Driving us crazy!

[jnwasney]

I've been staring at the screen now for about half an hour now typing and deleting and retyping and deleting trying to find the right words of how to describe the behavior our 6 month old Dutch Dwarf named Kingsley.

From the moment we got him home in November of last year we have tried to be persistent with keeping his bad behavior in check. This ranges from making him use his litter box to do his business to letting him know its unacceptable for him to be chewing on the wire fence we have setup in the living room that forms his play area.

We had him neutered 2 weeks ago by a vet who assured us that he will calm right down. Now I understand that its not going to fix (pardon the pun) everything but I had hoped it would make him a bit more... mellow.

But it seems he has just gotten worse. This ranges from him moving around his litter box in his hutch and tipping it over, to changing corners to do his business. To pulling all his hay out of his bin hanging off the side of his cage and spreading it about the bottom of his cage. To chewing on the fence non-stop regardless of us telling him "No!". My wife saw someone come up with the idea of using Tabasco sauce to deter him from chewing on the wire fence. It worked for a bit. But now I think he might be enjoying the taste...

Despite letting him know his behavior is not allowed, it still continues. Even though putting him back in his cage for a time out and covering the bars to darken the inside he still goes to town being a bad bunny.

Inside or out, we can't win.

I'm at a complete loss of how to make him behave. Any suggestions are definitely appreciated!!!

ullhair:

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

While netuerind can help, it takes time for the hormones to calm down. He is not producing any more, but he still has some in his system. It can take a few weeks (4-6) for you to really notice a difference.

Does he have any toys? Giving him boxes, cardboard tubes, baby toys and other safe things gives him something to do. A phone book or just a pile or newspaper is safe for them to destroy.

Teenage bunnies can be particularly bad and is one of the main reasons people get rid of them at this age.

 

[jnwasney]

Oh yes, he has many many toys. Cardboard boxes, wood chew toys and an old copy of the yellow pages.

Thank you for the reply!

 

[Happi Bun]

That actually doesn't sound like bad behavior to me, just bunny behavior! That doesn't make it any less annoying, for sure. Sorry... that's probably not what you want to hear. Rabbits are very smart and curious creatures. It sounds like he may be bored; Kate gives some great suggestions. Try providing more mental stimulation and make sure he's getting plenty of exercise to get rid of that built up energy.

 

[Runestonez]

Teenagers are the worst!
We have three teen bunns right now...<shaking head>
Darwin is the worst hands down! He gets the top award for annoying noises...which he knows is one of my triggers! It doesn't matter how much out time he has had he will sit in his doorway and grab the door with his teeth...lift it up...and drop it...over and over and over...:grumpy:

If all else fails..we use carbiners to close our hutches...he will sit and lick the carbiner so it rattles...ANYTHING to get attention...negative or otherwise! ullhair:

It is a phase...one that MOST bunns grow out of...I may have a permanent eye twitch by the time they do...:twitch:But it doesn't last too long...

Danielle

 

[elrohwen]

Despite what your doctor said, neutering isn't a quick fix - it can take 4-6 weeks for the raging hormones to die down.

Also, many bunnies exhibit age related bad behavior that has nothing to do with whether they're fixed or not. Think of it as teenage bunny angst! Some buns are just wild and crazy for a while, but most settle down significantly by 1-1.5 years.

Just give him some time and be patient, and work on outsmarting him where you can. You can probably attach the litter box to his cage so he can't move it. And you might be able to do some positive training to get him to stop shaking the fence - ignore him if he shakes, but once he's stopped for 10-20 seconds give him a treat. Just make sure that he doesn't think you're rewarding him for shaking then stopping - it needs to just be a reward for being quiet. You could also try spraying him with a water gun and see if that makes him knock it off. Often yelling "no" is just taken as a sign of attention to the bun and they don't really care that it means "stop that". When I tell my bunnies "no" they'll often binky away from me like it's a game. So change tactics and see if you can outsmart him a bit until he calms down.

Oh, and I should add that Dutches are known for being too smart for their own good!

 

[jnwasney]

Some really helpful replies here!

We tried using the water bottle tactic and it does work, but we're just afraid of overdoing it in case it causes him to catch a cold or something.

The hutch he lives in is solid wood on 3 sides and metal bars on about 2/3's of the front side, so there is not so much I can do about attaching his litter box to it as most of the space is taken up by his hay rack and water bottle. The bottom of his hutch is a plastic bottom with about 2 or so inches of space where there is a raised grated floor. I've thought of putting an aluminum foil pan underneath where his litter box currently is and see how that works.

 

[Pipp]

jnwasney wrote:

I've been staring at the screen now for about half an hour now typing and deleting and retyping and deleting trying to find the right words of how to describe the behavior our 6 month old Dutch Dwarf named Kingsley.

Ah, you didn't have to do any more than to mention he's six months old.

There's a reason why so many abandoned rabbits out there are around that age. But he will grow out of it. Patience and a little time.

