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luscious
Mar 8, 2005

Who can find a virtuous woman,
For her price is far above rubies.
yeah, Paterson throws things around so I got heavier things. They're pretty devilish. Neutering should help :)

oh... just checked again and he is neutered. Have you thought about getting him a mate?

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justFaye
Mar 27, 2009
Godewyn was definitely a punk till he hit about a year and a half and when he had a lovebun. Now he can harass... I mean play with... her instead of getting into trouble constantly. He still gets into trouble, but not nearly as much as he used to. She also trained him on how to use the litter box, thank goodness.

SlippyHat
May 25, 2003

Delicious!
You know, we've experimented with tying down the litterbox -- but not with a heavier litterbox. Great idea!

I also haven't entertained the idea of getting him a bunnyfriend, but thank you for putting the idea in my girlfriend's head. :mad:

luscious
Mar 8, 2005

Who can find a virtuous woman,
For her price is far above rubies.

SlippyHat posted:

You know, we've experimented with tying down the litterbox -- but not with a heavier litterbox. Great idea!

I also haven't entertained the idea of getting him a bunnyfriend, but thank you for putting the idea in my girlfriend's head. :mad:

Bitsy stopped being as much of a hell-devil when I got Paterson. But the downside is that she teaches Paterson how to be a slight hell-devil.

angelicism
Dec 1, 2004
mmmbop.

I was petting Frith today and noticed this:



Should I be concerned? I have no idea what it is.

(His face is to the lower right and that's the spot right behind his head/ears, if it wasn't clear.)

He and Zen haven't been in a tussle for a while now otherwise I would've assumed it was that. Maybe it was their last fight and it's just taken this long to heal?

(And by that I certainly do not mean they get along, they simply ignore each other for the most part.)

LifeSizePotato
Mar 3, 2005

I have a bunny crotch question.



I've been meaning to make a post about my two new rabbits, but I noticed this today on one of them. He was neutered about 3 weeks ago, and it looks far worse in the pic than in real life. In real life, it seems sort of like some crusty dried pus or scabs or something. The crustiness seems to be attached to "flaps" of skin, which, based on images here: http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/sexingboys.shtml make me think it's where they patched up his scrotum.

He doesn't seem to be in any discomfort, and in fact is far more happy-go-lucky than our other bunny (something I'm going to ask about in my "meet my buns" post), so I'm not sure how worried I should be...though I have read that rabbits are masters at faking it when they're hurting. I see no redness or signs of inflammation. Any thoughts?

LifeSizePotato fucked around with this message at 19:35 on Aug 21, 2010

SpaceMonkey
Jul 11, 2006
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

SlippyHat posted:

My girlfriend and I have a dwarf Netherland who loves to make a mess.

my rabbits start ripping up newspaper the second their cage/litter box area is cleaned and are not happy unless it's all in pieces.

Bunway Airlines
Jan 12, 2008

Raptor Face

LifeSizePotato posted:

I have a bunny crotch question.



Where exactly is that on his body? After 3 weeks it could still be healing, but really if you're worried only calling the vet office and asking them will help.

rushivywithglocks
Jul 10, 2005
it is a token of my loveship.
I'm moving halfway across the country in a few weeks. The drive is about 1200 miles, 20 hours. During the year I make weekly drives with my bunny that range from 2-4 hours. (Move back and forth to the beach in the summer, the cabin in the winter.) He's always been really good during the rides, gets excited to get into his carrier, etc. He snacks in the car - romaine, carrots, hay - but never drinks unless I offer him bottled water in a little goblet. I'm only half-kidding.

I have the option to either drive with him in a few weeks, splitting the trip into 5 hour increments over two days, or fly with him later in the fall, which would probably be about 7 hours total getting to the airport, doing airport stuff, flying, getting off the plane and to point B. Total air time would be 2-3 hours at the most.

It sort of makes more sense to me to wait and fly him out, but I know he's comfortable with driving, I'll have access to e-vets and Oxbow Critical Care/Pedialite/emergency kit. He will also be traveling in a more lavish cage than usual if I'm driving him. What I'm worried about is him flipping out on the plane. He is excellent at flipping the gently caress out.

