Insane digging!!!

[Brodie]

My mini Rex Brodie has started obsessivelydigging in all five of the rabbits litter boxes. They have two in theircage and three in the rooms that they are let out in. She has onlystarted doing this recently, since she had a litter of babies, that arenow 5months old. She will empty the litter box and then continue to digin the empty box. Four of the boxes are corner boxes and one is a highbacked square box. Brodie knows her name so if I say 'Brodie Stop' sheimediately stops digging and vacates the box. If she gets told to stopenough, she will find a corner of the room with nothing in it and digand dig for like 20 mins. She not wrecking floors or anything because Ihave laminate, But I get sick of the litter boxes contents being kickedacross the floor. It kinda defeats the purpose of havingthem!!I am also concerned with why she is doing it, It isbecoming quite obsessive, occupying a great deal of her time. Could itbe because she thinks she is having another litter(which she isdefinitly not, both my males are neutered) and wants to dig a den???Before she had them she tried many attempts at digging a den but ofcourse failed !!!! While she is in dig mode she gets very cranky witheveryone else, if any of the other rabbits or my cats go near where sheis trying to dig, she lunges and grunts at them. I just don't know whatto do!!!

Has anyone got any insight into why she is doing and how to stop her????

Thanks, Meg

 

[sunnybunny]

My Sunny who is a year old and has been spayedfor 6 months, still digs incessantly. I think it's just part of a gameshe plays. I'll clean her cage, put it back, and almost immediatelyshe's in there digging....She puts everything in a pile at the entranceto her cage like she's blocking it....Then she'll continue digging atthe plastic of the cage. :dunno:

 

[Pipp]

I love mini rexes! :inlove:

Brodie should be spayed regardless to prevent developing uterinetumors, and that procedure helped my dwarf, although I still keep amini-blanket on my lap to keep her busy when she's up for acuddle. And a chew. (I have a lot of holes in myclothes). :disgust:

But I have a neutered male mini-rex, Dill,who still digs anddigs... most often in the cat boxes. :yuck

I've put towels out for him in different places and he seems quitehappy to dig the towels instead. Most of the time.

Good luck with her!

sas and the gang of five :bunnydance::bunnyheart:brownbunny:bunny19:bunny24

 

[Brodie]

Brodie was Scheduled to be spayed and at her presurgery check up the vet found a mild heart murmur(sp??). The vetrecommended not risking spaying her, because the chance of her dying onthe table is quite high!!! Brodie doesn't bite or chew clothes, shealways uses her litter box even for poops when she is out playing, anddoesn't dig in her cage or on blankets and towels. She only digs inlitter boxes, andempty corners. I have my cat boxes out ofthe reach of the rabbits because Brodie would empty them too, and thenmy dog would eat it. That is just gross,my dog is a 140lbdrool machine and would then wipecat poo drool onallthe furniture!!!

It's odd she is the third rabbit that has found me somehow that has hadaheart condition. Ginger and Calvin both had some defect,Ginger lived to be 15 yrs, Calvin only 2yrs. The vet said that Brodieshould have a normal life span but you never know. One of her daughtershas it too, Joni, Which is part of the reason why I chose to keep her.I didn't want to give smeone else a sick rabbit that could potentiallydie at any time.

Stevie her other daughter is getting spayed in a month when she is sixmonths old. The other two will just have to live with the risks ofcancer because they are less then the risks of surgery!!



Thanks, Meg

 

[aurora369]

Have you tried giving her somewhere todig? A big card board box full of shredded paper?Or a big enclosed box of sand?

Somewhere that she can satisfy the digging urge, but not ruin her litter boxes?

Then everytime she starts digging in her litter box, move her to the digging box?

You can also try putting a screen over the litter in the box to prevent digging.

It's too bad about the heart murmer, but it sounds like you've got everything under control!

--Dawn

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

Have you tired putting a plastic screen withholes inover the litter? That might discourage her fromdigging in it. I'd also give her somewhere else to dig, my standardrexes are big diggersso I give them a big litter tray filledwith soil to dig in (although they are outside, house rabbits may haveto have something a bit neater!) A box of shredded newspaper orhay/straw would do.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Gosh you guys, I feel lucky! I have amini rex too, she's 6 and she is so mellow, no digging fromher. But BunBun used to. We had to drill holes inhis pan and attach ties so he couldn't drag it around and dump it.

That's weird though that yours is doing that. Maybe she thinks she's having more babies.

 

[naturestee]

In addition to Dawn's suggetions, you could alsogive her a high-sided box of clean sand to dig in. Althoughmy rabbits love to dig in cardboard boxes filled with newspaper andhay. Another good digging toy is a grass mat.

Screens on the litterboxes would be a good idea too. I haveto get around to doing that with Loki's litterboxes. I usedto be able to distract him away from digging in them but I can'tanymore.

That's rotten about the heart murmer but at least your vet caught it before she went in for surgery.

 

[Brodie]

Hey thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Itried giving Brodie a box of sand to dig and she really enjoyed it, shedug and dug for like 2 hours, I kept refilling it, then she would emptyit. I also covered the litter boxes with screen so she couldn't digthem, it worked, sort of!! I got the oddest response from my normallyplacid, sweet, cuddle bun!!! She went crazy!! Brodie was so mad, shewas sitting in the litter box stomping, grunting and trying to dig. Ifanyone went over to the box she lunged at them, she even went as far asto bite my kitten Pudge, who Brodie normally grooms and cuddles up to.She was chasing my legs, and trying to bite my feet. I got the samereaction when I took away the dig box. I may have found a way to keepthe rabbit s busy enough for Brodie to forget about digging the boxes.

Today I built what kind of looks like a cat climbing tree thing but forthe rabbits. I made it out of Birch and Apple tree,andhassome cotton rope and hanging toys.I put someplastic piping, big enough for the rabbits to run through, around thewalls in one room. I also brought in a big cardboard box, put shreddedpaper in it, and stuck it in one of the corners Brodie likes to dig in.I then hid some of their favorite treas around the room for them tofind.

Tonight Brodie was so distracted by the new stuff she didn't touch thelitter box once. Maybe she will beat up the cardboard box everynightand forget about the litter boxes, but I guess if she doen'teverynightI will just have to clean the floor in the rabbitsrooms before I go to bed!!

 

[aurora369]

Wow, good job!

Could you post some pictures of your wonderful bunnyplayground? It sounds wonderful, and I'm sure lots of peoplewould be interested in how you made it.

I'm glad to here Brodie is enjoying her new toys. I know Ihad to give my last fosters tons of toys to try to keep them distractedfrom eating the drywall or baseboards. And then there's otherbuns like Wildfire and my current foster who are perfectly happy to runa few laps of the room and then find a nice spot to flop out for thenext three hours.

Sounds like you are on your way to a very healthy bunny relationship!

--Dawn

 

[naturestee]

Yes! Pics! I love makingstuff for my buns, and I like to see what other people do so I can getmore ideas. And since we finished the homemade catscratching/climbing post, it's time for a new big bunny toy.

 

[JadeIcing]

I would love pics.