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dont get why this is happening

shadow05

Mama Doe
i thought everything was going okay with scooter. there is quite a couple of things that need sorting out.

the first is whenever i let him out he goes to a certain part of the room to dig and bite my moms carpet. so i thought id put the yellow pages there to hopefully stop him or redirect his attention to that. i walked over to his cage and started sweeping up all the poo, i must have only had my back turned for a couple of mins and it looked like a bomb had been in my room and explode there was paper every where and he was in the middle of it eating a piece of paper and looking at me as if he was innocent. i know this isnt that bad and i dont mind the mess much it just that i dont think ill be able to use a yellow pages all the time to stop him i left him last night hed have gone through the whole thing he was heel bent on destroying it. i didnt know wat to do at all i thought it would be a good idea to leave him.

the secound is there is something wrong with him, i cant quite put my finger on it. he seems okay physically and hes not sick or anything. ive tried spending more time with him but at the moment hes not being like he use to be he seems less interested when he comes out of his cage, i know he is playing and stuff but when he comes over to me he soon runs off. i let him out yesterday i only had 30 mins to spare for him but i thought its better than nothing. ive got today off collage so hell get let out for longer today.

the third id when he is out he doesnt respond to no, oi or scooter it very rarely works so i was wondering if getting a spray bottle would be a good idea i think he would respond to that better.
 
i thought everything was going okay with scooter. there is quite a couple of things that need sorting out.

the first is whenever i let him out he goes to a certain part of the room to dig and bite my moms carpet. so i thought id put the yellow pages there to hopefully stop him or redirect his attention to that. i walked over to his cage and started sweeping up all the poo, i must have only had my back turned for a couple of mins and it looked like a bomb had been in my room and explode there was paper every where and he was in the middle of it eating a piece of paper and looking at me as if he was innocent. i know this isnt that bad and i dont mind the mess much it just that i dont think ill be able to use a yellow pages all the time to stop him i left him last night hed have gone through the whole thing he was heel bent on destroying it. i didnt know wat to do at all i thought it would be a good idea to leave him.

the secound is there is something wrong with him, i cant quite put my finger on it. he seems okay physically and hes not sick or anything. ive tried spending more time with him but at the moment hes not being like he use to be he seems less interested when he comes out of his cage, i know he is playing and stuff but when he comes over to me he soon runs off. i let him out yesterday i only had 30 mins to spare for him but i thought its better than nothing. ive got today off collage so hell get let out for longer today.

the third id when he is out he doesnt respond to no, oi or scooter it very rarely works so i was wondering if getting a spray bottle would be a good idea i think he would respond to that better.

Digging is natural. Good luck stopping it ;) Biscuit likes to dig up the carpet in our house.

You need to cover the area in something, perhaps a carpet square or a carpet sample etc.

He sounds bored to me, just from what you are saying.

Re item 3: bunnys dont respond to negative 'tellings off'. Just dont do it, its pointless, in my opinion. You need to reward positive behaviour, reinforcement of 'do this, you'll get a treat' works wonders. It takes ALOT OF TIME though, so wont happen over night. Biscuits taken the best part of a year to respond to not digging carpet in certain spots.

and... do NOT use a water spray. You will never get him to be friendly with you if you do this - he will associate you with the water spray and then is even less likely to want to be near you. Again, positive reinforcement only.
 
Have you tried a digging box? Shredded paper inside a large cardboard box, my Tinkerbell used to love hers!

Certainly don't bother with saying no, and definately don't use a water spray. If Louie is doing something I don't want him to I just move him away.
 
i i let him out yesterday i only had 30 mins to spare for him but i thought its better than nothing.

I think this will explain all of the problems actually, he is bored and frustrated. You can't keep a bunny in a cage all day, let them out for 30 mins and expect them to be happy and well behaved. Sorry I am not having a go but to have a calm, happy bunny you really need to find a way to give him more room.

