Strengthen Bond After Owning 8 Months

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 3sd replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 1 month ago by Bubbles 'n Finley.

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- 02/01/2018 at 9:07 PM
  bsow21
  Participant
  1 posts
  Hey bun experts,
  
  I’ve had my boi Otto since Nov ’17 and just had him neutered today. Until this point he’s been peeing in his cage but will always leave droppings all over my apartment and constantly chews the carpet. After researching I started putting them all in his cage but it never fixed the behavior. I also introduced 8 different DIY or store bought toys but he continued to only chew the carpet. Other than that he was bonded with me to an extent. He doesn’t like being pet at all but he would climb on me while I did work on the floor and would sprint around the room binkying all the time. I would also give him treats by hand by saying TREAT and he soon became comfortable enough to eat the treats right next to me rather than running off with them.
  
  The thing was I needed to fix the bad behavior or id have to pay to replace the carpet. I began clearly saying STOP and NO and putting him in his cage when he would chew or poop but it had no effect. All it did was make him distant. Now he never runs around and rarely comes close to me.
  
  I have no idea how to interact with him because he doesnt like pets or playing with the toys I give him. How do I rebuild our bond and also fix the behavior now that he’s been neutered?
  
  Many thanks,
  
  Ben
- 02/02/2018 at 3:37 AM
  sarahthegemini
  Participant
  5584 posts
  You should not punish your rabbit for pooping and chewing. Rabbits poop to mark (instinct) and bunnies naturally chew. Punishing a rabbit for behaving like a rabbit is like punishing a dog for barking or a cat meowing :-/
  
  Lots of rabbits are hard to litter train until they’ve been neutered because their hormones are telling them to mark their territory – when those hormones are no longer present, they tend to pick up the habit of using the litter box pretty quick.
  
  Rabbits chew. It’s what they do. It’s your job to redirect them from chewing the wrong stuff. Put tiles over the carpet so he can’t get to them. Find toys he wants to chew. You can still tell him ‘no’ when you want him to stop doing something followed up by physically redirecting him. But do not keep shoving your rabbit in his cage. He won’t understand and it’s cruel.
  
  By the way, many bunnies go through a post neuter craze which basically means their hormones make them go a bit nutty so his behaviour might get worse temporarily.
- 02/02/2018 at 5:20 AM
  Deleted User
  Participant
  22064 posts
  My advise for you would be to buy some Lino roll ends (from eBay or Amazon – its pretty cheap), or Play Mats and buy a cheap puppy pen. Get one for the space you have. Use this for the next few months until your bunnies hormones have drained. Once they have drained you should be fine to let him roam free around your apartment and see none of this behaviour. Although bunny proofing is advised still (wire protectors).
  
  All new bunnies should be pen exercised until they adjust and been neutered.
- 02/03/2018 at 12:27 AM
  Bubbles 'n Finley
  Participant
  6 posts
  Honestly I have a pair and they are constantly pulling up the carpet, its just part of a natural instinct and some rabbits just enjoy it. As for pooping, its really hard to control that, rabbits poop about 300 times a day so leaving them out there is bound to be some poop.
  
  Some basic potty training tips are, find where they poop and pee, then put a litter box there, once they are using that for a while, slowly move the box to a more favorable location.
  
  Alternatively you can get a collapsible fence and have that up when they aren’t in the cage, it limits their area but still can give them room to exercise, it also allows you to put towels down to prevent them from getting to the carpet. You could try putting down carpet samples (like 2’x2′ and see if they go at those and leave the real carpet alone.
  
  Honestly, I’ve just given up on my security deposit and will replace the carpet when I move.
  
  an example of a pen: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00377WL46/
  Some brands you can chain together so you can get multiple and combine them. 24″ tall should suffice for most rabbits.
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