Bunny still behaving badly!!

[Jenny_Bunny]

Afternoon All,

Some of you may recall my ‘Lilo the destructor’ topic of a few months ago, at the time we had just had him neutured and thought maybe it would take a few weeks to calm him down, how wrong we where, to be honest he seems to have got worse. We got rid of his hutch as he got too big for it and I thought it was much more humane to let him sleep in the kitchen, we bought him a little bed, which he completely ignores and sleeps on the floor ha ha.

In the past few weeks he has taken to ripping up the lino in the kitchen during the night and as a consequence we now have 2 great big holes in it!! He also still rips the wallpaper off, chews the skirting boards, fire surround and pretty much anything he can get to. We’ve blocked off as much as we can and sprayed the rest with perfume to try and deter him and it seems to work for a while but is by no means a long term fix. We block off as much as we can and he has an area behing one of our sofas with old magazines, catalogues etc and a strip of old carpet that he can chew the hell out of, he has more toys then a toy shop however he’d rather chew the things he’s not allowed to. I’m really at the end of my tether and just don’t know what to do. Oh, we also tried spraying him with water when he chews things but that doesn’t work either and just seems to make him scared which upsets me!!

HELP!!!!

xxx

[Sarita]

This is normal rabbit behavior.

Here is an excellent article from Marinell Harriman one of the founders of the House Rabbit Society that might help explain this:

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-3/age-related-behavior.html

[Beka27]

^^^that was the exact article i was thinking about… altho, is he older than one year? i don’t remember if it was you, or someone else who had an adult, unneutered bunny that was having similar behaviors. some rabbits are just more destructive. that is my Meadow bunny. seh is going to chew and dig our couches until they are a pile of fabric, wood, springs and foam. that’s just her. it sounds like he need to be confined when he cannot be supervised. have you thought of an xpen or a NIC pen/condo? you can make it as large as possible, so that you know he has space, but cannot harm anything. you were right to ditch the too-small hutch, but some bunnies cannot be free-roam.

[Sarita]

My rabbit Giselle was destructive up until recently – okay, that’s not fair, she was an extremely busy rabbit who loved to destroy stuff :~)

I have had her for about 5 1/2 years and she came to me full grown but not spayed so I have no idea how old she really is.

I have had to keep her confined due to her busy nature. But this year she has really slowed down.

[Jenny_Bunny]

Yes i’ve thought the x-pen etc and might have to put in into place, I think i’m too soft really as I love to see him bounding freely and happily around the house but obviously he’s now only going to be able to do this when i’m watching him. Our intention a couple of months ago was for him to have his own room (our spare room) however as I am now 8 weeks pregnant we will need this room for the baby. What age are bunnies teenagers? Lilo is now 16 months old x

[Beka27]

teenager stage can be anywhere from 3-4 months, usually up to a year. it is very likely that he will continue to mellow, but like Sarita said, it takes time. my Meadow is (counts) approx. 16-17 months also, it would be nice if by next summer she was less destructive… like with Lilo, squirt bottles don’t always work with her. i’ve had to start tossing throw pillows at her (VERY gently, and i don’t actually hit her with them!) to direct her attention away from the couch.

congrats on the pregnancy. have you given any thought to clicker training Lilo? check into it… http://www.clickertraining.com/training/critters/clicker_train_rabbits/?loaditem=rabbit_videos

if you could get some cue words set up that might make things easier further in the pregnancy and after baby comes home. Lilo sounds like a smart guy, he might be bored. clicker training gives them something to use their minds for and they get rewarded. you can also distract from the bad behavior. now would be the time to do this…

[Jenny_Bunny]

I will definately look into that clicker training it looks very interesting. He is a very intelligent bunny and so so cute and I just love him to death, sometimes he can be so loving, he certainly knows how to ask for cuddles and always gets them!!

I really would love for him to keep having full run of the house but if it’s not possible then it’s not possible, i’ll keep you posted and let you know how I get on.

Thank you all for your advice x

[RabbitPam]

It’s wonderful that you’re having a baby.
I agree that setting up more confinement for him now is a good idea. You may find you won’t want him to have free range once the baby is here for a variety of reasons. If you start now he will be used to it before the next major change happens in the household.

And an energetic adult bunny doesn’t seem to slow down or lose their interests for quite a while. Spockie was at least 6 or 7 years old before I noticed any significant mellowing. However, he did seem to finally realize that some things just weren’t tasty snacks and even if he made a passing stab at chewing he’d lose interest and go to something more satisfying. Like my pant leg. LOL.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Also is he bored? Does he have enough to do? I’d give him lots of stuff to chew, and something like the maze haven, and/or some tunnels and cat condos -if he’s busy doing good stuff he might also stop destroying stuff around the house

[bunnytowne]

mygoodness what a handful.

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