Jumping on bed and windowsills!!! Destroying plants!!!

[PlantLover]

Hello Everybunny!

I am the mama to a cute bunny boy named Zucchini (French mini lop, ~4lbs, 5.5 years old). I rescued him almost six months ago. Lately he has been a TERROR on my house plants, which I love almost as much as him. About a month ago, I awoke in the middle of the night to a crashing noise to find that he had jumped high onto the kitchen windowsill and knocked over all my baby succulents and eaten about half of them!  It took everything in me not to cry out and yell at him, so I just put him firmly on the ground and tried to bunny proof the area. Despite my efforts he managed to do it again. The only way I got him to stop was by creating a barrier of cacti around the area, which he avoids because they are pokey. 

Well lately he’s been doing two really annoying (and slightly devastating) things:

1. He figured out how to jump on the windowsill and scale it until he gets to my bed, which is adjunct the windowsill in my room (he is free range my entire studio apartment and has no cage). I bring him on my bed a lot at night to cuddle and do work on my computer and he only pees if he really forgets to go and falls asleep from being petted and doesn’t wake up in time (it seems to be more of a “senior moment” than marking behavior). But the catch is he doesn’t know how to get down from the bed by himself because it is so high, so I lift him off. When he scaled the windowsill to my bed he ended up peeing on it while I was at work yesterday, I estimate because he couldn’t get back down. I assume he eventually jumped down. Hopefully he has figured out how to jump off and the pee issue will be resolved, but I am wondering how to deter him from peeing on the bed (or how to discipline him if he does/ teach him not to) in case it is a marking behavior and I am just completely off base lol.

2. The WORST thing that happened was he ate my most prized orchid and destroyed the flowers of my other orchid. The orchid he completely obliterated is worth over $50 and it is a rare breed. My heart was broken when I saw it, but I didn’t know how to discipline him because to be fair I wasn’t home until late yesterday and maybe he was just hungry and desperate. I feel bad but I am really mad at him and I don’t know how to handle my anger. Also I just want some compassion from others for this because I know it sounds dumb but my orchids mean so much to me and I had them years before I had him.  I am heartbroken. How do I keep him off the window sill, even if I can’t keep him from the bed? I was thinking of using NIC grids, but I am rather anal and I like my house to be beautiful and aesthetically pleasing at all times and I don;t like the look of the grids. Sigh. But I hate the destruction of my plants much more than some unsightly obstructions…

Thanks for listening! Let me know what you all think.

Sophia

[PlantLover]

Also, just FYI, I checked and none of the things he ate are poisonous to rabbits.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Hi Sophia – well it sounds as if you’ve got a kangaroo cross ! Some bunnies do pee on beds as they’re soft and bunnies like to pee on soft things.
I don’t have anything to suggest to you – maybe someone else will.
Regarding the plants it sounds as if you’ve tried everything. If not NIC grids, then could you put some sort of a barrier up on the windowsill to make it 5 or 10 inches higher, he may not be able to jump up that far. Make sure of course there are no handy ‘step ups’ for him, such as boxes or low tables or chairs.

I found my Henry up on the kitchen table for the first time this week – he’d jumped up on a chair I’d not completely tucked in; and the thing with bunnies is… they have good memories – if they know they’ve been somewhere once, you can be sure they will try, try, and try again to repeat it.

The other thing about the windowsill, is to have an overhang (a few inches out horizontally into the room, away from the wall) so he can’t get up there and has no bounce on the wall…. if it’s done in the colour scheme of your current windowsill, it shouldn’t be easy to see.

btw – he looks lovely – it’s difficult getting a detailed pic of a black wabbit’s face but you’ve done it !

[Deleted User]

Could you possibly try getting some shelves that are only big enough to keep your plants. That way they look nice and there is no extra room for bunnies to climb on. That way your plants can be nicely displayed without having to put barriers around. Also if your bunny likes to climb on the windowsill so much then you can just leave this space empty and let him, maybe placing a step up for him for easy access so it is safer. It sounds as though this is a really enjoyable activity for him and maybe the plants were just in his way.

Also here’s a link with some pictures of the types of shelves I was thinking of. Obviously you would have to have a shop around depending on where you are and how big your plants are but you can see the idea
https://www.urbanjunglebloggers.com/plantshelfie-perfection-win-a-set-of-3-floating-shelves-from-mocha-casa/

[DanaNM]

Hi Sophia! What a little climber! And how frustrating! You were right to not discipline, he wouldn’t have understood at all. 

I can totally relate to not wanting to feel like you live in a bunny pen… I am probably failing at that right now. 

Maybe you could switch to having the plants in hanging baskets by the window? That might look really nice and the plants could still get enough light, but would be out of reach. He also might stop trying to get on the windowsill once there aren’t any yummy plants up there.

About the bed… my Bertha will pee on anything soft, and will try to dig to china in our comforter, so we can’t let her on the bed. But if you think maybe he just can’t get down, I’ve seen stairs that people get for arthritic dogs to get on and off the bed. Might be worth trying if you think him feeling stuck is really the case. 

. . . 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.  

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