help please

[dizzo]

hi

I need some help.

so, about a year and a half ago I got a dwarf hotoi. I got her at about 2 months old. when I first got her I kept her in a hall closet for about 2 weeks. this was just to get her litter trained. this went with no prob at all. then I started leaving the door open so she would have domain over the whole house. this is about 1300 sq ft. everything went fine. she was happy and showed large amounts of love and would binky all the live long day. after about 6 months she started showing classic signs sexual behavior, so I got her spayed. she no longer showed any affection at all. I figured time would heal all wounds. it has been about a year and she still has not come around. she doesnt want to be held. she seems skitish all the time. she hides from my girlfriend and the only way I can pet her is if I lay on the ground and let her come to me. whats worse is now she seems to be getting lazy with her litter training. if she is too far from a litter box thats just too bad for me. its now to the point where I have been thinking of going backwards and giving her the guest bedrrom as her home and keeping her out of the rest of the house. I dont want to do this, but I feel I must. I am also worried that locking her away will make her anti social tendencies worse.

any advise would be super appreciated.

[LoveChaCha]

I would give her her own bedroom. It would be good for her, I feel.

Also, dwarf rabbbits (not all) are very skiddish and hate being held. Rabbits aren’t cuddly animals at all. All have different personalities. I think by letting bunny have her own room, it will help with interaction and litter training. If she gets the entire house to roam, she may have forgotten where her box is.

My bun only gets the living room. Lots of members have their own bunny room or supervised areas rabbits are.

Does she have lots of toys to keep her busy?

[dizzo]

I give her lots of toys, but she doesnt seem to be too into them. she loves to roam the house. she likes to lounge in the forest (I have a 8 person dinning room.) I think it makes her feel safe. thanks for letting me know a room of her own is ok. I was worried she would feel like she was being punished and it would make her like me less. her original closet is where her litter box is and her food is also kept there and she never forgets about where her food is. she is a little piggy

[RabbitPam]

She sounds pretty normal, and they do fewer binkies after being spayed and get more laid back, less interested in being held by you at all.

A room of her own would be fine. You can also try an outer litter box somewhere near the dining room that she can get to sooner.
And if you do a room of her own that she’s confined in, you can try a baby gate across the door so you can leave it open. She’ll be able to see you and vice versa. If she is desperate to get out of the room, she’ll be chomping at the baby gate. If she likes her room, she will try it, but not frantically.

[Beka27]

I would actually recommend the opposite. If you’re concerned about her becoming skittish and less attention-seeking, you want her where you spend the most time. If that is the living/family room (as it is for most people), I would make that room her home base. You can pen her into the room with baby gates. With a guest bedroom, if you are not in there for multiple hours a day, she won’t get any interaction with you, and this distance is only going to grow larger.

I am a big fan of bunny rooms, but mostly for people with more than one rabbit. This way when they are alone in the room, they have each other for companionship.

[RabbitPam]

Beka makes a good point. I thought you’d be in the bedroom hanging out with her daily, so she’d get the interaction, plus the baby gate would eliminate the need to close her behind a door where she can’t even see or hear anyone, thus my suggestion.

[jerseygirl]

I believe that change is not so much a post spay thing, but more that she became an adult. Some are more tolerant of being held when very young. When they mature, not so much. She sounds a bit like my girl. I always pegged her as a loner. She lets me know what she doesn’t like too, but she will settle in for pets when I’m on the floor too.

With her litter habits, do you have a box available for her beside the one in the closet? Also, is she littering with poop, pee, both? She might have a strong territorial instinct.

Loss of litterhabits can result from underlying health issues too. Has she had a vet checkup since her spay?

[Author]

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