Does he have a run/pen attached to his cage?
 
Digging is natural. Good luck stopping it ;) Biscuit likes to dig up the carpet in our house.

You need to cover the area in something, perhaps a carpet square or a carpet sample etc.

He sounds bored to me, just from what you are saying.

Re item 3: bunnys dont respond to negative 'tellings off'. Just dont do it, its pointless, in my opinion. You need to reward positive behaviour, reinforcement of 'do this, you'll get a treat' works wonders. It takes ALOT OF TIME though, so wont happen over night. Biscuits taken the best part of a year to respond to not digging carpet in certain spots.

and... do NOT use a water spray. You will never get him to be friendly with you if you do this - he will associate you with the water spray and then is even less likely to want to be near you. Again, positive reinforcement only.

oooooooohhhhhhh right i get it so definetly no water, no point in telling off, just when he does something good give him a treat.

its also impossible to stop him from digging and just basically put something there.

thanks for the help :)
 
Have you tried a digging box? Shredded paper inside a large cardboard box, my Tinkerbell used to love hers!

Certainly don't bother with saying no, and definately don't use a water spray. If Louie is doing something I don't want him to I just move him away.

i havent tried yet. wat type of paper should i use cause knowing him he will eat it.
 
I think this will explain all of the problems actually, he is bored and frustrated. You can't keep a bunny in a cage all day, let them out for 30 mins and expect them to be happy and well behaved. Sorry I am not having a go but to have a calm, happy bunny you really need to find a way to give him more room.

Does he have a run/pen attached to his cage?

I agree :wave:

I've only ever used a water spray once in the early stages of bonding and I found it distressed them so much it just made them worse. The problem is you'd be punishing him for natural behaviour which would be confusing and it's a lot like when people tell a dog off after they've done something bad - they just don't understand and think they're being told of for being good
 
I think this will explain all of the problems actually, he is bored and frustrated. You can't keep a bunny in a cage all day, let them out for 30 mins and expect them to be happy and well behaved. Sorry I am not having a go but to have a calm, happy bunny you really need to find a way to give him more room.

Does he have a run/pen attached to his cage?

he is living in a 7 by 5 ft run. at the moment the longest hes stayed out is an hour hes only just being free ranged ive not had much time to be able to do it properly with him yet. im gonna be buying some cable protectors soon so that i can move out the room when i need to and maybe watch tv when hes out, i get bored quite quick and if im holding a book hell attack it.
 
Its sounds to me that scooter is attention seeking and from his view when he is naughty you come over to "play" and he gets negative attention.

I had the same problem with Lola chewing the wallpaper; First I took the steps to cover the walls and the started to train her everytime she walked past the wallpaper without chewing she got a reward :)

Tone of voice is improtant when Scooter does the slightest thing reward him with a slightly higher pitched voice "good boy scooter", "well done" ect followed by a treat or a tickle. :D

When he is doing behaviour you do not want, firmly say "stop" and channel his behaviour somewhere else, a nice big digging box full of hidden treats would be good! I also have the chill and chew mat from pets at home it stops Delilah from eating the carpet :wave:
 
he is living in a 7 by 5 ft run. at the moment the longest hes stayed out is an hour hes only just being free ranged ive not had much time to be able to do it properly with him yet. im gonna be buying some cable protectors soon so that i can move out the room when i need to and maybe watch tv when hes out, i get bored quite quick and if im holding a book hell attack it.

Oh ok I thought he was just in a cage, sorry!
 
Have you tried giving him hay in a toilet roll with hay and a couple of pellets tucked inside, might keep him occupied for a while?

yea i have but some weird reason he no longer has an interest in cardboard so ive had to take it away for a while until he interested in it. he also doesn't eat much hay as he use to either he has it there waiting for him anytime he wants but it looks like he hardly touches it.

at the moment he really likes his treat ball though he did use to eat them when i got them but i thought id be fair and try again.
 
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