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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR good bunnies vs. 3lb Angel from hell

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    • missmissi
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        Ophelia is 6.5 months old.

        She was spayed 4 weeks ago, Dec. 9th.

        She has a big indoor run, a huge outdoor run and supervised playtime in our living room.

        A plethora, I think, of hard and soft textured chews and toys including cardboard and wood.

        She has multiple feed options available, timothy and alfalfa both: cubes, loose hay, hay stacks, pellets.

        Fresh veg every day. Other treats too. And Ozarka water because I drink it and it’s not like she needs a lot; she also drinks more because of it.

        I use spray chew deterrents on every surface in the room, and water spray bottle correction when appropriate. Plus, baby gates etc to keep her out of dangerous places.

        Despite these efforts she looks for the tiniest spot where the deterrent is not as strong, and go to work on walls, furniture etc.

        She’s marking a particular area. I placed litter boxes there. So she marks on the floor in front of the boxes. Gees!

        **** How do some of you get these well behaved companions that do not try to destroy your homes?****

             > Is it anything to do with particular breeds? She’s Dutch-Havana mix.

             > Or am I simply doing this wrong too? 


      • Bam
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          You are not doing anything wrong from what I can see in your post.

          4 weeks after a spay a bunny is often “worse” behavior-vise than she was before tjhe spay, she’s in kind of a hormonal storm right now. This will get better with time. Age will also mellow her.

          That said, some buns are destructo buns. Those have to be blocked from access to stuff you want to keep in one piece. I have one buns who is the perfect house-bunny, and one who will eat holes in my bed-sheets and in any clothing item he manages to reach. (He has gotten better with age though, he’s 3 now). I haven’t treated them differently, it’s just their personalities.

          Personality has lots to do with it, bunnies aren’t bred for their personalities so that’s not sth a breeder takes into account. Breed might matter, f ex lops are said to be lazy and laid-back and docile compared to f ex Tans or Belgian Hare’s, but we’ve had at least one lop here who is a terribly naughty bun (but so beautiful and charming!!!!), so I don’t think you can generalize.

          If you can get apple twigs and small apple-branches that are pesticide-free, your bun might like to gnaw the bark off those. My buns like that a lot, and it’s healthy for them too. Willow is good too.


        • missmissi
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            I picked up a willow bundle yesterday, she spent a fair amount of time on it, mostly just chewed the grass ties holding the bundles together I got a grass nest n chew basket too, she went after the furniture and rugs a bit less, there’s something to be said to that I’m sure.
            Didn’t poop as much along that wall she’s been marking, with pee and poop either.
            Started looking online last night if I can order twigs and branches, we don’t have that kind of thing around here 🙁
            Thank you. Just want you to know that I’m paying attention!


          • Philomena
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              Philomena has never been very destructive but she does have the worst habit of peeing right in front of her litter box. I have tried everything to fix that issue… Its at the point now where I just put a puppy pad underneath with a towel over top of it. Then the little snot decided to pee next to the puppy pad… But I still love her bunches!

              Anyways, if the marking with urine thing doesn’t go away I recommend the puppy pad. Just be careful not to let your bunny eat it.


            • vanessa
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                I also have a really good house bunny, an “I will chew through every power chord” bunny who I don’t give free reign to, and a pair of destructo bunies who don’t get free reign or even outside-bedroom time. I regularly swap out their toys, tunnels, cardboard boxes, chew sticks (branches), willow balls, sea grass mats, lava rocks, sisal scratch pads, sand dig boxes, you name it. They are destructive… They will chew, dig, tear up, and consume, just about anything. All I can do is restrict their access to things I don’t want destroyed, and keep swapping their toys out so they are entertained and happy. I’d give it some more time for the hormones to wear off, and then get ready to see what kind of bunny you have… 😉


              • missmissi
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                  Philomena is so beautiful, she could get away with anything, irresistible. Thanks for your feedback.


                • Philomena
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                    Thank you! She appreciates the complement! She is able to get away with anything… She knows how to manipulate me with those big doe eyes. ^_^


                  • missmissi
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                      Posted By vanessa on 1/14/2016 9:30 PM

                      I also have a really good house bunny, an “I will chew through every power chord” bunny who I don’t give free reign to, and a pair of destructo bunies who don’t get free reign or even outside-bedroom time. I regularly swap out their toys, tunnels, cardboard boxes, chew sticks (branches), willow balls, sea grass mats, lava rocks, sisal scratch pads, sand dig boxes, you name it. They are destructive… They will chew, dig, tear up, and consume, just about anything. All I can do is restrict their access to things I don’t want destroyed, and keep swapping their toys out so they are entertained and happy. I’d give it some more time for the hormones to wear off, and then get ready to see what kind of bunny you have… 😉

                      Vanessa, what is your relationship like with the 3 that can’t be trusted? If I can’t have Ophelia out of her habitat, I’m afraid I won’t be able to see her much. Sitting on this hard floor is uncomfortable, I’m fenced off from my husband, well behaved dog and cat. When I’m here on the floor, as I am now, she’s hiding in her maze. She went in the fuzzy tunnel I brought with me, I gave her a piece of parsley, she ate it, then went back to her maze. Do I take most of her hiding toys out of her run? I’ll see if it does anything for me today. Thx


                    • vanessa
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                        My relationship with those 3 are each different. Guin – she is super snuggly, loves to be petted, runs up to me for attention, nips on my feet for petting, she woudl love to be my lap bunny. I considered agian today – whether I should teach her how to use the bunny flap so she coan leave the room and play in the back half of the house with Lancelot, but she gets over-exited and cant decide if she wants to eat, groom him, or nip him. So he gets anxious and pees on the spot. I can’t have that in the two back bedrooms. I spend about 2 hours with the bunnies a day, and she and I have just the same snuggly relationship that Lancelot and I have. The other pair are a different story. Morgana has always been skittish, and isn’t snuggly with me at all. I can pet her for a few seconds at a time. She doens’t flatten like the others do, she sits hunched while I pet her. But she does dance around my feet at feeding time. Her pal Avalon does flatten when I pet him, but those two are bonded only to eachother and not to me. They recognixe me as care taker, and hide when they see strangers, so they do see a difference between me and others, but they aren’t snuggly with me. I don’t believe it has anything to do with letting them out of the room. Morgana is just shy/skittish, and I doubt I woudl be able to change that. I attribute Guin’s trust with the time I spent bonding with Lancelot. I picked her up, handled her, a lot during those 3 months. I’m sure that if I were to handle Avaon in that manner, he woudl also learn to trust me and be super snuggly. I dont’ know what it would take for Morgana. So I honestly believe that the stress of bonding the bunnies – also stressed them to bond with me. I didn’t bond Avalon and Morgana like that. I just her i his enclosure and called it a day. 

                        Bring a cushion in with you? The only thing (aside from stress and handling) that has had some impact on Morgana and Avalon, is feeding them twice a day. They have uinlimited hay, but they get pelets and veggies twice a day. Sometimes veggies 3 times a day. So they learn to rely on me for food. That is a good start. I recommend you do this with your bunny. They act like starving little orphans when I come in at feeding time, But they get their recommended amount of pellets per body weight. 

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                    Forum BEHAVIOR good bunnies vs. 3lb Angel from hell