Tell me what I should do, bunnygoons. Also, here is a crappy cell phone picture.

Click here for the full 540x720 image.

alucinor
May 21, 2003



Taco Defender

rushivywithglocks posted:

I'm moving halfway across the country in a few weeks.

Drive him. You've covered all contingencies, especially the part about knowing e-vets en route. I trucked my herd about the same distance three years ago with no problems.

LifeSizePotato, those could be neuter scars, but they could also be scent glands. Check with your vet to be sure. You might be able to just take him in and have a tech confirm one way or the other without having to pay for an actual vet visit.

angelicism, that's very similar to what you'd see if a tuft of fur was pulled out during a tussle, and the location is consistent with a bite during dominance mounting. Keep an eye on it and check with your vet if it doesn't heal over in a week or two.

Bean
Sep 9, 2001

SlippyHat posted:

Any thoughts on how I can get him to enjoy living in a clean cage? Do I just have to accept that he's a prey animal with different synapses, or can I somehow bend him to my unyielding iron will?

One trick my vet tech taught me is to get them a big rear end heavy ceramic bowl that they couldn't toss if they wanted. It looks a little hilarious putting a tiny sprinkle of pellets in such a big bowl, but the bunnies don't mind.

How big is the litter box? My boxes are big enough to seat two bunnies comfortably, with huge gently caress-off sides to control side peeing, so I don't think they can toss these either. Then again, Camille and Pepper are yappy purse dog size buns and for all I know you have the Abominable Snowbun.

SlippyHat
May 25, 2003

Delicious!
The litterbox is one of the corner boxes that, I've learned, are not recommended by this thread. It's really only big enough to fit one bunny, provided that he leans his butt out just enough to miss the box completely. A bigger, and rectangular, box might just do the trick -- I'll scout one out!

luscious
Mar 8, 2005

Who can find a virtuous woman,
For her price is far above rubies.
Paterson was sneezing and rubbing his nose again so we went to the vet. He still has discharge from his nose but no more pus ball so that's very good news. He's been taking Bactrim for 2 weeks (1.7ccs twice a day) but it hasn't cleared up his bordetella completely so now he's on .8ccs of Baytril once a day for 10 days with a follow-up appointment in two weeks. Essentially we're being carefully aggressive with it. I am to watch his appetite, poopies and moods like a hawk (ps I already do) and take him off of it and call them immediately if he anything seems wrong.

she showed me a bunny skull and showed me the little bones that they have in their nasal cavities where bacteria gets in and said it's very hard to clear it out. I'm really hoping that this round of treatment will solve all his problems.

Levitate
Sep 30, 2005

randy newman voice

YOU'VE GOT A LAFRENIÈRE IN ME
Jesus christ I can't believe this actually exists but it's loving hilarious

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptyKSiRyQ4Y&feature=player_embedded

Fenarisk
Oct 27, 2005

Finally got a picture of the buns. Sprout is on right and Dodger is on the left.


blinkeve1826
Jul 26, 2005

WELCOME TO THE NEW DEATH


Say hello to Fluffy!

We adopted him from the Manhattan Animal Care and Control Center this past Sunday. He's a dwarf mix, about two and a half years old. His previous owners had to give him up because their son had allergies, so aside from toenails that have never been cut (resulting in many of them being too long and likely to fall out over the next few months :( ) he's in pretty good shape. Lucky for me he seems to really like his new home and all the fun things he has in there to play with, although even more than that he loves the one spot in his pen that I couldn't rug/protect: the two-inch space between the computer desk and the wall. Luckily there's just one cable over there, so one cable protector and a few zip ties later and I can let him burrow in there worry-free.

It's only been about two and a half days but he's already got a few choice "spots" that he loves to curl up/stretch out/"loaf" in, and he's got quite a healthy appetite for hay, pellets, escarole, bok choy, cardboard, wicker, rugs, carpeting...his pen is pretty sufficiently bunnyproofed, but we have to watch him like a hawk when we let him out in the rest of the room.

