Teddy gone bad

[Tedster]

Hello everyone, 

My rabbit, Teddy is almost 7 months old (about 1 more week to go) and I got him neutered last week and he seems to be recovering really fast and back to great health. It stopped his honking and him from circling everyone’s feet and the best news, he stopped dropping poop everywhere. While these are good news, the bad news is, instead of changing into good behaviors, he went horrible. 

Before, he was very skittish, but he was very tolerable and didn’t cause any trouble for me at all. He’s very independent and didn’t mind it when I’m in his play pen watching him do his own things and sometimes he would jump on and off of my lap. He’s not the affectionate type therefore he doesn’t like to be petted or hugged and he hates being held, but I didn’t want to give him away because that was tolerable to me. 

After I got him neutered, he completely changed for the worst. Everyone morning, when I come in his room, I see him flipping over his litter pan and his food bowl…which worries me a lot because that means he hasn’t eaten anything for god knows how long. Flipping his litter pan over is also a problem because he’s creating a major mess everywhere. Before, we didn’t have any problems with things like this. He has also developed a habit for digging, EXCESSIVELY! He would dig, dig, dig all day long. He even dig on his pellets while eating (dropping his food pellets everywhere). 

He’s still as skittish like before and independent, but he’s getting some bad behaviors in him. Usually, when we are in his way, he will just use his nose to nudge us out of his way, but now, he’s not mister nice and polite guy anymore, when we are in his way, he will bite us…for the first time, he bit me! I was very shocked. What happened to my baby? If this is going to go on, I will have to put him up for adoption…

He even escaped from his play pen like 9 times. I know his play pen doesn’t give him enough space, but it’s still big enough for him to run around in. The room isn’t bunny proofed, so I can’t give him anymore space than that. Once we get rid of the useless things in that room, we will expand his play pen. 

I read from many forums and heard from many people (vets and rabbit owners) that neutering your rabbit will change them into a calmer state of behaviors and they will be less aggressive…I know that one week after neutering isn’t long…but will he even change his behavior? How long do I have to wait? I really have no clue what happened to him…It’s already sad enough for me to not get any affection from him (which I decided to put up with it) and now he’s going all gangster on me and his house. Why is he acting this way? Any help would do, so please help me. I’m going crazy with him…I tried spraying him with water and tapping him on his nose and none of these seems to have any effect on him at all…I’m really at my wits end. If he doesn’t change in a month, I’m going to have to give him away. I’m leaving for college soon and I want to leave him in the care of my little sister, but she’s extremely afraid of him at the moment and I have no one else that I can rely on to take care of him for the one year that I will be gone. My parents doesn’t even want me to have a pet, so they are definitely not going to take care him…Is there hope for him? Will he change? Please please help me. 

[Tedster]

Also, for the first year of college, I will be living on campus, that’s why I can’t take him with me, but for the second year, I plan to move out with some friends so I can bring him along with me and take care of him.

[tophdade]

Posted By Tedster on 12/31/2014 10:43 AM

Hello everyone, 

My rabbit, Teddy is almost 7 months old (about 1 more week to go) and I got him neutered last week and he seems to be recovering really fast and back to great health. It stopped his honking and him from circling everyone’s feet and the best news, he stopped dropping poop everywhere. While these are good news, the bad news is, instead of changing into good behaviors, he went horrible. 

Before, he was very skittish, but he was very tolerable and didn’t cause any trouble for me at all. He’s very independent and didn’t mind it when I’m in his play pen watching him do his own things and sometimes he would jump on and off of my lap. He’s not the affectionate type therefore he doesn’t like to be petted or hugged and he hates being held, but I didn’t want to give him away because that was tolerable to me. 

After I got him neutered, he completely changed for the worst. Everyone morning, when I come in his room, I see him flipping over his litter pan and his food bowl…which worries me a lot because that means he hasn’t eaten anything for god knows how long. Flipping his litter pan over is also a problem because he’s creating a major mess everywhere. Before, we didn’t have any problems with things like this. He has also developed a habit for digging, EXCESSIVELY! He would dig, dig, dig all day long. He even dig on his pellets while eating (dropping his food pellets everywhere). 

