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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

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.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR Help! My Mini Lop Hates Us!!!!!

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    • NewBunDad
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        In March, my wife and I adopted a Mini Lop bun. We named him Benny (as in Benny and the Jets. It was the first song that played in the car on our way home from the shelter.). Before we met, my wife had previously owned a bun. So we still had all of the necessary items to care for a bunny. I felt his cage was too small for him (it wasn’t, I just wanted to build something for him), so I went to Ikea and bought two cabinets, laid them on their sides, attached them to each other and after a few screws and some wire, Benny had a beautiful two-story, mobile (I put casters on it for ease of movement) condo. Benny is a very stubborn bun. He always tries to bonk us out of the way when we sit in his run with him. He gladly takes treats from us, but absolutely refuses to let us pet him, groom him, or check him. Every 2-3 weeks or so we take Benny and his new sister, June-Bug (a Flemish giant) to get their nails trimmed at the local pet store and every week, we do a massive cleaning of both cages. Getting him into his travel case is a nightmare. We have to move him and his sister to a different room to clean because they bother hate the sound of the vacuum cleaner. He won’t let us pick him up and has become a master at getting away from us when we try to block him from getting around us. We have always been and always will be extremely gentle with him. Benny is neutered but June Bug is not, so we have to keep them separated until June Bug gets spayed in September when we plan on trying to bond them. We try to spend equal time with each bun. June Bug is a typical, silly bun. She loves pettin’s, treats, playtime, etc. which is why we are concerned so much about Benny. He isn’t kept in his cage all day. Typically, both buns are in their cages at night and allowed to roam in and out of their cages into their runs during the day. So it’s not like he’s not getting exercise or being left alone all day. June Bug is allowed to roam around the living room and dining room while we are watching her, but we can’t do the same with Benny. He’ll climb on the couch and poop everywhere and then hop onto the end table and knock things over and then run behind the couch and not want to come out. Then, at the end of the night, no matter how much we would bribe or coax him with treats, he wouldn’t go into his cage. So, Benny is relegated to his cage and run, and that’s about it. We change his toys every two weeks or so. If he clearly loves a toy, we leave it in longer. He loves burrowing so I made a cardboard box into a burrow pit filled with toilet paper. But he rarely uses it.

        Sorry if that was too jumbled, I’m typing this at work and trying to get as much info out in as little time as possible.

        Basically, my wife and I just want our Benny to binky, flop, and live a happy-bun life as a member of our family but are struggling to help him! So, any advice, stories, etc would be more than appreciated!


      • Kokaneeandkahlua
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          Welcome! It sounds like they have a really great set up!

          I wonder about target training him-do you understand clicker training? Basically you make a target (or you can buy a click-target) -could be a colored piece of cardboard or whatever, and you teach him to touch it. To start you’d put a treat on the target and click when he takes the treat because he’s essentially ‘targeting’ (aka touching) the target. Move to getting him to touch the target on his own, click then treat. Then increase the difficulty-maybe he has to take one step to touch it, then two etc. You get the idea. Once he realizes what you want (him to touch the target) you got yourself a lure and a willingness to learn. You can then use your target to get him to go in and out of his cage, (remembering that the treat he gets for going in his cage to touch the target must be better than the staying out-or else you’ll extinguish the new behaviour -so maybe he gets a treat, veggies and dinner for touching the target and going in his cage)-and you can use the target to get him in his crate.
          once you start training, not only can you use it to help them cope with normal things like going home at night and to the vet, but they become more confident, want to learn etc.

          It’s the only thing I can think of trying with your more aloof bunny Benny! I’m sure it will work, but will take some patience!

          Here’s a bit more info for you http://www.clickertraining.com/node/289 http://www.clickertraining.com/how-to-teach-your-pet-to-target


        • NewBunDad
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            Kokaneeandkahlua:

            I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before! We’ll try it and see how he does! Hopefully, I can give you a positive update soon!

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        Forum BEHAVIOR Help! My Mini Lop Hates Us!!!!!