Beginner Questions , wanna answer ?

[Ralph]

Hi ,

My rabbit, when I put him on the desk he frantically scatches the surface and tries to move things around.
I tried putting him in the washer (Don’t worry no animal brutality) just to see if he would like it , there was unwashed laundry in it and he franctically tried to displace the laudry. I want to understand this behavior.
He is still unneutered.

Also Do rabbits recognize there owners? Or Do they just recognize the entity that gives food ? ^^

Happy Halloween

Regards,

Ralph

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[angoralvr]

Chances are your rabbit is trying to dig. Henri does that whenever I groom him. I bet if you made him a diggy box, he would love it! All you need is some paper and a plastic box. There is a thread about it in the toys section.

As far as recognizing their owners. . . I think they do. Henri comes to me more then he does Matt and I think it is because I am around more so he knows me better. Of course I guess you could argue that I am the one that feeds him so he recognizes me as his caregiver.

[Sarita]

Hi Ralph – what a cute rabbit.

I agree with Angoragirl – he just doing what comes natural and digging. Alot of rabbits love this activity – the diggy box would be a great idea to try for him.

How old is he? I bet he is going to be ready to be neutered soon. Neutering will not alleviate this behavior though – some rabbits just need to keep busy and active and age is a factor as well. Young rabbits are just more active overall.

[princess]

well, i guess they really love to play especially now that his still young and they want to observe the place and discover things on there own. it can help them a lot if you join him whenever he loves to play because it adds more points to the bun that he can feels your love to him…
and yes! they can recognize you…
its nice to play with them because they are sooooo lovely…

[Gravehearted]

Most rabbits are not too fond of heights or surfaces that they can’t get stable footing on. I would think it’s pretty likely that your desk and washer would both be pretty slippery for him and the height made him nervous as well. My guess is he was either he was playing with your things, but more likely he was irritated at being put there and tossing your things to show his displeasure. All bunnies have different personalities, so it’s hard to guess exactly what his motive was.

without a doubt rabbits recognize their people – but it is likely by scent.

[skunklionshow]

My Jess, prefers my husband to me.  She always comes right up to him.  She won’t even take a raisin from me, but him she does binkies for!

[Scarlet_Rose]

Rabbits will often "scrapple" when in terror or fright.  It’s the fight or flight instinct and since rabbits are at the bottom of the food chain, flight is most often their means of defense.  It sounds to me like your rabbit was trying to get out.  Rabbits can and do die from being terrorized.  Quite literally they can be frightened to death.  If you are interested in their behavior I would suggest checking out the following web sites:

http://www.hrs.com

http://www.muridae.com/rabbits/rabbittalk.html

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/

 

[BinkyBunny]

I have to tell ya. That line "I tried putting my bunny in the washer"  put a quite a few people here on alert. When I came to check it out,  I too had to do a double take. I’m guessing it was just to see if he would like to dig through all the "dry unwashed" clothes.  But I think, in general, it would be a good idea to just keep bunnies out of appliances.    

I think a better bet would be to use a diggy box. Check down in the forum under toytest for a diggy box idea. I bet your bunny may like that.   

I also ditto that when he’s neutered his behavior should calm down a bit, but being that he is young, his energy level may keep him digging a bit if that’s what he likes.  Bunnies dig for many reasons.  Some of which include:

1. Anxiety.  If a bunny is upset, scared or filled with anxiety.  They will dig as a way to dig their way out of the situation. Rucy digs at her towel when she’s at the vet.

2. To make a scrape – a scrape is basically a sunken little indent in the ground. In the wild, bunnies dig these little indents to be able to rest above ground but still stay out of site.

3. To get at something tasty  4. To make a path more easily accessible, get stuff out of the way. 

5. To dig a home.  

The list goes on.   But those are some of the basics.

If your bunny really seems to only dig when he’s up on things, then it could be anxiety based.  Rabbits don’t like being up high, unless they chose to get up their themselves.  Most rabbit prefer all four on the floor and the best way to establish a calm loving bond is by doing it on their level. Grab a pillow and hang out on the ground with him. 

Regarding if bunnies recognize us, or just recognize those  that offer food: Though of course bunnies are fond of food and those who come bearing gifts are usually not refused, they do also recognize their familiar human. They usually recognize by scent though, and their body language is one that is usually passive when it comes to saying hello. A poke, a nuzzle, a chin rub are some forms of greeting, others are as subtle as just walking somewhat nearby.  But if they ran up to each other like dogs do, that could be considered an aggressive approach in their world, so they won’t do it that way. Which means they won’t do that to us, and most likely they would be a bit standoffish if we approached them that way too.

My rabbits, though friendly with people, are much more timid with people they don’t recognize. With me, they will approach closer and faster to me, and they won’t run away when I enter the room – Well, Bailey sometimes does if she hasn’t had her bum cleaned yet. (she knows it’s comin’)

[Ralph]

Hi Sarita , thanks for the compliment ,

I have become really attached to him over the months….

Haven’t neutered him yet, and it seems like because of this , he get sit on anyones lap for more than 3seconds, and tries to explore the rest of the living room.
Do rabbits eat chocolate ?

[Ralph]

Got you binkybunny, thanks for the feed back ,…

Don’t worry , I might be the sanest person in a country that is generally animal-incompetent to say the least. Present company excluded if any …

I will try to keep my bunny out of the microwave next time , bu ha ha ha ha ….

I appreciate all the tips I get here …

Does anyone know why the rabbitonly forum’s forum is broken down??? Nah who cares right , I like it here
Can we share links on video on youtube? To see each others rabbit too ? ? ?

 

G O O D  N I T E

[MooBunnay]

One of my girl bunnies has turned into a digger overnight. One morning I came out of my room to find the ENTIRE contents of the litterbox on the floor, yet the litterbox was still standing. She’s done that for three nights now and I couldn’t figure out how. I even put a door on the litterbox and it still happens. Well, last night I solved the mystery…the sneaky little girl gets HALFWAY in the litterbox, but keeps he back feet standing on the edge of the litterbox, then starts scooping with her paws and *fling* – shoots the litter/hay/poops between her legs out onto the floor. EEK! I think she’s trying to make a burrow.

My bunnies also dig on the couch, mostly I think because they don’t like being up there so they are trying to dig to get away.

About the washing machine…I have heard a couple horror stories about cats getting into dryers to sleep in the clothes and people shutting the door and the cat gets stuck inside, so I’d keep your bunny away from the washer and dryer lest he get used to hopping in there!

[wendyzski]

When my Pepper-bun turned into a digger overnight, it turned out that she was acting out because I was traveling so much.  I started sleeping on the couch a couple of nights a week so that I was "around" more for sniffing, and she stopped just as suddenly.

Any recent changes in her routine that might have set her off?

[Scarlet_Rose]

Honsbeek,  rabbits should not have chocolate aside from the sugar and caffeine it may be toxic. Here are some articles that can explain more:

http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/nochocolate.html

http://vetmedicine.about.com/cs/nutritiondogs/a/chocolatetoxici.htm

http://www.quakerparrots.com/diet/chocolate-toxic-to-parrots/

 

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