How to discipline bunny?

[AcornBuns]

Hello,

I have a question similar to one listed below, but wasn’t sure about the etiquette of hijacking a thread so thought I’d start a new one. Hope that’s okay.

Our bunny, Acorn is about a week shy of 5 months old and was neutered 3 weeks ago on Friday. He’s a free range bunny, unless we’re not home, and then he goes into his xpen in our son’s room. I’m a stay at home mum, so he must be out of his pen for at least 8+ hours a day. In general, he has been great, but for the past 3 or 4 days he’s been digging at the carpet like crazy in all of the corners of our home. And I mean all! I understand this is normal bunny behaviour, and he has a digging box in the living room and digging mats in the living room and in his pen. But he favours tearing up our carpet. ?

When he first started, I would clap loudly once, say NO, and he’d be startled and stop. After the fourth or fifth time, he just ignored me. So then I started to bring a chewable toy or his digging box over, but he wasn’t fussed. Then I started to just get down on the floor next to him and place my hand over the spot he’d been digging and biting – which worked. But 15 minutes later he’d be at it again in another room.

I then tried to herd him into his xpen, as a sort of time out? Only he won’t be herded, and I don’t want to pick him up, as he realllly doesn’t like that. So I’d been luring him into his cage with veg, but that seems counterintuitive as he ends up getting a treat.

My husband wanted to lay down duct tape in the corners, but I’ll afraid he’ll chew it and either it’ll get stuck to him or he’ll eat it accidentally. I then thought about maybe buying square ceramic bathroom tiles and sticking them in all the corners.

Basically, I’m at a loss.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

[Paige]

Discipline doesn’t really work on animals, they only respond to positive reinforcement. I think tiles would work well if they are heavy. I bought a ceramic dish for water for my bunny and he still manages to move it(he is only 4 pounds ). My bunny doesn’t dig the carpet but my hamsters do and putting a phone book there works, if your bunny doesnt move it

[AcornBuns]

Thanks for your response!

Yes, perhaps discipline was the wrong word. How on earth to stop the digging or at least misdirect it would be more accurate.

I didn’t think about him being able to move the tiles. Hhhmmm. I think I’d need about 12, so phonebooks probably wouldn’t work. I’ll have to see if they’ve got super heavy, bunny proof tiles ?

[Wick & Fable]

It sounds harsh, but Wick has been somewhat disciplined to stop bar-chewing behavior. It’s not a hitting or harmful discipline; it’s a very brusk tug away from the bad behavior. When Wick would chew at bars, a clear No was verbalized and I’d bruskly use my hand to move him away from the bars. I’d hold him there for a little, then let go. He’d go back, then I’d repeat. This would happen about 3 times, then he realized I would keep doing it so he stopped. Once I walked away, he’d go back at it (which I expected), so I’d return quickly and re-do the process again. It took about a day to get him to stop doing the behavior. I had to be clear and differentiate a loving, cuddle hand, with the brusk, “get away from that” hand.

I say this a lot when I talk about this method with Wick: he’s not afraid of me or fearful of humans. This method just seems to get the message across to him in a non-harmful way.

Another possibility is water spray to the butt (test the pressure first though).

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[AcornBuns]

Thank you for the reply Wick!

I’m really nervous about touching Acorn in anyway that isn’t snuggling or grooming. I don’t think your method sounds harsh or mean or anything of the sort, but I’m quite hesitant to try.

I’ve read about the water spray method in regards to cats and dogs, I think? Are you meant to sort of hide the bottle so they don’t realise it’s you? I seem to remember something about that?