He’s still as skittish like before and independent, but he’s getting some bad behaviors in him. Usually, when we are in his way, he will just use his nose to nudge us out of his way, but now, he’s not mister nice and polite guy anymore, when we are in his way, he will bite us…for the first time, he bit me! I was very shocked. What happened to my baby? If this is going to go on, I will have to put him up for adoption…

He even escaped from his play pen like 9 times. I know his play pen doesn’t give him enough space, but it’s still big enough for him to run around in. The room isn’t bunny proofed, so I can’t give him anymore space than that. Once we get rid of the useless things in that room, we will expand his play pen. 

I read from many forums and heard from many people (vets and rabbit owners) that neutering your rabbit will change them into a calmer state of behaviors and they will be less aggressive…I know that one week after neutering isn’t long…but will he even change his behavior? How long do I have to wait? I really have no clue what happened to him…It’s already sad enough for me to not get any affection from him (which I decided to put up with it) and now he’s going all gangster on me and his house. Why is he acting this way? Any help would do, so please help me. I’m going crazy with him…I tried spraying him with water and tapping him on his nose and none of these seems to have any effect on him at all…I’m really at my wits end. If he doesn’t change in a month, I’m going to have to give him away. I’m leaving for college soon and I want to leave him in the care of my little sister, but she’s extremely afraid of him at the moment and I have no one else that I can rely on to take care of him for the one year that I will be gone. My parents doesn’t even want me to have a pet, so they are definitely not going to take care him…Is there hope for him? Will he change? Please please help me. 

Frankly, and I don’t like saying this to anyone, but I don’t think you did enough research before you got Teddy, and I don’t think you were ready for the responsibility with college coming up. Rabbits are not meant to amuse you for a year and then pass them off until next year. They’re a commitment, for their entire life, not when it’s convenient to tolerate them. All of the new habits you have described here are able to be remedied, and in the amount of time you have before college starts. Many of these habits have been discussed numerous times on BB, and you can find them quickly with the search function.

All of that being said, it would be great if your sister  is able to care for him, and I hope you are able to break some of his habits. Just keep in mind that he is an animal, your animal, and he can be a loving companion if you work with him and try to change his behavior in POSITIVE ways. Sitting around waiting for a change won’t do. In fact, it’s probably unlikely.

[tophdade]

And I’d just like to add, that a lot of behavioral issues can be fixed simply by spending more time with your bun and eliminating boredom. When you develop a strong bond as their caregiver, they respect your ways and will trust you much more.

[Tedster]

Okay, before we get all berserk on me, I got Teddy because my friend’s grandmother adopted 2 baby bunnies from her friend (who was a breeder but she’s moving to a different state, so she gave these last two bunnies to my friend’s grandmother before she left). She has a dog in her house and that didn’t turn out so well because one of the rabbit died from shock and Teddy was terrified in one corner on the edge of dying. We quickly moved Teddy to her room and locked the door. I took Teddy out, wrapping him in a blanket and he was cold and trembling in fear. We called the SPCA and told them about what happened and asked if it would be okay if we bring him there and put him up for the adoption. The lady told us that since he’s so terrified after witnessing a big dog and the death of his bother, that putting him in a car ride and bringing him up to the SPCA will only frighten him more due to the dogs barking and smell of other animals, so she gave me Teddy. I didn’t want Teddy to die, so I took him in. The first day home, he was very frighten. I didn’t even put him in a car and drive home cause I was scared. Since I didn’t live that far away, I walked home with Teddy wrapped in my arm. I got Teddy to settle down and for the first few days, I just stood from afar watching him and once he was getting comfortable with his cage, I opened the door of the cage and waited for him to come out. After 3 hours, he finally took his first step out and things started going well from then.

I usually spend 5 hours with him in a day, not consecutively but two hours each time and 1 hour before I put him in his cage to go to bed (I just have to snap and call on him while patting his cage and he will run right in knowing that it’s bed time.) I love Teddy with all my heart and I did do a lot of researches, still doing it now. Teddy may be independent and I will admit, I don’t like that, but I do love him regardless and I don’t try to do what he doesn’t like, so I just leave him be and sit there to watch him.

