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Forum BEHAVIOR Acting aggressively towards baby gate

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    • skye
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        Hello! My name is Skye and I recently adopted my bunny Lumis this week. When we brought her home she seem to be doing pretty fine and was extremely sociable (letting me pet her and playing with her toyswith me) she was obviously a little shy of the room but since about a week has passed she has gotten more comfortable with her cage and room. The problem really started a three days ago when we thought we would transition her to a baby gate instead of just a closed door. Well the first day she just looked out over it and was just being a bunny with one exploring nibble and tons of sniffs. Since that point she has gone to full crazed nibble mode and will go after the gate the second we put it down. I have been trying hard to do research and most people I have found suggest a regime of using a glass jar with coins with a firm no or a water bottle with a mist setting and, after that a timeout. Guys I will be honest I am struggling with them and I really want some confirmation that using these methods is okay and won’t hurt my bunny physical or psychologically either. Lumis has taken a massive spot in my heart and I don’t want to ever hurt her.

        so here’s the extra details:

        -She has a twelve by twelve room with her cage and toys
        -she does have a no-no spot in the room with a thermostat controlled heater that has been bunny proofed (electric cable wrapped in split tubing [just in case] and access behind it cut off)
        -Her cage is used for bedtime and when we have to go out
        -The baby gate is just a run of the mill wood and plastic (we are upgrading it to a nicer one soon one that is metal with a gate) it separates her room from the living room
        -she is super affectionate I pet her all day and give her snuggles when she naps next to me in her room(stay at home wife)
        -we introduced her to the living room last night finally (we wanted her to know her room was a safe spot before introducing her to other rooms)
        -We have a puppy and are working with them both so they are friendly (I am super cautious) they have had several positive encounters
        -She is ultra curious and has already shown us we need to change something’s in her room (currently hidden by tubs of hay and sand)
        -She was very moody yesterday and slept alot yesterday in her cage (gave her space only broken by sneaking in to check on her [without her waking up]) I say moody because I went in to put more water in her bowl and she swatted at me (super rare unless I make her mad by picking up her toys to clean the room)

        Please any insight would be god like I love her so much and my wife is tired of me being sad about her acting up


      • Gina.Jenny
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        2244 posts Send Private Message

          Hi

          it sounds like Lumis has landed on her paws with her new home. I have six buns and its quite common for one or more of them to be a ‘jail-break-bunny’, attacking that bad gate that keeps them from total freedom. I’ve learnt to ignore the sound, I would imagine trying to stop it would be frustrating and fruitless.

          BTW, how high is the gate, bunnies are great jumpers, even small ones, and I have to use 4′ / 120 cm gates to keep our buns from jumping over!


        • Luna
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          2219 posts Send Private Message

            I agree with GJ. Luna went from closed door to baby gate – or as I like to call it/mine the “pet containment unit” (PCU) since she is not a baby  – and she’s ok with it now, but when I put it in front of a doorway to a room that is usually closed, she chews and nips at it because she wants to go in that room to explore it. I have the “North State Supergate Classic Safety Gate” and it’s very sturdy – kind of low height-wise though.

            I have used timeouts before with mixed results of success. As for your questions on the water bottle and coin jar shaking, I personally am not a fan of its use, but I’m not sure whether or not it is actually “psychologically harmful.” Buns are smart, but they do not mentally understand punishment the way dogs and cats do, so they won’t really react to punishment like dogs and cats do by stopping the “bad behavior.” When Luna nips at the gate or tries to get at some electrical cords, I just gently scoot her away from the area…sometimes multiple times . Eventually she gets disinterested.


          • skye
            Participant
            3 posts Send Private Message

              XD funny you should mention that she actually jumped the gate and gave the puppy and me a scare:3 but yeah it’s only three feet high


            • skye
              Participant
              3 posts Send Private Message

                Thank you very much for that feedback. it’s hard sometimes looking for information on the web that’s not super condeidictive I think I am going to take most of the info I have gotten and get a much better gate and just try and work with her on it

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            Forum BEHAVIOR Acting aggressively towards baby gate