Time for a friend?

[MissKris&Koji]

Koji has been settling in really nicely. He plays some now, digs and chews at one of his mats, tosses the grass ball and the TP roll a bit. Mostly seems to do it when he’s annoyed, though (I don’t know why I get that impression, I guess because it seems like he “happens” upon something and messes with it, then goes on his way, and he tilts his ears back some), always for 10 seconds or less, a couple times per day.

I was not concerned about this, thinking he’s just lazy and happy to be a content social bun. But lately he has been going crazy on those pen bars. I don’t think it’s because he finds making noise fun, and it’s not because he needs food. Like, he will start up early, so I’ll get up and feed him. And he’ll keep at it. The only thing that stops him is if I get in the pen and pet him. He will continue doing this for much of the day. Even the afternoon, when he usually was sleeping, he will now sometimes chew the bars if he sees me until I come hang out for a while. If I get on the bed where he can’t see me sometimes he settles down, but as soon as he spots on me from a different spot in the pen he will run to the bars and start up again.

This is not an all day thing, but it is definitely a change in behavior and happening not just during normal “bunny awake times” at dawn and dusk, and the nonstop noise at 6 when I’m trying to sleep another couple hours after giving him his breakfast and a quick pet is…. ugh. Ugh. I’ve been sleeping in the guest room, but I will actually have guests here soon, and I’d prefer to sleep in my own bed.

I don’t really know how to interpret the behavior except that he really is just a socialbun, and his idea of entertainment is petting and giving kisses. Which is great, I love spending time with him. But I also love sleeping or doing homework at my desk and not being given the stinkeye/cage shake. I’ve even taken up doing homework on the floor in his pen much of the time, which sometimes helps but sometimes he will headbutt me until I give him attention, or still chew the bars if I’m too focused on my work and not enough on him.

So the only thing I can think is either try to order more toys and spark more interest, or it is time to go bunny date and see if a bonded friend might mellow this cage shaking “pet me mom” behavior. Or am I missing something? Could he be trying to tell me something else?

[Michelle&Lolli]

Don’t really have an answer for you but I decided to get Eddie a friend cause he was driving me nuts. If I slept on the couch, he’d hop up on me and keep at it along with making all kinds of noise until I got up. As soon as I got up, he was perfectly fine. He would also have to sit on my lap and dig at my blankets obsessively. I’d put him on the floor and he’d just come back. All this pretty much stopped when I got finally got him bonded to Lollipop. I know that he wanted me up with him in the mornings. Not sure what the whole digging on my lap thing was about but it’s like…now he has a buddy to pal around with. He still has to be the center of my attention and God forbid I’m doing something other than sitting on the couch. lol

But it sounds like Koji just wants to be with you all the time. Like Eddie was. So if you have been thinking about a friend for him and have the time and money for another bunny, then I’d say start with the dating! lol

[jerseygirl]

Ditto bunbun1 ^

I think it’s Koji’s way of getting your attention. You said if your on the bed and he can’t see you, he settles down. This is probably true of when your not home also. He seems to have trained you a bit. lol – it happens to us all. Like Eddie ^. Like mine that think anytime I see them = Noms.

Yes, you could get him a bunny friend and it all could be sweet. But he may still do this to gain your attention AND the newbie might take to doing it too. Try ignoring the behavior and giving him attention when he is not doing it. Speak in bunny to him.

[MissKris&Koji]

Hmm, okay, that’s part of the question for me – I was going to feel bad if he was acting crazy like that when I wasn’t around. I guess if he’s just pestering me, that’s better. But still troublesome, especially since he will be in the living room when I move – pretty hard to hide there! I’ll try earplugs and not responding haha…

Thinking I will get a second at some point, I was just not in a rush to do so. We’ll see how this goes. He’s actually been pretty calm this evening and let me play video games for like an hour in plain sight of him without shaking the cage bars and trying to stuff his face through in my direction.

[LoveChaCha]

If you don’t mind me asking, where is your bunny in your house? It can definitaly make a difference.

When I had my bunny in my room, she would constantly rattle her pen for attention. She got moved downstairs into the living room and she has stopped.

[Beka27]

When you give him breakfast at 6am, can you let him out at that point for a little bit while you sleep? Is he trustworthy?

[MissKris&Koji]

He is in my room. I’m at my parents until December 1, so I can’t really put him elsewhere, especially with the cats wandering. They don’t act “hunterish” towards him at all, but they do get curious and jump in his pen when I don’t shut my door sometimes, I wouldn’t want them to have access all the time. He will chase them when they get in his pen, and they run in circles til I let the cat out. One cat is smart enough to jump back out, but the other… not. So I don’t want them getting in when I’m not there to fix it, in case they freak and attack.

He will be in the living room when we move. His pen literally takes up half the room and is a large (42 inch) dog crate plus about another 36 square feet of the room penned off. It’s not shortage of room to run and play! The reason he is now penned is that he had been peeing on the bed some, and a couple times on the floors elsewhere in the room, so, no, I don’t particularly want to let him out while I snooze a while longer. BB forum users had suggested less space to clear up the litter problems. Other than this pen rattling it’s working well. Do rabbits need “let out” mentally – should I start shutting up the crate at night and then just letting him into the penned area so he feels like this is fun?

[Elrohwen]

Is there a reason you can’t let him out while you’re in the room doing other things? I wouldn’t suggesting letting him out when he’s rattling his cage, but if he’s calm for a while you could let him out for his good behavior. It sounds like he might be craving more time out of his cage and be going stir crazy, rather than needing a friend.

[MissKris&Koji]

Well, the rest of the room is hardwood, so he’s not crazy about it. He usually goes under the bed and just lays down under there, or sits next to me wherever I am. But I did catch him nibbling at a wire and since I have no overhead lighting and have to have lamps, it’s pretty hard to fully bunny-proof. I can’t let him out in the room unless I can keep an eye on him, and it’s pretty hard to keep an eye on him while he’s under the bed. Hence why he has the big pen – the idea was so he could run and not be stir crazy, even though I can’t devote several hours a day right now to keeping an eye on him for pee accidents/chewing/etc.

So you’re saying that rabbits do need time outside of whatever habitat they have, no matter how large that habitat space is? Could this just be because previously he was getting much more run time in the whole room, since I didn’t have the pen (he was just in the crate, and then let out for like 4 hours per day)? Could that make him feel like he’s missing out?

[MissKris&Koji]

Some photos of what the habitat is, so that this makes sense, maybe it will help you all figure out what is going on and what I should do to appease him.

 

[Beka27]

Those are great pics. I think that is an awesome use of space!

Interesting idea to “crate him” at night and then “let him out” in the morning into the xpen. This is something you could certainly try.

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