I will be going to college soon and in the beginning I planned to let my sis take care of Teddy and after the first year, I will bring him along with me since I can’t have pets in the dorm. I am willing to go to the extent of renting an apartment just so I can take Teddy with me, but I will have to leave him for about a year (but I will come back during breaks like winter break, spring break, thanksgiving, and summer break). I use the word tolerate, because I don’t know what other words to use so yea…please don’t take the word the wrong way. He was a great bun before and I guess neutering him changed him that’s why I need help. Ever since he came home from neutering, he would charge and growl at my little sis, which made her really scare to come into contact with him…so if he doesn’t change…I can’t leave him to my sis because she won’t take care of him….so the only plan I have left, is to give him away so someone else will be able to take care of him (of course, I don’t want this, but what else can I do? Not go to college?) My sister was fine with taking care of him in the beginning, but not ever since he changed and I’m just trying to get help on how to help him or figure out what’s wrong with him or what’s bothering him.

Teddy may be an independent bunny, but I know that he trust me because he changed a lot from when I first bought him home and I spend numerous amount of hours a day with him including sleeping inside his play pen and he would sleep next to me or on my stomach. I watch shows in his room, do my homework in his room, play video games in his room, and etc. because I don’t want him to be lonely. Teddy is a good boy and I know it, but ever since he got neutered, something is bothering him and I just can’t figure out what it is, that’s why I was hoping that someone on here would be able to help me out…not telling me that I’m not responsible.

I treat Teddy like my own son, when he got neutered, I was in the vet’s waiting room (and it’s a two hours drive to the best vet that I could find) from 7:30am in the morning until 4:30pm bawling my eyes out praying that he would be okay and that everything will go smoothly. I spent that whole night, sleeping in his room with him so I can check up on him easier. He was cold to my touch so every one hour or so that night, I had to heat up a water bottle and place it near him so he could warm up, I made sure he’s recovering, he’s eating, drinking, pooping, and he’s not bleeding..so please don’t assume that I’m not responsible and that I don’t love Teddy and that he’s just an amusement to me.

My play time with Teddy, has not changed, still 5-6 hours a day, but he’s not paying attention to me anymore. He’s just busy biting on things, digging on things, and flipping things over. Before, I would lay on the ground playing on my phone and he would come over and sniff my face, lick my face and legs, jump on my back and just sit there or binky around on my back and every day when I get home from school, I check up on him right away and the moment that I open the door, he would run to the corner of the play pen waiting for me to come in…I know something is bothering him and I want to help him but I don’t know how.

Like all morning today, all he did was dig on his fleece blankets and chew on it and swallow it, so I tried to stop him by putting a pillow on top of that spot but he’s digging on the pillow and chewing on it as well….I tried getting his attention by calling him, giving him treats, veggies, throwing him his toy carrot and he’s not responding to any of this…which usually would get his attention in a split second..

I will still continue to spend time with him to see if anything will change…as I’m writing this response, Teddy is right next to me digging and chewing on the pillow…I will continue to do researches though.

[tobyluv]

I’m sorry about the trouble you’ve been having with Teddy. Since it can take up to a month for the hormones to settle down, hopefully he will get better after a few weeks.

It sounds like he had such a bad start in life, it was good of you to take him in and give him a home and love, and that you spend so many hours a day with him. I have had rabbits who are affectionate and like to be near me and lick me and be petted, and I have had rabbits that don’t mind the occasional petting, but they really would rather be left alone by humans. It can be difficult to accept not getting affection in return, but that is just the way with some rabbits, and it sometimes does change with time.

I know that you are concerned with his aggression. Hopefully, that phase is also temporary and will get better with time. I do know of rabbits that were aggressive and some that were bad biters, but they changed with time and patience and in some cases, became very loving. Here is one article from the HRS that involves aggression, maybe it will be helpful. http://rabbit.org/faq-aggression/. Other articles can be found here: http://rabbit.org/category/behavior/aggression/.

I hope that you will post again in a few weeks, with better news about Teddy and his behavior.

[Megabunny]

I’m with Tobyluv. Good for you to give him a home and expecting your sister to take care of him was absolutely reasonable. Life changes. I’ve not been in favor of rehoming pets, but my life suddenly took a turn and I had to rehome a few pets. Sounds like you’re being very reasonable. I can’t add anything to what Tobyluv said. Just felt the need to jump in the fray and give my support and best wishes. Please do give us a follow up.

