Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

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.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

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 My bunny is misbehaving?

Viewing 2 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • Noodle
      Participant
      5 posts Send Private Message

        I got Noodle about 3 weeks ago, when she was 11 weeks old. She has not been spayed. 

        In the past few days I’ve noticed that she chews on the bars of her cage hysterically when I go to bed. Although, I let her run around my room freely all day, which allows her to get in all the exercise she needs with lots of space to binky and run around. I make sure that there are lots of toys for her to play with (cardboard boxes, newspaper etc). I know that I’m not being a bad bunny parent and keeping her cooped up in her cage- because she’s out of her cage more than in her cage. I only put her there for when I sleep. 

        But when she does go in her cage, she chews the bars so much I can’t sleep. I have started using a water sprayer and spray a few drops of water on her when she chews the bars so she’ll stop. Does she listen? No. She seems to get more agitated and angry? I feel awful, I feel like I’m being cruel but I’m not?

        She also seems to hate being touched. She barely allows me or my boyfriend to touch her at all and runs from us most of the time. I can’t understand why she’s being so distant (although she’s never been a touchy bunny in any case, but now it’s worse). I don’t know if it could be the fact that I’m disciplining her when she chews the bars? Or is she experiencing hormonal changes, therefore resulting in behavioural problems? 

        I feel quite sad that Noodle’s personality has changed. She has never liked being cuddled, or touched in general. However, she was a lot less antisocial than what she is now. She would at least tolerate being petted. Now she hops away all the time, avoids both of us like the plague and doesn’t even sit with me much anymore. I am trying to understand why she has changed. 

        Could it be her hormone levels as she reaches sexual maturity? Is the water-spraying as discipline a bad idea? Is that making her mistrust me? Or is this just her personality? 


      • Muchelle
        Participant
        1141 posts Send Private Message

          Rabbits aren’t very acquanted with the idea of “punishment”, so it can very well be she’s not understanding why you’re being “mean” to her. The only way I have found effective to discipline my bun is to catch him in the act, use always the same vocalization with the same vocal tone ( a stern “NO”) and bump him with my fingers. If he’s already done doing his bad deed, it won’t work at all and he’ll be all moody at me. Also, 3 weeks are very few to completely trust you, so she might be feeling unsafe/insecure if she’s not understanding what this is all about…

          About bars chewing, there are a couple of relatively recent topics in this section with plenty of suggestions (is the cage big enough? have you tried covering the cage with a drape? Would it be possible to attach a pen to the cage or to keep her in a pen instead of the cage?). I have a boy so I am not expert with girls, but 11 weeks seems a bit early for teenage moodyness… I will leave this particular issue to those members that know more about it!


        • Hazel
          Participant
          2587 posts Send Private Message

            Muchelle is right. Rabbits don’t understand punishment. All it does is make your bun associate you with negative experiences, which could be part of why she is starting to avoid humans. You also have to consider that they are prey animals, which means that most rabbits hate being picked up, or even touched. When they are babies they don’t care as much, but once they start to grow up they begin to dislike it. This is something you can work on, with lots of time and patience so that she might at least let you pet her. Part of her behavior is likely caused by hormones, as you said. It sounds like you give her plenty of out of cage time, which is great. She should calm down once she gets spayed (of course that doesn’t help you sleep right now…). I had my pair in my bedroom at first, and had to move them to another room because they wouldn’t let me sleep, either. Is that an option for you? And I would definitely try what Muchelle suggested.

        Viewing 2 reply threads
        • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

        Forum BEHAVIOR My bunny is misbehaving?