New bunny owner, not doing very well so far :(

Hi,

I'm new here and new to rabbits, although we had guineapigs for about 13 years before we got our bunny. I'm hoping to get some advice if poss as I'm not doing a very good job so far!

We have a 5 month old female mini lop bought from a breeder 4 weeks ago. The first 2 or 3 weeks were great, she was very chilled and calm, a tad shy but soon came round. She was used to being handled before we brought her home and was very tame. She's kept indoors and has her cage door open most of the time, apart from at night. She happily comes and goes and has the run of the living room.

In the last week she's changed quite dramatically. There are 2 problems which I'm not sure if they're related. One is that as of about 7 days ago every time she's out of her cage (which was most of the day) she obsessively chews the carpet. Not just one spot, it's non-stop on any part of the carpet. She doesn't eat the fibre, just rips it out. She's in sort of a chewing frenzy, it's literally non stop until I get tired and put her back in her cage. This is resulting in much reduced free run time for her which I'm worried about. I've tried clapping and saying 'no' which startled her at first for about a second before she carries on chewing another patch. She now takes no notice of me. I've physically moved her to another spot which makes no difference. I've put her back in her cage for 5 mins for a time out, but the behaviour starts again as soon as I let her back out. I tried dabbing vinegar on the carpet which she didn't like at first but after 5 mins she was chewing again. I'm at my wits end as I don't want her cooped up in the cage all the time but obviously can't let her destroy the carpet.

The other problem is she started biting clothes (not bare skin) but hard enough to go through and hurt. For example if I kneel on the floor she'll start biting me all around my legs but only in the places where my clothes are, never my hand or bare flesh. We used to spend a lot of time on the floor with her, she'd jump over us, sniff us, lick us but now all she does is gnaw on us but it hurts as it goes right through to the skin. We're afraid to sit on the floor now, which is so sad as I want her to have company.

She has LOADS of toys, cardboard things, boxes, tunnels, chewing things that she is no longer interested in as she seems to be compulsively chewing the carpet or us.

In complete contrast, when she's in her cage she's lovely. She allows our hands in, runs over to us & lets us stroke her, relaxes and never makes any attempt to bite us. I think she might be quite dominant as she never licked our skin, only clothes and when trying to discipline her by gently holding her head/shoulders down after biting/chewing she would have none of it. She'll force her head up against my hand (I don't want to press too hard).

Sorry this is so long but I'd be really grateful if anyone has any advice or tell me what I'm doing wrong.

Thanks.

yep, that sounds familiar.

she could do with spaying in due course (talk to your vet) and she needs a friend. spaying will probably stop the biting, and having a friend will help her not to be bored.

destructiveness (in our terms) comes with the rabbit, though. expect carpets and wallpaper to be fair game for the next fifteen years.

oh, and if you're pushing down gently on her head and she's pushing back, she might just think you're a very inexperienced cuddler. they push up for stronger headrubs. they might do it for other reasons too but not ones i know about.

Is the nipping in relation to any licking? She may be trying to groom you, sometimes they nip out any matts. Try not to react when she does it. Or, she may be trying to get you to put her down, rabbits typically do not like being handed, to them it's too much being swiped by a predator. Instead try sitting on the floor with a few pellets and hand feed her. Or sit with her ignoring her, reading for example.

As to the other, sounds like she's trying to dig through which maybe hormonal related. Is it near a corner or wall? She may be coming up to an 'obstacle' and trying to dig through or under it. Don't give her attention when she does it, as that's likely to lead her to think 'ah this gets me attention and it become learned behaviour, instead maybe you could get some offcuts to cover it over.

The obsessive carpet chewing sounds like she could be frustrated. This could be hormonal or boredom related. What's her diet like? Does she have plenty of hay? This could help to keep her occupied enough to stop chewing the carpet. I personally would never have a bunny on carpet though, it wouldn't last 5 minuets with my Fiver :lol: He'd just destroy it immediately.
If she was being dominant or territorial she would never allow your hands into her cage. She would at least growl or thump at you to warn you to stay away. The nipping sounds like she is attention seeking or again, frustrated. Perhaps you are not giving her what she wants? This is not being a bad bunny mummy! This is simply trying to figure out what it is she is telling you. Here is a link, which was extremely helpful to me in understanding my bunny when I first got him http://language.rabbitspeak.com/
I think getting her a spayed and getting a friend for her will be the best thing to stop unwanted behaviour but at the end of the day bunnies are very destructive and sometimes there's nothing you can do to stop it! :roll:

Thank you ever so much for your replies, I think spaying is probably the next option.

I'm sure she's not bored, she has unlimited hay, a diet of dried food/pellets/hay/veg + occasional fruit and more toys than my 10 yr old (!!). She isn't too bothered about being petted. I pet her when she comes up to me but she's not really a snuggly type of rabbit and just moves away so I don't think she wants attention in that way.

I think Vegan_Bunny has a point about the frustration as the biting isn't aggressive and she's not scared of us, so I'm going to look into getting her spayed. Hopefully this will settle her down then I'll introduce a friend for her to keep her company since she's not too bothered with human company.

Thanks again, very much appreciated

egg said:

Thank you ever so much for your replies, I think spaying is probably the next option.

I'm sure she's not bored, she has unlimited hay, a diet of dried food/pellets/hay/veg + occasional fruit and more toys than my 10 yr old (!!). She isn't too bothered about being petted. I pet her when she comes up to me but she's not really a snuggly type of rabbit and just moves away so I don't think she wants attention in that way.

I think Vegan_Bunny has a point about the frustration as the biting isn't aggressive and she's not scared of us, so I'm going to look into getting her spayed. Hopefully this will settle her down then I'll introduce a friend for her to keep her company since she's not too bothered with human company.

Thanks again, very much appreciated

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You've had some great advice already :thumb:

In addition to settling her & making her feel more relaxed, speying will also (hugely) reduce the risk of uterine cancer which is very common in unspeyed females and why so many don't live beyond 5 or 6

A neutered boy bun is the way to go re. company. If you consider one from a reputable rescue he will already be neutered and they may also do the bonding for you

When you have your girl speyed you must keep her confined for a couple of days with nothing to climb on or in as she could catch/open her scar.

Well done for asking for advice :wave:

Thank you, that's a great help. Really glad I found this forum xx