Bunny nightmare

Hello all.

Forgive me if I sound totally incapable, I am fairly new to owning a rabbit.

I have a 5 and half month old male rabbit and he is driving my partners and I to the point of distraction! We know he is coming up to the age of castration - which we do plan soon when I have the funds.

He is cute and sometimes very funny, but it is widely overshadowed by his terrible behaviour at the moment.
He is out for around 7 hours a day, able to roam free in the living room. I've over spent on buying toys and treats for him, when it got too much, we resorted to home made cardboard toys etc, which he is has no interest in at all. Never has been interested in anything we've given him to play etc.

He is so destructive it's unbelievable - I don't think there isn't anything he hasn't chewed. Every 2 minutes we're up having to chase him away or distract him from chewing something he shouldn't - we rent, so we have to be careful what he does actually chew.

A few weeks ago, he took to chewing/rattling his cage bars when he goes in at night time/when we are at work. He will do it non-stop for about an hour, have a break then go back to it. Which you can hear through the floor in our bedroom upstairs. We've given him a few toys in his cage, loads of hanging things to chew on, wooden sticks to chew on, but he still continues, only seeming to take a break when he eats...

We obviously have not been able to bond with him what so ever. He won't let us touch him or pick him up. He will sometimes come up to you or follow you, but only because he thinks he's getting food. He's not even remotely interested in knowing us or being near us. If we do go to stroke him while we're giving him treats, a major sulk on starts.

We are coming to the end of our tether with him sometimes and it's getting exhausting keep getting up and down to chase him from chewing or get him out of places he shouldn't be or try and distract him from chewing the bars on his cage. And in typical fashion, it's me who keeps having to tell him off etc, so he literally hates me, compared to my partner.

I just need some tips on how to deal with him, he can be lovely and cute, but he really is getting out of control and we're close to considering rehoming him to someone who he will get on better with...
Getting another rabbit is not an option at the moment - a because he isn't neutered and b because I do not have the time/money to invest in a cage change etc at the moment. It might be a possibility in the future, but not right now.

Unfortunately, chewing is a natural behaviour and most rabbit's will as you say, chew anything they can get their teeth into. I know people who have protection around their skirting boards and put plastic drainpipe on their table and chair legs because their rabbits will chew them.

I find these bitter sprays and things just don't work, rabbits end up liking the taste. The rattling of his cage bars is likely due to the frustration and boredom of being locked in? If he is used to being able to free range 7 hours a day being locked up will be frustrating for him, especially as rabbits are most active in the hours we are likely to be asleep (very late evening and very early morning)

Rabbits require a large permentant space.

Could you attach a large dog pen to the cage so the rabbit has his own large space but cannot chew the things you don't want him to chew?

Here is are some examples.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...bdec1ca936aed6af74e8f69d70159adbo0&ajaxhist=0
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...b3ac7bf658af6cb541693c23c511ffaco0&ajaxhist=0
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...75e1c1b2a8947944ca987dc6f4eb4e65o0&ajaxhist=0

Neutering may calm him down a little, but its unlikely to stop the chewing as its a natural thing rabbits do! Also he may be ready for neutering now if you want to do it sooner rather than later. Or does the vet want you to wait until six months?

Does he have a run attached to his cage? This is what he needs - rabbits shouldn't be confined to a cage and get upset if they don't have enough space to exercise whenever they want. Lots of ideas on the housing sticky of how to attach a run. Also, plenty of hay to nibble on (hay is the most important part of a rabbit's diet, anyway). Obviously, sounds as though he is ready to be neutered. As for bonding with him - try lying on the floor and waiting for him to come to you: just let him explore you without attempting to stroke/touch him. He almost certainly would be happier with a neutered female to keep him company and, perhaps once he has been neutered for a few weeks, you could look for a rabbit in a rescue as they will often do the bonding for you.

How long have you had him, by the way?

I don't think people realise that having a rabbit isn't an easy option - which is why they aren't suitable as pets for children - they are complex, have many needs and are expensive to be looked after properly - vaccinations, neutering, good accommodation and good food.

