HELP

[Blue Quinn]

I have a Holland Lop buck who is in his “destructive phase”. He lives in a cage in my room and is constantly chewing on the bars and scratching at them throughout the night. He keeps me awake almost every night and mostly on school nights. There have been many times where the only time he would stop is if I went over to his cage so I would have to make a bed on the floor by his cage and sleep on the floor. Is there any way I can help this behavior? How long until he grows out of it? Will he? If not, I’ll have to get rid of him and I really don’t want to do that but I have to take care of myself first.

[LittlePuffyTail]

How old is he and is he neutered?

[Mikey]

He lives in the cage? How many hours is he allowed out of the cage to free roam the room/the home/a designated pen specifically for him? if youre keeping him in a cage 24/7, he needs to be let out to burn off his energy and live a healthy life

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Blue Quinn on 12/01/2016 6:17 PM

I have a Holland Lop buck who is in his “destructive phase”. He lives in a cage in my room and is constantly chewing on the bars and scratching at them throughout the night. He keeps me awake almost every night and mostly on school nights. There have been many times where the only time he would stop is if I went over to his cage so I would have to make a bed on the floor by his cage and sleep on the floor. Is there any way I can help this behavior? How long until he grows out of it? Will he? If not, I’ll have to get rid of him and I really don’t want to do that but I have to take care of myself first.

He lives in the cage? 24/7?

[SeeShmemilyPlay]

Whenever my bun chews on the cage, it means she wants out.  This happens at 11 pm, 3 am, 6 am, you name it.  Not super often, as I let them out for several hours every day, but every once in a while I’ll wake up to that bar chewing.  I stop it by quickly bunny proofing the room (putting all the computer/phone cords in my closet) and just letting her out, going back to sleep, and just putting her back when I need to leave in the morning.  This has always happened, even when she hasn’t been in her destructive phase.  I don’t think it’s something your bun will ever grow out of doing (although, can’t be sure, I’m not a pro), but the best solution is to bun proof your room or make it easily bun-proof and let your bun out whenever they start bar chewing.  And, like other people are saying, make sure your buns are getting out of the cage a lot every day.

[Blue Quinn]

No, not 24/7. I let him out for about 3 hours a day to roam around my room (which I have bunny proofed) but it seems like his energy level is still way too high.

[Blue Quinn]

I let him out several times each day to roam around my room but he’s most active at night and I can’t let him out overnight.

[Mikey]

He needs more time out of his cage or he needs a bigger area that hes allowed to roam in. Can you attach an xpen to his cage so he can roam around more often?

[Blue Quinn]

He’s still young like maybe 4 months. And no he is not neutered. I don’t think I have the money to get him neutered and the vet in my town doesn’t deal with rabbits, only dogs and cats.

[Blue Quinn]

What’s an xpen?

[Mikey]

https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/114521/Default.aspx
Bunny xpen habitats used/made by users here

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Blue Quinn on 12/07/2016 10:48 PM

He’s still young like maybe 4 months. And no he is not neutered. I don’t think I have the money to get him neutered and the vet in my town doesn’t deal with rabbits, only dogs and cats.

You need to find a vet that deals with rabbits incase your bun ever gets sick. 

It’s natural that he would want to be out of his cage – 3 hours a day really isn’t enough, that means he’s confined to a cage for 21 hours every day. No wonder he chews his cage bars, he wants to be out! You really need to AT LEAST get a pen for him so he can have more space for those 21 hours that he’s locked away. You don’t need to ‘get rid of him’ You simply need to provide space and enrichment for him. Sorry if this sounds harsh but it makes me a little angry to think you’d get rid of him because he isn’t happy to be cooped up for so long.  

[SeeShmemilyPlay]

An x-pen is a great idea for your bun! And sarahthegemini is right, 3 hours isn’t enough. When you’re home and doing homework or something and in the morning when you’re getting ready for school have him out. He doesn’t need to be free range or anything, but bar chewing means he needs room to jump and stuff.

[VivaLaBunz]

The best thing you can do is help relieve his energy by purchasing an exercise pen and setting it up in front of his cage so he has a little more room to explore. Also get a cheaper area rug or put something down to protect the flooring in the pen from urine. Then look into getting him neutered, otherwise the problems will only persist and possibly worsen.

The behavior he is showing is normal, especially for a young, unaltered, and under-stimulated rabbit. Unfortunately most people who get a rabbit don’t realize that their rabbit is much happier, healthier and easier to live with if it is spayed/neutered – which isn’t a cheap procedure. They become territorial and possibly aggressive, and they spray urine (males) and leave poops to mark territory if they are not neutered or spayed. They are much more likely to be litter trained after they are spayed/neutered, and a lot of their “annoying” behaviors may go away.

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