Has anyone ever tried putting their bunny(s) in "time-out"?

[BunnyLove89]

So Weston is a really good bunny. He only has one bad habit, and that is chewing up his flooring. For awhile if I would shout "Weston, NO!" or clap, he would stop. But now he really doesn't care. The only thing that I do that he hates is being picked up, which I usually only do out of necessity. Today I've started putting him in his cage for a time-out every time he chews his flooring (So far he has had 2 time-outs. It seems effective so far, because when I let him out he goes and lays down. Here is where I am conflicted tho. I worry that it might make him resent being picked up even more if he starts associating that with being confined to his cage. I've been trying to help him make the connection that being picked up = good things. I'm not worried about him having negative feelings about his cage, because the cage door is only shut when he is being naughty. Otherwise he can go in and out whenever he wants.
What do you guys think?

 

[Nelsons_Mom]

I think it is a concern that he have a good relationship with his cage.

Even if it is only closed when he is bad, or when you're asleep or whatever it is, it's probably where his food, water, and litter box is. That is supposed to be a safe place.

My first recommendation is to cover that patch of carpet that he likes to dig with something that is acceptable to dig like newspaper or a phone book. If that's not possible, then try letting him out on the kitchen where there is no carpeting.

If worse comes to worse, you can buy a gently spraying bottle and fill it with plain water and spray it on his back, not his face, while pairing it with a "No!"

 

[BunMommaD]

Walking up to cookie and "herding" him away from the spot he is digging all the while saying "No" and then giving him something he can dig! Ie: a phone book, newspaper, a dig box, a towel...etc. This has always worked well for us! It is important to try and not get aggravated tho, he always knows if I'm feeling aggravated instead of patient and when I am he doesn't listen at all! Lol

 

[lizzym]

BunMommaD wrote:

Walking up to cookie and "herding" him away from the spot he is digging all the while saying "No" and then giving him something he can dig! Ie: a phone book, newspaper, a dig box, a towel...etc. This has always worked well for us! It is important to try and not get aggravated tho, he always knows if I'm feeling aggravated instead of patient and when I am he doesn't listen at all! Lol

haha yes!! i swear they know when you're aggravated and thrive on it. i spent 2 hours trying to get pierre out from under the couch the other day. i got so mad and said "screw it!" and sat down..and that's when he came out to say hello. lol

 

[dimples1967]

They do try your patience!! Why is it they want to play with everything except what they are supposed to play with?!?! My hubby got some plastic mesh fencing and cut it and affixed it to the bottom of the couch under the skirt so our bun can no longer go under there.. I think it's easier just to bunny proof...

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We have a couple of gigantic litter boxes we fill with shredded newspaper. Some of ours spend hours digging in there and just playing around. You could try putting something like that down for him. I wouldn't worry too much about picking him up--it's a fact of his life that you need to do it--nail trims, gland clean outs, etc., so he just needs to get used to it and you need to make sure you have control when you do it. We had to re-direct digging behavior or change the surface area as they are persistent little buggers.