Cage behaviour

[jesnzep]

Hi guys!
I've had my fluffmuffin for about 3 months now and in the last month or so, he's gone a bit weird in the pen. He has a fairly large pen and can jump around in it, though he's hardly ever in there, only when I sleep or am at work. I noticed he's started to trash his home. He has a wood block, mineral stone and toilet roll to munch on, and takes great joy in ripping apart every house I make for him. He has a never ending supply of hay, gets pellets and veggies in the morning and more veggies at night. I line the bottom of the cage with newspaper, as I live in China and it's hard to find anything like you guys have to make it fancy. He's started tearing the newspaper to shreds, and even if there's food in it, throws his container around the cage. He's digging a lot, which I don't know what to do about. I'm considering buying him a harness to take him for a wander in the garden downstairs, but, not sure if you guys know about Chinese winter, it's brutal. 1 degree today, and snowing. As I said, he has free run of my apartment and flies around it, is getting plenty of fresh veggies, hay and pellets...I don't know what else. Or is this just something to deal with? He still enjoys his cuddles, which he'll snuggle in my arms for up to 3 hours! Puberty? I'm guessing he's going on 6 months... Any and all advice welcome!

 

[12lawliet12Snickers, Truffle]

That sounds normal to me. My Truffle will only eat his food if I put it in his cage and he tumps it out onto the floor of the cage, and Snickers likes to dig in a box I filled with hay. Maybe it's his way of playing? You could get him toys, maybe some cardboard boxes for him to chew on, scoot around, and dig in?

 

[LakeCondo]

At 6 months his hormones would have developed. Do you have a veterinarian who could neuter him? With males neutering or not isn't a health issue the way it is with female rabbits, so you can decide whether or not to have it done.

 

[jesnzep]

He has cardboard boxes, it's what I make his houses out of hahaha. Each more elaborate than the last... If it's normal, I wont worry too much about it. I'm sure I could get him neutered, but as I said, I live in china and am a bit iffy on it. I'm sure they know what to do, but pet care, particularly rabbits, isn't high on priotities lists here... You should see the way they handle them here!! When I go to the pet market to buy his hay, food and toys, I cringe at how rough they can be, with all the animals! I don't know how many times I've nearly smacked someone for lifting bunnies out of a cage by the ears, and puppies by their tails. I'd probably threaten the vet with bodily harm if he so much as looked at my bubby wrong hahaha Thanks guys!

 

[Imbrium]

neutering never hurts when it comes to behavioral problems, but fwiw, a lot of bunnies simply "play" by destroying things even if they're not hormonal. your best bet is to simply provide him with things he's allowed to destroy.

I have two spayed girls... less than a week before this picture was taken, the "object" in it used to be a phone book:

 

[ldoerr]

I would give him lots of things to do. If he likes to destroy things, give him things to destroy. He might be bored. He could also very easily be hormonal.

 

[tamsin]

It sounds like he's having fun. Rabbits like to shred and rearrange. Giving him cardboard boxes is great as he can shred them apart and then have a new one. My rabbit goes through tons of boxes

You can also use smaller boxes, stuff them with hay and a little dry food and close them up and he can then chew his way in to keep him busy. For digging, a big cardboard box or storage box is good and you can fill it with different things like hay, his shredded paper/card, or even fresh snow! Inside he won't get too chilly digging but have lots of fun... get rid before it melts though so you don't have a big puddle!

Just try out different things and rotate what he has to keep him interested. You can use a lot of household items as toys so it doesn't have to cost anything!