Behaviour difficulties

[M&Mdouble]

I have 2 bonded rabbits, I absolutely love them, but just lately they are really testing my patience

They're indoors and they live in my bedroom, I have done all the bunny proofing I can think of, but these 2 are still a nightmare. Constantly jumping on surfaces in my room, knocking everything off, eating my plants, jumping in the window, trying to remove the barriers I put up to block them from going under the bed, eating the carpet.

You name it. I can guarantee you they have done it. I have read a few things on training your rabbit not to go certain areas and discourage certain behaviours, but none of it works - or at least it does for about 30 seconds, then they are right back at it again. I've tried thumping the floor and saying no, moving them from where they are and saying no trying to distract them, time outs.

I completely understand that rabbits are rabbits, they will do as they wish, but my plan is to free roam them 24/7, not just when I am not asleep, but i just cant trust them not to do something they're not supposed to.

I cant pick them up. I cant touch them at all. Theyve never let me from day 1 (I have had them for 4 years now). They do still run up to mex climb on me etc.

They just dont seem to want to pay attention to the word no

Does anyone have any tips or tricks that I could try, so I can make them fill time free roam. Without the worry of coming home to a bomb site every day...

 

[Mac189]

Mine are chaos wizards also (Foxwell in particular, although then he teaches Willa how to do the bad things). I have developed a ton of troubleshooting tricks to outsmart two little beasts with brains the size of walnuts. Most surfaces I don't want them on I raise so they don't think to jump that high ( I lofted my bed too) and most importantly move anything they can use to climb higher (Fox learned to wait for when I had laundry in my basket and use the clothes as a springboard onto the desk to eat books). I move anything I don't want them to destroy up high. I tape all cords to the bottom of my desk, covered the carpet with a woven rug they can't get their teeth into to destroy and got rough linoleum floor for the edges. Blocking under the bed is hard, I'd maybe try wire or grates you can zip tie in place.

When discouraging behaviors I try to make sure they can never associate me with the reprimand so they don't either fear me or realize I'm not actually going to do anything (learned the hard way, they binky when I say no and think it's fun, maybe even game I play on purpose). I used to try shooting the ceiling with a nerf gun to throw them off their rhythm and they couldn't associate me with the sound, but at some point they stopped caring.

The Demolition Dou have forced me to be much more organized, which is a plus. It's reached the point where constantly try to stay a step ahead has become a fun game that I don't have to play all the time. They free roam 24/7, and the key has been making anything I don't want to be destroyed inaccessible, I don't think "no" is in a rabbits vocabulary. Good luck, your bunnies look super cute from your profile pic!

 

[JBun]

What is their exact diet and how much do they weight? I know it seems like an odd question and unrelated, but diet can play into behavioral issues.

 

[M&Mdouble]

What is their exact diet and how much do they weight? I know it seems like an odd question and unrelated, but diet can play into behavioral issues.

They have unlimited Timothy hay, green every day and about a palm of pellets between them, which I use as treats through the day.

 

[M&Mdouble]

Mine are chaos wizards also (Foxwell in particular, although then he teaches Willa how to do the bad things). I have developed a ton of troubleshooting tricks to outsmart two little beasts with brains the size of walnuts. Most surfaces I don't want them on I raise so they don't think to jump that high ( I lofted my bed too) and most importantly move anything they can use to climb higher (Fox learned to wait for when I had laundry in my basket and use the clothes as a springboard onto the desk to eat books). I move anything I don't want them to destroy up high. I tape all cords to the bottom of my desk, covered the carpet with a woven rug they can't get their teeth into to destroy and got rough linoleum floor for the edges. Blocking under the bed is hard, I'd maybe try wire or grates you can zip tie in place.

When discouraging behaviors I try to make sure they can never associate me with the reprimand so they don't either fear me or realize I'm not actually going to do anything (learned the hard way, they binky when I say no and think it's fun, maybe even game I play on purpose). I used to try shooting the ceiling with a nerf gun to throw them off their rhythm and they couldn't associate me with the sound, but at some point they stopped caring.

The Demolition Dou have forced me to be much more organized, which is a plus. It's reached the point where constantly try to stay a step ahead has become a fun game that I don't have to play all the time. They free roam 24/7, and the key has been making anything I don't want to be destroyed inaccessible, I don't think "no" is in a rabbits vocabulary. Good luck, your bunnies look super cute from your profile pic!

Oh dear. Well I have ordered some grids, so replace the stuff I already have around the bed. Seems I will have to live a minimalist life, so need to do a massive clear out of things!

They're just so devious, and they know exactly what they are doing, because as soon as I move to look, they quickly stop and look at me!

 

[Mac189]

Oh dear. Well I have ordered some grids, so replace the stuff I already have around the bed. Seems I will have to live a minimalist life, so need to do a massive clear out of things!

They're just so devious, and they know exactly what they are doing, because as soon as I move to look, they quickly stop and look at me!

They have all day, every day to plan the destruction. Good luck!

 

[JBun]

So on occasion the diet can affect behavior. Rabbits that get too much concentrated food (pellets) and not enough hay can get in trouble because they fill up quickly on pellets instead of spending their time slowly eating hay, then they are full and have too much time with nothing better to do than find ways to get into trouble.

But then with some other rabbits the opposite can be true, that they don't get enough pellets and aren't able to eat enough hay fast enough to feel full. So because they are always feeling hungry they start getting into trouble because they are always trying to look for food to be able to feel full.

If you are wondering if food might be contributing to your rabbits behavior issues, you would have to examine the possibility and maybe try out one or the other to see if a diet alteration makes a difference.

 

[M&Mdouble]

So on occasion the diet can affect behavior. Rabbits that get too much concentrated food (pellets) and not enough hay can get in trouble because they fill up quickly on pellets instead of spending their time slowly eating hay, then they are full and have too much time with nothing better to do than find ways to get into trouble.

But then with some other rabbits the opposite can be true, that they don't get enough pellets and aren't able to eat enough hay fast enough to feel full. So because they are always feeling hungry they start getting into trouble because they are always trying to look for food to be able to feel full.

If you are wondering if food might be contributing to your rabbits behavior issues, you would have to examine the possibility and maybe try out one or the other to see if a diet alteration makes a difference.

They were previously getting so much more pellets when they were temporarily with my parents. So I have tried to slowly wean them off of it all as they were barely eating any hay.

Maybe it slow it down even further then.