2. But until we know, start back with the basics of having lots of different places.
- 05/03/2013 at 10:13 AM
  eggobunny
  Participant
  4 posts
  Yes I do feed him veggies and yogurt treats, he tries to just rip them from my hand but I make him let me hold onto them while he eats them. I know he’s always had a strong personality and likes to think he is dominant a lot of times, could that be part of it, or do you think he’s really just mad about the antibiotics?
  
  Thanks for the litter box idea, I didn’t even think of that
- 05/03/2013 at 10:33 AM
  NewBunnyOwner123
  Participant
  1930 posts
  Well that could just be how he is. But I’d still feed him by hand for awhile just for bonding purposes. Maybe he’ll soften up a tad after awhile.
- 05/03/2013 at 10:36 AM
  NewBunnyOwner123
  Participant
  1930 posts
  Also, those yogurt treats aren’t good for bunny. It’s sugary and not good for a buns digestive system. a lot of members here recommend craisons here. The buns go nuts for them. And I give Sally an Oxbow digestive health tablet as her cookie every morning. She LOVES them and its really healthy
- 05/03/2013 at 10:39 AM
  Deleted User
  Participant
  22064 posts
  I just wanted to chime in a bit. Give Eggo some time. He may still be holding a grudge from the whole incident. After I got my girl spayed she had a chip on her shoulder much like Eggo does now. And it took her a good three/four months before forgiving us for what we did to her. I would just try to give Eggo some loving and time to feel like he’s right.
  
  I did want to just point out that yogurt treats are not good for buns. They are made out of dairy which buns’ digestive systems have a really hard time breaking down. Also, there is a lot of sugar in the treats that can make your bun sick. I would switch him to dried fruit. I know some members on here feed their buns craisans and they love them. =]
- 05/03/2013 at 12:15 PM
  Stickerbunny
  Participant
  4128 posts
  Give him time and leave him be. Don’t pick him up unless you need to. When Stickers had to take medicine, it took weeks for her to forgive me for that and would run and hide every time I came around cause she didn’t want that yucky stuff anymore.
- 05/07/2013 at 7:10 AM
  LittlePuffyTail
  Moderator
  18092 posts
  Give him a little more time. If he doesn’t change the behaviour soon, I would have a vet check him out. Change in behavior and/or aggressiveness is sometimes sign of pain or illness.
- 05/13/2013 at 11:14 AM
  LeahM
  Participant
  166 posts
  This may or may not be part of the problem…. so take it as you wish. There is something called the gut-brain axis which is basically the realtionship between our digestive systems and our brains. This has MANY ramifications. One is that neurotransmitters are produced in out guts and they affect our personality. When your gut flora changes, this can affect your personality. They actually just did a study on rats that showed the group of rats that were fed probiotics did not panic when put in a stressful situation and were better problem solvers.
  
  Sooo…. your bunny just had antibiotics, which definately affected his gut bacteria. I’m sure that the pain/anxiety part is also contributing. His tummy could be hurting, for one thing, because his digestions is off, AND the fact that the bacteria have changed could be directly affecting his personality…
  
  Personally, I would be feeding this bunny some bunny-appropriate probiotics. I give them to Frank Jr and he loves them. I just open a capsule and sprinkle them over his pellets.
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