rattling the cage help!

[rosalie68]

my dwarf bunny jack grabs the bars of his cage with his teeth and claws and shakes the cage super loud to be let out. he has been doing it early in the morning and waking up my kids. i know that they are active at dusk and dawn and i can imagine that he wants out to run around in the morning but we are not up at 4 or 5am. he has to be supervised because he is a big cord chewer. he also rattles the cage throughout the day. i let him and charlie out every single day at 8pm when my kids are in bed until around 1am or later. they are out until i go to bed. its too crazy to let them out with the 3 boys in the daytime. they are 8, 4 and 1. they chase them around and scare the crap out of them. last time they were out the kids chased them behind the couch and they wouldnt come out for a long time . jack does have a lot of energy and i feel bad that he cant be free roaming all day but its just not an option right now. he eats toys and leaves poo and i definately dont want to find the baby with a mouthful of poo lol. anyways i have tried to give him lots of things to chew to keep him busy and i dont know if there is anything else i can do. i dont let him out or give him attention when he shakes the cage. any ideas??

 

thanks

kim

[Monkeybun]

Well.. Monkey used to do that… until i attached a pet play pen to the cage for her to hang out in during the day. Now she’s usually content to bounce around the pen, instead of tugging on bars. Its the only thing I can suggest, as I have never tried anything else!

[Beka27]

I agree 100% with attaching an xpen or making an additional playpen out of NIC grids! We did that for Meadow when she was a single bunny and she had a store-bought cage. It’s great to provide them with added running space that is SAFE from the children! At that time (2 years ago), our son was 4, so it was very important that Meadow be able to get out of her cage and stretch her legs, but be able to have her own space away from our son. She had access to the pen 24/7… and I feel that it did help with her early morning anxiety.

[snickers]

Mine does the same, except he rattles the baby gate that we have put up in our kitchen, so he has his cage and our kitchen to roam in, but he likes free range. adding a play pen is a good idea, but training the kiddos might help too. teaching the 8 and 4 yr old how to respect and care for the rabbit might prevent them from scaring the bunnies. As for the 1 yr, theres no helping kids at that age. ;o)

[Beka27]

Very good point also! We had a rabbit when my son was born, so he has been around rabbits for most of his life. My mini rex has been known to show aggression towards my son, mostly when he was 4 or 5 when we first got her… but she will sometimes make a half-hearted lunge towards him now. I think the main issue with her is that she majorly craves attention, and she knows that Michael receives the most attention of anyone (or anybun!) in the house! She wants to be dominant over him. We’ve been able to work with her a little bit, but the most important thing has been teaching him how to respect her space. He knows how to approach her, where to pet her, how to give treats without getting his fingers in the way. I encourage him to pet her when I am right there and petting her at the same time. Our lop, on the other hand, ADORES Michael… he is skittish around us, but I think Michael’s reduced size makes Max feel more secure in his presence. Michael not only recognizes that the bun’s personal space is important, but he knows the differences between the two bunnies and what Max will tolerate that Meadow will not. (Max is so calm around Michael that he will REMAIN FULLY FLOPPED when Michael pets him. This is rare with any bunny.)

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Couple of things I found that work for me

1) More play time, room, and things to do. This is very much a “I’m BORED come fix it!”
2) rabbits are on a different schedule as you’ve noticed. Keep lights on and the TV or a radio during the day-and they will quickly adapt to your schedule. So keep them awake-while you are awake.
3) Cover the cage/pen/condo whatever he’s in-with a sheet (leave openings for air circulation) at bed time. This dark, no stimulation cue, coupled with stimulation (light, music) during the day cues them to sleep when you sleep and wake when you wake

[bunnytowne]

Have you filled his cage with lots of  toys to keep him occupied or he just wants OUT!   ?

[MooBunnay]

My bunnies also wake me up early in the morning. One thing that gets them to quiet down for quite awhile is that I give them their pellets. I feed a Tablespoon of pellets in the morning and at night, and if I give them their morning pellets it really calms them down. What feeding schedule is Jack on?

[rosalie68]

i do fill his cage with chew toys and different things to keep him busy. i think he is just saying, let me out of here. i usually feed the bunnies at night time. i really wish i could attach an xpen or even just have both of them live in one but there is no room. im going to make them a nic condo in february so hopefully that will help. they have a pretty regular schedule with eating, playing and sleeping. when we are awake its pretty active in the room that they are in. the lights and tv are on and there are 3 little boys running around. when we go to bed all the lights get turned off and it stays quiet in our house. do you think jack will get used to this. i really dont want to get into the habit at feeding him at 4 or 5 am. i would love to have both of them out roaming the house but its not do able with my 1 yr old. esp since the bunnies still leave poops on the floor. their cages are covered at the back half with a towel so maybe i can cover jacks all the way with a towel. im wondering if maybe the light coming through the window is getting him all hyper. its funny how different the bunnies personalities are. charlie is so quiet and doesnt seem to mind that we arent up yet. thanks for the advice. im going to try a few more things and hope he gets the hint.

kim

[Beka27]

Are they in separate cages? Are they bonded? Could it be that they want to be together?

[Karla]

I agree with everyone else that you should provide him with toys and more importantly a chance to get out of the cage by adding an x-pen or something. He is bored and rabbits have a strong need to be active and move around.

I have a bunny whose front teeth are missing – simply because he rattled the cage too much one morning with his teeth. My vet said that it was actually a common cause for bunnies to break their teeth. Some teeth will grow back out – in our case, they won’t. Just a piece of info, so you know the seriousness in it.

I hope once he is fixed he can get more out-time and you will find that he stops rattling the cage.

[rosalie68]

yes they are in separate cages that are accross from each other. they are bonded and play very well together outside of they cant be in the same cage right now bc they are both not nuetured and charlie humps jack alot. i dont want them together at night when i cant keep an eye on them. jack doesnt really have anywhere to hide while he is in charlies cage if he doesnt want to be humped. im afraid that jack might be annoyed by too much of the behavoir and dont want them to get aggressive toward each other. by february they should both be nuetured and i will have money to buy the cubes for a nic condo. right now i dont have the room to add an xpen or anything else to either of the cages. jack may want out to play with charlie or may want attention or a treat or food. he is pretty persistent when he wants something. even when he is out of his cage he will act out if he is bored or wants a treat. i think its just his personality. i give him toys and chew things to keep him busy until we let him out. thanks for all of your advice

[Karla]

Good idea. And yeah, if Charlie is a humper it is best to keep them separated – I am sure Jack appreciates it

And february is coming soon.

[Author]

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