A few questions/things I've noticed:

-I can't tell if he's getting the hang of the litterbox or not--sometimes I'll look in and see little deposits of poo, but sometimes there won't be anything, and there are a whole lot of poo pellets all around his pen. I know some poo around a bunny's pen/cage is normal, but it seems like a lot. Oh, and I've noticed a lot of pee in the Trader Joe's bag he has in there to play with. Luckily he's really good about keeping it to his pen, and I rarely see more than a stray pellet or two around my room when I let him out.

-I have knotted rugs lining his pen, which I didn't think he'd be able to chew up so easily, but, well, he's a bunny. I caught him doing it once to the carpeting when I let him out, too, but I caught him in time and managed to get the piece he had in his mouth away from him. How can I discourage this, and/or what can I possibly line his pen with that he will not at all be able to chew up? Any type of rug, other material...? Is there any real way to ensure he never chews up what's under him? I find myself constantly worried because from what I've gathered, even a little bit of the wrong material can be fatal to him.

-About those toenails...one of them fell out yesterday :( He bled a little bit but I applied some pressure with a tissue as long as he let me hold him (which wasn't too long) and he seemed to be okay. Any special protocol I should be taking in the future if and when this happens again, or was that pretty much what I should have done?

-The people I've spoken to have said, when I've asked, that they won't ingest cardboard, newspaper, etc. but will just chew it up. Fluffy, however, seems to be eating his cardboard and wicker toys rather than just chewing them. Is this problematic? If so, how can I discourage it? Should I not give him these things to play with? If so, what kinds of common household things (a la phone books, cardboard boxes, etc) can I give him to play with? I'll buy him some more bunny toys eventually but I want some less expensive/free/found-around-the-house options too.

-Any guesses as to what breed(s) he might be? I'm thinking he looks most like a Netherland Dwarf but he's a little big for that, no?

I'm going to make an appointment with a rabbit vet tomorrow and I'll ask these questions when I see her too, but I figured I'd see what you guys had to say too.

On a related note, I discovered Bunspace today. That's right, Bunspace. Fluffy would love to befriend some goon bunny buddies so here's his profile link. Be sure to indicate your goon status in your buddy request or whatever it's called so he knows who he's dealing with.

Anyway, Fluffy has already stolen all of our hearts (even my old grump of a father was cuddling him the other day. You kinda have to know him to know how out of character that is for him) and I'm ready for all the fun and aggravation he's sure to bring me over the next 7-10 years. :)

Windy
Feb 8, 2004



Argh! My mom felt the need to over feed the rabbit, and admittedly gave her treats more than once a day. I said once dammit! Now, I have problems.

I was gone for about 48 hours over three days last week, coming home mid Friday. I gave Debbie a bunch of hay and 2T of pellets per usual. She didn't come bounding up for food, so I figured maybe my mom accidentally fed her in the morning. Saturday came and went without any food or hay disappearing and her water looked untouched as well. I had gotten her to eat a craisin, but she had no interest in the pellets, which were usually regarded as treats by her. Sunday, Monday, still the same. She was not touching water, food and only ate a very small amount of hay. She still wants to eat treats and some veggies. I've also gotten her to eat some baby food carrot mush. She's using the litterbox, though not as much as normal. Still not drinking much water or touching pellets.

Debbie's done this before, but never more than two days. What worries me most is that she's pooping in front of the litterboxes as much as in them. Her elimination is a lot less than what it normally is in general, and I'm finding cecal bunches both in the box and on the floor of her pen.

I'm not worried enough for an e-vet trip since she's still active, eating and eliminating. But is it premature to try forcing some critical care and water into her if she doesn't start eating normal rations of hay by tomorrow? I really hate doing the burrito thing, but I'd rather avoid the extra expense of the vet if I can(every other time she ate and checked out fine at the vets).

Windy fucked around with this message at 08:48 on Sep 1, 2010

Levitate
Sep 30, 2005

randy newman voice

YOU'VE GOT A LAFRENIÈRE IN ME

blinkeve1826 posted:

-I can't tell if he's getting the hang of the litterbox or not--sometimes I'll look in and see little deposits of poo, but sometimes there won't be anything, and there are a whole lot of poo pellets all around his pen. I know some poo around a bunny's pen/cage is normal, but it seems like a lot. Oh, and I've noticed a lot of pee in the Trader Joe's bag he has in there to play with. Luckily he's really good about keeping it to his pen, and I rarely see more than a stray pellet or two around my room when I let him out.

