I think I’ve been beat…

[Dobby]

I recently went on a business trip and Dobby had to stay at a sitters. When we both came home, his litter habits had regressed a whole lot. So for the past week I’ve been trying loads of positive reinforcement techniques to get him back on track.

Dobby has also recently decided that being out of his cage is even better than a big bowl of greens at the end of the day. In the past, putting his greens in his cage was a sure fire way to easily get him in for the night. So now getting him in is cage is quite the game. (He eats his greens once I finally get him corralled so I’m not worried about his appetite.)

But I think Dobby has figured out a way to beat me at our bedtime game. For the past few nights when I tell him its bedtime and put his salad in his cage, he hops into the litter box that is outside his cage. And then I feel like I can’t herd him into his cage anymore because I only want to praise him while he’s in his litter. Tonight he did this a few times. One time he was in there for several minutes, eating hay and using his litter, so I praised him and gave him a treat to reward him for using the litter.

So now I have a very clever bunny who is using his litter box to stay up late. He’s like a little kid who repeatedly says he has to use the bathroom or needs a drink of water so they don’t have to go to sleep!!

Not sure if there is anything I can do about it because, if I had to choose, I’d pick good litter box habits over winning the bedtime game. But if anyone has any suggestions, I’d welcome them!

[RabbitPam]

Hi, first I want to mention that you have some lengthy html code showing here. It looks like something was stuck into your post above and below, but didn’t get read by the computer. Did you put it (or a photo, or link or something) there? If not, it may be a variation on a spam insert we keep getting.

That said, I think you have a happy, healthy bunny who is back to good litter habits and wants a bit more playtime. I would let him out to play earlier, or in the morning as well as evening, to get him the play and exercise time he needs. Otherwise, once he’s being good in his litter pan, just shut his house and go away and ignore him so he knows it’s bedtime – for you at least. My bunny Sammy sometimes gets these weird late night spurts where she digs in her litter and messes up her blankies. It’s like a second wind. Anyway, I just leave her alone until morning. (Of course, she is waiting for me to clean up her mess then.)

[Dobby]

I tried to get rid of that code by editing after it posted that way, but I could not figure out how to do it.  It was pretty frustrating.  Do you know if there is some way I can edit it out?

And, unfortunately, the litter he runs to, to avoid bedtime, is outside his cage.  And it’s right outside his cage (because that’s where he likes to go) so it’s hard to block his access to it while trying to get him inside.  Actually, most of the outside front of his cage is lined with litter boxes right now because if its not, he seems to be magnetically drawn to pee there.  There is actually one that he never uses but, if I move it, he pees right where it was.  Argh!  He even manages to do so during the three minutes they are off the ground when I am changing his litter.  

He also gets to run around in the living room in the morning while I get ready for work and for about 4 hours at night, although his time at night has been somewhat limited while he’s being retrained.  While I’m at work he can play in the kitchen and his cage.  

He may have just decided this is a fun game.  Maybe I’ll make the bedtime herding earlier if I know it’s consistently a drawn out process. Then I’ll have outsmarted him.  🙂

[Dobby]

Bedtime tonight took an interesting turn.  After a night of perfect litter habbits and lots of running around, I was pretty happy.  He happened to be in his cage when I brought out his salad. I think he went in for a drink.  I put the salad in the cage and went to pat him on the head to say goodnight and close the door. which is our normal bedtime routine.  He then bit me!  He’s onlly ever even tried to bite when I’m cutting his nails, which he hates, and is somewhat understandable.  I was caught off guard and remembered to squeal a few seconds after the bite.  He also was able to get out because I was so suprised.  

I was able to get him back in with relative ease but I’m really hoping this isn’t the start of a new bedtime routine.   I’m wondering if maybe he wasn’t expecting to be locked in because we didn’t go through our normal run around the living room for a bit before I have to go to bed routine.  So he got mad?  Not really sure what was going on.

[LittlePuffyTail]

My guess is you just startled him and that’s why he bit you. Bunnies have very different vision than us and it’s best to always approach them from the side not above when petting. Or it could have just been territorial behavior. Maybe it’s best to leave him be when he has food in his cage. My Olivia won’t let me pet her when she’s got food.

[Elrohwen]

I would pick up or slide the litter box over to the cage if he’s hanging out in there, not wanting to go back to his cage.

Lots of bunnies don’t like hands in their cages, especially when they’re eating, so I wouldn’t worry about it. Just avoid petting him while he has food.

[Dobby]

I’m not sure what happened but he is now a perfect angel at bedtime. No running around. No playing coy in his litter. Just in the cage, munching on his salad. It’s lovely.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Glad to hear it!

[Author]

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