Rabbit behaving badly??

LisaO

He's not really - I suspect just behaving as a rabbit does. Our 9 month old bun was neutered 2 weeks ago & has recovered well but in last few days is exhibiting new behaviours. He is causing havoc in his (indoor) cage by throwing things around, including the litter tray. Usual routine is that he goes outside mid-morning (once frost has gone) to a large run. He then comes back in late afternoon to his clean cage. He then proceeds to turn the litter tray upside down, rip up newspaper lining cage, etc. My daughter is a bit put out that he doesn't appreciate her efforts to provide him with a clean & tidy home (now she knows how I feel ) & she thinks it is because neutering has somehow altered his behaviour. From a small bit of reading & searching on the net I think it is probably more age-related & a normal developmental stage.

Just wondered if anyone had any tips on how to meet the bunny's needs during this (hopefully) transitional adolescent stage?

He is doing a lot of digging when in his cage, so we have dispensed with newspaper for the moment & instead given him piles of hay to shove around. Yet he doesn't dig when out in the garden?

Also any suggestions for keeping litter tray in place would be helpful

Sigma Force

It does sound more age related his hormones will also take some weeks to calm down. Putting a brick in the litter tray will stop him being able to turn it over.

Rabbits take a while to get used to a new cage or set up and then once they do they can get bored of it and need a change of the company of another rabbit.
Using some more toys, like hanging toys and bunny kabobs.
Check out zooplus for some rabbit toys, giving him stuff to rip up like plain brown bags filled with hay that he can rip up.

Perhaps giving him a digging box out in the garden filling a deep large litter tray with peat moss might help.

The brick in the litter box always worked for me with rabbits.

LisaO

Thanks for the reply.

Will try both the brick in the litter box & a digging box straight away.

He does have quite a few toys which we try to change around & always enjoys a toilet roll middle stuffed with hay & goodies.

Could over-indulgence in treats also be a contributing factor i wonder? He does tend to be a bit spoilt & especially during bad weather he gets a fair bit of fruit & veg to compensate for lack of fresh grass.

Sigma Force

Doubt it's the diet some rabbits are just naughty lol.
Fruit as a treat though but plenty of veg at this time of year, Burgess do dry grass which rabbits love.

Some people give their rabbits old phone books to rip up, not sure how safe the ink is but rabbits love that kind of thing.

Rabbitandcavy

Ah ya your at the bunny brat stage, most bunnies go through this at that age. They can be destructive little buggers. Since he is neuteured, he should calm down in a month or two. Some bunnies are forever brats though. He sounds like a right little character, bless him

morganafay

My bunny did this all her life! She lived in an outdoor hutch and run with two guinea pigs, and would throw around anything I put in there, the bowl, toys, the ramp going into the run. So in the end I just had to take everything out, feed them on the ground and the guinea pigs had to hop in and out of the house! Just because I was scared she'd throw stuff and it would hurt the guinea pigs. I hope your guy grows out of it though.

LisaO

Well, put the brick in the litter tray before he came in yesterday - he was very curious about it - but at least this morning the tray was still the right way up, he had only been able to push it around a bit. Put him outside a little while ago & put a digging box in his run, which he is also very interested in & has already been doing a bit of digging - so far so good!

Yesterday evening I got my daughter to hide his veggies all around his cage, so he had to go & look for them - not sure who this is keeping more entertained, him or us :rolleyes:

Sigma Force

morganafay wrote: »

My bunny did this all her life! She lived in an outdoor hutch and run with two guinea pigs, and would throw around anything I put in there, the bowl, toys, the ramp going into the run. So in the end I just had to take everything out, feed them on the ground and the guinea pigs had to hop in and out of the house! Just because I was scared she'd throw stuff and it would hurt the guinea pigs. I hope your guy grows out of it though.

You should never house guinea pigs and rabbits together no exceptions.

Magenta

My rabbit has always done that... he's a brat! Fires his food bowl around and terrorizes the cats.

Odaise Gaelach

I gave my rabbit a phone book to rip to shreds. And she did indeed rip it to shreds, with great amusement too! Now she's taken to clawing at my duvet.

I think it's just your rabbit having a bit of fun. He sounds perfectly normal to me.

LisaO

Thanks for all the replies, it's reassuring to know he is a normal bunny! And thank you for the helpful hints. Hopefully we can make life happy & calm (for him & us)

chuck eastwood

When we had our rabbit spayed she crazy but it took her about a month to fully calm down, Much more chilled out now. she's sitting beide me at the fire now just flaked out. She will go through stages of turning her hutch inside out and dragging her litter tray trying to flip it but then thats just what they do.Gave her an Argos catalouge to chew on, does the job.yours it at the age now where she should soon become mature and hopefully callm down