Constant destructive behavior

[katiecaza]

Hi, I have 2 bonded holland lops (male and female both fixed) who are both a little over a year old. the male is adopted and is naturally pretty shy so i haven’t had any issues with him, but my female destroys something new almost every day. I share my room with them so they are able to be free roamed 24/7 but it feels impossible lately due to the way she’s been acting. They always have unlimited access to toys, water, hay, and space to roam but whenever i go to sleep or leave the room she starts pulling out carpet, chewing the curtains, corners of furniture, cords (previously, they all have cord protectors now) I could go on. she’s even jumped onto  furniture to get to my clothes that were put up away from her and chewed holes in them. There are holes in my carpet bigger than my hand. There are holes in my bedding. she’s chewed through multiple sets of pillow cases that i have to re purchase every time. I do have x pens around my bed so they can’t go under it luckily, but she has managed to chew THROUGH the x pen grids to chew on my bed frame. One time she jumped on my bed and started pulling the thread out of my mattress during the 5 minutes I was out of the room to put my sheets in the washer. I’m at a loss at this point because she’s so young and I love both of them more than life but it’s exhausting and extremely stressful to come home from running an errand to find something new ruined. Today I got home to see my mirror, which was against the wall and decently heavy, on the ground shattered. She also started chewing the back side of the mirror after it fell. I’ve tried using tiles on the carpet where she chews but she just goes to another spot and pulls a new patch out. I really don’t want to have to resort to keeping them in an x pen (I’ve done it in the past and she’s just as destructive and angry) but I feel like i’m being pushed into a corner. Since it would be impossible to bunny proof everything she’s gotten a hold of at this point im just looking for advice. I don’t know what could be causing this other than boredom, but i also don’t know how to resolve this since i’ve given her dig boxes and almost everything the internet has suggested and it feels like nothing has worked. I would never abandon a pet but I’m getting worried about my own mental health and whether or not i’ll be able to keep up with her for 7-12 years if this continues. Please if anyone had any advice it would be greatly appreciated, thank you!!!

[Wick & Fable]

24/7 free-roam, while great, is not always plausible nor safe for all rabbits and set-ups. If you are unable to safely rabbit-proof your entire space, then I recommend creating a spacious x-pen enclosure for them to be in while you are sleeping/cannot supervise instead.

A destructive rabbit is simply an active rabbit (barring any distress-related concerns) who has a lot of energy you need to redirect. If bar-pulling/chewing is an issue, please look here for some guidance: https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Training_FAQ#My_rabbit_keeps_me_up_by_consistently_chewing_his_cage_bars._How_do_I_make_him_stop.3F

There are many “toys” out there for rabbits, but just like with children, not all are created equal and each rabbit has their own personality. Some children find a ball amusing for 0 seconds, some for 5 days, some want a different color ball or a different size…. lots of experimentation to happen. For particularly “destructive” rabbits, I recommend cat scratchers as they are a bit more robust (therefore can last a bit longer). For example: https://www.reddit.com/r/Rabbits/comments/st5eok/cat_scratcher_baseboard/

The BinkyBunny store has many other larger toys that can be more attractive for rabbits who seem to enjoy “anchored” objects, which I label things like furniture, since they do not move when the rabbit chews on them: https://store.binkybunny.com/   … things such as the mats, large willow tents, cubes, etc.. can be much more amusing and help redirect the energy effectively.

Engaging with more ‘destructive’ rabbits is also important. See here for an example of the daily ‘playtime’ I do with my Fable: https://www.reddit.com/r/Rabbits/comments/sr694b/owner_bonding_10min_of_engagement/ .. it helps in getting that energy out, while also helping us bond together.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[namy_namy]

I also have a pretty destructive bun (free roam in my room & living room), so I’m interested to read some new ideas here. In case it helps, here are some things that have worked for us:

• getting her to forage for her pellets keeps her occupied for at least an hour in the morning. I hide them in her hay mat (life saver for me), in her toys, in her maze, etc. Whenever she seems particularly hyper during the day, I hide some more pellets and that works for a little bit until I can stop to play with her/distract her.
• she was/is a big base-board chewer. I ended up securing some bunny-safe wood to her hot spots and she just chews on that instead.
• she started chewing on the leather couch, so I covered it with a big fleece blanket. She likes digging up the blanket, and hasn’t managed to make any holes yet (sounds like this might not work for you though).
• she seemed to really like digging under her willow bridge. So I bought a cheap jute rug that she can dig up as much as she wants.
• giving her some explore time. Like, a new piece of “furniture” for her, or rearranging some of her play area, or some supervised time in a different room etc.
• I think a lot of it comes down to finding out what strange things your bunny likes? e.g. my bunny can spend ages trying to pull my scarf off of my chair, but she’ll never play with a chew toy for that long.

hope this helps 🙂

[DanaNM]

I agree that some bunnies just aren’t good candidates for free-roaming. Between ages 1-3 also tend to be very destructive years. My girl Bertha was this way. I loved her to pieces, but she also loved chewing fabric and carpet.

I think the push on certain social media accounts to free-roam all the time is overall a bit harmful, as a lot of rabbits end up in shelters because they are too destructive. Plus, when a bun is in a space all the time, they become more bored of that space and will find ways to entertain themselves (by eating your pillowcases). When they only have access part of the day, they will explore the space as “new” and actually seem to get more exercise.

I think of having buns penned part of the day a lot like crate training a dog. Rabbits sleep large portions of the day, and if you make their pen/condo cozy, large enough, and interesting (with toys), they will see the condo as their home burrow and like to spend time in it.

With mine, I build them a multi-level NIC cube condo that they stayed in while unsupervised. Then I give them supervised free-roam whenever I’m home. I think some form of that will help you a ton. Wick gave some great toy suggestions as well.

With my destructo-buns, I used big heavy ceramic tiles to cover trouble spots on the carpet, and also provided lots of cardboard cat scratchers and grass mats as alternatives.

The other toys that I’ve found are really great for getting out that chewing/digging energy are organic palm plates and the “snak shak” log. i only give mine access to the snak shak log while they have free-roam access, so it directs them away from my baseboards and furniture.

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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