Put some hay in the front of the litterbox so that he can sit in there and eat while he poops. I think this helps litter train bunnies a lot. Also tossing the stray pellets into the litterbox so it's all in one place probably helps too

quote:

-I have knotted rugs lining his pen, which I didn't think he'd be able to chew up so easily, but, well, he's a bunny. I caught him doing it once to the carpeting when I let him out, too, but I caught him in time and managed to get the piece he had in his mouth away from him. How can I discourage this, and/or what can I possibly line his pen with that he will not at all be able to chew up? Any type of rug, other material...? Is there any real way to ensure he never chews up what's under him? I find myself constantly worried because from what I've gathered, even a little bit of the wrong material can be fatal to him.

He's a bunny, he's going to chew most anything he can get in his mouth. You don't really need to have carpeting in his pen, unless it has a wire bottom. Bunnies seem to like hard, smooth surfaces just fine. I think other people on here have come up with some carpet type stuff that works, though.

quote:

-The people I've spoken to have said, when I've asked, that they won't ingest cardboard, newspaper, etc. but will just chew it up. Fluffy, however, seems to be eating his cardboard and wicker toys rather than just chewing them. Is this problematic? If so, how can I discourage it? Should I not give him these things to play with? If so, what kinds of common household things (a la phone books, cardboard boxes, etc) can I give him to play with? I'll buy him some more bunny toys eventually but I want some less expensive/free/found-around-the-house options too.

I kind of don't think it's a problem, but I've never had stomach problems with my bunny (thankfully). Stuff like cardboard and wicker probably just mainly acts like fiber and isn't a huge deal. Some other people might have better advice though

Errant Gin Monks
Oct 2, 2009

"Yeah..."
- Marshawn Lynch
:hawksin:

Windy posted:

Argh! My mom felt the need to over feed the rabbit, and admittedly gave her treats more than once a day. I said once dammit! Now, I have problems.

I was gone for about 48 hours over three days last week, coming home mid Friday. I gave Debbie a bunch of hay and 2T of pellets per usual. She didn't come bounding up for food, so I figured maybe my mom accidentally fed her in the morning. Saturday came and went without any food or hay disappearing and her water looked untouched as well. I had gotten her to eat a craisin, but she had no interest in the pellets, which were usually regarded as treats by her. Sunday, Monday, still the same. She was not touching water, food and only ate a very small amount of hay. She still wants to eat treats and some veggies. I've also gotten her to eat some baby food carrot mush. She's using the litterbox, though not as much as normal. Still not drinking much water or touching pellets.

Debbie's done this before, but never more than two days. What worries me most is that she's pooping in front of the litterboxes as much as in them. Her elimination is a lot less than what it normally is in general, and I'm finding cecal bunches both in the box and on the floor of her pen.

I'm not worried enough for an e-vet trip since she's still active, eating and eliminating. But is it premature to try forcing some critical care and water into her if she doesn't start eating normal rations of hay by tomorrow? I really hate doing the burrito thing, but I'd rather avoid the extra expense of the vet if I can(every other time she ate and checked out fine at the vets).

She could just be being finicky and hoping for more treats. I have this happen constantly when my wife decides the bunnies need to get obese and keeps feeding them treats. A small bunch of alfalfa mixed in with the hay usually makes my rabbits go insane and eat everything. Its like crack for them.

I would try to coax her back onto eating normally by adding a bit of alfalfa to the hay mix and really mix it up so that the alfalfa dust gets into all the other hay and they have to go looking for it, that way the hay goes into her mouth as she moves it around. She might start eating it out of habit.

