Rabbit attacking my couch

[alexvene]

Hi all. Hoping you can give me some tips on what to do about my rabbit’s newly found psycho behavior. I have 3 rabbits. 2 are in a bonded pair, boy and girl, and they pretty much free roam 24/7. Two weeks ago, I adopted a baby bunny who lives separate from them. Eventually, I want to bond them all into a trio when baby Juniper is old enough (one rabbit is getting up there in age, and I don’t want his lady to be completely alone when he goes). My boy rabbit Dill doesn’t have any interest in her being in the house, but my girl Chamomile has become so crazy since Juniper came along. They are on opposite ends of my downstairs, so they could see and hear her from a distance but not touch her (they won’t venture onto the hardwood floor).

At first, Chamomile didn’t like when I smelled like Juniper but she got over that because she was more concerned about being pet than what I smelled like. She started marking her and Dill’s area, but that was fine because Juniper won’t be able to even meet them until August after she’s spayed. Chamomile gets very antsy when she hears Juniper running around. I know she’s worried about another bunny being in her house. And this is why I think she’s started to take her frustrations out on my couch. At night when everyone goes to bed (my boyfriend is up very late and she waits until after it’s completely quiet, so sneaky!) she gets up there and will chew holes in the couch. I even bought a cover and she found a way to get under the cover to keep doing it. So last night I blocked the couch with a tall ex pen and she STILL got up there somehow. She pulled out tons of stuffing and pooped all over it.

She’s now going to have to get penned at night, but all night long she will pull on the walls of it and make tons of noise until someone let’s her out. That’s why I let her free roam. It wasn’t a problem until now. I feel bad because Dill is so well behaved and he’s going to get penned too because I won’t separate them from each other. If anyone has any tips on how to calm her down, it would be much appreciated. I try my best to give her lots of attention when I’m home (I only work 30 hours per week) and she has plenty of toys and willow to chew on. She’s currently penned for her bad behavior and she knows why because I caught her in the act! Very frustrating

[Mikey]

Rabbits dont like having visitors into their territory. She likely feels the entire house is hers, even if she only ventures around one room. So shes very unhappy and mad that theres an unknown and unwanted visitor in her territory, that she cant get to or kick out. Keep giving her attention and penning her at night. be overly affectionate to her whenever you can so she knows its ok. Time will help her calm down, and so will bonding although thats still several months off yet

[alexvene]

Thanks Mikey! That’s what I figured I needed to do. She’s very attached to me, so I’m sure she’s jealous that another bunny’s getting some of my attention. Hopefully, she calms down soon. If only she knew that this bunny I got is for her!

[Author]

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