Posted By vanessa on 11/01/2015 8:41 AM

Sounds silly – but what about a stuffed rabbit? While my female Guinevere was mourning the loss of her husbun, I got her a stuffed bunny. She groomed it, snuggled it, and looked happy again. I was able to adopt a male for her, and I took her stuffed bunny away so she would bond with the male. We wish the best for our bunnies, but we aren’t always in a position to do those things. And living with your parents – you can’t always convince them to do this or that. That is a lot of animals… I have a lot myself, so I know how trying it can be. I have 2 dogs, a cat, a fish tank, 4 rabbits, and 19 birds. I’d honestly be more concerned about the bunny living outdoors – than having no companion. But I wouldn’t give him up either. He is definitely better off with you, than in a shelter.

Thank you. I will look into getting him one – is there any materials they can’t have ?

I’m thinking of moving his hutch into my room so he can have me for company and more space as well. (His hutch just about meets the minimums, but those ‘minimums’ don’t take into account rabbits Pickles’ size unfortunately &nbsp He’s getting more humanized now as well so I could actually help lessen his loneliness if I put a lot of work into bonding with him a bit better. 

Posted By LittlePuffyTail on 11/01/2015 7:30 AM

Wow! That is a lot of animals.

Unfortunately, living with your parents, it’s their rules. But I think your bunny has it pretty good. If he gets a minimum of 5 hours out of his cage and lots of human company and snuggles, I’m sure he’s fine and does, indeed, have it better than many bunnies.

You could always save up some money and offer to pay for the new bunny as well as any costs he or she will incur. Worth a shot.

That’s a good idea. Would have to save up though – already pay for hamster and chins and chinchillas cost loads (only pay for about 25% of Pickles’ toys atm, mum does rest, begrudgingly) – but I was thinking of setting up a petsitting/dog walking service just for fun anyway.  

Would it stop him being destructive as well? He is litter trained but has stopped using his tray in the last few days. I’ve cleaned it out twice but now he’s barely using it.  If anyone finds out he’ll be confined to his hutch permanently.  

Posted By vanessa on 11/02/2015 7:20 PM

Good on you. I’m glad you are open to ideas! You brought up many good points.
1. The materials a bunny can’t have, depend on how chewy he is. I gave 2 of my bunnies stuffed rabbits, and neither of them chewed them. They only groomed and snuggled them. I’ve read all sorts of crazy warning against stuffed toys. But my bunnies recognized the appearance of the stuffed rabbit, and only wanted to groom it. So I would get a stuffed rabbit, not a stuffed teddy.
2. Moving his hutch into your room would be an ideal solution. I’d wait on that until you can figure out his litter training, just to make sure he isn’t banished forever!
3. Bonding with him would definitely lessen his loneliness. My female Guin was somewhat friendly with me, but mostly grumpy. Once she lost her husbun, I spent a lot more time with her, and she is now super snugly, binkies when I come into the room, nudges me for attention etc. Food and time… bunnies are foodies.
4. Petsitting/dog walking would be a fabulous way to show your parents you are responsible, and possibly get another bunny.
5. Destructive behavior… bunnies are naturally chewers and diggers. What does he do exactly? My snuggliest two don’t tear up the room they are in. My other 2 – are extremely destructive for house bunnies. I’m talking about chewing the carpet, digging it down to the wood. You’ll have to provide suitable chew toys. My bunnies favorite chew toys are (free) maple branches from trees in my yard. I give them a cats litter box filled with play sand, to dig in. I use the covered kind, so they don’t fling sand everywhere.
6. Litter training is definitely important for indoor bunnies. Did he stop using his litterbox outside or inside? Anything change around there? Anything different? Bunnies don’t stop using their litter box for no reason. It could be as simple as a new water bowl or furniture arrangement that he dissaproves of.

Please keep writing back so we can help you 🙂

1. he doesn’t chew a lot – I made my wire into a chew toy for him by putting wooden tubes and cardboard tunnels over it and now it’s his ‘flingy edible kebab’ toy xD Also my Dad said the stuffed bunny idea sounds great and has received it much more positively  Just need to buy one now

2. Litter training his going okay……I do put a thick towel under the tray now – I think that might have just been a little ‘blip’. 

3. He’s getting better now – will burrow into my legs when on the sofa and things (sometimes he does get a bit too hot snuggled between a human and a dog though!) 

4. Really excited to start tbh…

5. Destructive as in flinging the litter tray across the room when he’s bored. Sometimes he even does it when provided (for example this is what he had one day when he did it) 2 bridges, a house, about 8 wooden chew blocks/sticks, a torn-up egg box and some cardboard tunnels. Hopefully it’s just him getting used to the tray though – it probably smelled of the pet disinfectant i used to clean it (it had been used as a kitten toilet). He’s not done it for about 2 days now though. 

And yeah, I will do – this forum’s great

Posted By vanessa on 11/03/2015 10:00 PM

Is he neutered? That might help with the litter training. How old is he? My male Avalon threw his litter box around the room. SO I wedged it in so he couldn’t move it. His pal Morgana, also use to toss litter boxes around. I would drill holes in the box and attach it to the cage.If the box is in yoru rom, you’ll have to come up with another way of keeping it still. Sometimes it is the “new litter box” that gets tossed around. Other times – it just becomes another toy. Despite the other toys. Medical reasons can cause problems with litter training. If it is behavioral – it is typically because of something new or frustrating to the bunny. Or maybe boredom. It sounds like your bunny just like Avalon. Tossing it around as another toy. Bunnies are super strong. I use a 9 gallon mixing tub for their litter box. It’s not light. Is there something in your room you can zip tie the litter box to? Perhaps drill a hole in it and tie it to a table leg? Not sure what you have in your room. Maybe a bed leg? But bunnies like to use the bathroom in corners. So perhaps you could try boxing it into a corner with some bricks so he can’t toss it around? The bricks will be something “new”. I would cover them with a towel that he is familiar with.
Flingy edible kebab toys are great. My buns like the ones with jingly bells. So they can make a racket and feel even more destructive. It’s as if the sound of the bell on the kebab toy signals “good job bunny – your really destroyed something!”
I got my stuffed bunny on Amazon. Cost $13. Not sure which country you are in.
How big is he (how much does he weigh) and how big is his litter box? One of my bunny pairs are super good about using their box, and will go in the smallest of boxes. My first pair, would go in a litter “area”. So that’s why I started using the large 9 gallon tubs as litter boxes. Some bunnies prefer smaller or larger boxes.

He’s about 4-5 years old, neutered, and last time I weighed him was 3.6 kilograms (8 lbs) ish. I will see if I can get hold of some cable ties or something to tie the tray to the radiator or something….will need to experiment a bit probably. And medically, he is fine, unless obesity counts as an ailment (he IS losing weight though, veeeery slowly to keep him healthy and happy at the same time.)

I LOVE your bunnies’ names by the way