Need help. About ready to get rid of rabbit because of behavior

[Migizi]

I'm so angry and frustrated it's beyond belief.

I got a unneutered doe, Titan to bond with my neuteured doe, Tyrion that I already had. I proceeded to neuter the new one. Now that I have, I'm setting up their run so they can be alongside one another and get used to each other.

I spent two hours putting it together and in 2 seconds Titan tears it apart. She's a big rabbit, but this is ridiculous. I can only think to create a mini Alcatraz out of expensive metal fencing to keep her from ripping it apart. At this point, I've spent so much money on her that I think it's a lost cause. I got her from someone who was going to throw her out in the woods, and now I'm beginning to see why, as mean as that is. I've never had this kind of problems with rabbits being this destructive and unruly.

When she's not tearing everything apart, she's really sweet and loving, but otherwise tries to eat literally everything (scissors, clothing, everything) even when given amble hay/vegetables/etc, and destroys any enclosure that you try to make into a run. It's like she WANTS to be cooped up in a cage all the time.

I need help or I need someone who will buy this rabbit off of me, because this is insane.

 

[Kipcha]

What were you using to make the pen out of? If she took it apart that quickly I really wonder what the materials were.

 

[Migizi]

Metal storage things like this: http://www.brookstone.com/webassets/product_images/700x700/743430p.jpg
Which she can jump over no matter how high they are. Four feet high and she can still get over. I'm not building them to the ceiling. That's ridiculous.

And then I tried to put garden plastic fencing over the top and across to mark them off, but that's not working either. She just eats away at the zip ties and tape that keep it together and it's gone in two seconds. The wire cubes to make a 5 foot high fence and across would cost me $100, which is ludicrous when I've already poured so much money into trying to make an enclosure. I'm at wit's end, to be completely honest.

 

[yannikin]

C&C doesn't work. That **** gets chewed through by rabbits. Get an exercise pen - they're easier to set up, more sturdy, and easier to take apart and move. I used to have a c&c cage and would come home to find a pile of plastic and broken ties and my rabbit would have been out ****ting everywhere.

 

[lovelops]

I'm so angry and frustrated it's beyond belief.

I got a unneutered doe, Titan to bond with my neuteured doe, Tyrion that I already had. I proceeded to neuter the new one. Now that I have, I'm setting up their run so they can be alongside one another and get used to each other.

I spent two hours putting it together and in 2 seconds Titan tears it apart. She's a big rabbit, but this is ridiculous. I can only think to create a mini Alcatraz out of expensive metal fencing to keep her from ripping it apart. At this point, I've spent so much money on her that I think it's a lost cause. I got her from someone who was going to throw her out in the woods, and now I'm beginning to see why, as mean as that is. I've never had this kind of problems with rabbits being this destructive and unruly.

When she's not tearing everything apart, she's really sweet and loving, but otherwise tries to eat literally everything (scissors, clothing, everything) even when given amble hay/vegetables/etc, and destroys any enclosure that you try to make into a run. It's like she WANTS to be cooped up in a cage all the time.

I need help or I need someone who will buy this rabbit off of me, because this is insane.

I have seen this kind of problems with Rescues which is what Brooke my big rabbit it.

How long have you had her? How long have you done the bonding?
Please do *not* think I'm being condescending with you because I'm not.
I work with rescues of small animals and dogs and know that alot of people think they can get a rescue and it's the same as the pet they got from a breeder, or pet store and it's cute and cuddly and there is no problems and that is never the case unless you are really lucky.

You don't know what the past history was with the other individual or how many owners she's had. Your bunny you've had since getting it from a breeder or where ever so it's had a long history with you.

Expecting this rabbit to be the same as your current bunny is not realistic. I was dealing with the same with the two rescues I have because compaired to my 2 buns I've had since they were 4 days old they appear to be holy terrors, but the problem is, we don't know how they were treated, we don't know what their past environment was, and you don't know what was going on in the house.

*Anyone* that wants to throw a rabbit or any animal in the woods is an butthead to me. Period. Brooke the big bunny I have was thrown out of a car. There is no acceptable reason at all to throw an animal from a car, or into the woods. That is just BS. Sorry.

Take the animal to a shelter or rescue. People don't tell teens to drop their unwanted babies in the woods, they set up safe houses, firehouses, hospitals, etc and pets /animals should have the same courtsey.

If she is bigger do you mean like 10 pounds plus like my Brooke is? If so you will have to use something more heavy weight due to the strength of the bigger rabbits. A run for a bigger rabbit is going to be different than a run for a mini lop and the materials should be heavier just to support the strength and
any other situations, weather, etc to hold up.

