I'm seriously going to end up losing my temper.

Ok. This will make me sound like an awful bunny mummy. I apologise...a lot of it is just me venting my frustration so just bear with me.

I really am so close to kicking the rabbits or throwing them out of bedroom window. They are literally trying their hardest to **** me off, I'm convinced of it.

So where to start? Fiver has decided that my bed is now the place to wee. Every single day he pees on my bed. Usually he waits until JUST before I go to bed, when I'm busy heating.up their snugglesafe. I have covers on it but nothing wayerproof since it has never been this bad before. I have to take my duvet off every day. He also started weeing all over the corner of my room. So I thought maybe he wasn't feeling well, he had a UTI or kidney problems or something. I tested this and decided to get some vinegar and spray it where he kept weeing. As if by magic he stopped weeing there. So it's not health related at all.
I have been away for the weekend and there were no accidents, nothing. I had my bed covered in a shower curtain thinking they'd just wee all over my bed. But nope, not a single puddle. I came home and went into my room to get the snugglesafe, bunnies were all in the litter tray eating. When I took the snugglesafe back up me...he'd weed all over my bed. The shower curtain turned out not to be waterproof so I had to flip my matress, again, and change the sheets...again. Yesterday I sprayed my mattress with vinegar. Put my pillows at the bottom of my bed on the carry case. They've never weed on my pillow, strangely. So last night I came to bed and no wee! YAAY. Oh, but guess what? They ****** on my pillows instead.
Not only have this but they've suddenly decided to poo EVERYWHERE. I'm talking on my bed, under my bed, all over my room, on their box. Just everywhere. So much so that I'm sweeping my room about 10 times a day to keep on top of it. They've been doing this more and more over the past few months. No idea why.
Fiver has also become obsessed with getting on my bedside table. He has never been bothered about it. Now every single day he jumps onto my bedside table where I keep my battery powered lamp (because they chew all wires) my inhaler, their meds, various xbox games, e45 cream, a bottle of water etc etc. Nothing interesting for them apart from the metacam. But he's not after that. He jumps onto my table, knocks EVERYTHING off and then jumps off. No reason to it. I've had to pile stuff around the edge to stop him jumping onto it but he just jumps on and lands on anything in the way. As if I haven't sacrificed everything I own so they can free range in my room already, no, he wants that tiny piece of space belonging to me as well.
And another one is Shadowfax and Xena have decided they like to chew my bed under my head every morning at 8am onwards so I that I never, ever get a sleep in on my days off. I feel ill because I'm not getting any sleep and I feel absolutely at the end of my tether with all of them. What the hell am I doing wrong!? They have my whole bedroom, regular toys and things to chew, a massive litter tray full of hay that I buy for 18 POUNDS A FRIGGING BALE because they won't eat cheap hay, I bought a snugglesafe for Fiver and Xena with them having arthritis, I've taken them both for an acupuncture session last week, which Xena is due again tomorrow (I have to cancel since I have no money at all) and I literally spend my entire time looking after my animals. What exactly is their problem? I'm seriously, seriously considering caging them permanently. But oh, I can't do that because Fiver bar bites constantly.

WHY CAN'T I JUST HAVE NORMAL, QUIET RABBITS!?

That sounds very similar to how I felt when I kept indoor bunnies in my lounge. I tried to keep them away from the wires but they managed to get through every barrier I put up. They chewed the TV wires so I had no TV for 18 months, they ate the plaster on the walls off in two places, nibbled my curtains and bottom of the settee, totally destroyed two sleeping bags, ate the cases of my DVDs, urinated over my rugs and cushions and left their droppings everywhere.

Things improved when I moved them to the kitchen as there were no wires they could reach and nothing for them to destroy apart from the wooden cladding and door frame which got eaten. There were droppings and urine on the rug though.

I don't have house bunnies now and when I read on here of people waking up with their bun snuggled up to them I think how lovely it would be - but my experience of house bunnies has never been like that

Your buns aren't being infuriating to annoy you - they are just being bunnies - but when it means your home is getting wrecked and expensive things like mattresses are getting ruined maybe it is time to reconsider their living arrangements otherwise you may end up resenting them.