[gingerg]

Tedster,

Ugh, this is a really hard situation that you’re having to deal with. I agree with Tobyluv–give Teddy three more weeks to see if he calms some more. 

FWIW, I’ve had a similar experience with my male (though thank goodness he is not digging the way yours is). One thing that has helped me with him is restricting his pellets (he’s 8 months, so it really is time to start reducing his allotment), and hand-feeding most of what he receives. He’s still very skittish around me, but I’m getting a lot more positive interaction with him through the hand-feeding. I think it’s bonding us a bit, and at the very least he’s starting to see me as an important part of his food supply.  

[tophdade]

Wow, I really jumped to conclusions there. My sincerest apologies tedster, I wasn’t having the best day and I think I let that show and made a very poor, uninformed judgment on you. You are truly a miracle for doing what you did for Teddy and I should not have assumed any less of you. I will be sure to read this again later and see if I can offer any good advice. Thank you for being so reasonable, and again, I’m very sorry for jumping to an extremely incorrect assumption.

[JackRabbit]

I’m afraid you might need to be willing to compromise. He does still have hormone fluctuations going on so some of the craziness like biting should calm down over the next 4 weeks or so. However, bunnies like to throw things around and many bunnies like to dig. Tossing his food bowl and digging in his litterbox are fun and give him a release for his spurts of energy. With his past, it may take him longer to be totally trusting.

My Moshi is a digger and a tosser, Marlee is a chewer, and Kieko is a noise maker. We solved the litterbox digging and flipping (he used to drag the litterbox around with Marlee in it!) by getting xl cat litterboxes with 7 inch sides and heavy duty velcroing the litterboxes to the bottom of their “kitchen/bathroom” crate. He still digs in it, but the sides of the box are tall enough that the litter stays in, and he can no longer move or flip the litterboxes. Sometimes it seems he’s digging for buried treasure, but so be it.

Marlee and Moshi are a bit territorial over a hidey house we built, and everytime we clean that part of their area, they head butt and pull at our pants legs so we either clean that part when their out playing or deal with the tugging.

Kieko is gets lungy and nippy if she thinks we’re going to pick her up and put her in her carrier. She gets all big bad bunny on us and will lunge, growl, and occasionally put her teeth on us, but never hard. Its a little scary until you know what’s going on but we know her routine and know that a treat and a few pets will have her back to snuggle bunny.

Actual biting can be dealt with by squealing when the bunny bites — he doesn’t know it hurts you unless you tell him in bunny language by squealing. You and your sister should both read everything you can in the Bunny info section of this website (through the menu button at the top of the page). Also check out the other resources section. Pay special attention to info on bunny behavior and bonding with your bunny. There’s even a section called something like “bunny gone nutty” that will give you more insight on hormones and bunnies.

I think if you and your sister learn more about bunny instincts and behaviors, and you’re willing to compromise a little with your bunny, that everything will be fine. He may never be a snuggle bunny (my lops definitely aren’t!), but I think you’ll be amazed at what a wonderful and amazing little guy your bunny is.

[Megabunny]

Tophdade-good for you, very nice!
JR. Awesome advice.
I’m curious if Teddy is charging your sister randomly when he’s out or if it’s when you reach in the cage. I started putting on a glove (just a cheap winter one) when I reached into one rabbit’s cage and he figured out I wasn’t going to jump back every time he charged and chomped and I think that helped.
Hope you’re finding nuggets of helpful advice in this thread!

[Tedster]

Thank you so much for all the replies everyone and @tophdade, don’t worry about. I jump to conclusion sometimes as well and I was also having a really horrible day. Yesterday’s afternoon, Teddy kind of had a spasm attack while he was digging outrageously…I’m scared to death because I have no idea what’s wrong with my baby and since it’s New Year’s Eve and New Year, no vet are open and we don’t have any open 24/7…I took a blanket and wrapped him around in it and help his four paws for about an hour until he started to stop spazzing. For a few moment, I thought that he had crossed over the rainbow bridge, but he was just sleeping and really tired…I really have no clue what is causing him to dig excessively and now the spasm attacks. Now I can conclude for sure that there is definitely something wrong with him. I checked up on him all the time today and he seems to be doing fine but once the vet open again, which should be tomorrow, I will be take him to the vet for a full check up to make sure that everything is fine with him.

