Hi everyone,
I am at my wits end with my rex rabbit named Chester that I’ve had for 2 1/2 years. We adopted him as a baby and I’ve tried to be the best bunny parent I can be. I’ve educated myself on rabbits by reading books and articles. I had him fixed when he was of age to help with territorial issues, such as spray peeing, constant pooping, and aggressive behavior. He has always been a difficult rabbit with lots of destructive behaviors and he hates being touched or picked up. My husband has been making my life agonizing because he absolutely hates Chester and calls him the worst pet he’s ever had, and he said buying him was he worst decision he’s ever made. I’ve been rooting for Chester the whole time, and hoping I could teach him the way to behave because I’ve always wanted him to be able to be a happy rabbit with lots of freedom and love. We recently moved to a new apartment and we are expecting our first baby, and his behavior has been getting even worse. Its almost like he will never learn, and recently I’ve been crying because my husband is pushing to get rid of him, and while I love him, I’m getting very frustrated myself. We let him run free in our living room and he mostly uses his litterbox, and he has plenty of toys – a cottontail cottage, a wooden playground thing, straw baskets, wood tunnels, stuffed animals. Recently though all he wants to do is eat carpet, try to break in to the area we have fenced off, and rake his litterbox into the floor. We will yell at him no when he does something bad, and he will run off and then try to do it again a minute later. I try to always give him positive reinforcement when he chews his toys or does something good since I figure he is trying to just get attention by doing something bad. Every night he wants to be chased around, which is his favorite game, which is exhausting because all he does is run behind the couch, come out and then run back behind the couch. At night when we are tired laying on the couch, is when he does most of these behaviors. I think that he does these things to get my attention in an attempt to get me to chase him around, which he loves. I’m 25 weeks pregnant and always tired now and I just don’t have the energy to play with him like he wants. The other night he was chewing carpet and my husband took some rabbit spray and sprayed it on the spot he was chewing while yelling at him. Then out of spite, he got in his litterbox and lifted his butt off of the side and peed right on the carpet. My husband was livid and said he is so disrespectful and said he absolutely hates him. He has never done that before, and I know he knows better. My husband and all of my family has already started asking me what we are going to do with the rabbit when the baby comes, because they think it is unsanitary to have the baby crawling around with all the rabbit poop, and with him being so unfriendly. He is very skittish and runs almost always when you try to pet him. The only time he jumps on the couch with us is when he wants a treat. Then he jumps down and eats it. I am at my wits end and all I do is cry bc of him and the pressure I’m feeling from my husband. When he does something bad I basically get yelled at because of it. We have a new bookcase that cost $3000,(which is the only new furniture that we have), that I always cover up with a blanket to keep Chester from chewing it. Well last night he pulled the blanket off and chewed all over it. I woke up this morning and saw what he did and just cried and said, “why won’t you behave?” “Why can’t you just be good?” I feel like I’ve given him everything I could possibly give him and he just doesn’t cooperate. My husband wants to put him in the garage which is kind of cold but I’m so worn out that I’m actually considering it. I just can’t get him to live peacefully in our environment. I feel so guilty also for putting him down there at night by himself because I know he likes being around us. I will also have to lug all of his toys up and down the stairs during the night/day, and am not looking forward to it. I have always took 100% care of him because my husband refuses because he hates him that much. I hate giving my all to an animal that will never appreciate or learn, no matter how hard I try. I’m just feeling so worn down and hopeless. What should I do?