Question about upcoming spay and general bun stuff

[bhiggs]

Hi! I just got my first bunny,Callie, in June when her former owner got bored of her anddidnt want her. Well, she is the most active and lovablelittle ball of fur I've ever met and I love her dearly, but she is alsoa huge trouble maker. She is approximately 8 months old

She chews on the corners of the wall, baseboards, doors and pulls upcarpet. I know some of it is hormonal, but how good are theodds she'll stop after being spayed? Also, how would having afriend help? She is most destructive when no one is payingattention to her. I am super busy and unfortunately cant giveher too much time on a regular basis. I'm having troubleconvincing the boyfriend (who I live with) to get another rabbithowever, due to the utter destruction ours wreaks.

Now, Callie currently lives in a NIC condo but I just bought her a XXLdog crate (48 X 30 X 35H). The crate is a little smaller thanthe NIC condo, but will be much more convenient. It will beeasier to move and to pack up when she goes with us to visit my momover Christmas or when someone is bunnysitting her when we areaway. The crate should arrive Monday, but her spay isTuesday. Can I move her to her new cage Monday or should Ileave it alone until after her spay? I dont want to upset herwhen she's recovering.

I'd also appreciate any other tips about her upcoming spay or any other bunny tips!

Thank you so much!

Here's a couple of pics:

Callie on her Cottontail Cottage

on the couch

 

[Shuu]

It is more likely your girl would teach theother rabbit her bad habbits than the other way around. Two does equaldouble the trouble.

Her destructive behaviour may slow down but it won't stop. Try to giveher alternatives: more toys, a box with shredded paper to dig in, etc.Praise her when she does the right thing and try to deter her fromchewing by rubbing a pure type soap on the area or try some bitterapple spray.

 

[darlenenicole]

Hi bhiggs, I think the best thing to do would beto keep her occupied. My bunnies love cardboard boxes!! They chew onthem and hide in them and everything. They also love the corners of thewall...the carpet and the same problems you are having. I tried thebitter apple spray and that does work for me.....i also have a appletree outside they love to chew on the sticks from that (make sure ithasnt been sprayed) The best advice i can give you is to just give herother things to do.

Also, I had my girl spayed 4 days ago.She is doing alright she justdosent want to eat. I entice her with all the treats I can find. Makesure you have plenty of hay and treats that she likes to eat. Also justmake her compfortable. She will be hurting for a few days, mine isstill movin kind of slow. Make sure you have a good litter, likeyesterdays news. Well i don t know what else to tell you, I am stillseeking advice myself....Good luck! Darlene

 

[naturestee]

Hi!

Some of her destructive habits will ease after the spay and withtime. She's still young, after all. She wouldprobably teach a friend her habits, but if she is acting up because shewants attention then a friend might give her the attention that sheneeds. Give her at least a couple of weeks after her spay tosee how it has affected her, and then decide whether or not a secondbunny is right for both you and her.

Shuu has some good ideas for training her. A sharp "No!" anda squirt of water helps too. If she's digging in a particulararea, put a dig box there. And change her toys once in awhile. Rabbits get bored if they never get anythingnew. If you rotate them, old toys seem new again.Even rearranging the room can make it more interesting forher. She might practice running laps for a bit instead ofchewing the baseboards.

As for the new cage, I would leave it until she recovers.

 

[doodle]

I don't have any advice to add to what the others have already said,
but just wanted to say . . . she suuure is a pretty rabbit!
I love the combinations of her colors and her dutchie markings.

 

[Pet_Bunny]

naturestee wrote:

As for the new cage, I would leave it until she recovers.

Keep her quiet and have a clean litter box when youbring her home from the Vet. You might want to askif there is any pain medicine and how you can keep her frombiting the stitches for the first few days from the Vet. Youmight want to get some favorite foods to encourage her to keep eating.

Rainbows!

 

[liv4pete]

Give her old toilet paper rolls, cat balls withthe jingly bells, phone books with the covers torn off and dig boxes.also like was said try to rotate the toys so they always seem new. Goodluck with her spay and hormonal behaviors. She is verrry pretty.!

 

[bhiggs]

Thats a lot of great advice. Thank youso very much! I will let you know how the spaygoes. Hopefully it will be uneventful.

darlenenicole I'm so sorry you are having trouble withyour girl...I hope she feels better very soon.

 

[jyrenze]

I think its better not to move her into the newcage until she has recovered from her spay, bunnies would preferfamiliar surroundings to recuperate in I suppose. By the way she isreally cute and sweet looking.

 

[jordiwes]

The best thing we did for our girl was get her acompanion, but be prepared to put a lot of time into the bondingprocess initially.

I agree with everything said above. Good luck with the spay! I think it's a good idea to get some pain medication.

 

[bhiggs]

Well, I brought her home yesterday at4. She was in obvious pain and grinding her teeth.I was given Metacam and told to give it to her if she ate.Well, she wasnt going to eat if she was in a lot of pain, so I calledthe vet and they told me I could go ahead and give her a dose and ifshe didnt eat, then give her some Critical Care (which I have a bagof). Well, 30 seconds after getting the Metacam..I'm not sureif it's even effective that quick...she started to eat.

Three cheers for eating and pooping!!!!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!!!

She's eating lettuce and hay and carrots. She made about 5 or6 poops last night and we have 6 or 7 more poops as of 9 am!I am so happy.

I am giving pain meds every 12 hrs, more often than the once a dayrecommended by the vet. I have the advice of a veryexperienced bunny person I know and I hope you guys agree. Itis better for the overall health of the bun to keep her out ofpain. It will keep her eating and not pulling at her wound(hopefully). What do you think? The doseis 0.3mL and I think the Metacam is 1.5mg/mL. Callie was3.14lb in July and has grown a bit but is still small. I dontknow her weight now, but guess she is probably 4lbs 4.5 maximum.

She seems like she's hurting, but a bit better today.Yesterday she was grinding her teeth, sitting puffed up with her headdown, and had glazed eyes. Today she's alert and movingaround a bit with her head up. I'm so relieved! Ijust cant wait until this is over.

 

[bhiggs]

Oh and they used staples. Anyone elsehave experience with staples? I have to go back in 10-14days. I was disappointed about that. The vetsoffice is far and I think Callie shouldnt have to be back again sosoo. Although I guess it's good to have her looked at.

I love my vet, but was upset at the vet tech. They neveroffered Callie the veggies or pellets I brought for her, just thehay. The vet tech didnt "think" she ate any because "therewere no poops." Grrrrrrr! At home,lettuce was the first thing she ate and almost as soon as I put it inthere.

 

[doodle]

I'm so glad she made it through thesurgery just fine and is back home. It's great that she'seating so soon! And a good thing she has the painmeds. I bet she'll be healed up and back to herself beforeyou know it.

Kim

 

[naturestee]

Ich... staples. Keep a close eye onher- there have been several others here whose rabbits have pulled attheir staples. I much prefer the hidden, internalstitches. It leaves nothing to pull at. Good tohear she's eating, though!