Bunny waking me up like clockwork!

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 5sd replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 4 months ago by JackRabbit.

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- 12/19/2014 at 9:54 AM
  caseyp1213
  Participant
  7 posts
  My sweet 7 month old mini lop has begun making an insane amount of noise in the mornings in an attempt to wake me up. Around 6 a.m. he begins a combination of pulling slightly at his cage bars, biting the edge of the plastic bottom of the cage, and standing up to let his little nails plink down the wires on the sides (almost looks like he’s trying to play the harp, which is hilarious).
  
  He has toys in his cage (that he has never cared about), a grass mat for chewing, and gets tons of orchard grass hay at bedtime, in addition to some veggies. I think he does this is mostly because he’s hungry and wants some morning attention, but it’s driving me nuts! You’d swear I never feed the little guy. He LUNGES for his pellets once I get up.
  
  He is neutered, so I do think this is particularly aggressive behavior.
  
  He’s allowed out of the cage for about a half hour in the mornings, and several hours in the evenings. The cage is also quite large, with plenty of space to spread out and hop around, so I know he’s not cramped.
  
  I’ve taken to keeping earplugs next to my bed, so when I wake up from the noise, I just pop them in until my alarm goes off. I don’t want to enforce the behavior that making noise and being bad will get him food!
  
  Does anyone have any suggestions? Maybe an anti-chew spray to discourage him? I can’t move him into another room because my apartment is too small for the cage to go anywhere else. Leaving him out of the cage all night is also not an option.
  
  I’m literally losing sleep over this. Please help!
- 12/19/2014 at 10:10 AM
  RabbitPam
  Moderator
  11002 posts
  LOL – I know it’s not funny when it’s happening, but it is so typical of a young bunny. He is trying to train you to get up when HE wants to (at dawn, their natural time to wake up) and feed him. Breakfast. As in greens. Right away. Then play if you want to after that. It’s very simple – fresh food is what’s on his mind.
  
  Your response of doing nothing until you’re ready is actually a good one. Resisting being trained to get up with him will gradually teach him that these techniques of waking you won’t work. Don’t use punishing actions, like spraying bitter stuff, because negative training of him by you won’t work and may do more harm than good. Just keep ignoring him.
  
  Do make sure that he has a lot of hay in his cage at bedtime. You want him to be able to eat something more nutritious while he’s waiting. Also, if he plays in there, let him. He will eventually settle into a routine with you, but it will be yours, not his.
  (My bunny is 6 years old now, and she still rattles her toy cups if she hears me stir on the off chance that this will be the morning I get up earlier and give her pellets ASAP. 6 AM is a favorite time for bunnies.)
- 12/19/2014 at 10:45 AM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  I would recommend if you can to move him out of your bedroom. Is that a possibility?
- 12/19/2014 at 6:11 PM
  Megabunny
  Participant
  2041 posts
  Sorry. I think that’s funny. I’d be a slave and dump the food and go back to bed. But then I’ve heard of buns getting up at 4 am, so I guess you wouldn’t want him to start earlier and earlier. Good luck!
- 12/19/2014 at 7:17 PM
  BellaRabbit
  Participant
  67 posts
  Mine wakes me up at 6AM on the dot every morning demanding food. She does this by zooming around my bed , I didn’t know they could make so much noise ! Atleast it gets me out of bed for exercise before work
- 12/20/2014 at 3:52 PM
  JackRabbit
  Participant
  5451 posts
  My three have learned to play and eat hay until I get up. Some of their toys can get a little noisy but I actually take that as a good noise as I know they’re happy and feeling good. Since Kieko is in my son’s room, she’s a little more difficult — if he turns over in bed, she sometimes takes that as a sign that maybe he’s waking up and will rattle her condo. I tried getting her plastic baby rings thinking they would be more quiet — wrong! She found that she can take them off the NIC grid by shaking them, and then get even louder by throwing them back at the grid!
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