• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Thats it.... Tims is cage bound till he can go outside!

moi

Mama Doe
I apolagise in advance for the rant but he is a nightmare, after trying to get to my chocs he then tried demolishing the tree and the sofa, so I popped him in the kitchen to free range in there (shouldnt really while Im not in there as my home is rented) and all hes been doing is pushing on the door. Its a slide door but he can push it forward a couple of cms and then it makes an almightly bang keeping the kids awake. The only way to get him into his cage is to lift him, Ive tried treats, veg, pellets, carried, box, tunnels but he wont have none of it. After chasing him around for yet another half hour he has scratched the inside of my finger where it bends quite deep and I can hardly move it. 2 of my other buns dont like being held and may struggle a bit but Tims is like a mental case when you left him and struggles so much, Im worried he'll hurt himself. I dont like admitting it but I think Ive taken on too much with him. Once hes outside he will havea big hime and run so lifting will be minimal, but at the moment Im scratched to heck! x:censored::censored:
 
Whilst I am sorry you are frustrated with him and you have a sore finger Tims is just being a Rabbit. If the cage you are referring to is the one you have posted photos of it is far too small to keep him shut in :cry:





Could you partition off part of the living room so he has space but he cant access things he could damage ?

I have used Janey's example in another thread, but this is the sort of thing I mean

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?359750-Pixie-the-failed-trio-s-set-up

If you provide him with old cardboard boxes and a box full of shredded paper to dig and chuck about it will give him something to do. Putting different toys in the enclosure each day will provide him with some mental stimulation as it sounds as though he is basically bored and this will get much worse if he is shut in a tiny cage for months on end.
 
I don't have the rrom for anymore puppy pens, and I've tried all the boxes, paper, hay, tunnels etc etc, he's not interested. So unfortuantly untill he can go outside I have no choice. And its not just a sore finger (I'm not that much of a wimp) I have cuts in both wrists, hands, thigh and also one on my boob. And how he's not hurt himself is beyond me

Its not ideal and now I can see that although I was doing someone a favour I have taken on more than I can chew for the meantime x
 
The cage is bigger than the pictire as I've used pens to extend it out, still small I know x
 
Maybe he will be more settled outside, some buns are not happy indoors and become destructive whereas outside they are fine. Hopefully this is the case with him. Can't you put him outside now, I suppose you are thinking of the temp change although it might be worth chancing with lots of bedding. It isn't that cold at the moment.
 
Maybe he will be more settled outside, some buns are not happy indoors and become destructive whereas outside they are fine. Hopefully this is the case with him. Can't you put him outside now, I suppose you are thinking of the temp change although it might be worth chancing with lots of bedding. It isn't that cold at the moment.

I don't know wherebouts OP is in the country but it's dropped down to freezing here for a couple of nights in a row. I wouldn't put a bun outside that is used to 18+ degrees of a centrally heated house into a hutch that is going to reach 0 / -1 or so... :?
 
Maybe he will be more settled outside, some buns are not happy indoors and become destructive whereas outside they are fine. Hopefully this is the case with him. Can't you put him outside now, I suppose you are thinking of the temp change although it might be worth chancing with lots of bedding. It isn't that cold at the moment.

Its is very mild here at the mo, I've not got the winter coat out yet. But aparently its going to change anyday. I've deceded that while we are all home and awake we can sit in the kitchen with him while he hops about and tried to destroy everything, then there is 3 of us to shoo him back in. But he can no longer free range while I'm the only oneabout x
 
Could you get him into a routine, so that he gets some pellets when he has to go back in? You might need to stick them under his nose to begin with and lead him into his cage with them.

Think on it as he doesn't want to be penned in somewhere, but he will want the treat.

I also wonder if the more he is caged, the "naughtier" he will be when he is out, as he has all that energy to get rid of.
 
I really feel for you,I do :( my Rosie has been driving me mental recently too . I got her as a friend for Bobby and she had been with us 7 or 8 months now but since her spay she had been a little terror. Her behaviour gets worse every month and they have so much enrichment but she is forever trying to get to our leather couch and biting things she shouldn't be. She drives me mad and it has affected our bond. I hate saying it but we just don't get on and she has added a whole lot of stress to our lives. She doesn't like pets anymore and instead prefers to sneak up on us and sink her teeth into our ankles. Ouch !!! She was such a friendly baby and I loved her to bits but she seems to have turned to the dark side since she bonded with Bobby .

I am beginning to wonder whether she is suitable for indoor living but there is not a chance I would ever have Bobby live outside. He is very much an indoor bun!

At least you have the option to move Tims outside in the spring, it's abit of a wait though :/

Sent from my GT-I9001 using Tapatalk 2
 
Last edited:
It could also be down to the fact those boy bits need to come off, I don't know how old he is but could it just be naughty teenage mode.
 
I don't know wherebouts OP is in the country but it's dropped down to freezing here for a couple of nights in a row. I wouldn't put a bun outside that is used to 18+ degrees of a centrally heated house into a hutch that is going to reach 0 / -1 or so... :?

Iagree I wouldn't do it either, but if you have to then it's better than being stressed out and shouting at him all the time. I have house rabbits now and it gets quite cold overnight with the heating off and every window open so they can obviously cope with a certain amount of temperature change.
 