[Wick & Fable]

I did this with Wick originally before the yank, and i didn’t really hide the spray bottle. He didn’t draw the association, most likely because it’s the same bottle used to groom his towel. He definitely knew I was spraying him, which I don’t think is necessarily a bad thing, as long as you provide praise for good behaviors.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[binkiessince2010]

In order to stop Charlie from peeing on my bed, I tried saying “NO” and herding him off, but he still went on. Then the next time I caught him on it, I used blankets to create edges on the bed and then kept him on it for 10 minutes while he was frantically trying to get off. I haven’t seen him on it since, although it has only been a day. This is the kind of “discipline” I would reccomend.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By binkiessince2010 on 3/26/2017 1:41 PM

In order to stop Charlie from peeing on my bed, I tried saying “NO” and herding him off, but he still went on. Then the next time I caught him on it, I used blankets to create edges on the bed and then kept him on it for 10 minutes while he was frantically trying to get off. I haven’t seen him on it since, although it has only been a day. This is the kind of “discipline” I would reccomend.

That sounds quite…cruel in my opinion. 

[Mikey]

Causing a rabbit extreme stress in hopes they understand is not a good idea for discipline

[binkiessince2010]

I guess that “frantic” was a bit too strong a word. He made it clear that he wanted to get off, let’s put it this way. Sorry for confusion and concerns!

[Mikey]

Thats is still stressful for a rabbit and should not be recommended as discipline. Stress and fear can lead to stasis, heart attacks, or shock, all of which can kill a rabbit. And although some rabbits are forgiving, it can take a long time to earn trust back. Some rabbits also hold hard grudges and can become afraid of you for the rest of their lives. It is not something that should be recommended because it can very easily backfire. Same goes for the tugging/yanking previously mentioned

Either bunny proof your bed/room completely, dont allow your bunny in your room, or pick up your bunny as he pees and put him in his litter box. All easy ways to train your bun out of peeing where they shouldnt that dont require anything but positive reinforcement

[Mikey]

@Acorn

When he starts to dig, put him in his diggy box. If he doesnt care about the box and starts to dig the carpet again, pick him up and put him on one of his diggy mats. If that still doesnt work, there is a chance he is doing it for boredom not to actually dig as play. What do you and your husband do to help burn is energy? Does he have a few treat toys that encourage movement?

[AcornBuns]

Thank you, Mikey.

He really doesn’t enjoy being picked up and so I’m hesitant to place him in his digging box or on one of his mats. He’s still digging like mad and chewing at our carpets, so I may try it ?

I’ve never really thought about his toys in regards to movement. He has a ton of different textured toys to chew on, and natural willlow and grass balls he chews on, but he doesn’t really move them around. We’ve set up little cardboard houses around the living room, where we all spend most of our time, and we hide pellets around that he seeks out. We have clipped veg to string and hung it up so he has to travel up and down to get all of his favourites. What else? My son is on the ground with him for hours in the evening just crawling around, which he seems to love. He also follows our dog around all day long. I would love any ideas for treat toys that could shift his focus. I guess I just assumed the problem was because of his ‘bunny nature’ not boredom, but it’s a good point.

[AcornBuns]

Oh! I forgot to add! I did end up buying ceramic tiles and placing them in the corners and it’s stopped the corner chewing, but he’s just shifted his focus to other areas of our carpet ?

[binkiessince2010]

Posted By Mikey on 3/28/2017 1:16 PM

Thats is still stressful for a rabbit and should not be recommended as discipline. Stress and fear can lead to stasis, heart attacks, or shock, all of which can kill a rabbit. And although some rabbits are forgiving, it can take a long time to earn trust back. Some rabbits also hold hard grudges and can become afraid of you for the rest of their lives. It is not something that should be recommended because it can very easily backfire. Same goes for the tugging/yanking previously mentioned

Either bunny proof your bed/room completely, dont allow your bunny in your room, or pick up your bunny as he pees and put him in his litter box. All easy ways to train your bun out of peeing where they shouldnt that dont require anything but positive reinforcement

Ok, Thank you for telling me! I didn’t realize and I will definitely try to find another way. However, I think  that picking Charlie up would cause more stress for him than keeping him on the bed. I tried picking him up a couple times and have scars on my arms to attest. As for keeping him out of my room, there is no way I could do that because I live at my parents’ house, and my mom is very allergic to rabbits. It’s either my room or the animal shelter. I will try bunny-proofing again, although I have done it in the past. Do you have any suggestions on how to keep him off of the bed? I already moved all the furniture away from it, but he just jumps straight from the floor….