We're going through this at the moment (we rescued an unneutered male one week ago) and it is exhausting. He's been neutered today, and we expect him to calm down (all our rabbits have been naughty and hyper before neuter).

Don't give up on him yet - it's not his fault; hormones are driving him bonkers. Book him in for a neuter, and I believe he'll become calmer once the hormones have settled (4-6 weeks).

My Fiver was exactly the same. The problem was that I was shutting him in a tiny 4ft cage every night and he was so frustrated that he would bar bite all night and then be really naughty when I let him out. You need a bigger space for him to go into at night, as others have mentioned.
Unfortunately rabbits chew. That's a reality you can't change. My rabbits free range in my bedroom and everything has been chewed to the point where I have had to put plastic corners on everything. They have even chewed my carpet, my door and my bedding. This is just something you get used to. Everything needs rabbit proofing properly otherwise you will never be able to relax.

As for behaviour and ways to bond with him, check out this link: rabbitspeak.co.uk - I think that's right!

Stick with him. It's not his fault. He's a rabbit and he's just doing what rabbits do.

He does have an run attachment to his cage, which it the most frustrating part. It's about a 5 by 6 space - he did originally have a smaller one, but we made it larger for him, but he still choses to chew his bars. He didn't when we first got him, it's only a recent thing over the last month. Besides skirtingboards, rubber door steps and wires, he isn't interested in chewing anything rabbit friendly.

We haven't had him long, we got him in Nov last year. He just doesn't want to know us full stop. He's quite content with constantly kicking at us as he walks away. I went through weeks of back pain sitting on the floor feeding him :S to no avail. He's happy to take food, but he'll kick while he walks off with it and runs away whenever you get near him.

He is so loud that neighbours have started to ask questions, being rented, we have the risk of them complaining to our landlord.

Do you give him a litter tray filled with hay to chew as this tends to calm hyper rabbits down. Being grazing animals they need a certain amount of time each day munching on hay/grass. He should quieten down when neutered so I would have this done asap.

My guy is 2 now but the first 8 months were really really tough, he's fulltime house bun and he pee'd on everything and anything over and over again, he's not a big chewer fortunately he did however have a go at most of the wires (only when a current was going through them! - Why!) in the house, I just had to get creative in hiding them, but he did mark his territory thats for sure! hang in there, it will be worth it.

Oh this post brings back memories!! I have a male house bunny since he was about 4 months old (4.5 now). There was nothing he didn't chew, wallpaper, skirting boards, cables and the corners of my sofa! I was always told never to shout at him but saying no in a firm voice usually stopped him in his tracks. As soon as you see him chewing say no then distract him with toys etc. Gradually this seemed to do the trick for Roary and he knows the word no now! I think rabbits learn better by rewards so give him little treats when he's good. I've also heard of people clicker training bunnies, takes a lot of patience but might be worth a try?

Regarding the bonding side of things maybe try grooming him? You might need to start little and often and build up. My bun loves me grooming him especially as he doesn't have a 'partner', he sees me as his mate now and tries to groom my arm while I'm grooming him! All you can do is keep trying but don't give up! He's just going through a hormonal phase but it will pass, good luck!!

Try him in a new enviroment like a bathtub for a little while and put his toys in there as well, that way he might find that he likes them....(just a thought!)

Bunnies are often not like cats and dogs where they enjoy being petted and they also don't understand when they are being told off. Your rabbit is a prey animal and you chasing and telling him off is most likely just to make him frightened and wary of you and it's all in vain as they don't understand like a dog would. Have you got a garden? I wonder if your bunny might be better in a big secure hutch and run when the weather starts to get warmer. Maybe after getting him neutered you could then get him a neutered wife. Your rabbit is just trying to do what he would naturally do in his normal environment which is running/chewing/grazing but obviously this isn't ideal in a house. I have 3 bunnies and 2 of them hate contact with me. They will come to me for food but don't like being stoked/picked up which I respect so just let them come to me for treats. My other bunny loves a stroke and will nudge her head into my leg to get strokes.