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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.

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Forum BEHAVIOR Good way to teach a rabbit “No”

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    • ChesnutKC
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        Hey everyone!

        I’ve had March for a little over a year now (wow it’s been that long??) so she’s about a year and a half. and she is a very fun, curious, and happy bunny. But she seems to enjoy getting into a trouble. Of course, this is probably just her personality, but when she’s doing something she knows she’s not supposed to; (tearing up carpet, knocking things over, throwing things around) I try to put my hand in front of her face so she stops, but then she goes right back to doing what she was doing. I’ve tried making loud noises to get her to stop, and redirecting her, but she just doesn’t want to listen to authority I guess. Any suggestions? What works with your rabbit?


      • HerculesandMolasses
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          I push my rabbits bum until he gets mad and runs away


        • Stickerbunny
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            Powder: A thump, clap or simply saying no in a “tone” that means stop.

            Stickers: …. uh, erm, uh. Nothing? lol She’s a little rabbitude filled monster and if I look at her she’ll stop until I turn away again. Nothing works for long.


          • cinnybun2015
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              I need this, too… Chomondeley has been nipping at me (I don’t think he means it sometimes.) But occasionally, and more often now, he’ll purposefully nip my hands or my toes when I get in his X-pen, and yet seems sad to see me step out. I’ve tried clapping and yelping, and that only stops him for a little bit…


            • KatieP
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                For pain related things (nip etc) I “eeek!” In a really high pitched voice. The message is clear “that hurts!”
                If he’s doing something I don’t want (like chewing/digging on something etc) I say “psssshhhh no!” (and sometimes combine that with a clap).


              • Mimsy
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                  Willow is naughty too and doesn’t really care about our yelps, no’s or claps. She only nips when she wants fresh vegies, so well..she trained us to just go get some leafy stuff for her…so bad

                  other things like chewing on stuff she isn’t supposed to, I tickle her hips till she binkies away. If she is being persistent anyways I pick her up and snuggle her a minute. She’s not a bun who fully panics over being picked up, but she hates it enough to usually stop doing whatever it is she is doing that makes getting picked up happen.


                • ArvadaLanee
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                    Maybe you could try a can of change. Idk if it works for bunnies, but it works great on my cats! If I see them doing something bad, I shake the change jar and the noise scares the heck out of them. My bunny has a guilty conscience, so she thumps once whenever she’s about to do something wrong. Then I just have to say her name in a certain tone, and she knows she’s busted. It doesn’t stop her from trying again, though. If she is in a particularly naughty mood, and I have to keep saying her name in the “bad” tone, sometimes she will just go back in her cage, and I close the door and give her a time out. Sometimes, I think she is naughty because she’s bored, so I will get down on the floor and practice her tricks with her for a while. I haven’t found any way to make her actually stop getting into trouble. It must just be a bunny thing.


                  • Dymii
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                      Whenever Sprinkles does something “bad” I tell him No and Don’t do that. If he’s got at the carpet or something I lightly push his forehead down (dominant bunny) and then put a piece of cardboard over top of the spot he was chewing. He usually either goes after the cardboard or runs off.


                    • Beka27
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                        What worked for my girl was allowing her time to age 8 years. Now she’s pretty well behaved. Lol…

                        But seriously, distraction trends to works better than just verbal reprimands. Give her a toy or a paper to chew on. I probably wouldn’t give a treat or food though if you are wanting to stop a behavior!


                      • LBJ10
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                          I agree with Beka. Redirection is best. Or blocking off the “naughty” spot for awhile until they “forget” about it. Sometimes if Leopold is being VERY persistent, I will give him a little time out. It fits in with the redirection thing. Remove him from the situation for a little bit.


                        • Love4Bunny
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                            I clap/ click my fingers and my bunnies shake their heads like horses, in retaliation, sometimes doing a 180 degree turn because they got busted. This means they know I don’t like it. They sometimes persist so I walk over and one of two things will happen: they will run, or I will gently move them out of the way by goading their bums, and they get the idea. I then give them willow sticks or wedge cardboard in the spots they like to chew. They are so smart.


                          • Paradigm
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                              Mr Roger was pretty sensitive to loud “no”s, claps, etc.

                              My current trio are largely unphased. We block off areas, cover things up and contain them when we can’t supervise them.

                              We’ve currently got a serious cage rattling problem. Charlie has worked out how to lift up the panels of the pen to about 10cm high and then repeatedly drops them onto our hard floor. I’m thinking of getting foam pieces to muffle the sound so the poor people downstairs don’t have to suffer. We’ve also got some carpet chewing where we dropped some condensed milk once.

                              These problems have got to the point where we’re spraying water at them. We’ve put it off until now, because it seems mean. It is working, though. (Make sure the spray bottle hasn’t been used for chemicals.)

                              We’re only using the spray for those two problems, not any of their other shenanigans. Too many things and the rabbit won’t be able to associate the behaviour with the response. For cage banging, we’re combining with putting small amounts of fresh hay into their cage (fresh from the bag is much more enticing than stuff that’s been sitting around, lol).

                              We’re also not intending to use the spray for things that may be confusing for the rabbit – for example, if you give your rabbit paper/a cardboard box and then they chew your paper, it will send a mixed message.

                              Best of luck.

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                          Forum BEHAVIOR Good way to teach a rabbit “No”