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eric's change in behaviour :( - why?

poppymoon

Wise Old Thumper
since i had eric neutered 4 weeks ago, he has become a totally different rabbit. he is now 8 months old and displayed NO 'hormonal' behaviour at all prior to his castration - no spraying, leg over friendliness, no lunging or biting and no destructive chewing.

in the last 4 days he has chewed thro the back of a shoe cupboard, eaten a large chunk of the paper, paint and plaster from the landing wall, destroyed the paper on the stairs and now completely destroyed an x box live cable - i have just picked up all of the frayed bits and am hoping he hasn't swallowed any.

he is a free range house rabbit and the bunnyproofing has been fine up to now - i wasn't aware he had removed the trunking covering the x box wire that was tacked to the wall behind the radiator - how the :censored:?

i love eric dearly but i know my OH is itching for me to either get rid of him or shove him in a hutch outside. i'm really not up to arguing with anyone right now as the last few weeks have been :censored: anyway and i'm totally worn out.

sounds rather pathetic - sorry - but i'm wondering as to why eric's behaviour has become so different post-castration? wish i'd never had him done.

a female partner is not a possibility at the moment as finances won't allow. eric gets a lot of human companionship and exercise every day.

feel like a total failure.
 
His hormones have probably kicked in at the same time you have got him neutered, will take a while to calm back down again but is just coincidence rather than neutering causing the problem, seems to happen quite a lot judging by peoples posts..

Have you thought of getting a pen around his cage rather than free range for a while?
 
ha! bunnies like our homes bare-walled and with extra (unplanned-by-us) exits! have some no-bunny areas and see his interior-design activiities as his hobby...
 
Owww Eric! you can't upset your mum like this :no::no:

It sounds like he's hit his teenage years and is errr.. openly expressing himself :shock: annoyingly on your furnishings. It could be that he's attention seeking or has got a little bored this week? Is there anything new you could try, maybe relocate all his toys? or provide a new cardboard box for him hehe.

I think our buns are never fully happy until their on the grass outside, do you have a garden you could put a run on? Maybe if he went out the house for a few hours a day it will keep him and your o/h happy, like a compramise :D

Eric is far too cute for this behaviour :love::love: I find it hard to be angry at the cute little devil! (but then again our rabbits destroyed a fair few things the other week at my dads and did they get a word of a telling off - no way :lol::lol: I'm far too soft!)
 
my sammi has been behaving differently since his neuter too. he used to be all cuddly and cute but since he hadnt allowed me to handle him at all. these are all upsetting me but i won't let go of him.

but as to why eric has changed his behaviour i m not sure. maybe he just need s a bit more time. i hope all goes well.. and that you will get some good answers soon. x
 
Norty Eric!!!
:no:
Don't depair! Sounds like others have said. It just takes a few weeks for the hormones to settle.
It sound just like my Eric after his neuter last year. He was quite fiesty for a few weeks, but it did all calm now and he is a very chilled Rabbit (most of the time:lol::lol:)
 
My Sweep has been a nightmare since neutering, so aggressive!

All my other buns have calmed down. James loves to eat fabric, he chews everything to pieces, so he has to be watched when he's free ranging.
 
thanks for the replies. hopefully it will pass - just a bit wearing wondering whether i'll be discovering something else he's destroyed:?

he does have a run attached to the patio doors too which allows him about 10' x 10' to play in. i don't leave him out there whilst i'm not around tho as we have a rather large sparrow hawk in the trees behind our house. he used to get excited about the grass but now he tends to chew plant pots instead:roll:

i wondered if he'd been bored - esp as one day i was out with my son for most of the day. i wonder if eric gets fed up and naughty when my lad's at home more - especially with noisy 10 yr old friends around:?

i removed the bars of his cage as he was such a good boy and caused no damage - typical eh. i used to feel bad making him locking him away at night and he used to chew the bars. i'm not sure putting a pen around him would help or make him stroppier.
 
