Picky rabbit

[RodeoBunny]

Hey there,

Is there anything I can do to stop my rabbit from throwing around everything in his cage? He moves his dome around, throws his feed dish around and dumps it all out, and grabs his litter box and spills it. I don't dare touch his stuff when he's in there because he knows I'm moving it around.

He's going to be neutered this week, and I guess it's a territorial thing. I hope he relaxes after he's snipped.

Will he forever be messy? lol :?

 

[katt]

well, there is a chance that he will calm down after he gets fixed. how old is he?

there are a few things you could to do help with it:

first i would get a litterbox and food dish that clip on, that way he isn't dumping them everywere

second i would give him more time outside of his cage.

i would also wonder how big his cage is, maybe he just doesn't have enough room to work off the extra energy.

younger rabbits tend to do it more then older ones. most rabbits i have had mellowed out after getting fixed.

and well, to be perfectly honest, yeah, some rabbit do always toss stuff around their cage. it is just part of owning a rabbit i guess.

 

[fuzz16]

most rabbits do this..sounds like he is just personalizing his home

i agree he may need more outside cage time. he may have a lot of energy stored up and no where to put it.

 

[SweetSassy]

I agree with some out of cage time. How big is his cage? Does he need a bigger cage?



Try cardboard. Rabbits love to chew up cardboard, paper towel rolls, toliet paper rolls, kleenex boxs, ......just something to chew and play with. Good Luck

 

[GorbyJobRabbits]

He's probably bored. And thus starts tossing stuff everywhere. A dog gets bored it starts chewing on everything. A pig gets bored they'll move around and throw everything and chew.... and horses start chewing on everything moving food bowls exc....

 

[SweetSassy]

AndersonsRabbits wrote:

He's probably bored. And thus starts tossing stuff everywhere. A dog gets bored it starts chewing on everything. A pig gets bored they'll move around and throw everything and chew.... and horses start chewing on everything moving food bowls exc....

I agree....Thats why I mentioned the cardboard.

 

[RodeoBunny]

His cage is about 4 x 2, he is 7 months. I`ve been letting him out in our small bath room twice a day from about 30mins each.. going to wait until after his fixing to let him 'free' in the house and better litter trained too! lol

Ive heard cardboard isn`t good for rabbits, is this a myth? He has a wooden hanging chew toy (which he has yet to touch).

Thanks for the advice, I`ll try the clip on`s:bunnydance:

 

[fuzz16]

go get some hard plastic baby toys that rattle

fill a toilet paper roll with hay

give him a phone book

shred some newspaper and put it in a cardboard box

all will entertain him and cardboard is fine for tem

 

[funnybunnymummy]

Definitely bored and showing you his displeasure at being locked in his cage 23 hours a day.

There's no reason you can't let an unfixed rabbit have more free time in the house. (Unless he's spraying or shreddingeverything in sight. ) Lots of people do. Just do a proper bunny-proofing and make sure he's supervised and I'm sure he'll be just fine with some more run time.

Hope that helps!

Rue

 

[bunnylove817]

Midas used to throw his stuff also, i had to tie the litter box down and get a clip on food dish. However, once I started letting him have more free time he calmed down a little (this was all before being fixed). A also got him so wicker balls at petsmart ($3.00) and he loves to throw them so he left his other stuff alone. Fixing him didn't seem to change much, the main thing was the more exercise and toys

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

He'll likely calm down a bit after the snip, but not for awhile, as it takes about a month or two for the hormones to dissapate (sp?).

Clipping down the bowl and litterbox is a great idea, my first bun used to dump his all the time!! He was just that way...:rollseyes I didn't have this forum when I had him, darn it.

Our boy, who is about 5, has special times that he makes lots of noise and moves/tosses things in his cage. So, he may get into a routine with this after he's fixed and gets older.

 

[RodeoBunny]

Thanks you guys

I will try those toy ideas for sure and try and let him out in the house, one room at a time.
Also, He seems to be inactive most on the day, resting under his dome, and full of energy once the sun goes down, are rabbits nocturnal?

 

[SweetSassy]

yep....

Sleep most the day, up allnight :biggrin2:

 

[aurora369]

Technically rabbits are crepuscular, which means they are most active at dawn and dusk. It is an anti-predator adaptation.

Here is the wikipedia article on crepuscular:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crepuscular

-Dawn

 

[elrohwen]

Definitely see if you can give him more out time. We left my bun with friends for a week and they were unable to let him out. When we picked him up, he had totally destroyed half the stuff in his cage including the mat under the cage.

At home, he's free range whenever we're around and doesn't bother chewing anything except cardboard occasionally. Hey, you'd get bored if you were locked up all day too ;-)

 

[jcottonl02]

I agree with what's been said already- he has quite a small cage 4ft x 2ft. He needs at the very least 3 hours a day exercise. Maybe you can have a room in the house that's sort of...his? You know it's safe, and there's nothing he can hurt himself on, and you can sit with him in their for his exercise? Like an emptyish spare room, if you have one?

Until you can get him a bigger cage/let him roam a few rooms of the house freely etc. try occupying him with toys. Cardboard boxes/toilet tubes stuffed with hay/ little wicker balls from pet shops etc.

My Dad was working in the house for a few weeks one time, and there were floorboards loose, so the rabbits had to stay in their cages (I hate that word). Normally they have the run of two rooms while I'm there, so they really showed their dislike in those few weeks by throwing things and knocking things over etc.

x

 

[jessicalovesjesse]

I agree with what everyone else has said.

Pippin doesn't do that very often and is an "intact" male.

My hamsters do it though! They hate how I set up their cages and like to remodel a bit.