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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 How do you guys discipline your rabbits?

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    • hrose123
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        Luna has been a little terror lately and my discipline methods just don’t seem to be working. When I brought her home she was a near perfect litter box user but now she just goes where ever see likes. This is a problem mostly because I live in an apartment that is like 90% carpet and can get fined when I move out if they notice pee spots ruining the carpet. I’ve tried the time-out method I was told to use when I brought her home by the lady at the rescue but I don’t think she realizes she’s being put in time-out so the behavior just continues. She is spayed so I am really confused why she is peeing everywhere. Is it an age thing? She is probably about 7-8 months now if the rescue guessed her birth month correctly. I’m really not sure where this behavior is coming from but I was just curious on how you guys discipline your buns so I can see if anything works for me. Thanks 


      • Tay
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        105 posts Send Private Message

          try nature’s miracle for the stains if you don’t have anything to get it out yet! it definitely helps pull out the pee from different soft surfaces!

          Aside from that, if Charlie’s being bad I typically just leave him alone and walk out. Sometimes if I just say his name loudly and say NO he’ll stop because he’s distracted. I kind of just use distraction to get him to stop what he’s doing – not really a punishment, but makes him stop and makes me happy. If he’s chewing something I dont want him to I just give him something he can chew. If he pees on my bed he comes off my bed and goes into his litter box


        • hrose123
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            Leaving alone would not work for Luna because she would probably prefer it that way lol. She enjoys my company but is a bit of a loner. What I have also tried is doing things to show her she is in time-out. Usually I will give her a tap on the nose and say “bad bunny!” then put her in her play pen for time-out. While in there I’ll either sit on the floor where I always sit so she can come get pets when she is out or I’ll go sit at my desk where she likes to hang out under my chair while I’m sitting on it. I think doing this just makes her mad more than feeling in trouble because she starts throwing bunny tantrums by either just sitting in her box basically glaring at me or rattles her play-pen until I have to yell at her again. I have thought about maybe removing all the stuff from her play-pen except her litter box hoping for the same affect as when you have a kid sit in the corner but I think that may be a little too much?  She acts like a rebellious teenager sometimes and usually I can handle it but I really need to get her to stop going outside of her litter box. 


          • vanessa
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              I have never disciplined my rabbits. I wouldn’t know how.

              I woudl firstly not allow her access to carpet. Then I would look at her living arrangement, and tighten it up. Smaller area – waaayyyy smaller. She will be more likely to use the litterbox if the area si smaller, so that she doesnt’ dirty up her play area. Seems mean, but I started my bunny in a 4ft by 4ft playpen and gave her one more foot at a time, as long as she was using the litterbox. That reenforced the idea of where to go “potty” for the bunny. I took a large plastic tarp (larger than the space I had her in so it overlapped the play pen), then put a blanket down. That way in case she peed outside the litter box, it would not go on the carpet. It wasn’t quick, but it did work, and I had peace of mind that while her potty trainign (or retraingin in yoru case) was going on, the carpet was safe.I made sure to use plastic and blanket that overlapped the paly pen so she couldn’t dig it up and find the carpet…And I kapt it taut – so she couldn’t be tempted to chew the blanket, discover the pastic, chew it, and reach the carpet.


            • Tay
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                maybe you could get a bigger litter box as well? Or place a few around your apartment? I just upgraded to a bigger box that has more room for charlie and i can fill with more hay for him to eat and he’s been great with it. scattering a few litterboxes around might also encourage her to use it


              • ButterBuns
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                  My rabbit, Butter, lives in a really large amd spacious cage in my carless garage. When he is bad where I have to do something about it, I make his cage smaller and leave it like that for a few days. This generally works out pretty good since he’s confined to a smaller space and when he thumps his foot, I don’t pay any attention to it either.


                • Mikey
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                    Bigger litter box or more litter boxes might help. Some bunnies are also very specific with their litter and only like to go in clean to mostly clean litter boxes

                    As for discipline, it ranges anywhere from a normal toned “stop that” to a very stern “NO”. My only bun who still likes to pee on the floor, when we catch him, we just pick him up and run him to one of the litter boxes. Thankfully, he only does this once every few months so its no big deal


                  • sarahthegemini
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                      I don’t discipline them. I just reinforce good behaviour and use the distraction technique – for example if Peanut starts digging at something he shouldn’t, I put his blanket near him and show him he can dig at that and then pet him when he does.