[Mikey]

I often see putting a covering (such as plastic shower curtains) over the bed helps keeps buns off it as its less comfortable and not nearly as fun to pee on. Plus, if he pees, its easier to clean that way I have done something similar to my couch as my buns are stationed in the living room and one of them used to love to mark it every chance he had. I think it took about 2 to 3 months of litter training and making the couch undesirable before he completely stopped peeing on the couch whenever he would jump up

[Mikey]

“Oh! I forgot to add! I did end up buying ceramic tiles and placing them in the corners and it’s stopped the corner chewing, but he’s just shifted his focus to other areas of our carpet ?”

Bunnies are super smart, LOL! 

You can google some Do It Yourself toys for bunnies to get some more idea, but one I really like is simple and easy to make. You take toilet paper rolls and cut them in half. Bend one open side in so that it is as closed as you can get it, then pop a few pellets in the open side before closing that side too. Then just drop it on the floor and watch your bunny try to open it! If your bun opens it too fast to get the pellets, you can use (someone correct me if Im wrong) hemp or wooden/paper twine to tie the ends shut instead

Two of my bunnies also enjoy balls as toys, so they have a few of those. They like wooden ones to chew but also throw around. There is another. thicker, wooden ball toy we get as often as we can as well that we put pellets in to encourage more movement. Some rabbits also like tunnels (like toddler/kid tunnel toys) which I havent tried yet but have seen a lot of rabbits on youtube who enjoy running through them repeatedly

[binkiessince2010]

Posted By Mikey on 3/28/2017 4:06 PM

I often see putting a covering (such as plastic shower curtains) over the bed helps keeps buns off it as its less comfortable and not nearly as fun to pee on. Plus, if he pees, its easier to clean that way I have done something similar to my couch as my buns are stationed in the living room and one of them used to love to mark it every chance he had. I think it took about 2 to 3 months of litter training and making the couch undesirable before he completely stopped peeing on the couch whenever he would jump up

would you put that under or over the blankets/comforter?
Thanks!

[Mikey]

Over, so the bed feels slippery Good luck!

[DanaNM]

My Bertha is quite the digger…. I have found some success with combo of large, heavy ceramic tiles in problem areas, a squirt bottle (I aim so it sprinkles her ears, more of a distraction than a discipline), and card board cat scratchers!

 I think the main thing that satisfies her urge to tug out the carpet fibers are the cat scratchers. She has been re-shaping her current one for quite a while now. Phone books and grass mats are too flimsy and she just moves them out of the way. I haven’t tried a digging box, because I’m pretty sure she and my cat would use it as a litter box!

I try not to physically shoo her away from digging with my hands, because sometimes I’m pretty sure she’s doing it to get my attention (like while I’m cooking dinner), and I felt I was actually rewarding her by shoeing her away (she loves any kind of contact and would just put her head down for pets ). 

Adding some things that satisfy the tunneling urge might also help. I cut a hole on each side of an old hay box, so she can work on renovating inside. Adding hidey boxes without bottoms does NOT help, because then she tries to dig a hole in the floor under the box. 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[AcornBuns]

Thanks for the ideas, Mikey!

@ DanaNM Yes, my Acorn doesn’t like phone books either! I’ve thought about cat scratchers but couldn’t find one that didn’t have catnip – though to be fair, I didn’t look overly hard ☺️ I’ll have to pick one up and see if he likes it. I fear I may have to pick up a spray bottle as well. He’s just so insistent!

[DanaNM]

I get mine at Trader Joes (not sure where you live), and the catnip comes in a separate pouch (I think that is often the case, to keep the nip fresh). Either way, catnip is safe for bunnies, Bertha is fairly indifferent to it. I’ve heard you can sprinkle oregano or other dried herbs your bun likes to encourage them to dig in it. 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[AcornBuns]

We live near a Trader Joes – thank you!

[DanaNM]

Woohoo! 

Here’s Bertha with her scratcher that she’s been remodeling for the past month or so: 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[AcornBuns]

What a little beauty! I can’t wait to pick one up – hopefully my little Acorn will love it!

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