Suddenly mischievous bunny

[yuumibunny]

Help, my little bunny Yuumi has been behaving strangely all of a sudden.

My husband and I went from having at least one person at home with her at all times to both of us working, I’m not sure if this is the cause of her recent behaviour change. She also just turned 4 months old.

She was very good at using her litter box until 3 days ago, she is now constantly pooping on my bed. I’m talking a lot of poo in a span of 30 seconds. She has also taken to peeing on the bed when I am laying in bed, she would do it beside me or near me. My mattress is currently on the floor because my bed frame doesn’t arrive until august.

she is a free roam bunny and I hate locking her up at night but on top of the peeing, she has been pretty destructive chewing on everything and she will jump and run around the bed at 5am.

any advice on how to deal with my hyper active little bunny? Is she going through puberty? Is it time to spay her? Is she simply mad that my husband and I haven’t been home lately?

p.s : last time we saw her vet, the vet suggested to wait 6 months before spaying her

 

[JBun]

Being left alone could play into it. Rabbits will sometimes do these things as a protest to changes they don't like or things they find upsetting.

But the main problem is hormones are hitting at this age, which means an increased drive to mark territory with poop and pee. Pretty typical teenage behavior for rabbits with hormones.

Spaying usually helps to some extent. Each rabbit is different, so it could clear it up completely, or it may just help a little, depending on if this is mostly hormonally driven, behaviorally driven, or a mix of both. Though also be aware that many rabbits, spayed or not, like to pee on soft things regardless. Beds and couches are usually a prime target. Though, the sooner a spay is done, the better chance you have of preventing this from becoming an ingrained learned behavior.

The chewing thing could be in part due to hormones, but also it's just going to be a normal natural rabbit behavior. Rabbits chew and dig. So you will probably need to do some rabbit proofing and redirecting of these behaviors to prevent unwanted destruction.

https://bunnyproof.com/
https://myhouserabbit.com/rabbit-care/bunny-proofing-your-house/
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bunny-proofing.html
How early you can have the spay done will depend on her size and the vet. Some vets are comfortable doing it as early as 4 months, some won't do it until 6 months. I would suggest talking to your vet or another experienced rabbit vet, about when you can schedule her for a spay.

https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/