Wits end (should I rehome?)

[Amwalker]

I’ve never rehomed an animal. I’ve had multiple dogs and hamsters throughout my life, but this is my first bunny. I love him and he has his sweet moments, but my life revolves around him and not in a good way.

He’s 8 months old and was neutered two months ago. He’s litter box trained but recently started marking and pooping an insane amount. I keep reading this can be normal during spring, but this is just not okay. He also destroys everything. I buy him enrichment toys every other week. He gets multiple kinds of hay, I give him clean cardboard, wood, keep his litter box clean. We keep trying to let him be free roam but it’s so stressful.

Clearly I’m at my wits end and wondering if this is just what it is to have a bunny and other people are willing to live with this or is this something else?

 

Any help would be so appreciated.

[Azerane]

I can understand why you are so stressed, rabbits can be a lot, especially in the teenage age bracket they are really full-on exploring everything, digging and chewing everything.

For now one thing I might suggest trying is to get a puppy playpen or exercise pen, make sure it’s fairly tall probably 100cm because at his age he’s probably likely to jump over anything shorter. Then you can at least contain the damage. You’re obviously giving him toys which is good, you can also make lots of cheap/free DIY toys such as a cardboard box filled with strips of newspaper and then sprinkle his pellets into it so he has to forage for them. I also highly recommend a rolling treat ball and putting some of his pellets in that so he has to work to get them. This will help to drain his mental energy and some of his physical energy too. Toilet paper tubes stuffed with hay, carboard boxes as hideys, a phone book for shredding.

Some rabbits are worse than others, though as I said earlier, young rabbits really can be a handful.

In terms of the marking, it could be a spring thing. Sometimes rabbits marking behaviours can get worse after neutering before they get better, though I will admit 2 months after is an unusual amount of time. Are there any changes in the home? New roommate or pet?

[DanaNM]

Many rabbits are not good candidates for free-roam, especially when young! I know that many prominent social media folks have been promoting free-roam as the “only” way to have a happy rabbit, but this just isn’t the case.

Before resorting to rehoming, I recommend getting a pen set-up for your bun, and switch to only doing supervised exercise time in a well bunny-proofed room. You can also go back to litter box training basics to see if you can get things back on track. I was also wondering if there were any changes in your home that could have triggered the marking.

In terms of toys, does he use the toys you give him? Sometimes it can take some experimenting to find that perfect toy that really keeps them busy. My bunny Cooper was super destructive when I first got him (he was also around 8 months old), but he’s settled down a lot in the last 6 months. Some toys that work well for keeping him occupied (and preventing him from destroying things he isn’t supposed to) are the “snak shak” log, organic palm plates, grass matts, cardboard cat scratchers, and toilet paper tubes filled with oat hay.

 

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Amwalker]

Thank you both for your comments. He’s not 100% free roam. He goes in a pen at night and lately has only been allowed out for 3-4 hours a day cause he’s so destructive. But of course he’ll throw temper tantrums if he’s been in his pen too long.

I’ve tried all of those toys, he can really tear through those cardboard cat scratchers, I think I buy two every two weeks 😅. I’ve made multiple dig boxes and put pellets in them and dried strawberries. Nothing seems to be enough to get his energy out and redirect his destructive ways.

I’m going to try more things before I decide to rehome, so any additional suggestions would be great.

[Bam]

My young girl bun gets fresh apple twigs every day. This is obviously difficult to achieve unless you know someone who has pesticide-free apple trees that get pruned in the spring. There are plenty of other trees that are bunny safe, though. Willow works almost as well as apple, and willows are practically never treated with pesticides.

I also place attractive food here and there around my apartment, so she has to search for it. This skill wasn’t automatic with her, so I had to “train” her to look for her food. It’s very natural for rabbits to forage for their food, so it didnt take a lot of  training. Foraging for food over quite large  areas is how wild rabbits spend most of their day. It gives them exercise and opportunities to use their brains. (All mammals are hardwired to use their cognitive skills. Our rabbits are domesticated, but nowhere near as thoroughly as dogs or cats. They still have quite a bit of their wild ancestors’ instincts, and a wild rabbit’s life is definitely not a walk in the park).

I scatter all pellets that don’t go in a treat ball or in a “snuffle mat” or in one of those pet board games with different compartments to “unlock”. (There are DIY versions that won’t cost a fortune to make). Scattering pellets is great not just for the purpose of activation and enrichment -it prevents the bun from eating to fast and possibly choking. I dont even have a rabbit food bowl 😊 I also serve hay in the litterbox and in small heaps here and there-found hay is more interesting than hay served..

As for digging, I’ve covered my sofa with two cotton mattress covers, the cheapest ones from IKEA. She can dig and bite and tear them up all she wants, because when they’re torn to shreds, I can just get new ones without risking financial ruin. She also has a bathroom mat that she can ruin all she wants, and an IKEA doll bed (bought second hand) that she likes to gnaw on.

