My Rabbit Sunny

[Striker]

Hello I have a Netherland dwarf rabbit named Sunny (brown/red). I bought him at Denver Dumb Friends Leage in 2007(birthday is early October). Sunny's original owner had to give him up because he/she had too many bunnies. I did keep Sunny's original name so there is no cunfusion. When we took him home he was a little shy at first, but then he would start to do binkies (about 2 feet in the air) and seemed really happy. Now he is almost two years old and seems very board. He nolonger does his little bikies all he does is stomp his foot, grunt, then run off. He has planty of room for exersise (he gets a whole room to himself for a few hours). This started around May. I think it might be that i don't brong him in my room at night to watch the news and Simpsons(I got tierd of him trying to eat my homework and school stuff) I was told by a great rabbit owner that bunnies sometimes mellow out around the age of two, but another person told me that their rabbit did binkies till he was nine. I don't think he wants a friend since he didn't have one whenhe did his little binkies. Any advice?

 

[Spring]

Hi there, welcome to the forum .

What about introducing some new toys? Some personal favourites of my guys are crumpled up newsaper, plain newspaper, towels to dig in, cat rattle toys, brown paper bags, or even a simple cardboard box to chew up.Might be good to give him some new toys that might catch his interest!

Here are some great Toy ideas from our library, sometimes a new toy can be really interesting to a bored rabbit!

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12433&forum_id=17

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Welcome to RO!:wave:

I agree with Spring, but then again, I think it's something else. Not sure what. Start with new toys and go from there. Although, I don't think that will work. I've seen my own buns ignore toys completely.:?

Oooh, you know might be good? A small tupperware bowl! Put some hay in it and let em have it! See what happens. My bun will toss it, but that's about it, haha. He'll also eat hay out of it, once he gets it in position(on it's side).

 

[Striker]

I put a lunch bag in Sunny's cage.I know he likes ripping up his news paper so that might work. I'll start bringing him into my room at night to watch T.V. Yes my bunny like to watch T.V. Maybe thats it, Sunny is just a little furrycoach potato :sofa:

 

[Raspberry82]

Sounds to me like Sunny is wanting more attention from you. Max will do this behavior when he's upset with me and my bf if we aren't able to play with him enough for a day or two. We'll come into his room and he'll womp his foot at us, give us the bunny butt, or go darting off like "well, if you're going to ignore me, you're getting it right back! Neener neener!* Of course regualrly he gets plenty of play and attention, but if we ever slip he'll be a little moody with us and act out a bit.

Oh, I forgot to mention, Max will do this especially when he see's us watching a movie or tv and god forbid, actuallly ignoring him because of the show! Lol. If he can see you or hear you and the TV he knows something else is getting more attention than he is.

 

[Striker]

How do you play with a rabbit? Do you just sit in a room with him/her, pet him/her, or like go fetch or wrestle with my hand?

 

[Raspberry82]

It kind of depends on the personality of the rabbit. Some are more aggressive at play time, some are very laid back. Max likes to rough house a bit (keep in mind rough housing with a bun isn't really rought housing because buns have a more delicate bone structure than you might think).

We'll go into his "play room" (our kitchen which is blocked off with a baby gate), grab his favorite toy and get him to lunge at it, grab it, chase it. Similar to a puppy, but bunnies are built much more delicately than a puppy. Will get him to chase our hands or go in circles by playing with his tail or feet or run around the room chasing him (he loves it!). Just be sure he knows when play time "rough housing" is over because they can get riled up and accidentally bite you. When play is over and it's time to calm down I put my hand on top of his head and gently push it down to the floor so he knows to calm down. We put blankies over his head or gently poke him with pillows until he chases it around. Squeaky toys work really great during playtime, the noise gets Max very excited and really to "get the toy" lol.

We also set up small boxes in his play room to play hide n seek/chase. Buns won't really fetch unfortunately , would be fun if they did.

