He doesn't love the bunnywumpkinses like I do.

[whiskylollipop]

What do I do? My bunnies are like toddlers permanently stuck in the terrible two's. Everything goes in their moufies and everything gets chewed to sh*t. They know where they're not allowed to go and by gosh, they'll find a way in there if it kills them. With all the damage they've done to our apartment and possessions, and all the minefields of poop and stray pee streams flying over the side of the litterbox, Boyfriend's just about had enough.

"You spoil them too much," he says. "They're not the boss of this house, I am," he says. "They should be punished," he says. "Why are you giving them the good parts of the tomato, just give them the stem part we throw away," he says. "They're just animals," he says.

He doesn't UNDERSTAND. It's not 'acting out' when they chew our wooden things. They don't mean to be naughty on purpose. Bunnies don't have concepts of property ownership and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to fathom why anyone would want their perfectly chewable chair leg to be kept all pristine when grinding down one's teeth is so much more important than silly cosmetic preferences like that.

They are so fuzzy and cute and curious and sweet and funny and stress-relieving and watching them snuggled up together, all bunloaf and sleepy eyes, is the best thing in the world. He doesn't get that at all. They're just demanding, evil, godzilla-spawn poop machines to him.

Anyone else have bunny-human family problems?

 

[Sophie's Humble Servant]

"You kiss Sophie more than you kiss me" ....says my husband. LOL!!

 

[funnybunnymummy]

Yup. My hubby was firmly dead-set against having Gus (he was basically a failed foster). He's grown to like him (can't say he loves him yet), but it's only taken four years. And the first couple years were the worst. I've shed many tears over the situation (loving Gus and loving my hubby and them not loving each other--because, yeah, Gus doesn't much care for hubby either). My recommendation:

1) Bunproof your house top to bottom.

2) Be firm with the training.

Hope that helps!

Rue

 

[JBun]

I agree, bunnyproofing is the best way to go.

And just fyi, the stem part of tomatoes is toxic to rabbits.

 

[PaGal]

I agree...bunny proof.

My ex was not an animal person and would complain about pets that caused no problems and he never took care of any pets.

My hubby now likes animals although at the same time he would not easily shrug off destruction of our home by a pet.

If I was in your situation I would do everything I could to completely bun proof. Your boyfriend lives there too and his feelings should be taken into consideration as well as yours.

 

[whiskylollipop]

I didn't know that about tomato stems! Boyfriend was going to murder them so that was his end game... Lol.

You guys are right of course, it's his house too and I do respect his feelings, even though I think he's weirdly preoccupied with everything looking perfectly neat and perfectly perfect.

Rue, I have the same internal conflict re: the man vs bunny dichotomy! It sucks that the bunnies piss Boyfriend off so much when I love both so dearly. He's convinced that in a life or death situation, I'd be running to save the bunnies before even thinking about him haha.

 

[BunnyL0ve]

Yep. I was in your shoes. I think my husband just gave up.

His main if not only problem with Chu is his shedding. Its insane.. I wake up in the morning to a film of hair just covering everything. So in order to keep the hubbs happy I dust and dust and dust some more everyday.

He has a love/hate with my dogs too. It is what it is though. He married me as an animal lover so the way I see it is he's stuck like chuck! I tell him all the time that he knew what he was getting into.

I agree with bunny proofing the house. I'd be pretty bothered if my furniture was getting destroyed!

Good luck!

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Rabbit Forum mobile app

 

[Azerane]

Bunny-proof as much as you can is the first step. The next is training, and not even solely disciplinary training, but also positive responsive training such as teaching them to come when called and stand up, spin etc. All those things will help build trust and help them to follow your directions which may make it easier for you to keep more in control of them when they start acting up. Then again, bunnies being bunnies, if they don't feel like following a command, they simply won't, lol.

And agreed that only the fruit of the tomato is safe for bunnies

 

[kmaben]

Bunny proof what you can. If it can be put up out of rabbit distance do so. Bar soap rubbed on chair legs might deter them from chewing on them. One mouthful of that and it should be enough. As for peeing over the edge perhaps try a larger litter box. I got one of those under the bed organizer bins for my giant and french lop. I leave that one out for them when they're free running and have no problems. They have the extra large cat pans in their cage and dont miss too terribly often. My rabbits know what rooms they arent allowed in but still trespass when the mood strikes. They understand get out and go to your cage and usually will follow suit. However you best follow up with that treat or you'll have a riot on your hands.

It took hubby a while to realize that sometimes he was on the bottom of the totem pole. I have anger issues and some PTSD. My french lop is an instant mood changer and hubby learned real quick that it's best to just hand me a rabbit when I walk through the door and THEN ask about my day.

 

[zombiesue]

LOL, I'd kick my husband's head right off his shoulders if he even THOUGHT about talking to me like that

 

[whiskylollipop]

I wish my boyfriend was as tolerant as your husbands! I'd love to be the type of woman who's perfected the "mom look" - don't piss me off or you'll wish you were never born. Hehe. But he's so stubborn and headstrong, and I'm so anxious and waffley. Even my little bunnies aren't scared of me. Le sigh.

Oh well, I got some Lux bar soap today so I'm gonna give that a go on my wall skirtings.

 

[zombiesue]

Well, there's some burdens associated with being ~~THE BOSS~~ too you know.

I hope the soap works for you. I've never been able to get rabbits to stop chewing something they really want to chew on. The only solution for me was to wall it off.

I mean, if I soaped (or bitter-sprayed, or perfumed...) a spot that I don't want them to chew on, it'd work for a day at the most.