I took the plastic and wood lattace fencing and hooked it up to wooden posts and ran it along side my stockage fence for the bunnies to use as a run. We are in the middle of putting together a bigger one, but I think I have pictures.
Inbetween them, I ran screen from screen doors/windows to stop them from killing each other (my are unbonded) and used a staple gun to attach the screen.

What materials did you use?

Before you lose hope and patience, if you can I would suggest working with the rabbit more before chucking her out. My two new ones were very trying.
But then again, anything worth having in life is worth a little bit of work.

I hope it works out and you can get it worked out with her and have a long relationship with her..

Vanessa

 

[Migizi]

Look, I'm not stupid. I was crying when I made the post, so I obviously give a crap about Titan. I wasn't going to throw her in the woods, that's ridiculous and sentencing her to death, I'm just frustrated. I didn't think she was going to be "cute and fluffy" when I got her to re-home. I'm not 5 years old.

She's 4.5 pounds. I'm going to try something else before I throw up my hands and completely give up. I've had her for 4 months now. I have been working with her, and again, she's very sweet and loving and even demands/asks for pets, but otherwise is Godzilla born again in rabbit form when it comes to enclosure. I understand she's likely stir crazy from the cage and I let her out as much as possible as I try and figure out the run situation, but the run situation isn't working, clearly. It's keeping /up/ the fence that's the problem, as the floor is cement beneath them and I can't hammer into walls or anything like that, so I'm limited to tape, zip ties, etc.

I'd love to see pictures from your set up, but for now, I'm going to cool off for the day and try again tomorrow.

 

[lovelops]

Look, I'm not stupid. I was crying when I made the post, so I obviously give a crap about Titan. I wasn't going to throw her in the woods, that's ridiculous and sentencing her to death, I'm just frustrated. I didn't think she was going to be "cute and fluffy" when I got her to re-home. I'm not 5 years old.

She's 4.5 pounds. I'm going to try something else before I throw up my hands and completely give up. I've had her for 4 months now. I have been working with her, and again, she's very sweet and loving and even demands/asks for pets, but otherwise is Godzilla born again in rabbit form when it comes to enclosure. I understand she's likely stir crazy from the cage and I let her out as much as possible as I try and figure out the run situation, but the run situation isn't working, clearly. It's keeping /up/ the fence that's the problem, as the floor is cement beneath them and I can't hammer into walls or anything like that, so I'm limited to tape, zip ties, etc.

I'd love to see pictures from your set up, but for now, I'm going to cool off for the day and try again tomorrow.

NO NO NO, not saying your stupid or anything the like! And I have been there close to crying with these two especially after they got into a fight on the first day and the LOP took a chunk out of the 10 pound above her eye. Any lower and she would have lost the eye...

So, Please that is why I said don't take it that way. I totally understand. Brooke has tore up a ton of stuff and eaten most of the rug she sleeps on!

I've had my rescues for 4 months.

I still can't get them bonded.. so me and you are in the same boat for the amount of time of having the new rescue bunnies... so I do feel your pain!!!:hug1

Probably there was problems with her being penned up in the past or just put into a too small enclosure and that is why she freaks out every time you put her in the pen and tears it up. Or she was left for long periods of time in one area and was not let out and it got to be 'normal' and that is why she is freaking out.

I thought within a month or so mine would chill out and be acting like my original two pet rabbits.. NO WAY.. nothing could be further from the truth.:headsmack

If you send some pics of the areas your working with we could help you with that... and I'll be more than happy to send you what I'm working with. Inside I've got Xpens put together but I'm looking to get some sturdy ones..
Brooke being 10 pounds can just put her paws up there and move the entire thing so I'm trying to get them anchored on the porch where she is.
And she is SMART. She figured out how to OPEN The doors where it connects or can connect to a cage.. I gotta watch out for her!!

Just relax, get some coffee, tea, cigarette, or if you are in Colorado, joint..hehehe...and relax... and forget about it for a day...:yes:

I'll send you some pics tomorrow and I'm sure others that have responded can do the same to help you out!!!

Vanessa

 

[lovelops]

Also Jennifer on here makes some hell of a pens and runs and stuff... I dont' know if you have seen some of her stuff, but
you should check out her posts... I'm sure she can chime in and help. She is GREAT with stuff like this also!!! We need to get some of her input on this as well!!

