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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum BEHAVIOR Terrible Teenager….help!

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    • Piggle
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        Hi all

        My lovely 6month old dutch (hercules) has reached that dreaded age! and is so disruptive- digging out the carpet, eating through anything left lying around….and trying to make our lovely sofas his new litter tray….

        I realise he’s at the point of being altered, but there’s been no sexual behaviour so our vet has told us to hold out for that before we book him in for an appointment…(Does this sound right to you?).

        So in the mean time, we’re left with a naughty bun who responding to positive reinforcement, and is ignoring our boredom busters we’ve tried to make for him.

        Any ideas? we’re all out and will have a very unhappy landlord soon….eeeek!


      • Piggle
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          Sorry, typo- he ISN’T responding to positive reinforcement.


        • bunnyfriend
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            Hi

            Definitely sounds like Hercules has reached that age! I feel your pain Normally it’s suggested to have a male neutered anywhere from 4-6 months. Have you already confirmed that the vet is a rabbit savvy vet? Here is a great page from the House Rabbit Society on how to determine if a vet is rabbit savvy and key information on neutering/spaying in general: http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/spay-neuter.html 

            From my experience, I think that most people wait until either their bunny is at an age they’re comfortable with have the surgery done at, when the rabbit’s behavior (not only sexual) changes, when they have the funds, or just when the time is right but usually I don’t hear of vets putting off the surgery until specifically sexual behavior is shown. My advice would be to have the surgery done when you feel that he’s ready for it, so if you’re struggling with a terrible teenager then I’d say go ahead with it

            As far as dealing with the destructiveness in the meantime I would suggest limiting him space wise. Of course, he needs enough space to get proper exercise but blocking him off from certain areas might help. Teenage rabbits can be impossible to curb from certain behaviors (like using the litter box), so right now he may not be very trustable   What kind of cage set up do you have? Do you have anything you could use to block him off with (xpen, baby gate, ect.)? Since he’s a digger, have you tried putting shredding paper in a box or giving him an old phonebook? 

            Some rabbits will always pee on soft areas or things that smell strongly like humans such as couches and clothing. When the hormones kick in a lot of rabbits forget their litter box habits, so this behavior may stop after the hormones die off (about a month after surgery). There is no guarantee that the neuter will change his behavior but I can tell you that spaying my rabbit did make a huge difference for me. 


          • Sarita
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              Well, I don’t see that there is any reason to hold out neutering when his testicles have dropped – so the sooner the better. Book that appointment :~)

              Neutering and age will eventually mellow him out.


            • Piggle
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                Thank you for your help! I’ll definitely look into getting him neutered again- and will be a bit firmer with the vet this time around. Hercules is my first rabbit so I didn’t know whether waiting for sexual behaviour was the norm & didn’t question her.

                Thanks for the link from the HRS, bunnyfriend! I’ll be asking those questions for sure- that’s such a useful site, I can’t believe I’ve not heard of it sooner!

                He has his own room at the moment (well, sort of, it’s also my study, but I only have claim to a small corner of it where my desk is, the rest of the room is his!) and he had a large cage in there (although we don’t lock him up in it) and a litter tray- which he’s really good at using in that room; he eats and sleeps in his cage and leaves to go to the toilet in his litter tray which is outside the cage.

                He’s only allowed in the lounge when we’re in there, which is when the battle for the sofa territory begins!- the rest of the time the door to it is shut and he only has access to ‘his’ room and our hallway.

                I could limit him to just his room perhaps, but it’s quite a small area- and that’s where the digging of the carpet has taken place and I’m anxious that would pick up even more if he felt trapped in there. I’d also be a bit reluctant to lock him in his cage as, although it’s not small, it’s not overly large either and I’d be worried he’d come to see it as a prison?

                We’ve tried the shredded paper in a box and he just goes and investigates and then ignores it haha, but not the phone book- so I’ll be sure to try that out! Thanks for the tip- he loves shredding our books and magazines, so I’m sure he’ll take to the phonebook


              • Deleted User
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                  I feel you! My girl has been trying to hump the cat nonstop. I agree with Bunnyfriend. Find a rabbit savvy vet! We’re currently on the search for one where we live and are waiting for the right vet before getting our bun fixed. We don’t want to put her into the wrong hands. She has been getting into a lot of trouble and trying to munch on things she’s not supposed to. I’ve diverted her with chew toys and new play games. We have the MiniHaven that you can get from B.B. I flipped it so it’s upside down and filled it with shredded newspaper and blanketed the top of it with an unfolded piece. Skipper loved this and spent a good amount of time playing in it. Also, when she starts to chew on things she’s not supposed to I’ll take a chew ring and shove it in front of her mouth. She’ll get upset and try and rip it out of my grip and throw it to the side. However, after much insisting she gave up realizing that chew was too much of a hassle. Another thing I did (which was stolen off of a member from here) I took an old cereal box and cut two big squares in it and stuffed it with hay. I hid treat pieces throughout the hay and placed one piece into the hay in front of Skipper so she knew what I had done. That kept her occupied for a while too. I hope this kind of helps with cutting down on the destructiveness.


                • Piggle
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                    Ah I’d so love to get the MiniHaven- and tonnes of other things from the store- but I’m in the UK and they can’t ship here. It sucks as I’ve not seen anything similar available over here (so if anyone knows of any where that I can get one, please let me know!). Failing that, I’ve got some friends in NC so we might have to ask them for a favour!

                    Does anyone else get the temper-tantrum-head-sake? If we tell him ‘no’ or take away something from he’s enjoying, he runs away slowly shaking his head- which I find far too cute to stay annoyed at him!


                  • Deleted User
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                      My bun does a version of that. She fwaps her feet and she bounces away from us in disapproval. She’s not a very vocal bun. (The only real noise she makes is her teeth purs.) So the feet fwaps are a sign of great disapproval from her. =p


                    • bunnyfriend
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                        Posted By Piggle on 07/16/2012 01:29 PM

                        I could limit him to just his room perhaps, but it’s quite a small area- and that’s where the digging of the carpet has taken place and I’m anxious that would pick up even more if he felt trapped in there. I’d also be a bit reluctant to lock him in his cage as, although it’s not small, it’s not overly large either and I’d be worried he’d come to see it as a prison? 

                        Ah I see what you mean! It does sound like the carpet digging/chewing maybe an anxiety or his way of trying to make it clear that he wants to be out. It definitely makes it more difficult if he’s doing it when you’re not around to stop it. And I agree that limiting him to just his cage would probably make him see it as a negative thing and he needs room to run around. Hmm, if there was a way to allow him to be in the lounge but block or prevent him from getting on the couch maybe that would be a good solution. Does he ever chew the carpet in the lounge at all? I did a search here on Binky Bunny for previous threads on carpet chewing and founds these that might be helpful to read (sorry if they aren’t!): https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tab…fault.aspx 

                        or 

                        https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tab…fault.aspx

                        If you find that your bunny likes to destroy phonebooks another option would be to give him cardboard boxes. My rabbits spend a great deal of time “redecorating” the cardboard boxes, especially loudly at 3 in the morning 


                      • tanlover14
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                          I can’t help but giggle. One of my buns has been neutered for a month — and he’s a bigger terror now than when we got him (4 months now 5.) My other boy has been neutered for a few weeks and his bratty behavior has NOT stopped in the least. LOL. I’m almost convinced it’s gotten worse since when I yell at him for tearing at the carpet he just gives me this bratty bunny look like “do you really think you getting an attitude is going to make me stop?” and then goes back to digging. We’ve had quite a few dominance battles to say the least.

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                      Forum BEHAVIOR Terrible Teenager….help!