Levitate posted:

I kind of don't think it's a problem, but I've never had stomach problems with my bunny (thankfully). Stuff like cardboard and wicker probably just mainly acts like fiber and isn't a huge deal. Some other people might have better advice though

Bunny mouths are literal mulcher/juicers. Anything that goes in is going to be pulverized. My rabbits eat cardboard, wicker, woven grass, sticks they find outside, anything. The most hysterical thing ever is to feed a white bunny fresh cilantro. Mine will juice it so much that she has a big green beard of cilantro juice after she is done eating. Its also hysterical because if you pick them up right after they eat and stick your nose in their face, they have bunny cilantro breath.

Errant Gin Monks fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Sep 1, 2010

Windy
Feb 8, 2004



KenMornignstar posted:

She could just be being finicky and hoping for more treats. I have this happen constantly when my wife decides the bunnies need to get obese and keeps feeding them treats. A small bunch of alfalfa mixed in with the hay usually makes my rabbits go insane and eat everything. Its like crack for them.

I would try to coax her back onto eating normally by adding a bit of alfalfa to the hay mix and really mix it up so that the alfalfa dust gets into all the other hay and they have to go looking for it, that way the hay goes into her mouth as she moves it around. She might start eating it out of habit.

She never used to like alfalfa, but it's been years so I'll try to pick some up tonight. Not that I'm not thrilled that she's eating her veggies(usually quite picky with them) but she's normally a fiend for the Oxbow pellets and kept me broke with the amount of hay she'd eat. Rabbits :argh:

pseudonordic
Aug 31, 2003

The Jack of All Trades

KenMornignstar posted:

bunny cilantro breath

This. Is. Great. Much better than cecal breath, at any rate. :q:

Levitate
Sep 30, 2005

randy newman voice

YOU'VE GOT A LAFRENIÈRE IN ME
That, and fresh mint breath

Errant Gin Monks
Oct 2, 2009

"Yeah..."
- Marshawn Lynch
:hawksin:

Windy posted:

Rabbits :argh:

You have to be a certain kind of crazy to want to live with bunnies. They are some bizarre creatures.

pseudonordic
Aug 31, 2003

The Jack of All Trades

Windy posted:

She never used to like alfalfa, but it's been years so I'll try to pick some up tonight. Not that I'm not thrilled that she's eating her veggies(usually quite picky with them) but she's normally a fiend for the Oxbow pellets and kept me broke with the amount of hay she'd eat. Rabbits :argh:

If your bun is not a hay fan, I suggest you invest a small amount of money in a few pounds of third-cut timothy from KleenMama's Hay Loft! Cilantro loves it and the other bunny owners I work with say their rabbits went nuts for the samples I gave them. It did feel weird passing out ziploc baggies of bright green, fragrant hay. :420:

Windy
Feb 8, 2004



pseudonordic posted:

If your bun is not a hay fan, I suggest you invest a small amount of money in a few pounds of third-cut timothy from KleenMama's Hay Loft! Cilantro loves it and the other bunny owners I work with say their rabbits went nuts for the samples I gave them. It did feel weird passing out ziploc baggies of bright green, fragrant hay. :420:

Oh, she's a fan. Debbie loooooooves hay. She usually eats enough in one day to feed to two rabbits twice her size(and how she's not fat, I don't know). I think she's just being a jerk. Just about every year she decides to give up eating for a few days, and this is the longest she's gone without eating normal amounts of hay or pellets. So, I figure it's just like terrible twos....4 years late.

I'm going to change things around gradually this month to try and get her back into the hay. I forced a little Critical care into her on Wednesday, and since then her appetite has been up - probably because she hates the burrito as much as I do and wants to avoid it. KleenMamma should be delivering some goods next week.

Barney Must Die
Jul 21, 2008

Dog Crashes Car
Nothing is more awesome than a car crashing dog

HappilyDeranged posted:



pseudonordic posted:



Sorry if this sounds like a pretty basic question but can anyone advise what breeds these 2 are? They're just bought at local petshops but my brother-in-law has one of the former and I've got the later.

Thanks in advance.

