Not on his best behavior

[BunnyLiz]

The last two nights i have been putting Hammer back in his cage with less playtime because he has been a bad bun. No i shouldnt say that, he is a good bun that has made a few bad choices lol. He is eating carpet, walls and funiture, jumping everywhere and going into the no no places where he is not welcome. He has decided that no means to do it again and then comes the squirt bottle. I have only used that a few times, since he seemed to really learn with that. But now i have to use it more often plus he looks at me like ” um.. ma, What exactly are you trying to accomplish, water doesnt phase me. Im Super Bun Hammer.. you foolish human!” He has been really soaked with water lately and i feel bad. Its not that wet and i towel dry him before he goes back in the cage just in case. I put perfume on the carpet.. no change. I put his willow tent in his favorite chewing area.. no change. How do you all “punish” your buns. I know they dont learn that way but any help? He is not neutered, will be soon, and is almost 4 months.

[Alicia Conklin]

I haven’t found a solution to the carpet eating so far.  What I do is I block off her high carpet eating areas.  Then in her run areas I put down a quilt/blanket underneath any hidey spots.  She seems to eat the carpet when she’s under something or trying to get under something.  For her it’s like she’s burrowing down into the ground and she likes to burrow underneath things like the couch, boxes, tables.  Another thing that I’ve found helps slightly is to stomp my feet and go “TUCKER!” but that’s only when she’s out in the open doing it. 

As for the walls, I just block those.  It’s probably not the best solution but it works.  Luckily Tucker just likes corners and door jams and as long as nothing of hers is near them she doesn’t really bother them.

I think maybe the neuter will help.  So far Drue doesn’t do stuff like that but that could also just be that he’s new here. 

As far as punishment goes, I don’t know that I really do any kind of actual punishment, sometimes when Tucker is being insistent with her carpet chewing I’ll put her back in her pen.  I mainly just try to keep her away from the bad stuff.  For example, during most of the buns’ semi-free time (when they’re gated off in a big area that takes up the whole dining room area or in the kitchen) I put Tucker in the kitchen since it’s stone tile and she can’t get into much trouble there.  It’s also alot easier for me to just sweep up her poops since she’s not as well litter trained as Drue.  Drue gets the carpeted spots because he doesn’t exhibit the bad behavior that she does.  I do of course let her have time with us in the living room..they both get that at night, but during the day when we’re busy doing things and I don’t have the time to fully watch her I put her in the kitchen most of the time.  When she IS in the carpeted areas I try to cover it all with a big quilt. 

[MarkBun]

It is the neuter that you need. I don’t punish my buns exactly. If they’re being bad, they get a “No” or a hand clap and if they keep it up, it is scoop up with a disapproving “NO!” and then into the cage.

[Beka27]

they can’t really be punished. they need to be redirected, blocked and the area needs to be bunny-proofed. if that means laying cardboard on the trouble spots, then that’s what it takes. i have cardboard flattened in the corners of our living room, NIC grids lining the walls… it’s not pretty, but it’s necessary. some of it may be hormones (he’s not neutered yet right?) but some of it is just a bunny being a bunny.

[BunnyLiz]

The No doesnt work, nor the clap or stomp. I cant block it off since to block it would be taking a good portion of the room away. Ill just have to get down to business with the serious bun proofing then Huh. He isnt neutered yet. He is almost 4 months, but do i need to wait till his you know whats drop? Or can he go in soon?

[KatnipCrzy]

The first time my husband heard me tell the bunny “no”- he looked at me funny and asked why I said that to a rabbit.  He thought that they did not understand any time or redirection or verbal “no”.  Ha- Cotton wishes I thought that too.  Bunnies are definitely not like dogs but they can understand “no” and immediately getting put back into her run after peeing on the couch seemed to help Cotton realize their is a consequence for the action (it took awhile and spaying to help the couch peeing alot).

[Deleted User]

Hammer may be bad, but he must be the cleanest bun in Binkydom. Shadow understands no….he just does not care. He will stop and bide his time till my back is turned and back to business.

[jerseygirl]

Notice how they only do these things why you ARE present?! If clap or “No” doesn’t work try a different noise. The idea is to startle them. Don’t warn him beforehand, just watch and as soon as he heads to the problem area and hunkers down to chew – BAM -gets a squirt/clap/”NO!”/stomp Which ever one you choose! You could even try some bunspeak and give a disapproving growl!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Here’s what works for me, with my buns and with shelter buns:

First, gasp (the suddeness makes them stop-if they do, soothingly tell them ‘good bunny’)
Then no
Then No + Clap
Then No + Clap + exaggerated angry stomping over to them (shuffle while stomping to really get the message accross)
Then No + Clap + exaggerated angry stomping over to them, scoop them up and put them somewhere else.

It sounds like your doing more and more, but after a few minutes/hours/weeks depending on the hooligan, a gasp and they’ll stop what they’re doing. I use “ahem” to let them know they are getting close to a bad thing.

[Balefulregards]

I have had to use the water bottle – which Coco HATES, but she will go back and try to get behind the bed again.

When I was away, she had to be caged since she was so unruly.

I also make a loud snap with my finger and say NO! – which she understands. And then hopes I have forgotten as she tries again….

[MimzMum]

Pip does not like the water bottle. Lucky for me when she decides to get noisy at about 3 AM.

I tried it with Mimzy, but he looked right at me and I wimped out, gave him a teeny squirt and said, “No!” and then he proceeded to lick the water off his nose and wash his face in the most adorable way that I couldn’t be mad anymore.

Fiver only likes to chew on the plastic whiskers on my plushies. So I either call his name in a no-nonsense way or just reach out to him with my hand and he’ll quit. Either that or the whiskers need to be trimmed off, which is a possibility. He is VERY well trained and I am surprised that whoever owned him before took the time to do this.
You must remember, all my bunnies have been altered.

My bunnies’ run space is pretty confined to the kitchen, where the linoleum is and room to put the xpen. Otherwise they are in their night pens. I give them plenty of their own things to chew on and mess with, so they aren’t interested in much of my stuff. Perhaps one day I will have somewhere else to sleep and they will have this bedroom all to their thumpy, noisy, munchy selves. Until then, I just kind of give them a mulligan for typical bunny behavior.

[Deleted User]

We yell Shadow using “The Tone”. He understands it, he will stop and run away and give you a foot flick as he runs by. He does it every time.

[BinkyBunny]

Jack understand No even when I say it in a calm tone. Just the word makes him nervous and he stops, while Rucy is like…”yeah, I hear ya, No Schmo!, if you want me to stop, your just gonna have to come over and make me, and bring your boxing gloves, cause I’m ready!”

I think with your bunny, his hormones are just driving him crazy. I think that even if you get him to understand No, and/or the stomp, he may just learn to do it when you are not looking, so I think you should also find things to distract him. cardboard boxes are great to use. Also, until you neuter him you may have to block him off from areas – do you have an xpen that you can use to block off an area or hallway or ???

[BunnyLiz]

No x pen right now. Im still hunting for NIC cubes around here. But he was neutered yesterday so hopefully it will calm down in a month or so

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Check kijiji.com for xpens or cubes You can buy used sometimes locally for quite cheap!

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