I’m glad to hear that it takes awhile for his behaviors to kick in, so I am going to be keeping an eye on him and continue with our regular routine. My biggest concern is of course the aggressiveness and his uncontrollable digging. If I try to stop him, he will nudge me or bit depending on his mood, but I seriously don’t want him to dig anymore.

When I first bought Teddy home, he was very shy but later was very welcomed with other guests and he loves having people in the room with him even though he doesn’t like to be bothered he just like having their presence there with him. My little sis and Teddy was quite bonded together because when I have work, I let my sister play with Teddy while I am gone, but recently, whenever he sees her, he would charge at her and thump even if she’s not in his play pen and is just from a far. They were playing with each other perfectly fine before and Teddy isn’t having this problem with anyone else besides my sister but his tolerance level with humans are definitely less now because he will bite, back then he will just nudge us or if really bad, thump, but never bite. My sister is very fearful of him at the moment and she doesn’t want to get near him at all…Teddy has never come into contact with my mom or dad so he doesn’t like them as well so I can’t hand him over to them.

Teddy is definitely not the possessive kind. I clean his litter pan every day and his whole cage every week and he would just sit there and watch me while I clean it. He doesn’t charge at me or anything. He’s also only comfortable to sleep and relax in his cage, so he loves it when we reach in to rub his cheeks, ears, and head and he would chatter his teeth and fall asleep, but outside of his cage, he is mr. independent. So I don’t think that it has anything to do with him being possessive.

I will keep an eye on him and see what the result will be in 4 weeks and I will keep you guys updated. But as of right now, I hope that his vet visit will give me good news instead of bad ones. He seems to be doing fine today so far. Still digging and not paying attention to me, but he didn’t get any spasm attack. I did find out that the only reason why he flips his food bowl over is because he digs in it before he eats and does this every 20 seconds while eating, that’s why when he puts more force in it and the food bowl is almost empty, it flips over.

I do hand feed Teddy almost everything besides hay. Mostly when I bring in a bowl of veggies, he will instantly jump on my lap and sit there waiting for me to give him his veggies, so behavior wise, he has become more aggressive and energetic, but other that that he’s still the same rabbit who is crazy over veggies, but if he’s digging he will not pay attention to treats, me, his toys, or even veggies and that’s what’s making me so baffled. He can never resist his veggies.

Anyways, I am very grateful for everyone replying to this post, I will keep an eye out on Teddy and continue our regular schedule. I will update on the vet visit tomorrow night and let’s hope that Teddy is a healthy rabbit.

[JackRabbit]

I’m curious about a couple of things . . . can you give more info on what he’s doing or what is happening when you say he is having a spasm attack? Also, how old is your sister?

With the food dish, Moshi jerks his bowl around. We finally figured out that the pellets were getting over in the corners between the side of the bowl and bottom of the bowl and he couldn’t get his flat chubby face in the corners so he jerks the bowl to get the pellets back to the center. Smart bunny! He’ll also dump the bowl at times if he’d rather just lay down and eat. Sometimes he decides an empty bowl is a toy too.

The digging is where you may gave to come to a compromise. Bunnies instinctively dig. You can deter him from digging in the litterbox by using a soft screen (available from the Binky Bunny store). You can also try other digging activities — a digging box made from a cardboard box with shredded paper in it, an old phonebook (shiny cover and any shiny inserts removed), a digging block (I’ve seen some on Etsy where they’ve drilled holes and tied a bunch of sisal for the bunny to dig at). But again, you can’t fight instinct.

Hope the vet visit goes well.

[Megabunny]

While I’ll be surprised if the vet can find anything I hope you do get some idea what’s going on. I wonder if your sister can take over feeding. I know she’s being thumped at and such so don’t know if this’s realistic but feeding seems to be the way to bond with animals

[Tedster]

By spasm, he was just digging and digging away for like 15 minutes straight and suddenly, he flopped over to his side and started shaking and his for legs were kicking out of control and I didn’t know what to do but I didn’t want him to break his bones, so I decided to wrap him up (not tightly) and hold him to calm him down. After that, he went back in his cage and slept like nothing happened.