Fenarisk
Oct 27, 2005

This past weekend me and the mrs. made the mistake of looking at kittens at a petco...which brought us info on Chicago area animal shelters, at a time when I'm between jobs and with a lot of time to pay attention to and train a kitten :unsmith:

The issue is with the buns. I have NO idea how well they will get along, what the risks are, and hell, if they will all get along at all. I want to introduce them as soon as possible but also realize most adoptions have just a 30 day policy, and if it takes my buns months to get to the point where they won't nip and chase and attack the cat (yes, this is what I'm worried about the most) even during supervised time, then we'll really be in a bind.

I'm trying to convince my wife that bunnies are mutually exclusive pets and that until we have no more buns we just can't get a cat, or a dog, or anything. Any advice on the matter?

Melicious
Nov 18, 2005
Ugh, stop licking my hand, you horse's ass!

Fenarisk posted:

This past weekend me and the mrs. made the mistake of looking at kittens at a petco...which brought us info on Chicago area animal shelters, at a time when I'm between jobs and with a lot of time to pay attention to and train a kitten :unsmith:

The issue is with the buns. I have NO idea how well they will get along, what the risks are, and hell, if they will all get along at all. I want to introduce them as soon as possible but also realize most adoptions have just a 30 day policy, and if it takes my buns months to get to the point where they won't nip and chase and attack the cat (yes, this is what I'm worried about the most) even during supervised time, then we'll really be in a bind.

I'm trying to convince my wife that bunnies are mutually exclusive pets and that until we have no more buns we just can't get a cat, or a dog, or anything. Any advice on the matter?

In our ten years with Bowser, she was introduced to three kittens, one adult cat, and two other bunnies. There were zero incidents with any of the cats.

Of course, Bowser was never a shy rabbit and had zero fear of anything, so she always established her dominance pretty quickly. I know other people have severe reservations about bringing other species around their bunnies, but Bowser spent 9 years living with cats- much of their time together completely unsupervised- and all was well. The cats fight with eachother, the bunnies fought with eachother, but there was never any fighting between the two groups.

Windy
Feb 8, 2004



My rabbits have lived with as many as 4 cats at once. Two were resident cats before I got the rabbits, and two were foster kittens that had never seen rabbits until mine. Right now I just have Debbie and she's an outgoing bun who scares my cats, but they tolerate her. Murphy was a shy rabbit but really loved my fluffier cat, probably because he himself was a fluffy bunny. Link is a secret fan of rabbits though, and I will catch him sleeping by Debbie's pen every evening.

Terrible video showing how indifferent the kittens were to Murphy

A baby Murphy with his buddy Link:


One of the foster kittens leaping on Debbie:



Supervision is the key, kittens have claws and don't know how to use them right. I used to take the kittens into the bunny room to play with toys while the rabbits were in their cages, and then I'd put the kittens in their crate while the rabbits played. Everyone was interested in each other at first, but then sort of lost interest in playing chase, and started to just hang out.

Aika
Mar 12, 2008

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SEAL THE EXITS!!!

Windy posted:



Oh my god -- Murphy looks just like my childhood rabbit! If you have more pictures, I would love to see them!

Is he part Angora too?

Windy
Feb 8, 2004



Murphy was a dwarf Holland mini-lop. He shed constantly, which was the worst ever(tiny hairs floating everywhere!), but I miss him so much. He was the best bunny. You can see more photos on my flickr page - http://www.flickr.com/photos/windy/sets/307098/

pseudonordic
Aug 31, 2003

The Jack of All Trades

Barney Must Die posted:

Sorry if this sounds like a pretty basic question but can anyone advise what breeds these 2 are? They're just bought at local petshops but my brother-in-law has one of the former and I've got the later.

Thanks in advance.

We're not sure what breed Cilantro is.

But she is photogenic!


Edit: I always misjudge the amount of KleenMama's hay we have left and we run out before the next box arrives. :smith:

pseudonordic fucked around with this message at 20:17 on Sep 11, 2010

RICKON WALNUTSBANE
Jun 13, 2001


English Angoras are still the best bunnies :3:

Only registered members can see post attachments!

RICKON WALNUTSBANE
Jun 13, 2001


Except when they remember they are rabbits and start tearing out the carpet :mad: I just lined his cage with an area mat and now he's pouting.

okiecompy
Jul 13, 2007

Foaming Chicken posted:

Except when they remember they are rabbits and start tearing out the carpet :mad: I just lined his cage with an area mat and now he's pouting.