Vanessa

 

[Kittiebot]

I second the exercise pen idea. I got mine on Amazon for $50. My bunny is a chewer and he can't chew through it. You can use it to either house the bunny or create runs, my guy has 2 of them put together with metal clips to create an open area he lives in. It takes up half my living room, but he loves it.The pens come in varying heights so hopefully there's one tall enough to keep her from jumping over.

 

[kmaben]

I'm sorry 4.5 pounds? lol!! I understand your frustrations though. I have yet to build a pen that my 5 pound brittania petite mix wont get out of. The only reason she stays now is because she's bonded to my 17 pound German Giant. Who's big enough to bull doze/jump his way out of most things. And he has. Have you thought of a simple exercise pen and throwing a tarp or a screening material over the top? You can also build a cage with a top on it out of the Neat Idea Cubes. A lot of people use chloropast on the bottoms. It's cheap and no big deal if they chew it. Chloroplast is the stuff they make the Vote for me signs! out of.

 

[Migizi]

NO NO NO, not saying your stupid or anything the like! And I have been there close to crying with these two especially after they got into a fight on the first day and the LOP took a chunk out of the 10 pound above her eye. Any lower and she would have lost the eye...

So, Please that is why I said don't take it that way. I totally understand. Brooke has tore up a ton of stuff and eaten most of the rug she sleeps on!

I've had my rescues for 4 months.

I still can't get them bonded.. so me and you are in the same boat for the amount of time of having the new rescue bunnies... so I do feel your pain!!!:hug1

Probably there was problems with her being penned up in the past or just put into a too small enclosure and that is why she freaks out every time you put her in the pen and tears it up. Or she was left for long periods of time in one area and was not let out and it got to be 'normal' and that is why she is freaking out.

I thought within a month or so mine would chill out and be acting like my original two pet rabbits.. NO WAY.. nothing could be further from the truth.:headsmack

If you send some pics of the areas your working with we could help you with that... and I'll be more than happy to send you what I'm working with. Inside I've got Xpens put together but I'm looking to get some sturdy ones..
Brooke being 10 pounds can just put her paws up there and move the entire thing so I'm trying to get them anchored on the porch where she is.
And she is SMART. She figured out how to OPEN The doors where it connects or can connect to a cage.. I gotta watch out for her!!

Just relax, get some coffee, tea, cigarette, or if you are in Colorado, joint..hehehe...and relax... and forget about it for a day...:yes:

I'll send you some pics tomorrow and I'm sure others that have responded can do the same to help you out!!!

Vanessa

Haha, BOTH of mine are smart and managed to figure out latches/hatches/etc. It blows my mind, hah. I will def tackle it tomorrow and take some pics for hints and tips :>

@kmaben I know that's not that big, but she's a tour de force anyway!! I'll look into chloropast, tho. Thanks!

 

[BlueMoods]

She sounds like my Tippy when I first got him. He was dumped out here (rural area, lots of pets gt dumped out here) but, luckily right in front of my step daughter's house. She called me to come save the rabbit. He was a terror, chewed, dug, knocked over, fought with everything I tried to give him. He destroyed more wire ties than I care to count as well as blankets, my shoes, the carpet, the hose for the watering system...

For a good six months I was ready to re home him but, he would not have been a good pet for anyone as he was. I finally cured him, started with a commercial style rabbit cage, all heavy wire, no litter box, no bed, nothing, just the cage with a feeder and water nibbler. Then I built an second similar cage and put only non destructible items in it for him to play with and one destructible but safe item. If he sniffed and played with but didn't destroy the destructible item for even one minute, I would pet and praise him and, let him out for five minutes, or until he got destructive again.

Over the next couple of months the time before he destroyed anything got longer and longer, and so did his out of cage time. Now he is fine, can have fleece and plastic things, and can be out as much as any of my rabbits and, he doesn't go nuts or try to destroy the world anymore. he just needed someone to teach him that is not what good bunnies do and, if he wanted to have all the fun a bunny should have, he had to learn to play nice with things.

I think he just didn't know any better. Probably kept always in a cage and, anything he was given was for him to destroy. Too many things, too much room and him not understanding that not everything was okay to tear up as he saw fit made him seem like a bad rabbit. He isn't he's a love bug and so expressive, and big at 8.5 lbs (Cali/ NZ cross as near as I can figure.) Now he's a wonderful pet, anyone would adore him but, I do too so he gets to stay here

 

[PaGal]

I have two crazy buns that were going to be let loose by neighbor and have felt as you do before. So if I understand right you are basically building a run from the metal storage cube (nic) pieces and the bun is chewing through the zip ties and the floor it is on is concrete?

