Help – my rabbits are giving me stress!

[kathybunny]

Brief:

got a mini-rex buck (currently a little over 3 mo), decided he needed a companion, got a jersey wooly doe (4 months or so).  Was going to get them both fixed and house together in a big condo cage.  all was good – buck starting to get after her all the time, driving her nuts.  I have to separate them as much as possible.

Both are getting fixed Tuesday.  

I try to give them as much time out of the cage to play and exercise as possible in my living room.  buffy (female) is just horrible digging at the carpet.  She drives me insane.  Always after her for digging.  Now she’s in her cage digging and chewing on the plastic tray in the cage.  The vet said chances are he is not able to get her pregnant yet, just has the urges.  

It’s actually her who is driving me batty, He is not bad.  he is good when he comes out to play.

If I find her a home, will he be ok on his own?  

Do you think fixing them both might help?  are they just going thru a teenager stage?  I don’t know what to do.

[kirstyol]

If he is three months old he quite possibly could get her pregnant to be honest, I would be keeping them apart until at least 4-6 weeks after they are both fixed.

Digging is natural for a rabbit, you just have to try and encourage them to dig things they are allowed to dig, and not your carpet. Is there something you could use to cover the carpet when she is out? We have laminate flooring in the hall where Brambles pen is so we bought a big pet blanket which he seems to like, he always bunches up one corner by digging it but leaves the rest alone and doesn’t damage anything.

[kathybunny]

thank you – if she gets fixed tuesday, that will terminate babies.

I am getting another cage today. I have them apart right now. I’m contemplating giving buffy away but I’m hoping the spay helps her behaviour. I am not sure if it will help that or not. I can’t really cover all of the carpet. Maybe what I need to do is get something I can put in the kitchen on the laminate where they could play in there and not ruin stuff. We are picking up new wood end tables and I fear she will chew them and my husband will have a fit. They don’t like the kitchen b/c it’s slick. Maybe another rug so they can have a space not to slide around.

[gingerg]

Kathy, I think your pregnancy problem is going to be solved on Tuesday. I had my pair fixed in August. I kept them apart for an additional week after they were fixed, because I didn’t want to risk them possibly going at each other (because they were still hormonal), and possibly ripping their stitches. I then started re-introducing them to each other (my vet said this was fine because my girl has no uterus so she literally could not get pregnant, even though the boy still had active sperm for a few weeks), in little bits where I carefully watched them for any signs of aggression, and they had no serious incidents, so after a few days I could put them back in the same cage together.

Since their re-introduction after the fix, my boy has stopped pestering my girl. He seems perfectly happy to live with her without trying to mate. My girl humped his face just a few times, so that he was sure he knew she was the boss, and that seems to be the end of it. They’re very happy little buns.

The digging problem, however, is not, I think, hormonal. I’m fortunate that I don’t have that problem (my buns do try to chew the furniture, but I’m having some success with bitter apple spray and making loud noises when I catch them). I don’t think you need to get rid of the girl, necessarily, though. Many people on the forum have had digging trouble, so I might make a re-post on behavior that expressly states that you’re having stress because your girl is tearing up the carpet, and see what strategies other folks have used successfully.

[kathybunny]

I would not have thought of putting them together that soon, lol! but yes, duh! if they are both fixed, he can’t impregnate her. I just got a separate small cage for recovery.

I think I need to try hard to work on litter box training at that point as well. They do not use it, they think the entire bottom level of the cage where the bedding is is their box. I am sure they are peeing on my carpet. today they are in my kitchen. I have 2 rugs so the whole floor isn’t slick.

I squirt Buffy with water when she digs, she knows the bottle but she just moves to a new spot. I need a big dig box I think. I feel like she’ll just still dig everywhere but I’ll read more on that. I get so stressed with her!

[JackRabbit]

I would not put them together a week after spay/neuter. Just because she can no longer get pregnant doesn’t mean their hormones can’t still cause problems. It really is best to wait a few weeks (ideally 4 to 6 weeks). Additionally, at one week post spay, she is still healing and a fight or bite during a possible face hump attempt (which should always be stopped) could cause serious damage.

With litterbox training, if you have litter covering the entire cage floor, they have no way to tell the difference between litterbox and not a litterbox. Just as pee and poop belong only belong in the litterbox, litter only belongs in the litterbox. Marking pee and poop, however, may still happen until they are fully bonded (don’t feel the need to mark against each other) and fully settled in their “territory”. Even after that, stray poops are going to happen.

Bunnies have a natural digging instinct. Some bunnies dig alot and some rarely dig. Moshi has a need to dig in the litterboxes — our solution? Litterboxes with taller sides so he doesn’t fling litter out of the litterbox. We have fleece covering the floor (vinyl plank flooring) in their area, and he occasionally digs in certain spots. I’ve placed cooling tiles, a large river rock, or hay mats on top of those spots and he’s fine.

[kathybunny]

Jackrabbit – yes, I’m going to separate them for a week at least. It works out kind of good b/c we are leaving for a week Friday (appt is tomorrow) so they will be at my bunny sitter in separate cages. She’s who I got Buffy from so she is a trusted sitter so soon after surgery.

I think Buffy’s hormones might be doing something b/c she got quite upset with me this morning when I went to get her out to play. She was growling and even put her paws up I felt bad. I had to get her out of the cage (usually I let them out on their own will) because I was moving her to a different room to play. I don’t think she has ever growled before.

I guess when I put them back in the big cage I will not put bedding on the entire bottom. I’ll just put the boxes in and a towel or something.

[MoveDiagonally]

Hormones take 4-6 weeks to dissipate after a bunny is spayed/neutered. If hormones are causing issues than I would keep them separated for at least 4 weeks before re-introducing them. I would re-introduce slowly as they may not recognize each other (they smell different to each other after altering) and need to be re-bonded entirely.

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