Eric:love::love:
He looks like butter wouldn't melt!

You could try putting a pen around him for a while.
Honey rattles and bites her bars to come out.
I do one of 2 things:
Ignore it and she gives up.
Or if she really wouldn't give up, I just used to squirt a little bit of water beside her. Enough to shock her BUT NOT anywhere near her eyes.
She now knows if I get the bottle and show her it, she has to stop. I don't even have to squirt it now.
They do learn!!



I'm sure it is just attention seeking, as Honey is as good as gold if I am stroking her! if I stop, she's off to try and chew something.

Wrap and little finger spring to mind :lol::lol::lol:

Good Luck. It must be very tiring.
 
Eric:love::love:
He looks like butter wouldn't melt!

You could try putting a pen around him for a while.
Honey rattles and bites her bars to come out.
I do one of 2 things:
Ignore it and she gives up.
Or if she really wouldn't give up, I just used to squirt a little bit of water beside her. Enough to shock her BUT NOT anywhere near her eyes.
She now knows if I get the bottle and show her it, she has to stop. I don't even have to squirt it now.
They do learn!!



I'm sure it is just attention seeking, as Honey is as good as gold if I am stroking her! if I stop, she's off to try and chew something.

Wrap and little finger spring to mind :lol::lol::lol:

Good Luck. It must be very tiring.

think you're right... 'Wrap and little finger spring to mind':oops:
he's been so sweet since i started this thread, nudging at my ankle for a nose rub and some fuss:? he's dozed off now behind the table so i can stop listening for 'the noises of naughtiness' for a while.

i'll either have to resurrect the cage then or put the hexagonal pen inside that i currently use for part of his outside play area - inside pen AND no grass time....:shock: poor eric:(

probably getting to me cos i'm not feeling too good at the mo myself.
 
Oh i wouldnt worry teenage bunnies are worse than puppies, joey and saffy were very naughty for a couple of months until things settled... i know how stressful it is but you did the right thing neutering him if he's like this now.... it could be alot worse! Hope things settle quickly for you.
 
think you're right... 'Wrap and little finger spring to mind':oops:
he's been so sweet since i started this thread, nudging at my ankle for a nose rub and some fuss:? he's dozed off now behind the table so i can stop listening for 'the noises of naughtiness' for a while.

i'll either have to resurrect the cage then or put the hexagonal pen inside that i currently use for part of his outside play area - inside pen AND no grass time....:shock: poor eric:(

probably getting to me cos i'm not feeling too good at the mo myself.

Awww, hun, maybe you need to focus more on making you feel better (which you can control) then making eric behave better (which he would much rather control for himself thank you very much :lol:) Why r u not feeling good? Hugsxx
 
is a freind out of the question, sombun to sit with while your not around to distract from being a lil terror
 
Awww, hun, maybe you need to focus more on making you feel better (which you can control) then making eric behave better (which he would much rather control for himself thank you very much :lol:) Why r u not feeling good? Hugsxx

thanks. i have an ongoing health prob which leaves me pretty knac*e^d most of the time and alas i can't totally control it. during school hols its a particular struggle to maintain anything near 'normal functioning' as 10 yr old kids have boundless energy:roll:. had hospital check up on monday and all was not great so today i am housebound to try get my wretched pituitary & electrolyte imbalance sorted - wallowing in self pity more like! silly moo:roll:

eric with attitude doesn't usually bother me but we rent our house so he has to be a secret and him causing loads of damage is doing my head in. ought to buy OH another new cable thing for x box but really am skint:censored:
 
is a freind out of the question, sombun to sit with while your not around to distract from being a lil terror

unfortunately not at the moment. that was my original intention but eric was a sickly bun from the off so i'm still reeling from his horrendous vet bills - the ones i forked out for that nearly finished him off :evil: and the brilliant new vet i have now.