Thanks peeps, sorry for the moan. I too feel its effected our bond:( I don't like seeing him in his cage but cannot relax when he's out x
 
He sounds like my Fiver. Tbh, Fiver was like this because he was kept in a cage that was too small for him. He is very intelligent and active, I've never met a rabbit that is so bent on destruction. My friends even call him "The demon bunny!" because of how norty he is. :lol: He was constantly trying to get into places he wasn't allowed, chewing things he shouldn't, bar biting every time he was shut in his cage etc. Because he associated the cage with being bored and ignored, he now can't be caged at all. Even bonding him in a pen was a nightmare because he was bar biting and getting very, very upset.

He now free ranges in my room. This has by no means solved the problem, he continues to cause havoc :lol:. My Mam left my door open once..and the door no longer shuts properly because of how much Fiver chewed it. :roll: He's also chewed by bed, jukebox, furniture and he even ate some money once! :lol: Tbh, the when Fiver fixates on getting somewhere, the only thing to do, is either COMPLETELY block it off so there is absolutely no way he can get into there, or simply let him go there. I have the bare minimum in my room, with absolutely no wires on show. I have only one electrical object in there, all my furniture has plastic edging on to stop chewing, and I have even had to put laminate flooring on the walls to stop him chewing them.

I know that the reason he is like this is because he is super intelligent and also because I caged him when he was a baby. It is my fault that he bar bites and gets a bit neurotic when shut in anywhere. :( Even a large pen is seen as "evil" by Fiver, and I physically can't age him. Only recently have I managed to introduce a dog crate into my room with the two litter trays in. This is the first time in about 3 years that I've had a cage in my room...and so far he has not bar bit. He is NEVER shut in the dog crate; the door isn't even attached, I want him to associate it with nice things if, for some reason, I need to confine him.

Tbh, the best thing I ever did for him was to get him a friend. He now has two girlies to cal his own, and he is SO happy. :love:

The only thing I can suggest with your bun, is maybe use a different cage? If your bun hates going into his cage so much it's because he associates it with bad things, is it not possible to shut him in a room that you can completely bunny proof until you can put him outside?
 
Maybe he will be more settled outside, some buns are not happy indoors and become destructive whereas outside they are fine. Hopefully this is the case with him. Can't you put him outside now, I suppose you are thinking of the temp change although it might be worth chancing with lots of bedding. It isn't that cold at the moment.

Just been thinking about this and I forgot to ask if he is a young rabbit as if he is very young then you wouldn't be able to put him out.
 
I think putting him in a small cage will only make him more destructive and harder to handle. The buns I've had in which were similar just needed space and neutering. The owners put the buns in small cages but that just made them more territorial over the small space they had, so they would lunge and bite whenever someone went near the cage to protect their territory.

Some of the behaviour will be hormone driven and will calm down once he's neutered. But some buns are just more intelligent and active than others, and need more space and stimulation.

Can you put something like a pen panel in front of the sliding door so he can't bang it?
 
It does sound like he's very frustrated - does he get worse if he's not getting attention? You said you're doing someone a favour by taking him - I don't know the full story, I'm sorry, but if he's been kept in a cage all his life, he will need alot of time and patience spent on him...

I have two rescues, and Tia was kept in a cage all her life (upto rescue) and I honestly believe that being bonded with Rupert (who was a stray) was the best thing for her.

But, I spend hours upon hours with them both. Literally for 3 + hours every night they have my undivided attention 100% and at first they were a nightmare to get back in the shed etc, we all got stressed, but I cannot stress how important a routine is.... now, at 8am everymorning, they take themselves back to their shed, and at 9pm every night they wait to be let out the house, to go back in their shed.... I dunno if its the same for all bunnies, but for us, it certainly does work. Even if I don't let them out of the shed at the normal time, they still wait to be out at 9 so its not like they get sick of being out or anything :) but rupert used to be a nightmare, you couldn't touch him, pick hi8m up, stroke him.. and he was hell bent on destroying everything and escaping! He scaled a 6ft fence! :shock:

Good luck, I know it's hard, but use food, bunnies love their pellets, use pellets to get him where you want him to go. Reward good behaviour - ppl say rabbits dont learn discipline, but mine have (to a certain extent).
 
Thanks peeps, sorry for the moan. I too feel its effected our bond:( I don't like seeing him in his cage but cannot relax when he's out x

That's how I feel, just when I get my son off to bed I come down to "relax" and every two mins I'm clapping and saying no and having to get her out from under the couch. Grrr ! Bold bunnies are not good for the blood pressure. Lol !!! :(

I'm not sure if Tim's is neutered yet but if it helps Bobby was a demon before his op and then for about a month after but it completely settled down and he is now the laziest most placid little softy ever and all he wants is to be petted and made a fuss of now.

It's a pity neutering didn't have a more calming effect on Rosie but she does look after Bobby for me and simply adores him so I have to focus on that I guess.

Sent from my GT-I9001 using Tapatalk 2
 
Thanks again peeps. I may be grey by the warmer weather so plenty of hair dye! Lol

He's getting neutered in the new year.... He's 2 years old and prob was confined to his cage that whole time.

He is cleaver, when I try tto get him to his cage using food and treats he will follow my hand, or the trail to the cage and just stop there x
 
I was wandering, have you tried scatter feeding, or putting his pellets in an 'interactive' toy that uses his mental energy?
 
Back
Top