                    • Emmsy
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                        You should never discipline your rabbits. They aren’t dogs, all it would do is make your rabbit hate you and break a bond that takes a long time to achieve. It takes longer for a rabbit to like you then other pets like dogs.


                      • Jessica
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                          I tell Amelia no when she gets into something she shouldn’t and then redirect the behavior with something she should be doing. She usually acts out when she wants attention, so we have been working on how to ask for attention and making a huge deal over good behavior with lots of pets and treats.

                          I’m not sure what to suggest on the litter box issues


                        • Bam
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                            I agree about not disciplining. You can redirect a bunny to something else, you can distract a rabbit and physically stop it from chewing what it shouldn’t by blocking access to whatever it is (carpet, wallpaper, baseboards, shoes), you can of course put a bunny back on the floor if it digs or bites when it sits in your lap – but punishment is very tricky and there’s a very high risk the result you get is just a bunny that avoids you as much as possible.

                            If a bunny growls and bites, you should stand your ground imo – but wear protective clothing. Success with a behavior reinforces the behavior, so if growling and biting achieves its purpose (=the human backs off), the bunny will most likely repeat the behavior next time he/she feels insecure about the human. On the other hand, you shouldn’t provoke a territorial rabbit in its cage f ex by cleaning it when the bun is in it. Choose your battles carefully.

                            Rewarding good behavior is another matter. That’s always good.


                          • hrose123
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                              Thank you for all the helpful tips I guess discipline was bad word choice I just needed to know a way to handle unwanted to behavior. But I wanted to give a bit of an update in case it can be helpful to anyone else. I noticed every time Luna went outside of her litter box it was always in the same area of the room so I moved her litter box over there guessing she just prefers that corner to do her business and so far there has been less “accidents” so to speak. So I think I’ll just keep her litter box there and put it in her play pen at night or when I’m not home when she is in there.

                              Thanks again for all the help!


                            • eclectric
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                                It could be a phase she’s going through. My buns’ litter habits regressed for several weeks after previously showing improvement. In their case it was different because they aren’t spayed yet (will be in 2 weeks). But they are very close in age to yours and it could be a teenage thing. I found it got better on its own and now there’s only a few stray poops a day and all near the litter box.


                              • vanessa
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                                  That sounds perfect! I noticed the same thing with two of my buns. They like a certain spot, and like you discovered, if you put the litter box there, they will use it. Good news. I also agree with Tay – bigger and more litter boxes. 2 of my buns are really good, and only need 1 box, and it doesn’t matter how big or small. The 3th bun is incontinent from being ill. The 4th bun needs large litter boxes, and she has 3 of them.


                                • vanessa
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                                    In nature, rabbits naturally want to use the same spot over and over. They pick the spot based on terretorial boundaries, corners, and preference. In our homes – we need to figure out where that spot is. Corners work well. Another good idea ia to have litter boxes in all the corners, and see which one she prefers. But it seems all is sorted out, which is good news. Sometimes – bunnies can break their litterbox habits for various reasons. If it happens again, remember to try, large, corners, and many.


                                  • Bailey
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                                      I’d clap my hands twice and yell “Bailey NO!”. If that didn’t work than I’d squirt him in the bum with a cheapie squirt gun (light stream). For example, when he used to try and chew my furniture or baseboards I’d clap and yell no. If he’d ignore me or look at me and continue I’d grab my gun and squirt him in the butt and then quickly put the gun down. Then he’d stop, look at me, than do a binkie and run around. I speak in present tense cause he doesn’t do it at all anymore. I was 100% consistant though. Only took about a week. He doesn’t hold it againt you either cause he doesn’t know it’s you. Lol.


                                    • vanessa
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                                        Bailey, I’ve read about that, nice to hear it first hand 😉

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                                    Forum BEHAVIOR How do you guys discipline your rabbits?