My little sister is almost 15 years old. I got her to try to feed Teddy his veggies at night and he refused to eat it but he will approach her and bite her finger and when she drops the veggie from shock, he will get it and run away. He bit her so hard, her finger was purple and bleeding. My little sister wants a pet rabbit of her own when she gets older since she was a little girl and I feel like Teddy and I are ruining this child hood dream for her. She said she won’t go near Teddy ever again….

Our vet’s appointment is today at 12, so right now, I’m just thinking of ways to put Teddy in his carrier without him putting up a fight. We tried treats and veggies before. It worked a few times, after that, he grew smart and knows what is going on so he doesn’t fall for it anymore.

[JackRabbit]

You can toss a towel over him and pick him up that way.

[Tedster]

That’s what I did, so he can’t see that he’s off from the ground and it works like a charm. I’m so happy. First time taking him to the vet being not a struggle. Sometimes, he would be so stubborn and I don’t want to hurt him so I would kneel there and bow down to him praying that he will get in the carrier to get his treats.

Anyways, enough with that. Since the best vet that I could find is the one that’s like 2 hours away, I couldn’t take Teddy there because appointments are made long long before I can get an available date so I have to use the vet near by which is like 45mins away. Did I get any bad news? I don’t know. Did I get any good news? I don’t know either. Why? Because these vets have no idea what’s going on with my baby. I know that I shouldn’t have expected an answer since they don’t know everything but I was expecting more than “He looks perfectly fine to me, so don’t you worry about it. About the spasm attack, it might just be a one time thing so that should be okay.”

I don’t want to blame the vet because as humans, we don’t know everything and there are illnesses that are a mystery in this world, but this vet appeared like he didn’t even care about my baby. He was grabbing my baby by the scruff and I said “Sir, please don’t be too rough on him.” Then he had the audacity to say “Mam, I’m the vet here, leave it to me.” Ugh, way to start off my new year. Anyways they ran a check up and blood work on Teddy and he said that everything seems to be normal and he’s a healthy rabbit, but with the few issues that Teddy is facing so far he has no idea what it is or even what it could’ve been in the slightest….I am truly very disappointed.

I am in constant fear that Teddy will dig and have a spasm attack again that I have to leave him in his cage and not let him out. I know that this is bad for him and I feel extremely bad for taking away his freedom but the moment he comes out, he runs to the corner of the play pen and start digging and he would twitch (not the good binky kind)…I’m afraid I’m going to lose my rabbit when he’s not even 7 months old yet and that’s too young for him. I will be calling and making an appointment with a better vet. I don’t know how long this is going to take, but we’ll just have to wait for them to call me and set up an appointment. In the mean time, I will just have to keep Teddy in his cage unless I am there to supervise but since winter break is about to end, he will be in his cage the majority of the time and I feel like a jerk for doing this to him, but I don’t want him to hurt himself or have a spasm attack again because that was scary.

Hopefully this vet will actually be able to give me some help on this matter even in the slightest. If not, I really hope that this isn’t anything major and it’s just a thing because he got neutered and will fade away once his behaviors start to kick in and help calm him down. Anyways, I will continue to keep you all updated and hopefully we can do something for Teddy as soon as possible. Regardless, I am still very thankful for everyone that has replied trying to help me and Teddy. @JackRabbit, atm, Teddy looks like your Moshi. Lol. I can’t update a new pics cause all the pics are too big to use as profile pics…

[Megabunny]

I’m sorry to hear the vet didn’t have a good bedside manner. While I’m not surprised at the lack of information, I know you were really hoping for some idea/hope for his situation you’re in with him. It’s a tough one. I can’t imagine what he’s doing/why he’s driven to dig himself to the point of exhaustion. I really hope whatever is going on in that little head of his calms down soon. I’m sorry your sister can’t deal with him. I can see a 15 year old taking a stand like that, and I can see your trying everything and then some. Please keep us up to date. These things sometimes just work themselves out in time. But I also know you’re on a deadline for this, so we’ll hope something straightens out.

[Author]

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