Good Match?

[April]

I have two bunnies that I will try to bond in two months but I’m not so sure about the rabbit I recently got.

I know rabbits have their natural behaviours but my female rabbit is a total opposite to my male. My male is calm, keeps a nice clean cage and isn’t constantly moving and destroying everything. If I were to show both areas then you would see one nice tidy clean side and one very messy side. 

I had to remove her cage and just keep her in a very large run area which is fine, works great but it is still is a worry if she ever gets out (However I don’t think she can). I removed her cage because she does use her litter box for urine but for some reason in the cage not only does she use the litter box but also just pees and poos all over the blanket. When outside the cage she doesn’t pee on the blankets. She tosses literally everything out of her way and makes a mess of everything. She pulls at carpets too so I’ve had to try and cover every inch of carpet. I’ve tried clapping my hands, making loud sounds, even a spray bottle but she is persistent. I’ve tried moving her to another spot or giving her something else to chew on but she just pushes it aside. At night she makes a huge racket, chewing on bars, ripping things (Not a main concern as her room is separate).

As much as I do care for her and am very happy with how much healthier she is looking from since I got her, I worry that her behaviours will rub off on my male who I find has a personality similar to a cat. I know there is a difference from having him at the age of 5 weeks until now and then obtaining my 6 month old female almost a month ago that can play a part in behaviour and such but she continues to be more and more work every day. Looking after one destructo and then possibly having her behaviours pass on and then having two destructo bunnies is not something I want to happen.

Does anyone else have this problem? Should I give her to someone more experienced? (Or who may have more time to train her?) I do love her but my male is my biggest concern, and I would never want to have to part with him. I don’t want to seem like a bad owner or anything because I do look after her well but I took her in, in hopes of a future companion for my male  On a side note she was spayed 1 month ago so I don’t know if that is a factor….

[vanessa]

Hi April, I have a similar sounding pair. Guin is a messy female, leaves hay, hair, and shredded cardboard everywhere. She demolishes a carfboarf box and leaves me every single piece of evidence. She drags things around, moves her “furniture”, and leave lots of stray poop for me to clean up. She just started chewing through the limoleum floor. She will chew an electric cable into a thousand tiny pieces. She was spayed a year ago. Lancelot is super duper calm, extra uber relaxed, and a perfect house bunny. The complete opposite of Guin. They are a bonded pair. None of her behavior has rubbed off on him. They have been bonded for 5 months, and it took me 2 or 3 months to bond them. She is bossy with him and nips him sometimes, and that makes him withdraw from her, which makes her upset, which makes her nip him some more, it’s quite a cycle. So I have to do couples therapy with them sometimes… It’s hard to tell if a bunny’s habits will rub off onto it’s mate. Sometimes it happens, othertimes not. The only thign I saw rub off, was Guin started to squeak while eating, after seeign that Lancelot squeaks while eating, and I find it cute and pet him. So ow she squeaks too, so I will pet her some more.

[April]

Thanks for the info Vanessa that makes me feel a little bit better about them but I’m still unsure. Belle is definitely the boss compared to Theodore, I once tried a meet and greet and she humped him repeatedly while he sat there almost unsure of what to do. I guess I’ll have to see how they do when I start the bonding process but I don’t want her to be mean to him and I also don’t want her to destroy the cage he has because she definitely would be able to if she tried…

[Love4Bunny]

I am smiling right now, because this is familiar to me 😀 I got Thor first, then bonded Crysta to him. She destroyed my hay box (death by chewing), and the rug (shred-fest) but the payoff is that she defers to Thor and they get along. I don’t know if another female rabbit would’ve gotten along so well with my calm, but bossy boy.

Thor started to chew a fraction more after the bond, but we have a good relationship, to the point that when I say “No”, he stops chewing and I redirect him to something better. Have you considered that your boy might also pass on good traits to Belle? I say this because (while not the best example) Crysta copies Thor’s more confident behaviours, like pulling hay out with front paws, and throwing toys out of the way in one swift move, without walking around them like she used to. I also saw her try to lift a big tunnel out of her way, and this was not her behaviour when I first got her. It looks exactly like how Thor gets things done. Just a thought.

I think chronic chewers need dig boxes and secured/ heavy or weighted stuff to tear apart at (stuff that’s attached to something else so it doesn’t move). It may also be that Belle needs more exercise time (bar chewing). I’ve heard a few stories of rabbits preferring to do their business on soft blankets vs. litterboxes, so there may be a connection, I don’t know.

Thor also sat there when Crysta tried to hump him. He just ate his hay, and Crysta looked like she was climbing a mountain, haha. Maybe it’s a good thing that he doesn’t react, but I understand it is not your primary concern.

There’s no way to know for sure if your boy will be exactly like Belle. If Belle uses the litter box relatively well, and is a healthy little lass, those are two positives. There’s always a reason an animal does something, even if it’s just to be playful. If you figure out the “why” it may help you figure out a solution.

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