Destructive Bratty Bunny Flinging Food

Sadie is being a brat. I usually put her food and water in bowls, and she's taken to flipping them around her cage, getting the carpet wet with water, and destroying the pellets in the process. She'll then not have food or water for several hours because I'm asleep or our running errands. I bought a water bottle and I hope that will solve the water situation, but any ideas on the food situation. The food bowl I use is actually a heavy clay crockery dish, and frankly I'm amazed she can lift it.
I put the hay in a hanging basket, and she tore the basket down, and flung it all over the place- so it served little purpose. She's just throwing little temper tantrums and I don't know why, but I just want to remedy the damage, so any recommendations on keeping her from getting food all over the place.
She has a running area of 6ftx3ft, and things to climb on. But she's just wrecking the whole area with her tantrums right now. I at least want to take care of the food flinging.

Take a large piece of chipboard, screw the bowls on it.
3 screws around the circumference do the job.

Give her something nice to gnaw at -like willow branches, or cardboard boxes, a lot of it so she has to work her way through to get to the food bowl.

She sounds somewhat bored.

I had my father bolt a feeding dish to the wall for me. Tawny tosses things all the time. Including food. Bolting the dish worked perfectly.

She's not having tantrums. She's just playing!!

These bowls are available at the major pet stores. I get the 20 oz size. They work great. They twist on to a clamp for easy removable (by humans, not rabbits!)

^ Oh. They have a variety of sizes available. For food, you could actually get the smaller ones. I use the 20 oz ones for water.

Sounds like she's acting out because she's bored. Is there any way to give her more playroom? More playtime out of her cage? New toys? I rotate Harvey's toys every week so she always has something " new". Some buns are more active or more intelligent. Maybe try training her to do tricks might alleviate some boredom for her too. Good luck!

Preitler said:

Take a large piece of chipboard, screw the bowls on it.
3 screws around the circumference do the job.

Give her something nice to gnaw at -like willow branches, or cardboard boxes, a lot of it so she has to work her way through to get to the food bowl.

She sounds somewhat bored.

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Sadie has lots of toys. I have large branches in her cage from our garden (not treated) to play with, I've got cardboard boxes I've cut into play holes, and she bounces on them, and she's got a ball to roll around, and I make her play room larger during the day 9ftx4ft (she's working up to loose but has the occasional accident still). At the moment, I have a heavy rock from my fossil collection sitting in the middle of her food dish. First bunny I've ever had out of the many to behave like this LOL. Last night, the dog was laying next to her running area, and she pulled my dogs tail into her cage and power scratched it.

hormones at play perhaps?

Whiterabbitrage said:

Sounds like she's acting out because she's bored. Is there any way to give her more playroom? More playtime out of her cage? New toys? I rotate Harvey's toys every week so she always has something " new". Some buns are more active or more intelligent. Maybe try training her to do tricks might alleviate some boredom for her too. Good luck!

Click to expand...

This is pretty much what I was going to write. My rabbits get destructive if they're put in their [large, spacious, toy-filled] cage area, but settle down when they're free.

Does Sadie have any rabbit friends to help entertain her?

samoth said:

This is pretty much what I was going to write. My rabbits get destructive if they're put in their [large, spacious, toy-filled] cage area, but settle down when they're free.

Does Sadie have any rabbit friends to help entertain her?

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No rabbit friends, I just got her in April. We moved into our house a couple months ago too. My office is too dangerous for a bunny her size to free range at the moment. I was planning on getting an angora rabbit later, but I don't know if a rabbit that size would be appropriate friend material for a netherland dwarf.