please help im at the end of my tether with her

hi

i posted on here a while back about shakeira and her chewing

she is getting worse

in the old flat she was a lovely calm happy rabbit and now she is like a devil rabbit

she is chewing everything all of the time

i put her in her cage to try and calm her down and she just rattles the bars

she is speyed etc but does not have a mate

my other half wont even sit in the same room as her anymore _ because you just cant relax when shes around

i dont know what to do as she has become a complete and utter handful and has such an attitude its unreal>

I think getting her a friend would calm her down alot if it is possible to do so?
It sounds like she might be abit bored, does she have lots of toys, tunnels etc?
As she likes chewing try giving her a phone book or whicker basket to chew on , it might help keep her away from your stuff!
Sorry youre having such problems with her

She has toys yes - she chucks the wicker basket around every now and again - doesnt touch the veg patch or tunnel.

i feel like she has not taken well to the move at all, she used to lie on the bed with us and had a great little routine - and did loads of binkies etc - but now......

I know i am meant to ignore her bad behaviour, but when she is chewing walls, carpets and cables constantly - you cant really ignore it.

perhaps a mate would help - and confining her to one room?

Putting her in her cage may actually not help. I'm only talking for my personal experience but when I used to shut mine in an enclosure at night when they were out during the day they would tend to misbehave. As if they were rebelling because they didn't like being shut away.

Maybe it's too much of a change too fast for her. I would try entirely proofing one room and keeping her in there for a few weeks and then adding on another room for a few weeks and taking it slow and gradual.

A mate might help too. She's likely a bit bored and having a mate gives them something to do.

Im not sure about confining her, it may frustrate her and make her worse :? How long have you been in your new flat? It might be a matter of tie and patience before she settles down.
I cant reccommend getting her a neutered male companion enough. My Tilly was a destructobunny before we bonded her with our Timmy. She was much happier and calmed down right away

We have been here 2 months now - we did think she was improving a little, but she just seems to be getting progresively worse. We have tried everything.

She isnt locked up at night while we are in bed (but we cant let her in our room as she just chews the walls) and she doesnt seem to bother anything when we are not around.

The only thing i can sort of say her behaviour is like, is like a naughty child contsantly wanting our attention.

I think i like the idea of getting her a mate and keeping them in one room. Just upset that I feel like I have lost our little friend.

with my rabbit when he was younger we got him with another male and he learned a lot of naughty stuff from the other male one of these was biting the cage bars. ive never been able to stop him apart from when i attached a pen to his cage this didnt make him stop complety but he does it less now top the point i dont know the difference now he seems a lot more happier now too.

but there is a good chance if u get another friend for ur rabbit it may teach it some naughty things too. so u will need to pick the next rabbit wisely if possible.

Dont worry im sure your sweet little girl will return
'Bad' behaviour like that is usually a sign of some sort of discontentment within the bun. As shes attention seeking I think getting her a friend to play with and snuggle will work wonders
You should have a look in the rescues near you for a suitable husbun for her

Gem 333 said:

We have been here 2 months now - we did think she was improving a little, but she just seems to be getting progresively worse. We have tried everything.

She isnt locked up at night while we are in bed (but we cant let her in our room as she just chews the walls) and she doesnt seem to bother anything when we are not around.

The only thing i can sort of say her behaviour is like, is like a naughty child contsantly wanting our attention.

I think i like the idea of getting her a mate and keeping them in one room. Just upset that I feel like I have lost our little friend.

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she will eventually become the same rabbit that she was again i think the moves just upset her by quite a lot. my rabbit doesnt tend to bother anything if im not there too. but yet again he just likes being naughty thinks its fun when i tell him no he just runs off and start binkying lol

My Sophie is a very destructive bun and she was always rattling her cage to be out etc but I have a pen attached to the dog crate with a sheet over,I can't let them out at the min,I got Sophie a friend but it hasnt stopped her chewing cables etc and Alfie is worse than Sophie,I'm like you I would like a explanation to why I give n buy all these chew things that they love but then sling it to one side and chew cables and wallpaper no matter what,and to make it worse I can't tame Alfie at all no matter what I do and Sophie is taking after him with not being friendly

How big is her cage and how much time does she get to free run? What is her diet like?

I would not put her back in her cage when she is chewing, not only are you responding to her behaviour and reinforcing it, but punishment just doesn't work with rabbits - I know you are not intentionally punishing her but this is how she willl experience it. She is frustrated, possibly bored, and by confining her you will only be exacerbating her frustration that she is trying to communicate with you. I strongly suspect there is a strong learned response attention seeking element to this behaviour and honestly the only way to break the pattern is to consistently IGNORE the behaviour, giving in will show her that if she persists long enough she will finally get the reaction she is after. I do know how hard it is, have been though something similar myself but destructive and difficult bun in a different way, not chewing, but the techniques to deal with it are the same.
Distraction combined with ignoring -alternative things to chew and restricting access to the things she does chew that belong to you can help.

A bun not getting enough fibre and not eating hay for long enough in the day due to too much high calorie food (pellets) is a bun that needs to find another outlet for instinctive chewing behaviour and to burn off that frustration. If you significantly reduce the high nutrient feed (pellet/mix) and bun has to eat more hay, she will be far too busy getting calories and munching hay to spend so much time chewing!

Don't reward the behaviour in any way - this means don't give her attention and don't let yourself be wound up by it - she will sense this and it will fuel the behaviour also.

I like to think her diet is good - she is an excellent hay eater, she loves it, and only gets around 15 science selective pellets twice a day. She is a free range bun most of the time, I really only shut her in her cage when im hoovering etc, so not very often!! As many have said, I dont think it particularly helps, if anything, makes her worse.

I completely adore her - and feel bad when she winds me up - because if it were just me i could cope with her, but my oh isnt a pet person like i am - so she causes a lot of arguments and that is becoming a real problem. He thinks that she should be in the cage all of the time, because she is a rabbit :roll:. I am a bit worried that if she carries on like this I will get the old "its me or her" which i do understand to a certain extent as we have just bought lovely new house together and she is destroying it.

He isnt really wanting another one either - but knows i will get one anyway - but i can see him waiting to give me a "told you so" if they dont get on...

its so difficult!!

I understand that having her as a house bun has lots of appeal as she is with you and it is part of your relationship but what about getting her a friend in the Spring and converting her to a garden bun? Just a thought. If she is putting strain on your relationship and you are stressing about this on top of everything else it won't help the situation. Maybe the outdoor bun option is worth considering. Good luck.

Your bf may not like this. But I think she's bored and needs the company of her own kind . When I had Dillan at uni as a housebun his behaviour was pretty destructive much of the time. Once I came home and bonded him with Sally he has calmed down a lot, but of course he is now outside so can't do anymore damage in the house.

Helen xx

I did actually consider her being an outdoor bun (with a mate of course - and when we get better weather) but i dont know how she would react to that - she has never been outdoors in her life - as we have only just moved to a house with a garden.

And i would miss her - just wish we could get her back to the bun she was in the old flat, as it was just like having a dog (only with smaller licks!!)

I must put some photos up of her!! she is lush apart from being a mischeif maker!!x

just a quick update - For the moment, she seems to have improved!! not anywhere near as much chewing and she is seeming more content.

Still pushing for a friend for her though!!

Thanks everyone for your advice!!