Too Much Love, Thanks

[Addy]

Okay, I have done a lot of reading and have come to the happy understanding that my bunny, Addy, loves me dearly.  He follows me around outside and comes to me when I crouch down to get his attention.  It’s just…the spraying gets a bit overwhelming.  Also, when I sit on my porch steps, if he isn’t spraying me, he’s leaving extremely wet poopies all around me (which to the disgust of my family, our dogs love to gobble up).  Addy was neutered Feb. 28th.  Mainly I got him neutered so I would be eligible to adopt him a friend, but that will have to wait until I get a place of my own–my mommy can only take so many animals before she decides it’s best to murder me.  I also became aware that this was supposed to help with him peeing on my bed, spraying me, etc.  However, it is my opinion he became more aware of his downstairs mixup since the neuter.  He never tried…doing the manly thing… until the day or two after I brought him home from the vet.  His litter box habits haven’t improved either.

Mainly, I’m just wondering if there is any way to stop this behavior.  I keep him in a hutch in my bedroom and would loooove to be able to have him run around inside without worrying about the messes.  Recently, I put an addition onto the hutch so he could have some more room, but he sprayed me at least three times while I was working with twisty-ties to put a sort of “doggy-door” so he could come out when I was around.  That was pretty much close to being a last straw type of situation.  Is it truly a sign of affection?  I do the thumping thing and say “No,” when he does it, but that hasn’t done much of anything.  I know every bunny is different, and I love Addy soooo much, which is why I want to give him more freedom in my room.  It’s just…the carpet, the bed, me…  Nothing is safe.

I want the waiting game to be plan B…  Is there a plan A?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

My first thought here-phone your vet and ask her/him to confirm that they were able to remove both of his testicles…sometimes they don’t get them both (or either of them!) and that might be the case…Seriously to me-he sounds very hormonal!!

Also-Welcome here!! I’ve never had my own rabbit spray me, so I don’t have any behavioral advice for you-I’ll leave that to the others!

[Beka27]

oh my! welcome to BB. he should be stopping the behavior… that is certainly odd that it’s still happening. like K&K said, i’ve never been sprayed by either of my buns (one of which was an un-neutered male). another member posted here that when she took her bun to the vet, she thought the vet had done the surgery and it turned out they didn’t at all.

[Addy]

I’ve gone to the vet because I did feel a lump down there, but she said that was just fatty material that was attached to the testicle, so I’m praying she’s right and they’re both gone.

[reds2212]

My bunny, Roo, is in surgery right now because a spay wasn’t done properly in November. Although she is a female, some vets don’t seem to get it right the first time!

[Addy]

Oh! And thanks for the welcome! I’ve been hovering on this site for awhile and it’s been amazing… I haven’t felt a need to bring this up until I got so down about my room smelling worse than ever since I made him the hutch attachment. At the moment, I wish I’d just skipped the neuter and spoiled him rotten with that money…Which I do anyway with my pet store discount, but still, haha!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Well, if it’s for sure the neuter was successful, then it’s behavioral and you’ll want to try to deal with it behaviorally.

The best way to punish is through ‘negative punishment’ which means taking away something pleasurable, to decrease a behavior…I’m struggling to think of how that can be applied here and almost think you want to go “positive punishment’ which means adding an adversive stimuli to decrease behavior (typical example is spanking);

In this case I’d say, when he sprays, clap your hands and say “NO” loudly (postive punishment) and ignore him for maybe ten or so minutes (time enough to clean up?).

Every time he doesn’t spray (when he typically would) try giving him a treat (positive reinforcement).

I almost wonder if you could give the behavior a name, like when he sprays say “NO SPRAYING” and then when you could even start to say (quieter) ‘no spraying’ when he’s getting ready to spray….Of course all of this would rely on you being able to identify WHEN he’s going to spray …

Anyone else have advice dealing with spraying behaviorally?

[JK]

About the messy poops?  What are you feeding your rabbit?  It could be diet related.  Make sure you are giving him unlimited timothy hay, plenty of greens and a small amount of pellets.  It does sound like the vet may have missed something in his surgery.  It does take a good month for the hormones to settle down.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Hi Addy and welcome!!!

Might I suggest that you get him a stuffed bunny rabbit to keep him company? Over-affection can often be dealt with in this manner, be sure to get one with sewn-on eyes and no parts to come off that can be chewed or swallowed by your beau. With the spraying, you’ll want to work slowly with the fella, give him a limited run space (small) until he has acceptable litter box habits and increase the space if he’s good, shrink it if he is bad. He is marking you as his, because as you said, he is totally enamored with you. What kind of litter are you using? Aspen Supreme pellets work well, even when mixed 1/2 & 1/2 with unscented Yesterday’s News or wood stove pellets without accelerant and horse stall pellets work well too so I have heard. When was the last time you soaked the litterbox in vinegar to remove odor? The plastic of a litter pan can hold the scent and urine salts accumulate as well.

The bed is a prime target for rabbits to mark as it is where our human scent is strongest because we spend so much time there, just like a couch or easy chair. You can place a plastic cover on your bed like a shower curtain or keep him off of it period.

I hope this information helps!

[babybunsmum]

yes, like knowltons mentioned… lots of squishy poops probably means its time for a dietary tweaking.  check out the ‘diet’ page on this site under ‘bunny info’ to see how your buns diet compares.  when i adopted my bun pinky she had lots of really soft poops from being fed lots of pellets and not much hay at the shelter.  once i reduced her pellets & gave her lots & lots of hay she stopped leaving behind the squishy kinds.  some buns won’t eat much hay because they’re filling up too much on pellets & once the pellets are reduced they slowly realize they can fill up on hay.

i wonder if the spraying could be attributed to having too much free-roaming space too soon?   maybe confining bun to his enclosure for a few days while trying the other behavioral suggestions, and then slowly expand his territory.  just a thought.  good luck!

edit to add… re: diet… i also feed my buns the recommended amounts of greens and i have heard that sometimes different greens can give buns poopy but too.  if this could be the case you may have to stay away from whatever green is causing it.

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