 

[Striker]

Im not sure my bunny would do that. It might be like this

Me: Get the toy Sunny

Sunny thought: Dude is this kid supid or something? *stomps foot and runs off*

Well i'll never know until i try so tomarow afternoon i'll go play with my little Fluffy terd (thats his nick name)

 

[Raspberry82]

Lol. My bf constantly refers to Max as that or "butthead" of course in the most loving sense of the word humanly possible, hehe. The fuzzball can be such a little trouble maker it's a fitting nickname :biggrin2: .

Might take your bun a little while to catch on to playing since it's something new. Eventually, you'll figure out what he likes best . But active interaction with their peoples is important to most bunners.

The funniest thing is when he gets an ego and starts to try and chase us! Hah. He has a big time napoleon complex, he never believes he's a little person.

 

[Little Bay Poo]

LOL Rasberry! I love your description of playtime, it sounds like so much fun

We have a different kind of playtime here because Billy is so skittish. If I tried to play a game of chase with him I think he'd get scared and run away! So for us it's watch the bunny and be a step ladder when bunny demands service. Billy really likes climbing on people and having all eyes on him. He only gets into his binky routines when everyone is watching him...he's like a stage performer. If he sees you ignoring him he gets mad and nudges, nips, or goes back to sulk in his cage. If I'm on the couch reading a textbook he will come over, climb on me, and sit on the text so I can't read anymore.

 

[Striker]

Sunny lays on my homework or when i leave the room to go get him a treat i'll come back to find my homework ripped to shreds. Wait maybe thats a good thing. No my teachers wouldn't take that, but then again when my old goat ate by brothers homework the believed him. Hmmmmmonder:

 

[Raspberry82]

LOL. I've had my bare feet nipped at a time or two after going into the kitchen for something and having Max charge over and tell me bluntly, "I demand attention, Now Mom!". Haha. I LOVE billy's binky routines, I have never seen such an exuberantly happy bun like that. Max only binkies when he gets really really excited about something, but usually a couple half-binkies, no acrobatics. That would be fun!

 

[Raspberry82]

Striker wrote:

Sunny lays on my homework or when i leave the room to go get him a treat i'll come back to find my homework ripped to shreds. Wait maybe thats a good thing. No my teachers wouldn't take that, but then again when my old goat ate by brothers homework the believed him. Hmmmmmonder:

Lol! :dude:

 

[Striker]

I remember the first 2 weeks we had sunny he hated theese Darth Vador PJ (they were super comfortable) and one he would bite the bottoms of them , but one day he attacked my them biteing into the right leg ripping a giant hole in them. Ill make a youtube vid of it. He has bitten (full force) my arm, niple, and well i don't want to say that word on a bunny web site :shock:might i add this was all because of those stupid PJ

 

[Raspberry82]

We actually once bought a pair of baby fuzzy pants for Max as a toy. They were those super plush fuzzy fleece outdoorsy kind of pants, but he absolutely loved that toy. He finally put to many giant holes into it so it had to get tossed.

 

[Striker]

So tried to play with little sunny but he attacked the toys with full bunny force. Could this mean he is an agresive player or he just really hates it? It was pretty cute, i put a paper lunch bad in the room and he thought it was a little house. He ended up ripping open the bottom and had the bag on him like a dress.:shock:

 

[Little Bay Poo]

Striker wrote:

So tried to play with little sunny but he attacked the toys with full bunny force. Could this mean he is an agresive player or he just really hates it?

I'm not sure. If I see mine getting aggressive with toys I usually stop forcing the toy on them because I'd rather not risk getting attacked or bitten. I usually just give mine stuff to play with and let them do their own thing because they do get aggressive and agitated if I'm repeatedly putting a toy in their face.

 

[gentle giants]

Is Sunny neutered? He would have more of an attitude if he is intact. Usually a neutered male will be calmer and more snuggly. Not always, LOL, but usually.

 

[Striker]

gentle giants wrote:

Is Sunny neutered? He would have more of an attitude if he is intact. Usually a neutered male will be calmer and more snuggly. Not always, LOL, but usually.

Yep the original owner got his little bunny makers cut off, and our vet double checked.