Free range rabbits- never again! How does anyone do it?

[Floppy]

So my rescue rabbit has destroyed my home, and I’m really upset. She has LOADS of toys, food and hay. I ordered the stuff to make a NIC cage earlier this week, and it can’t come soon enough!

A hole in the leather sofa- I know this CAN be fixed but the kit is £40+ and I’m not sure how to do it
My Ethernet cable will have to be replaced, she damaged it THROUGH a wire protector
Curtains! All the curtains will need replaced!
Wall paper, yeah that needs replaced now too! And god knows how much she ate! Ahh!
And now the carpet too! She has completely shredded a corner of carpet today and I have NO idea how to fix it!

I really regret ever thinking rabbits could be free range it’s a total disaster and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone unless you can afford to replace your entire home on a regular basis! What a nightmare!

Omg

[GlennTheLionhead]

Unfortunately rabbits can be destructive by nature! It’s a shame to hear about all the kit you’ve lost and money that you’ll have to spend on repairs!
Sometimes neutering can be a help with destructive behaviour when the rabbit is old enough. Trying training her, you can do this by offering a toy right in front of her face and invetween her and whatever she’s trying to chew on, this encourages her to use her toys instead of furniture, it will take a bit of time and patience but hopefully this helps her learn a bit! I’d suggest giving her a cordoned off area she can claim as her territory filed with her toys and away from anything you don’t want her chewing, which by the sounds you have already decided to do! always supervise her when she’s left to roam a room so you can prevent her destructive behaviour. With age and after spaying she should calm down! But it is rabbit nature, I have a hole in my carpet, skirting boreds chewed to shreds and chewed shoes from my little rascal haha. Best of luck!

[vanessa]

Sorry about your experience. It is sometimes a good idea to only give them as much space as u can trust them in. I have 2 rabbits that I trust to free range and 2 that I don’t. So for the 2 destructo bunnies, they have half a bedroom for themselves (about 12ftx6ft) and that’s it. I don’t let them out. They r quite happy in there. In either case, I started them on wood flooring to protect my carpet, in a 4×4 cube. Slowly I gave them more room while bunny proofing at the same time. Guin & Lancelot passed the bunny proofing, Avalon & Morgan’s failed. Some can b trusted, others can’t. But u really do need to start slowly. Too much room too soon when u don’t know there personalities, could b a bad thing for your wallet.

[Q8bunny]

I’m sorry to hear about the damage, but perhaps once you’ve had some time to process, you’ll think up of a creative way to do spot repairs rather than feeling that the whole thing needs replacing (except for the ethernet cable, obviously).

In defense of bunnies, I have a two year old neutered male who is 100% free range in our 2-bedroom flat since his adoption at the age of ~three months. We’re talking 24/7, no supervision required, access to everything, don’t even own an enclosure. And he does not damage or destroy. Seriously. So like people, every bun is unique and like Vanessa said, some are trustworthy, others not so much. You just figured out yours the unfortunate way (although neutering might bring on a 180).

Reduce his space (in a kitchen or bathroom, for example, or a blocked off portion of a room), take some time to cool off, and then start thinking of repairing without necessarily replacing… it’s bound to seem less daunting a task.

Hang in there… *hug*

[vanessa]

My destructo-bunnies Avalon and Morgan’s are neutered and spayed….

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Floppy on 6/30/2017 6:46 PM

So my rescue rabbit has destroyed my home, and I’m really upset. She has LOADS of toys, food and hay. I ordered the stuff to make a NIC cage earlier this week, and it can’t come soon enough!

A hole in the leather sofa- I know this CAN be fixed but the kit is £40+ and I’m not sure how to do it
My Ethernet cable will have to be replaced, she damaged it THROUGH a wire protector
Curtains! All the curtains will need replaced!
Wall paper, yeah that needs replaced now too! And god knows how much she ate! Ahh!
And now the carpet too! She has completely shredded a corner of carpet today and I have NO idea how to fix it!

I really regret ever thinking rabbits could be free range it’s a total disaster and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone unless you can afford to replace your entire home on a regular basis! What a nightmare!

Omg

Some rabbits can be free roam. Mine are. And they haven’t destroyed anything aside from a bit of carpet 

[Floppy]

Hi everyone thanks for the replies. She has been spayed.

Ah okay so the ability for a rabbit to be free roam depends on their personality? That makes sense. It’s a real shame because I wanted my rabbits to have the run of the house, but I don’t think that can ever really happen now. i think my NIC grids arrive on Wednesday so I will build it and then we are sorted. I just don’t want to replace things like curtains for her to chew them again… It’s a concern for her health as well as I don’t know if she is eating the bits of carpet!

Can carpet be repaired without replacing the whole carpet?

Thanks

[Q8bunny]

Curtains can have a lovely border added to mask chewed up bits. Carpet can be matched and a square cut and installed – the seam is invisible unless your nose is right in it; alternatively, a nice stone tile can be placed over damaged area and a potted plant placed on it. Or a lamp, etc….

[Floppy]

Hi thank you that is helpful! How would you get a colour match? Go to carpet shop?

This might sound silly but I think maybe she enjoys winding me up? I was just there paying a bill over the phone, and she snatched the paper bill out my Hand and ran away with it, then came back with it! Then I Went to take it off her and she was growling and standing on her back legs! I was like lol? Stop. I told her no firmly and she jumps off the sofa and binkies! Is this fun? Lol!