If that's right, is it inside or outside? In a shed? I'm wondering if it is outside and on concrete, is it anywhere near yard so poles can be driven into the ground around it?

I have an idea of what may help you secure the pieces but since I have a migraine I cannot think of the correct names. I will ask my hubby when he comes home.

 

[whiskylollipop]

I fostered an extremely destructive NZ white once, he was a digger and a chewer and well - anything a bunny can do to destroy something, he'd find a way to do it. Since he was such a devious little stinker, he could only be let out to exercise the few hours a day that I was home and free to supervise him like a hawk. I didn't want him cooped up in a cage for most of the day, so to save our carpets, walls and belongings, he had to live in the bathroom!

Of course this meant we had to be careful about keeping the door shut when we used it. But it's just big enough for him to stretch his legs and do short bunny sprints. And he hasn't gotten through a closed door yet so I'm pretty sure no bunny can!

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

I would purchase a traditional rabbit cage, made of metal and virtually indestructible (to rabbits, anyway). Pointer Hill makes nice cages:

http://www.pointerhillcagesandpetsu....html?osCsid=b3d648733107b77cedc191b66abcb0d8

They are relatively inexpensive, and any of the larger sizes would be plenty big enough for a 4.5 lb. rabbit, especially if she gets extra run time.

It's important to keep rabbits safe and secure...and, to be honest, your comfort matters too not just your rabbit's. These cages may not be as aesthetically pleasing as NIC cube cages, but they are both adequate and customizable housing made specifically for domestic rabbits.

 

[Blue eyes]

It's not "chloroplast" it's "coroplast." That's the brand name for the corrugated plastic. It is an issue if bunny chews on it because it is plastic and is not digestible.

As for the clasps, try this type (in pic). No bunny can open that.

Also, zip ties come in a variety of thicknesses and strengths. There are thicker ones that a rabbit isn't going to be able to chew through -- especially if they are closed tightly so bunny can't get a grip.

 

[3willowsbunny]

It's not "chloroplast" it's "coroplast." That's the brand name for the corrugated plastic. It is an issue if bunny chews on it because it is plastic and is not digestible.

As for the clasps, try this type (in pic). No bunny can open that.

Also, zip ties come in a variety of thicknesses and strengths. There are thicker ones that a rabbit isn't going to be able to chew through -- especially if they are closed tightly so bunny can't get a grip.

Are those shelving unit pieces from Home Depot or Lowes? Those would make a very sturdy cage for fairly cheap. :bunny18 and yeah, it would take a super bunny to come even close to figuring out a way to break through that latch! :goodjob

 

[PaGal]

I have a local feed/garden store that sells cage clips by the bag. Basically they are metal clips that you use to secure the cage panels together. Just like the ones that are on complete cages you buy at any pet store. You would need some pliers or such to squeeze the clips together. So you could search for those where you live or online.

Something else that could work is safety wire. Hubby used it for his racing go karts. It's like a heavy stainless steel thread. You would wrap some around and then use safety wire pliers which twist the wire together. Different types of race shops sell these items or you could look online.

 

[Blue eyes]

Are those shelving unit pieces from Home Depot or Lowes? Those would make a very sturdy cage for fairly cheap. :bunny18 and yeah, it would take a super bunny to come even close to figuring out a way to break through that latch! :goodjob

Yes, those are shelving pieces. You are observant! That was actually a very cheap cage I made from an old cabinet. I even put together a video showing how I made it (in case you need some inspiration, lol)

Do bear in mind, though, that it is rather small-ish, but it's only closed at night time.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd27D9yJ2zs[/ame]

 

[Migizi]

I tried something else today, involving metal, and she still tore it apart.

All your suggestions she would tear apart. She pulls the metal cube things down in an instant. No matter how strongly they're put together. This has nothing to do with clips and all to do with this is on a concrete floor and there's nothing sturdy to put it on. Nothing. She would chew through any plastic and then probably kill herself that way.


She's already IN a cage. A dog crate. And that's the only thing that would keep her contained. I can't buy an indoor kennel, that's ridiculous and expensive.

Anything she's in needs to be BIG and HIGH because she can jump over anything 3 feet tall. All the containers I've seen people use, use the metal storage cube material, but I learned today she can TEAR THROUGH that too. Not the metal, but the plastic connectors she tore off in an instant. All she's interested in is destroying any construction I make, so it seems fruitless at this point :\