Am I a good parent to my bun? I’m concerned.

[Petris_Mum]

Hello..

I need some advice and some honest opinions on how well I’m looking after my bun.

Me and my husband are concerned that we are not looking after him properly. He is six months old and we have had him since he was two months. He has his own bedroom in our two bedroom flat although he doesn’t get free reign in there all of the time. His ‘home’ when we are asleep is the Ferplast 120 cage. As soon as we wake up, we open this up into his own ‘run’ with places to hide, climb, scratch etc. Then for about an hour a day, one of us goes in the bedroom with him and lets him run around the whole room which he gets very excited about… binkies etc. Although he always ends up going back to his run/cage before we put him there. The bedroom is in the middle of the flat, so we are always walking past and can see him so he knows we are there…. but sometimes we can’t help but feel that he would be so much happier with a friend but there is no way we can get another bunny in our rented flat. Which begs the question… what can we do?!

Also, we are concerned that he is starting to pee in random places… is this just due to his sexual maturity? Me and my husband are quite sensitive and think its because he hates us haha! Silly I know! He went through a period of being really good, only peeing and pooping in his litter but now that’s changed. He eats and drinks well. Only give him Excel food and hay and fresh kale/parsley/spinach which he loves!

Is it normal for a bunny to be quite detached? Me and my husband have only ever grown up with dogs and cats, never rabbits. Obviously, dogs and cats are a bit more personable and come to you for smoothing, cuddles and rubs but Petri doesn’t seem to want any of this. If this is normal, then that is totally fine but if it’s not… again… makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong. I want to point out that he is never violent or aggressive, just wont sit still for more than a few seconds. My instincts tell me this is because he is a young bun and just wants to explore? but I could be wrong. Sometimes when I smooth his head softly and his back he sits there loafing for a bit, but the minute I stop, he’s gone.

I’m quite a paranoid bunny Mum because I just want to make sure I’m doing right by him. If that means he needs a friend and we can’t provide this… I don’t know what that will mean and it doesn’t bare thinking about… but at the end of the day, it’s what is best for HIM that I want which is why I need honesty from the experts.

I hope you can help. You all seem so knowledgeable and loving towards bunnies.

Thankyou

Leanne

[Deleted User]

Hi Leanne! Congrats! Your doing wonderfully (I think you are) – especially when I think back to when Henry was first bought home, (frazzled face). At that time the only thing Henry had going for him was that we loved and adored him soooo much we did our research (how I came upon and joined this site and am still here, lol), and ‘HE’ is now king of ‘our’ castle!
The only suggestion I would like to make, and may not be possible – a lot of bunnies don’t like to be held and cuddled (like mine – bugga!) but love to be in the mix of it – always. So we set Henry’s house up in our kitchen/dining room cause that is the room we are mostly in. Also, Henry is a free range bun, so if we move to another room, he can follow us. Don’t get me wrong, he won’t sit on our lap, but will lay under a chair in the lounge.
At the moment while I am on the computer (in the dining room), he is laying under the table, oops, now at my feet. We have had Henry for ‘forever’ (6 months, lol) and since we stopped trying to pick him up, he never runs away from us anymore, and lets us pat him. But everything is by his rules!
We had Henry neutered, only cause he sprayed us and the dogs on the bed – marking and saying he was boss. Since then his toilet habbits have been perfect, though I have heard there are no guarantee’s.
Your a great mum! Cheers….

[Roberta]

Hi Leanne, Sounds like you are doing well…. ALL BUNNIES ARE DIFFERENT… they have very distinct personalities although general habits and routines are comparable…. Such as sleeping all day and night and running around at dawn and dusk… They are excellent problem solvers.
If they are smoochers they will seek cuddles, if they are independent they will appreciate attention from a distance (Every bunny likes an audience)
At 6 months, yes, you may well see a change in behavior sort of like a 5 yr old suddenly turning 16. Neutering will fix that IF it happens.
As you become more acquainted with his habits as an adult and he gets familiar with yours you should be able to increase free range time (just be sure to bunny proof the cords, especially chargers of any kind) possibly look at allowing some hallway access once he is neutered and out of his teens.

[MoveDiagonally]

Welcome to BB!

The loss of litter habits could be because of sex hormones. It usually drives them to mark more and if you have a rabbit savvy vet and the means I would look into neutering him. One thing to keep in mind if you neuter is that for 4-6 weeks afterwards he might seem to “get worse” and show even more hormonal behavior. This is normal and temporary as his hormones level out

I don’t think rabbits need other bunny friends as much as they need companionship. If you can bunny proof a room you spend a lot of time in you could let him hang out with you. If you are on his level (the floor) this will also help him relax around you. A lot of bunnies dislike being held and cuddled but on their level and terms they really open up and seem to enjoy a lot more physical affection.

If you haven’t checked out this:
http://language.rabbitspeak.com/
It really helped me understand my rabbits better. Once you start learning his “language” it can be really eye opening. My husband used to make fun of me because as we were watching them (back when I only had two rabbits) I would point out stuff they were doing and what it meant.

To answer your question though, I think it sounds like you’re doing a great job!

[Kbana]

It sounds like your situation might be similar to mine in that you can’t give your bun as much space as you’d like. I have my bun in the basement since we have an aggressive dog upstairs. We have a living area in the basement that previously we didn’t spend much time in. If you can’t relocate your bun to another part of the house that is more active, perhaps you can turn his room into an “active” room. That is what I’ve done. Instead of watching my afternoon/evening shows or browsing on the net in the upstairs living room, I am in the basement living room. Sometimes this means my husband and I are on different levels of the house since someone still needs to pay attention to the dog, but we are trying to make the best of the situation for both animals. I spend between 3-6 hours down there every day depending on my schedule. I also make sure I sit in his pen with him throughout that time. Even if he just ignores me or flops by me, he knows I’m there. Maybe you could move a TV into your bun room? Or if you are reading or on the net do it in there instead?

[Petris_Mum]

Thanks a lot for you help and advice guys! Definitely re-assuring.

My husband is a composer so spends a lot of time at his desk writing music so we have decided to put his desk into Petri’s room. That way Petri can have more free range time with someone around.

We will defintley think about getting him neutered after Christmas.

Thinking and seeing his little fluffy head makes me so happy… I just want to make sure that I make him happy too

X

[Elrohwen]

He sounds like a normal bun!

The peeing is probably related to sexual maturity. Bunnies don’t pee out of their litterboxes because they are mad at us (though they may be annoyed by changes in their environment) so don’t worry about that.

The aloof personality is also totally normal. One of mine is like that, and it took about 6 months to get the time of day from him. He became a bit more affectionate then, until after bonding with my girl, and then he was aloof again. Now at 4 years old, I think he actually likes pets sometimes (though he’d never admit it). We’ve built up a good bond though and he will run over happily to see us, or jump on the couch with us, most due to a lot of time and patience (and treats!). We always keep a little dish of pellets out in the living room and he if comes over to interact, he gets a pellet or two. He’ll never be snuggly, but he likes us and is comfortable with us.

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