bunny driving me nuts

[Adalaide]

I know I kinda disappeared, life does that sometimes. Anyway… Freya is a full fledged hormonal nightmare and I can’t wait for her to be spayed so she’s fun again. She has a nice condo now with three levels and she’s really good about using her litterbox and was right from her first day in her condo. Her favorite toy is always a phone book so we make sure to pick a new one up when hers is mostly torn apart.

She started chewing everything she can get near, so we had to pretty much keep her in her condo and she adjusted really well and didn’t seem to mind even though it was a change from being out and free to roam most of the time. It’s been something like two months and she just suddenly started flipping her water and food dishes over. I was afraid she would do that from the start so when I bought them I got the tip proof ones that she shouldn’t be able to do this too. I got her a little ceramic dish and put it up on the top floor of her condo, which is carpeted and she doesn’t play with that one. It’s started to be very frustrating to listen to the dinging of her metal bowl on her wooden floor ALL night long. It makes quite a racket. Other than making sure she has a second dish of water she isn’t tipping out is there anything I can do? I’m assuming that this is just more psycho hormone induced brat but just in case I can do something, I thought I’d ask.

[KatnipCrzy]

It could be frustration from hormones and from being in the condo more often than she used to.  I was so relieved when Cotton was finally old enough to be spayed!  I had to watch her like a hawk during her free time to make sure she did not pee anywhere- and keeping THAT close an eye on the bunnies is demanding and takes some of the fun out of watching them run around.

Try varying toys as much as you can to keep her interested- paper balls with a couple treats balled up in it, cardboard boxes, etc.

[RachelB]

You could try using water and food bowls that attach to the cage (so that they cannot be tipped). Ive never had issues with my two tipping their water dishes but I use the “bistro style” water dish. In theory you could use on of those and then attach it. Theyre pretty heavy when they are full with water though so depending on how persistant your bunny is she might leave it alone…

Another idea would be the clip on water and food dishes that are usually marketed for birds.

[bunnytowne]

 Wow  I was so fortunate with Ruby  she acted pretty much her usual mellow self b4 her spay.  

However Ruby too is dumping her water dish.  I finally replaced it with a bowl with lower sides so she can drink easier.  Maybe that  was why she was tipping it over. 

I have one of those dishes that you screw onto the cage so she can’t dump it.  Sounds like a good bet to stop the problem if yours and Ruby continue dumping. 

 I keep having to change the paper too.     All that noise at nite  can be very disruptive.  Perhaps with bowls screwed to the side of the cage it will cut down on the noise?  Worth a shot for your beauty rest. eh? 

[Adalaide]

I’ll definately look for the bowls that fasten to her cage. I was tempted to get the bistro ones, my husband got a water one for his cat, but I’m confidant that she will both tip it over and chew holes in it. She chews EVERYTHING she can get near. The only reason I never got her a water bottle is because I thought she’d chew a hole in it. She still bites the door of her condo and shakes it. We used to use the office clips to keep it closed but she broke out at about 6 am once and we had to chase her all over, we use padlocks now. Thanks guys, I’m just hoping that she knocks off the acting out after she gets spayed, this is getting crazy.

[Monkeybun]

I found a glass water bottle at I think PetSmart for Monkey, I doubt your bun would be able to chew through that! It has a cute little duck in it to show the water level too

[Adalaide]

That sounds great, I’ll check that out. I’m not worried about her food being dumped, if she wants to eat off her floor that’s her problem. I just worry about her getting dehydrated. I’ll definately be heading to PetSmart for that the next time I’m out running errands. I guess I’ll have to decide between it and the ones that fasten to her condo, but if those are plastic they’re pretty much out of the question or I just have to call them disposable, lol.

[Monkeybun]

Yeah it was either PetSmart or PetCo, one of the 2. I’m nto sure which as I go to both frequently. It never fails, one store never carried one item i want, and carries another item i want, and the other store has the reverse. so I gotta go to both

[MimzMum]

Willow toys are great for chewing bunnies and they’re nice and quiet. Freya is probably chewing because she’s bored.
Good fiber for them too.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I use the dishes RachelB posted but I only have the food one becasue I’m dumb and thought it was a water one.

The water ones work great!!!

Everyone at my house thinks it’s HILARIOUS to flip the food ones-and I end up with a lot of waste -so I wouldn’t use those

If your worried about dehyrdation, the crocks that secure (also like Rachel posted)OR water bottles are great

[Scooter]

Well, I’ll be investing in one of those shortly. I think Bunners would actually have water in his dish for more than five minutes before he spilled it!

[Adalaide]

I got so happy we went all weekend without a tipped dish. I really thought that maybe it was just a thing she was going through for a few days. Then the minute I turned my back this morning after she had food in her dish she started digging in it til the food was everywhere, then tipped the dish over to play with it. She only has like a billion toys. Guess I still need to make that trip to buy new dishes lol.

