DAPHNE IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!

[Danielle89]

Ok, I just switched her to a bigger cage, in fact, a playpen to be exact. I figured she'd love this new cage and all...right? Well, yeah, not so much. SHe has been in her new cage for 6 days now and she does nothing but rip it apart. She is throwing her food dishes around (she actually broke one of them,) she is dumping her litter box, plus, she digs at the mat on the bottom of the playpen so much that she is actually lifting it off the floor and then head-butts the cage until it caves in! I have actually woke up a few times to my bunny either in bed with me or hopping around on my floor.

I have tried giving her new toys, thinking she was bored with the ones she has, I even got her a dog treat ball and a hay ball that I hang on the side of her cage, but noithing works. I also rotate her toys everyday.She gets excircise every day too. Im going to velcrow her litter box down to the mat so she stops tipping it.

I am really getting frusterated with my bunny. I love her to death but I don't know what to do with her anymore...PLEASE HELP ME! Ive never had this many problems with my male rabbit...:bawl:

If anyone has any ideas, I would LOVE to hear them!!!

Thanks

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

She was spayed like, 2 weeks ago, right?

Wow, that is quite aggressive:?. The part I can't believe is head butting the cage:shock:.

Are there other animals around? Do they seem to agress her or her them?

 

[Pipp]

It took Pipp a month or two for her hormones to settle, ditto withDarry totally trashingher new home. But they did stop.

The best distraction in the meantime might be a cardboard box. Detroying it (aka 'getting it just right!') isa long-term project! I put a thick on with a smallentrance and a smaller exit hole cut out in them, and they work on enlarging it. Or chewing another one through the top.

She will settle down, really! Good luck in the meantime!



sas

 

[Spring]

Wow! Sounds like a major bunny temper tantrum! :shock:Sounds like Bruno when he throws a fit, including the head butting the cage LOL!

I definitely agree with a 'long term renovation' like a cardboard box.. will help a lot and keep her mind on something more productive!

What kind of litterbox do you have? I had this problem with Bruno, so I put a few holes in the side lip of the litterbox, and zip tied it to the cage so he couldn't move/tip it. A bit of a pain to clean and dump out, but it worked!

 

[Hazel]

Head butting the cage made me laugh because Flopsy does something similar when she's pissed off. She grabs onto the bars and then pushes them HARD making a grunting sound. Hulk bunny. It's funny, but at the same time it's really scary.... I'm definitely scared of my bun. Can't wait until she's spayed.

 

[Danielle89]

She was actually spayed back in the 2nd week offebruary so it was a while ago, i

just dont understand why she's acting like this, Im so confused and frstrated at the same time.:waiting:

 

[Danielle89]

Thanks for the idea with the box, im going to get one from work tomorrow and try it tomorrow night. Im also going to try a phonebook too (I heard that was supposed to bea favorite too.)

 

[foxflower]

My rabbits are not interested in a single box, but they spend tons of time when I take extra thick cardboard boxes and zip tie them together. I put a hole in the front one and in the back one and I stack them 2 or 3 high zip tied together and they burrow their way through them making new holes everywhere from box to box. I notice that they eventually make their own entrance also and refuse to use the one I made. ..obviously not good enough for them.
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So if a single box does not work, try a couple side by side or one on top of another..the more the better and whatever fits.

 

[MsBinky]

LOL that sounds so much like my Bam-Bam when he first came here. It could still be hormones. Just, word of caution, keep an eye out in case there are any other symptoms just in case the aggression could be pain related. I highly doubt it though, but I prefer warning in case.

 

[Danielle89]

Good news!! I figured out why Daphne was tearing about her playpen...she doesnt like the feel of the mat on the bottom of the pen. I chose to take the mat out one night because I saw her laying underneath the mat and, what do you know, she was quiet all night long! So now I get to attempt to find something else to put on the bottom of her playpen because I know it isnt good for her to be on my bare carpet. So far I have tried a bed sheet and she shredded that...any ideas of what to try next? O, and Im going to try zip tieing multiple boxes together to see if she likes that..thanks for the suggestion.:thumbup

 

[foxflower]

I did not know it is not good for them to lie on carpet. I have outdoor carpet on the shelves of my rabbit condo. I aired it out for days before I put it in there first (I have parrots so I make sure that nothing has odors).

Can you enlighten me? I got instructions for using the outdoor carpet from rabbit sites.

I also have fleece blankets (some very very thick) that I got from freecycle and from the local resale shops. The heavy ones she does not scoot around like the thin small ones. She loves the fleece although it might be warm for summer.

 

[aurora369]

I think if she's not eating the carpet, it should be fine. Sometimes carpet can be abrasive on their feet, but many rabbits don't have an issue with it.

Fleece is also a good thing to try.

You have to be 100% sure that the bunny isn't going to eat the carpet, because ingested carpet fibers can cause horrible blockages.

--Dawn

 

[foxflower]

Thank you. So far no carpet eating although I did find her eating her phone book that she used to just rip up. Still don't know why suddenly she decided to eat paper.

 

[Danielle89]

Well, unfortunately, Daphne has started to rip apart my carpet. I was watching her doit and shewas NOT EATING it, thanksgod!!However, I still took her out of her play pen and is now back in the dog cage that I originally had her in. She is not a very happy girl but I dont want something to happen to her with the carpet so shes just gunna have to deal with it. I will try the fleece idea but the problem with that is she shredded a bed sheet that I tried with her before so I think she is going to do the same with fleece, but its wortha try. O and she didnt like multiple boxes tied together either...

 

[foxflower]

Try having an entrance and an exit hole for her in the first box and just a small hole between boxes. Then put a favorite little treat in the first box. (Something that won't spoil). Leave them there for a while. A week or so anyway. Then try moving them to a different place in the pen and do the same thing.

One, she may not feel she has an escape route out of the box although mine dug their own. Also, the small holes between boxes will give her the idea that she can widen the holes.

Just some thoughts.

I also put some very short very soft fake fur type stuff or a stuffed animal around...mine uses the stuffed animal like a pillow and she also preens it (or whatever the term is in rabbits). She does not eat it or chew on it at all. The very soft fake fur really does not come apart and she loves the soft feeling of it. She also does not rake on it like she does no sheets and blankets. But usually the raking is unrelated to what she eats. She will grab blankets with her teeth but only to pull them and then she rakes them to smooth them, bunch them etc.

With the telephone book she actually ripped pieces off with her teeth and was chewing it up. That was a first and why I took it away. Not normal for her and I have never seen her do that with fleece or blankers or sheets although she raked my bedsheets to pieces trying to "rearrange" them and dig them.

 

[Hazel]

If I'm wrong, PLEASE someone tell me!!! but I think it's ok for buns to eat paper. Mine LOVE toilet paper rolls, which are made of paper and I know others give them to their buns as well.