Wooly is getting out of hand!

[LBJ10]

Oh my gosh! Wooly’s behavior has been atrocious lately! I just don’t know what happened to my sweet baby boy! I spoke of this a little bit in their bonding thread. Right now, I need to pick Wooly up to put him inside his cage since it doesn’t have a door on the front. I never used to have trouble putting him away for bed until he has been out bonding with Leopold. Now he simply refuses to let me pick him up. I will come to get him like I always did, petting him first and he will still get into a submissive pose. But the second I go to pick him up, he jerks away and he grunts… loudly and repeatedly! He sounds like a little piggy! I got ahold of him tonight and he was squirming along with his grunting. Then he tried to nip me through my sweater. What on earth has gotten into him? Is it because he doesn’t want to be separated from Leopold? Or does he just plain not want to go back in his cage? I always give them pellets in the evening after they are put away, so it’s not like there isn’t any incentive. **sigh** Has anyone else experienced anything like this during the bonding process?

[jerseygirl]

I suspect it is to do with not wanting to be separated or just “put away” if they’ve been getting more space due to the bonding. He’s probably found this is an effective way to communicate with you. If he growled and you let him be, he would have learnt this gets results so he could keep using it. Jersey is quite vocal like that. I just do what I need to then spend some time petting her and “making up”. lol
Maybe you could try herding him in or herding him into a carrier then taking that to the pen. So avoiding picking him up. Just so it doesn’t develop in his mind that when you do pick him up – it’s going to result in something he doesn’t want. You could reserve the times you pick him up for more positive interactions. Have you been able to do that in the past – just pick him up for a cuddle that he enjoys to?

Do you have a pen you can make as a night enclosure for them both? I know you mentioned concerns with Wooly about the levels in Leopolds condo. Could you block them off somehow and just allow them the lowerer area perhaps?

I’m afraid you are going to feel on the outer with them newly bonded… they might have a bit of an Us (rabbits) and Them (humans) mentality going on but I think after a while you can start to re-establish your relationship with them.

[LBJ10]

Stupid me, I got rid of the small cat carrier when our cat died. I have another carrier but it’s a top-loader too! Haha! If I go to pick him up out of his cage, like in the morning before I head off the class, he will let me with no problem. I usually take him out to the living room with me and he will sit on my chest or shoulder and cuddle with me a bit. He’s a good boy and he’s always been a cuddly rabbit. That’s why this is so upsetting for me. When it’s time to be put away in the evening, he suddenly becomes a little monster. Oddly, Leopold’s behavior has changed too. But it’s for the better! He comes looking for attention and I haven’t been having as much trouble picking him up lately. It is so weird for him since he used to not want anything to do with me unless I had a treat in my hand. Oh well. I can look into getting a exercise pen, but aren’t those like $70 or something? I could see if my husband could fashion something to block off the top-most level in Leopold’s cage. I’ll have to ask him about it. Although I doubt Leopold would be too happy about it.

[Monkeybun]

You can often find good second hand exercise pens online, or at garage or yard sales. This is the time of year when yard sales start, so you may want to go shopping

[LBJ10]

I will have to look around to see if anything pops up.

In the mean time, I had an easy catch tonight. I went in there and found Wooly sitting on the top level of Leopold’s cage (Leopold was off somewhere else). I zipped over there, closed the front door, and opened the top. It was easy pickings from there!

[LBJ10]

Oh goodness! Wooly is really angry with me now. He has an appointment today as a follow-up on his eye. I got the carrier out so I would have it ready to go. Wooly saw me with it and he about had a heart attack! He was bouncing off the walls of his cage and then we went down into the corner and started thumping. He wouldn’t stop either! I was petting him and telling him it was okay, but he just kept at it. His eyes were HUGE! Wow… someone really doesn’t want to go to the vet. Maybe he associates the carrier with getting neutered.

[Huckleberry]

“Im sorry! Ill be good! Don’t take more bits!!!!” aww, poor wooly!
Maybe a treat to settle things?

[LBJ10]

I showed him the treat bag, but that had no effect. So I shoved one under his nose. He ignored it at first, but then finally took it from me. Like I said, he was extremely upset. Gosh, this is not going to be a pleasant trip!

[LBJ10]

Well, that went better than I thought it did. Good thing the vet is so nice to him.

[SmokeyBunnyRobinson]

The exercise pen I purchased for Smokey is the large version made by Ware that you can get from Petco or Petsmart for less than $30. You’ll have to get binder clips (dollar store) to clip it closed, though, if your buns are anything like Smokey. She can Houdini her way out of any cage if it’s not clipped 100x!

[LBJ10]

Okay, something weird is going on here. Wooly is suddenly acting all sweet again. He was a little rag doll when I picked him up last night and again this afternoon. He is acting like his old cuddly self. Hmm, I wonder how long this is going to last now.

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