Young rabbits do have a lot of energy,  and as others have said, their energy level is at its peak during spring. It can be quite taxing for the human though.

 

 

[DanaNM]

I understand! The teenage bunny years can be stressful! Is there a particular thing he’s been destroying? Perhaps we can give some additional bunny-proofing tips. I like to use NIC cube grids to block of problem areas.

If he rattles his pen bars (and drives you crazy), you can try clipping a sheet or towel over the pen wall with binder clips. Blocking their view really seems to help with the cage rattling.

If you have carpet that he’s been peeing on a lot, I’ve had really good luck with the Nature’s miracle carpet shampoo for getting urine out (the carpet shampoo, not the plain Nature’s miracle product). I either use it in my carpet spot cleaner, or I make a solution of it and put it in a squeeze bottle, then blot it up with paper towels. I have found it really helps them not re-mark the spot over an over again.

If he digs carpet, use a heavy ceramic tile to block the hot spots, then provide a cat scratcher or other mat nearby to redirect him to that as an alternative.

Ohhh if you can find them, phone books are really good for destructive buns, they love to shred them!  And I do really recommend the snak shak. IMO it’s affordable for how long it lasts. I was kind of at my wits end as well with Cooper before I found that toy. I only give it to him while he’s having his free-roam time, so it’s a special toy to keep him busy.

For tunneling urges, I really like using the cardboard concrete building forms you can get at the hardware store. There is a plastic lining you just have to peel off, but then they are just cardboard. I usually stuff them with paper and cut a few small windows in them, and the buns will go to town “redecorating”.

Another thought is that you might try some clicker training with him, as a way to interact with him in a positive way and give him some mental stimulation. Then you could use the clicker training to redirect him when he’s getting into trouble. I know with Cooper (who is very social and outgoing), I felt as though I was unintentionally rewarding behaviors I didn’t want, because I would physically go over to him and move him away. He loves attention so much that I think it almost became a game of “what can I do to get mom to come play with me”.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Bam]

As Dana says, young pets will do pretty much anything to get your attention. Any and all attention is better than no attention. This is why an angry or annoyed response won’t deter the (young) pet -the attention is rewarding in itself. You dont even have to actually do anything – a sigh and/or annoyed glance will be enough to reinforce the annoying behavior.

This is not super-easy for the owner to deal with – the pet does sth really annoying, the human reacts, the pet “thinks” Yay! Success! – and repeats the annoying activity.

Animals (including humans) will repeat behaviors that they’ve gained sth from. Exactly what’s been gained is not always obvious, so to figure that out we need to make use of our slightly bigger brains 😃

A book that I found very useful when I had my first puppy dog, is Karen Pryor’s “Don’t Shoot the Dog”. The book is not at all just about dogs -the author has trained f ex  dolphins and llamas, animals that cant be made to do things under threat of punishment (the way dogs will, sadly). The whole book used to be available for free as a PDF, you could try googling it, (copyright laws apply differently in different parts of the world).

That said, a wish to interact is a good thing. Without that you can’t establish a good and productive relationship. It’s a million times easier to shape an overly zealous pet than a fearful, withdrawn individual who’d rather be as far away from a human as possible. (Since you’ve had dogs, this is not exactly news to you, though 😃).

[DanaNM]

“Don’t Shoot the Dog” is a great book! My roommate a decade ago was a dolphin trainer and had a copy!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

That part about attention is a good one: I think that our young boy’s antics are to do with that as well. He is a big attention lover, and hates it that he’s temporarily confined to an exercise pen. I hope that it’ll improve after rebonding him with his sister.

Would finding him a girlfriend curb his destructive tendencies?

We have a brother and sister who have both been fixed. However, our first attempts at bonding went wrong, so we’re keeping them separated again for a month. Our boy Owen rattles the bars of the exercise pen if he’s frustrated, and he can keep that up for hours 🙄

In May we’re going to make another attempt at bonding them, and I hope that he’ll be a lot happier. He’s already a lot happier and a lot more quiet with the exercise pen solution. They used to be in their hutch, and were let out in turns. Now one hutch has an exercise pen surrounding it, and we switch hutches every 2 days.

[Oliver The Bunny!]

My rabbit is pretty difficult as well. We are also working on free roaming but I’ve come to the realization that it’s okay to just have a large x-pen. Which keeps him from being super destructive and peeing all over the place! I would suggest trying some more permanent enrichment such as baby stacking cups or cheap enrichment like card board boxes. Rabbits in the “teenage phase” tend to be destructive and hard to free roam. My rabbits just out of this phase and it’s already so much easier! Rabbits are a lot of work but once you figure everything out they are a blessing to own! This may also sound funny, but try bunny agility/jumping. It can really drain their energy and it’s great for a smart food motivated bun! It can also help with bonding because it’s a activity you can do together!

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