Jenova
Wise Old Thumper
Smoo is being a pain and I need some help from the mighty RU.
To me she seems frustrated but I think I might be humanising her. She's been pulling Grim's fur and has left a few bald patches where the skin's been quite dry. She's been humping his head a lot and this is probably why she's actually pulled his fur while holding on.
I'm not sure what's started this. She's fed separately to Grim most of the time because she has a normal, healthy rabbit diet and Grim doesn't eat much other than pellets so I bring him in for five or more feeds a day on his own. During this time she watches the back door from the hutch and as soon as it's opened she rushes inside and I let her eat the few pellets that might drop off Grim's plate. They have access to the garden for usually twelve hours or more a day. It's a fairly large space I'd say about 18 feet by 12 feet in an L shape. It's full of things for them to do, like tunnels, chairs, cardboard boxes, a plant pot big enough to dig in. But they just sit in the hutch all day. They will come out if someone is in the garden and play with the toys or try and get into the house and I spend about an hour with them each night plus a few minutes here and there throughout the day. A few of my friends smoke and they go outside and Smoo will come out for cuddles from them but otherwise she seems happy to stay in and snuggle Grim.
To sort her behaviour out I have tried a few things so far. I've tried to make feeding her more interesting by hiding her pellets in the hay. I feed her vegetables in small portions throughout the day so when Grim comes in for his food she gets a bit of broccoli or a leaf of spring green. But she eats so quickly it's gone way before Grim's finished. He usually takes 20 minutes to eat a plate of his food. I have just clipped her nails with the help of my friend in case they were making her uncomfortable. I've just started to use her treat ball again to feed her pellets, but I've only started this today. They don't like balls unless they have food in and I don't want to put cardboard boxes in the hutch because it will start to seriously limit their room. She loves being destructive and when she sneaks into the house the first thing she wants to do is rip up the carpet. But they have carpet in the hutch which isn't touched. They do lie on it though. I've also just given them a dangly, chewy, wooden toy, like a parrot toy which I would usually use for the chinchillas. They've both scent marked it but she hasn't chewed it yet.
Any ideas please? :wave:
To me she seems frustrated but I think I might be humanising her. She's been pulling Grim's fur and has left a few bald patches where the skin's been quite dry. She's been humping his head a lot and this is probably why she's actually pulled his fur while holding on.
I'm not sure what's started this. She's fed separately to Grim most of the time because she has a normal, healthy rabbit diet and Grim doesn't eat much other than pellets so I bring him in for five or more feeds a day on his own. During this time she watches the back door from the hutch and as soon as it's opened she rushes inside and I let her eat the few pellets that might drop off Grim's plate. They have access to the garden for usually twelve hours or more a day. It's a fairly large space I'd say about 18 feet by 12 feet in an L shape. It's full of things for them to do, like tunnels, chairs, cardboard boxes, a plant pot big enough to dig in. But they just sit in the hutch all day. They will come out if someone is in the garden and play with the toys or try and get into the house and I spend about an hour with them each night plus a few minutes here and there throughout the day. A few of my friends smoke and they go outside and Smoo will come out for cuddles from them but otherwise she seems happy to stay in and snuggle Grim.
To sort her behaviour out I have tried a few things so far. I've tried to make feeding her more interesting by hiding her pellets in the hay. I feed her vegetables in small portions throughout the day so when Grim comes in for his food she gets a bit of broccoli or a leaf of spring green. But she eats so quickly it's gone way before Grim's finished. He usually takes 20 minutes to eat a plate of his food. I have just clipped her nails with the help of my friend in case they were making her uncomfortable. I've just started to use her treat ball again to feed her pellets, but I've only started this today. They don't like balls unless they have food in and I don't want to put cardboard boxes in the hutch because it will start to seriously limit their room. She loves being destructive and when she sneaks into the house the first thing she wants to do is rip up the carpet. But they have carpet in the hutch which isn't touched. They do lie on it though. I've also just given them a dangly, chewy, wooden toy, like a parrot toy which I would usually use for the chinchillas. They've both scent marked it but she hasn't chewed it yet.
Any ideas please? :wave: