Help with everyday bunny behaviour!

[Rosie]

Hey!
I’m new to this forum so I’m hoping that someone might be able to help me with general day to day life with having a bunny.
I got my bunny ‘Tinks’ in September so we have had her for a good few months now. She is about 5 months old and is a mini lop.
I need some advice with a few things if any one has the time to listen and help
I’m really struggling to litter train her, I know I’ve read that until I get her spayed I don’t have much luck… I completely get that and im going to book her in the vets as soon as she is old enough to have it done. She used to be really good but recently she’s got worse (I’m not sure if it’s because she is wanting to be sexually active) but she will poop just outside of her litter tray and in the last week or so she has started to ‘burrow’ in her litter tray and dig it all out so it’s everywhere!
I’m hoping this will pass once I get her spayed but if anyone has any tips that would be great!
She has a fairly large cage (2 floors) with a secret hidden room to sleep. But she will never go in there! When I first got her I would put a fleece blanket in the hidden room for her to sleep in, but she started pulling it out and would drag it out into the rest of her cage which is filled with sawdust… As you can imagine it’s very messy! She is in the garage in her cage and comes into the house every night to have a run around but recently I’ve had to stop this and instead let her run around in the garage due to her not using her litter tray. (Before she would poop again just outside her litter tray when it was brought inside, but now it’s everywhere!)
Tinks also hates being picked up, but I’ve come to grips with that being normal with bunnies!
I want to be able to have her in the house and not have to watch her.
She doesn’t enjoy just relaxing, she runs around like a crazy bun!
I see all these posts of all these relaxed bunnies in their humans home just chilling and behaving and I really want tinks to be able to feel like she can do that too, I just don’t know if I am doing anything wrong?!
I’ve bought lots of blankets/fleecy things, wooden toys etc but she isn’t interested.
I have noticed that when she is out in the garage she has started rubbing her scent onto the broom and various other objects. Is this just a sign of her being ‘horny’ if you like and would that explain her behaviour?
The past few days I’ve noticed her make this noise when she hops and moves about, it’s very strange and I’ve not heard it before but I am struggling to even begin to explain what it sounds like! My boyfriend just said it kind of sounds like a vibration!
I don’t know whether getting an indoor cage will help her? We lack a lot of room in our house hence why her hutch is in the garage.
I’m sure I’ve forgotten lots of what I wanted to say so I’m really hoping someone will be able to give me some advice?!
Thanks in advance!!! x

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Rosie on 12/14/2016 2:13 PM

Hey!
I’m new to this forum so I’m hoping that someone might be able to help me with general day to day life with having a bunny.
I got my bunny ‘Tinks’ in September so we have had her for a good few months now. She is about 5 months old and is a mini lop.
I need some advice with a few things if any one has the time to listen and help
I’m really struggling to litter train her, I know I’ve read that until I get her spayed I don’t have much luck… I completely get that and im going to book her in the vets as soon as she is old enough to have it done. She used to be really good but recently she’s got worse (I’m not sure if it’s because she is wanting to be sexually active) but she will poop just outside of her litter tray and in the last week or so she has started to ‘burrow’ in her litter tray and dig it all out so it’s everywhere!
I’m hoping this will pass once I get her spayed but if anyone has any tips that would be great!
She has a fairly large cage (2 floors) with a secret hidden room to sleep. But she will never go in there! When I first got her I would put a fleece blanket in the hidden room for her to sleep in, but she started pulling it out and would drag it out into the rest of her cage which is filled with sawdust… As you can imagine it’s very messy! She is in the garage in her cage and comes into the house every night to have a run around but recently I’ve had to stop this and instead let her run around in the garage due to her not using her litter tray. (Before she would poop again just outside her litter tray when it was brought inside, but now it’s everywhere!)
Tinks also hates being picked up, but I’ve come to grips with that being normal with bunnies!
I want to be able to have her in the house and not have to watch her.
She doesn’t enjoy just relaxing, she runs around like a crazy bun!
I see all these posts of all these relaxed bunnies in their humans home just chilling and behaving and I really want tinks to be able to feel like she can do that too, I just don’t know if I am doing anything wrong?!
I’ve bought lots of blankets/fleecy things, wooden toys etc but she isn’t interested.
I have noticed that when she is out in the garage she has started rubbing her scent onto the broom and various other objects. Is this just a sign of her being ‘horny’ if you like and would that explain her behaviour?
The past few days I’ve noticed her make this noise when she hops and moves about, it’s very strange and I’ve not heard it before but I am struggling to even begin to explain what it sounds like! My boyfriend just said it kind of sounds like a vibration!
I don’t know whether getting an indoor cage will help her? We lack a lot of room in our house hence why her hutch is in the garage.
I’m sure I’ve forgotten lots of what I wanted to say so I’m really hoping someone will be able to give me some advice?!
Thanks in advance!!! x

If she’s 5 months old, she’s old enough to get spayed now The poop thing could be her marking her territory, my bunnies are both 4 months old and the amount of poops they do outside their litter trays has gradually been getting less and less. They’ve only just been spayed and neutered so I don’t think that’s the reason behind it. But spaying might help! As for the burrowing in the litter box thing, tbh I can’t imagine that will reduce when spayed. Burrowing is what bunnies like to do. Mine do it, especially Buttercup. You could try providing a burrow box (just a cardboard box filled with hay or straw, with hidden treats) That might stop her doing it in the litter box. 

One thing I will say – change the bedding. Sawdust is not good for bunnies. 

Bunnies generally don’t like being held, though there are exceptions. If your bun is one that dislikes it, I wouldn’t force it. 

I’m a little confused by the bit I bolded – are you saying you bring her into the house and she runs around? If so, I’m not sure why you’d want to stop that. That’s normal bunny behaviour – she’s happy and excited. If she was in the house 24/7, she’d ‘relax and chill’ in the house but as she isn’t, she wants to make the most of it. Most of us here keep our rabbits in the house. 

[Mikey]

As mentioned, shes old enough to be spayed

Only put bedding in the litter boxes she has. Bedding around the cage can confuse a bunny. If you want a flooring, use fleece blankets. Also as mentioned, saw dust is very dangerous for bunnies, so youll need to change that asap

Bunnies run around when they are happy. If you cant watch her, set up a big pen inside of the house for her, so she cant cause too much trouble while you arnt watching her. Bunnies need to have run around time to keep healthy, and if inside of your house is where she has the most room, shes going to binky, run, and play as much as she can, while she can. Its part of having a bunny 

Chin marking is what rabbits do when they claim something. Its not sexual. She will continue to chin after being spayed. Its not harmful

The noise could be a few things. Saw dust can get into their noses and cause a lot of breathing problems which would result in her making abnormal noises on and off, specially while exercising when shes breathing more often/faster. It could be that shes honking which means she is happy, too

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