Maybe it is loneliness. My poor rabbits are on their own 5 days a week for 9-10 hours a day. Casper is being neutered this week if he is healthy enough for it, then once he recovers and I can start bonding them they will probably both be happier.

[Q8bunny]

LOL Yep. Sounds like she’s discovered a fun way to engage you in playtime – games with mommy

Yeah, just take some of the damaged bit of carpet to a shop and get a big enough square in the best match you find.

[Floppy]

Thanks so much! Just thinking the person I adopted the rabbit from told me she was spayed. Is there a way to tell for sure that she is?

[GlennTheLionhead]

Hmm I’m not sure if there would be a way to tell if she is spayed without a proper vet examination as when they spay the girls it’s all done inside the bunny rather than outside. Perhaps consult your vet for that one. I have a male myself but have heard unspayed females might show behaviour like being territorial and rubbing their chins on everything they think is theirs, circling your feet, peeing on things they might think is theirs, I’m not sure if it’s just males that spray but maybe that they might try to mount you or another bunny and can be grumpy or aggressive at times. All these things are behaviours of sexually mature bunnies but keep in mind even spayed and neutered rabbits may display some of these behaviours from time to time aswell. hope that helps a bit

[Azerane]

It’s a shame that she has been so destructive. I certainly agree that free roaming isn’t for every bunny, some are fine with it, some are destructive monsters. Bandit had an NIC cage but he was also free roaming when we were home. He couldn’t be trusted to be out of his cage when we weren’t home, because he KNEW we weren’t around to tell him off so he would do all sorts of naughty things then. He used to wait for me to leave a room, and then as soon as I was gone, go and do something naughty, lol.

You might be able to check for a spay scar if you can get access to her belly and part her fur, but if you can’t find it it’s not a guarantee that she isn’t spayed.

[tobyluv]

If you have doubt about whether of not she has been spayed, can you ask the person or place you adopted her from for a record of the spay? They should have a receipt or some kind of paperwork regarding the surgery. You could always say that your vet wanted it to put in your rabbit’s records. Besides not having to worry about uterine cancer, you have to make sure that she was spayed since you are planning to bond her with another rabbit.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Yep, Toby, thats what i was going to say, just ask the old owner which vet she went to before (if you have the old owners address) and ask them.
I have a double level nic cube set up attached to a puppypen enclosure which is 100% bunny proof.
Sometimes i close them in the cage when they are in mode “pee outside in xpen area” (easier to clean) in cage
Sometimes access to xpen is 100% even in my absence.
When I’m home the xpen is open and they have access to me in kitchen area. When its nice weather they go out onto 100% bunny safe patio.
So they dont have to be freeroam to be loved, although it would be easier in some ways.

Chewie is, I think we’ll all agree, just the bestest most perfect freeroam bunny, an exception to the rule.
(Personally, i think he has major bunnyraves when Q8 is absent, but he cleans up so well after his drunken and out of order bunnybuddies that she doesn’t notice).

[Q8bunny]

LOL Are you suggesting my bun is friends with the lagomorph counterparts of Dface’s housemates?

[Floppy]

Hi everyone thankyou so much for the advice! I asked the previous owner and they told me the name of the vets that spayed her, so I’ll phone them tomorrow to double check!

My 17 week old boy hasn’t done any circling or spraying, thankfully, although he’s not in the best of health which may be why he’s quiet.

I can’t wait to start bonding them I think they will both benefit so, so much!

[Q8bunny]

Aww… (((vibes))) to your ailing bunny boy.

[Floppy]

Thankyou! Just had him at vets today. His balls still haven’t dropped!

[Q8bunny]

Get him a toy he can safely mount – it can help.

[Vienna Blue in France]

A soft cuddly “toy” (like an ikea bun), not a toy fire engine or anything hard…. LOL.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Chewie is SO much classier and human than dface’s housemates !!!

[Theodorusrex]

Hi! Just wanted to offer my two pence.

I do understand your pain, rabbits can be very destructive. Theo has never been free roam, simply because I don’t trust him to be in most rooms without supervision. Having said that, due to some training and supervision the only damage he’s ever done to our home has been a small hole chewed in the corner of the sofa.

I would recommend (as you are already doing) making him a large playpen which gives him plenty of room to investigate/play/binky/run while no one is home. And in addition to that bunny proof one or two rooms which are easy to bunny proof (often a kitchen is a good room with less stuff to destroy). We’ve bunny proofed our kitchen entirely and our living room is 90% bunny proofed. This means when we’re home we open Theo’s pen (its in the kitchen) and allow him unsupervised free roam of the kitchen. He has a great time hiding under the dining room table, jumping up on the sofa in there etc. Then if we’re sitting down to watch a movie or something like that we bring him in for ‘play time’ supervised in the living room. The change of scenery is good for his enrichment and we have carpet in there rather than tiles so he loves running/jumping/binkying in there. He is well behaved 90% of the time in there but he has tried to bite the wall paper/get behind the tv/get down the back of the sofa etc so that’s why supervision is key.

If you could have his lovely big cc cage and then have a room or a couple of rooms he can roam for a change of scenery/leg stretch either supervised or unsupervised this would give him lots of fun and room and also spare your house. Do you have a garden? Depending on weather where you live etc could you set up a secure pen outside for him to have a run around in the odd time? There are lots of options for rabbits who can’t be trusted to free roam (like my own!) to have a great almost cage free life.

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