:goodluck:


sas :bunnydance:

 

[kirbyultra]

Yeah I'm going to definitely agree with Pipp here. 6 month old bunnies are dumped so often at the shelter where I volunteer that it's actually a terrible shame, because they usually calm down in a month or two. You've done well by neutering him now because at 7 months, he may still be bouncing off the walls but at least you've gotten through that 4 week period when the hormones fizzle out. You may start to see some improvement in behavior around 9 months old when (A) they are no longer hormonal like a raging teenager and (B) they're simply growing out of their adolescent peak. The irony is that we see a lot of 6 month old bunnies being given up, and in the 1-2 months' time it takes the shelter to neuter and rehab the bunny and make him/her adoptable again, they are perfect little bunny angels for someone else to enjoy the companionship of. I think it's just a critical time to accept as a challenge, and just get past it as best as you can. Your patience will be rewarded!! :nod

From personal experience, my turbo charged baby bun was a nightmare from 5 months to 8 months. Every morning I'd see pellets thrown all over the floor, litter thrown all over the cage, puddles of water from his bowl, and he's bite on the fence wanting to be let out all day long... He started to improve at 9 months and then like magic, he knew he was turning 1 year old and the bad behavior just halted completely. BTW, when I saw that his behavior was improving, I started to let him out to run around the apartment more often because I felt like I had a better handle on him. Having time out to play also helped him get it all out of his system.

There is a degree of bunny personality to factor in. Some bunnies take a lot of joy in tipping over their food bowls and digging in their litter box, splattering the contents all over the place. They may not grow out of it until they really get older and can't be bothered with such exciting activity :biggrin2: You can certainly try to distract them out of doing it but sometimes.... it's just the bun!:twitch:

 

[aurora369]

What about doing some fun clicker training or other fun training to get him mentally stimulated? One of our other members was having a grumpy bunny and doing some clicker training with him really helped their relationship.

Bunnies are super smart and you can teach them simple tricks in one afternoon.

Check out this thread:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=55976&forum_id=48

-Dawn

 

[jnwasney]

Great posts! I'm starting to feel more confident and better about the situation. Over the past few days I've been making small victories over his behavior.

Yesterday I was able to screw his litter box to the inside of his hutch and the only way to get it out is to lift it off. Its on there so tight I can barely get it!

Today I went to Home Depot and bought some 24x48 plywood sheets and built a new fence for him with no corners that he can chew on.

One more inquiry if I may, but what kind of hay rack is recommended? The one we have is made of plastic and hangs freely on the side of his cage. I noticed he has been chewing on one of the hangers and also when he scratches at it to get a more "desirable" piece of hay way at the back, he ends up pushing the bottom away from the cage and all the hay just falls through to the floor.

Thanks!

 

[elrohwen]

I think hay racks are a really personal thing. There's no one best - it's whatever you find that works best for you and everyone seems to have a different opinion.

My two favorites:
1) a small basket that is safe to chew - you can put hay in it and it also provides a nice chew toy. They can be a pain if you bunny decides to move them all over the cage though, but it's not hard to zip tie them on either.
2) I found a shower rack at Bed Bath & Beyond that I like as a hay rack. http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=16340324&RN=182&KSKU=118935
I just zip tied it to the cage. Some hay does fall through the bottom, but I sweep that up and put it in the litter box (and this isn't a problem if you can position it right over the litter box in the first place)

I'd recommend going to Target or BB&B and poking around the bath and kitchen sections to see what you can find.

 

[jnwasney]

elrohwen wrote:

I think hay racks are a really personal thing. There's no one best - it's whatever you find that works best for you and everyone seems to have a different opinion.

My two favorites:
1) a small basket that is safe to chew - you can put hay in it and it also provides a nice chew toy. They can be a pain if you bunny decides to move them all over the cage though, but it's not hard to zip tie them on either.
2) I found a shower rack at Bed Bath & Beyond that I like as a hay rack. http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=16340324&RN=182&KSKU=118935
I just zip tied it to the cage. Some hay does fall through the bottom, but I sweep that up and put it in the litter box (and this isn't a problem if you can position it right over the litter box in the first place)

I'd recommend going to Target or BB&B and poking around the bath and kitchen sections to see what you can find.

Hmmm! That's a really great idea! Thanks!

 

[kirbyultra]

I found a nonsuction cup version of that BBB rack with a flat back at ikea for less than $5, in the bathroom accessory area of the showroom. All my buns have one zip tied to their pen.

 

[elrohwen]

Ooh, I need one without the suction cups! Our Ikea is over an hour away though, so I never make it there. One of my buns has never touched the suction cups, but when they move in together the other one might - she's a troublemaker. They're on there really good too, so I can't figure out how to get them off.

I'd like to get something a little more solid, since my bun eats out of the top, not the sides, so it might as well be a solid container with holes to zip tie it on.

 

[jnwasney]

Looks like I'll be making a trip to Ikea tonight lol

 

[kirbyultra]

Laura, that's a bummer that ikea is so far away! The rack there isn't solid but it does have two holes to loop the zip tie through.

You know what else is a possibility - there are these metal wire "drawers" at home depot and at ikea, prob at BBB too that you can use just the drawer and make it one huge hay rack/bin. Tie that baby to a wall and you are set for a week or two's worth of hay! I have 3 single buns so I just don't have the space but if you have a pair, this migh not be a bad idea. They usually come in a set of 3 but I think you can get them one drawer at a time. They are inexpensive. I saw the whole set at ikea on sale for $15, and it would hold loooads of hay.

 

[elrohwen]

Ooo, I'm about a week away from having a pair (fingers crossed) and don't have a hay solution yet. I'll have to look into that!

My mother-in-law is visiting next month and wanted to go to Ikea, so maybe it'll be worth making the trip to New Haven with her and I can pick up some hay racks.

 

[Pipp]

I just have a smallish cardboard box (I think the one my swiffer mop pads came in) with a hole cut in the front zip-tied to the bars above the litter box. Works great! If he gets bored with the hay, he can chew the box.

And didn't cost a thing and I didn't have to travel to get it.



sas :bunnydance:

 

[elrohwen]

Well, I'd have to buy swiffer pads first though, wouldn't I?

haha, j/k