i daren't risk taking on another rabbit at the moment as i couldn't honestly afford 2nd vet bills etc. food etc isn't an issue, its the 'just in case' funds for if something goes wrong.
 
thanks. i have an ongoing health prob which leaves me pretty knac*e^d most of the time and alas i can't totally control it. during school hols its a particular struggle to maintain anything near 'normal functioning' as 10 yr old kids have boundless energy:roll:. had hospital check up on monday and all was not great so today i am housebound to try get my wretched pituitary & electrolyte imbalance sorted - wallowing in self pity more like! silly moo:roll:

eric with attitude doesn't usually bother me but we rent our house so he has to be a secret and him causing loads of damage is doing my head in. ought to buy OH another new cable thing for x box but really am skint:censored:

If it was just the Ethernet cable he chewed, get one off eBay. SOOO much cheaper than shops ;)

Sorry to hear you're under house arrest, it sucks, I've been there before :roll:

My boys took aaaaaaaaaaages to readjust after neutering, Chunks still won't tolerate being picked up, but he loves noserubs and ear scratches.
Just give him a chance :)
If it helps, think about Eric as being a 10yr old who has just had his tonsils out, he's gonna milk it for as loooong as he can ;)
 
Awwww, I'm sure as others have said that he's just happened to hit adolescence shortly after being neutered. I'm sure Alfie was about the same age when he started being a bit norty, even though he had been neutered at about 4 mths of age. At least with Alfie, he and Bubbles were outdoors so they could only wreck their own house and none of my stuff. :lol::lol:
 
If it was just the Ethernet cable he chewed, get one off eBay. SOOO much cheaper than shops ;)

Sorry to hear you're under house arrest, it sucks, I've been there before :roll:

My boys took aaaaaaaaaaages to readjust after neutering, Chunks still won't tolerate being picked up, but he loves noserubs and ear scratches.
Just give him a chance :)
If it helps, think about Eric as being a 10yr old who has just had his tonsils out, he's gonna milk it for as loooong as he can ;)

thanks - he's usually so adorable. its probably me feeling so :censored: it seems worse than it is. he's still a fuss pot tho with his nose and ear rubs so hopefully the teenage angst will wear off and he'll carry on being 'eric':?

will check what kind of cable it is tho, thanks - OH suggested getting a wireless thingy but they don't come cheap even on ebay:roll:
 
I'm so sorry you've been feeling rough, missed you on here.
I agree that Eric is the age for "teenage bunny strops", could be attention seeking too.
Can only say that at that age Thumper would wind me up on purpose, & bloomin well knew he'd succeeded even though I can hide it well. He was making a bid to be "top buck" of the house.
Psychological game - "let's you & me fight".
I used "rabbit speak" just put index finger on his forehead & gradually increased the pressure until his chin touched the ground & kept it there a bit. = made him submit to the top buck (me). Also gave him a toy bunny as bottom of the pecking order!
If I was getting cross I sang silly songs to hide my feelings!:oops:

I found I could pre empt much of the attention seeking behaviour, & call him over for a "cuddle". But there were times when he was simply banned to the kitchen for 20 mins as punishment.

I know I'm crackers but it worked for us when nothing else did.
 
I have had similar problems in the house eating stakes with my Daisy - so she and Jester are now confined to one bedroom, landing upstairs and downstairs hallway. Their bedroom is now free of all furniture (as they ate my bed :shock:) so in terms of square footage they have oodles of space.

Any chance you could have an Eric room? Or one area of the house? That way he isn't locked into a run, but his destruction zone is limited.

I'm sure you've thought about this, but would a friend be possible if you got petplan insurance? I pay just less than £15 a month for my two, and as I got insurance asap they have no excluded pre-existing conditions - so i know if major bunny health problems hit I'll only need to find the first £50.

Mind you, my hopes that Daisy would chill out once she got a husbun have been frustrated so far - I now have two destructive bunny monsters :lol:

Hope you're doing ok :wave:
 
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