[MimzMum]

I just introduced Pip to drinking from a water crock yesterday and she sat at it for about 10 minutes just lapping it up. I thought, ‘Wow, she really prefers this over the bottle. We should do this every day!’
But apparently there was enough left in it at cleaning time last night that she jumped up on her shelf all excited for her bedtime treat and WHAM! There goes the dish, sideways in it’s anchor on the shelf and all the water drips/runs down onto her hay pile below! >_< (I was late getting them cleaned after doing computer work till 1 AM so I'm trying to do this without waking everyone!)
*Sigh* I think I’ll stick with the bottles. No muss, no fuss.

*borrows some pokey sticks from Monkeybun* Just a thought, but, have you taken any piccies of the lovely Freya lately? We’d all love to see how she’s grown! *poke-poke*

[Monkeybun]

What would you guys do without my sticks? YES post freya pics! *poke poke*

[Desma]

I pan trained Hunny Bunny by putting a handful of timmothy hay in one corner of her large litter pan and it worked. Also, I had a bit of frustration of her tipping over her dish and food and I had a dish attached to the wire cage but she can figure out to undo it, or, raise it up and down and bang that! I put her ceramic dish in the litter box in the corner by the timmothy hay as a last resort and it works good. Since I used Good mews litter pellets, I just bury the dish enough to keep her from tipping it and it works. She goes in and out of her cage during the day to potty and eat but at the end of the day around 5pm, she goes back in and stays in for the rest of the night so I do latch the door at night. If I am not out by 7 am, she used to bang and bang her dish. Doing it this way, partically burying her food dish in the good mews pellets in the corner of her large litter pan works great and I had wished I had done that a long time ago as it eliminated a lot of cleaning up after her in her cage.

[Deleted User]

I have only a small attachable bowl in my trio’s condo for that very reason. I bought a huge bottle so that there’s always water available.
does Freya know how to drink from a bottle?

[Adalaide]

She hasn’t had water from a bottle since I brought her home. She’s never had too much of a problem keeping her water clean. (Except that week where every time I gave her clean water she’d go get a piece of poo to put in it.) She’s going to have to learn though if she keeps up this attitude problem. BTW, since I borrowed a camera this is a pic of the bowls that were not supposed to be able to be tipped.

[MimzMum]

You don’t find that Freya gets her chin too wet drinking from the bowl?

[Adalaide]

Nope, not at all. She usually has a drop of water on her chin when she’s done but she licks it off.

[DeVaStAt0r]

The only Problem i have with gizmo is he decides to wash his face with it, splashing his paws in it and rubbing his ears, then he won’t drink it until it’s been changed so if he does it when we’re at work he’s SOL until we get back.

[Adalaide]

We rearranged Freya’s condo and I really thought that solved the bowl tipping problem. For about a week she didn’t tip anything, but she also hated me for a week. Brat wouldn’t come out of the back corner. After she got over her temper tantrum she immediately started tipping again so we went and bought bowls. We talked about getting the bistro ones but in the end decided not to since she’d be able to eat the plastic container and would easily tip the whole thing over and that would be even worse. We found bird dishes that are a super hard plastic that I don’t think she’ll be able to chew and they can’t be tipped sideways no matter how hard she tries. And they just twist out for me to clean without having to unfasten the whole thing! They’re great and we couldn’t be happier. (Except Freya, she’s not happy about not tipping anymore but this time her cuteness isn’t gonna work.) Thanks for the idea. It also holds a lot more water so I worry about her less.

[RabbitPam]

I got these dishes at Pet Supermarket and PetSmart.

They are all heavy crocks, and she has pushed the food ones aside a bit, but never lifted or tossed them.

I like them for that reason.

She’s not interested in what I’m doing. Sitting under her basket as usual.

[Jenna, Chubs & Comet]

My bunnies only drink from bowls, as I find it’s much easier to keep them clean. Tipping was a problem for a while but Kc had this idea, we used a small tupperware bowl, poked two tiny holes in the top on the back, and used those twist ties to attach it to the cage. Easy to remove for filling/cleaning and it’s solved the tipping problem!

[Adalaide]

I almost bought these adorable little heavy crocks for her. They’re pink and say princess on them. But then I watched her tip her bowls, she’ll stand on the side of the dish with her front feet and grab the other side with her mouth. Heavy glass salad bowls are her very favorite toy. I’m just going to let her have her old dishes as toys, but on the carpet where they don’t make noise. She LOVED banging her upside-down metal bowls on her wooden floor all night long and it was really loud.

[luvmybunny]

Valen used to tip dishes too, I got him a heavy crock and he has stopped doing that shortly after. Rabbit Pam, I have those same carrot and lettuce dishes too, they are cute and heavy! Freya must be a thrower. Using her old dishes as toys might help so she is content. Good luck!

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