Change in behavior? (licking/chewing/etc)

[beaumont]

Hello, all,

Recently I have slowly been introducing my rabbit to my whole room so he can begin to free roam when I am gone. However, he seems to chew on everything in the room BUT his toys. I got/made him so many different things and yet he prefers to nibble on the carpet or the leg of a table. I try to use bitter apple spray on wherever he nibbles, but I can’t coat the entire carpet with it! What are your suggestions? 

Another thing I noticed recently is his obsession with licking. My little guy used to love being pet, but now, he seems to go crazy over licking me. Every time I start to pet him, he will try to lick my arms and legs instead. Is this okay? It almost seems frenzied, not slow and relaxed–he licks like his life depends on it! He doesn’t really lick much else (even his salt lick!)

He has been getting better about using his litterbox, but still not perfect. Firstly, he doesn’t seem to like pooping there much. Instead, he will just cruise across his surroundings and leave pellets as he walks around. Also, for some reason, whenever I pet him in my lap, he always pees either in my lap or wherever I immediately set him down after. Both bizarre quirks…any advice?

[Bam]

How old is Beaumont? Could he be hitting puberty?

[ThorBunny]

So for the carpet chewing thing, some rabbits will just chew and it is hard to dissuade them from it (especially when unsupervised!). Is your carpet long fibered? As in, can he pull up bits from it? Make sure he is not eating them, as this can cause other health issues. But many buns will chew and not eat carpet fibers. Bitter apple spray works for some rabbits, but others think it is a delicious treat! To stop carpet digging, what I did was to put down ceramic tiles in problem areas, and then gave her her other things to dig in like a seagrass mat and cardboard. As bam said, this behavior can diminish with time especially after neutering.

Table legs, can you put some sort of cover around them? Like plastic tubing or something to block them off?

The licking is bunny kisses! You are so lucky <3, he is just trying to show you how much he loves you, apparently it is a lot

Unfortunately he is also showing you his love with pee, ak! The pee on the lap is him marking you as his own, this should go away when he is neutered. But for now, you can try to pick him up right when you think he is going to pee and set him in the litterbox instead to try to show him that is where to go.

Poos around the edges of territory are normal, rabbits use single poops to mark areas. Most people find this also decreases as rabbits get more comfortable in their space and are fixed. However, I still find 1-2 poops around the kitchen every day. It’s not such a big deal since they are small and dry…

[LittlePuffyTail]

I had a crazy licky bunny! He would frantically give kisses like he was being timed! Was adorable but got a bit much at times. We’d have to push him away when our faces got soaked, lol…. But I miss those kisses. My two boys I have now are not kissers.

[Author]

Messages