Don't they pout about the doofiest things? I made SAMe's condo 33% bigger and how does she repay me? By trying to escape out the roof, the front door, and then by rattling the cage when I've got all the other escape routs closed off. Sigh, buns.

RICKON WALNUTSBANE
Jun 13, 2001


okiecompy posted:

Don't they pout about the doofiest things? I made SAMe's condo 33% bigger and how does she repay me? By trying to escape out the roof, the front door, and then by rattling the cage when I've got all the other escape routs closed off. Sigh, buns.

I wish I could give him an upper level. I don't know if it's because he's large or just lazy, but Lewis never hops or climbs anything. I used groom him on this couch maybe 18 inche off the ground. He would build up his courage before jumping down to the floor. He'd lean over the edge for a few seconds to look around and then quickly retract, repeating it 3 or 4 times.

Mighty Zoltar
Aug 18, 2004

I AM A PIECE OF SHIT. IF YOU SEE ME ON THE STREET, PLEASE STAB ME.
After owning a bunny a few years ago, I decided to get a new house rabbit 3 weeks ago. Linehead female, same as before. The previous bunny liked to eat walls, but this was pretty much over night when she had fee roam of the house.

The new bunny is currently being house trained as best we can, with a decent amount of time out, and otherwise in an indoor cage with plenty of toys. The issue is, over the past week when she comes out, she's biting at the carpet. We have a twist style rug which she started on when she first came out, but the eating have moved on to include regular carpet.

Is there anything that can be done at all to solve this problem? She's going to be around 12 weeks old now, so hopefully young enough to encourage this behaviour out of, but I'm not confident in "repairing" natural instinct.

I'm read about banging on the floor when she does it, and we are spending more focal time on her when she's out, which will hopefully make a change. Day 1 into extra effort, and no change, but that's to be expected. The problem is, it's a rented place, so we can't have the carpet eaten through.

Advice please.

alucinor
May 21, 2003



Taco Defender

Mighty Zoltar posted:

I'm not confident in "repairing" natural instinct.

You nailed it; if she's gonna dig and chew she's gonna dig and chew, you can't really train them out of it. Your only real option is to prevent her from accessing the forbidden items, as long as she shows interest in damaging them. The easiest way you can do this by covering the forbidden rugs with allowed rugs/grass mats/cardboard while she's out on them. It means you're constantly picking them up and putting them out again, so some people will just get a couple of big dorm carpets and leave them down over the real carpet 24-7 in the bunny play area. Eventually, you can try her on unprotected carpet, and if there's plenty of permissible distractions (cardboard boxes, phone books) you might find she's alright on the bare rugs again.

Once she's spayed, her destructive instincts will diminish somewhat, so you can at least look forward to that.

Pardalis
Dec 26, 2008

The Amazing Dreadheaded Chameleon Keeper
Introducing Chuck Nibblet and Principal Onyx Blackbun!

These are the two babby foster bunnies that I have been caring for for the past month. I will have them until around Christmas at which point they will be speutered and adopted out through Rabbit Advocates.

They were from a bunch of ferals living in a yard out in the 'burbs and I got them an hour after they were caught so they have really calmed down since coming to me. They are very sweet and curious and have been having a grand time exploring my apartment. My roomie is thrilled to be playing with cute babby buns so this has really worked out well for me. I will probably foster some adults when these guys go but they have been a super rewarding first foster experience for me.

Pictures!

When they first came:



A bit older:


Chuck Nibblet all tranced out (the first time I have tranced a bunny- we were doing nails):

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Huge Liability
Mar 2, 2010
Now that I'm back in university town, I miss my parents' bunnies a lot. I spent all summer at their house and played with Penny and George (who are both doing really great!) almost daily. But lucky for me, my parents are renovating soon and I get to bunny-sit for a week or so!

Does anyone have advice on how to make them feel as comfortable as possible during their stay? Obviously I am going to bunny-proof the apartment as best I can, but I'm not sure how else to accomodate them. I want to minimize their stress as much as I can.

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