Menace Rabbit – Destructive Behaviors

[FlowersMom]

Hey y’all

 

My 6(?) year old spayed Dutch (female) is being an absolute menace in our new apartment. Some behaviors are consistent with what she would do in the old place but they’re even more prevalent now.

 

She’s being aggressive towards us at times (especially my husband, she seems to have learned she’ll just get pushed away repeatedly by me so she’s less adamant about it with me), by biting ankles and grunting. She’s chewing baseboards, jumping into the tub, she chewed off the metal coating on our toilet hose, she luckily hasn’t been peeing or digging up carpet yet but I feel like it’s a matter of time.

She’s extremely food motivated and we haven’t found any toys that she’ll play with except her wobbler treat dispenser that she’s gotten too good at and goes through really fast.

She gets plenty of excersize and has a ton of space to free roam, we’ll put her in the bathroom at night to try and limit how much damage she can do while we sleep but she also seems to be nocturnal so it might just be causing more issues.

 

Any recommendations on behavior correction and toys for a stubborn rabbit? She pees in dig boxes so I’m not inclined to do them but if that’s normal then ill probably do them more. We try to give her cardboard to chew on and very difficult toilet roll treats (like we put a treat in a toilet roll and try to make it as difficult as possible to get to the treat which she *loves* but there’s only so much we can do with toilet rolls lol).

[LBJ10]

Rabbits often prefer stationary things to chew. You could try to make a wooden chew toy that is heavy enough or affixed to something so it can’t move. It could mimic a baseboard. For the actual baseboards, some people will cover them with cardboard. It isn’t attractive, but it keeps the baseboards from being completely destroyed.

Some bunnies just need extra structure in their lives and simply cannot be trusted being completely free roam. You could try blocking off some areas with baby gates or xpens. I’m sure moving to a new environment hasn’t helped. She probably feels the need to establish and defend her new territory. Creating boundaries may help her feel less overwhelmed.

As for your husband, maybe you could try a pair of gaiters or several layers of thick socks. Allow her to attack, but don’t react. Reacting just reinforces the behavior because she thinks it is succeeding in getting rid of the “threat”.

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