I miss having house bunnies and it is horrid cleaning them out in the cold and rain but I don't regret moving them outside. They have a lot of space and are happy. They have chewed one of the legs off their hutch (now held up by bricks) and were biting a hole in the fence between them and my neighbour (there is now a brick there) but I am not as frustrated and upset as I was when it was my home they were destroying.

Putting them outside is not an option. Fiver is 9 and has been a house bunny all that time. He's the destructive one but I've just accepted that everything in my room is chewed. The ******* everywhere is new and the pooing. That is what is infuriating me.
Fiver and Xena have arthritis and need to be kept warm. I also have a high population of foxes in the area.

Also the weeing isn't due to arthritis. Neither buns are incontinent or wet at all. I know it's Fiver peeing because I've caught him doing it. He knew exactly what he was doing.

I'm sorry that you are struggling with the bunnies, my dream of free ranging indoor bun's has also had to be curtailed due to the natural rabbit habit of chewing [emoji22]
We now have a large puppy pen, which meets the RWAF size recommendations, but I look at the photos of happy free range bunnies being cuddled and am utterly jealous

So sorry you're having a rough time of it VB, it doesn't sound pleasant at all and I certainly understand your frustration. As Rhianna says, they aren't trying to infuriate you - the nature of bunnies is super curiosity and they see everything as potential toys to interact in some way with (much like children :lol: ) and don't realise that their play, is destructive and downright exhausting to us at times. They also just don't understand the concept of something belonging to 'us'. None of this makes it easier though.

I am however convinced bunnies are quite smart, and at times do push their luck when they know something is out of bounds - just 'because' again, much like children :lol: I've been training Autumn, and she understands the concept of no very well. She fully understands things that are out of bounds by now - to the point that I'll watch her 'thinking about' doing something 'naughty' and about to go do it, until she see's me watching and I go 'No....!'. She will turn round and hop away. As soon as I nip out of the living room though, that's when she decides to go do said thing - if I come back in the room while she's in the middle of it she knows full well she's not allowed to do it because as soon as I appear and catch her she'll run for the hills :lol: (Sounds like poor abused bunny, she's not - but sometimes when she's persistent I have popped her back in her crate for 10 minutes to give me a break). So this is why she runs when she's caught doing something she knows she's not supposed to be doing.

I'm such a strict bunny mummy :lol: But, she needs to have her space, and us ours for our own sanity. My first thought would be you absolutely need to make your bed out of bounds as this sounds as if it's really getting too much - it would drive me nuts having animal urine on my bed too. Whenever they hop up, put them down with a firm 'NO!'. It does take several weeks but I promise that sticking at will see some sort of result eventually, even small.

I second the idea of penning them off to give you peace. You need peace and your own wee space hon. The bar chewing is difficult - but this is usually done out of frustration, as long as there is enough space in the pen (and enrichment) this should die down after a little while - it could be an immediate reaction from having free range to going into the pen. I wonder if he when he bar chews you let him out because it drives you nuts? Which would tell him this is what he needs to do to be released.

I hope you find a solution that gives you a bit of a break from this. We all need to be able to switch off, and that's difficult when buns are constantly free range xxx

I'm sorry they are infuriating you. If there any chance they could stay with a friend for a week to give you a break and maybe brain storm some ideas?

I'm not sure how big your room is, or if there is somewhere else you can put them but maybe using a puppy pen would help so you can contain to a certain area. (Attach ply or similar to the inside to prevent bar chewing).

I have two free range house buns who get shut in their bedroom at night.

We've got no home phone again as they've eaten the cable but that's my fault as I've not gotten around to boxing the wire in. All our other wires are threaded around the room via trunking from B&Q.
They don't bother with the sofa, although they might test nibble and will stop if told to.
Skirting boards are nibbled everywhere but I can repaint them when I get time.
Spare room is off limits as that is for guests and Daphne would pee on the bed if allowed in there.
Our bedroom they occasionally come into but we tend to just leave our door shut as we have charing cables left laying on the floor for our phones.

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Vegan_Bunny said:

Putting them outside is not an option. Fiver is 9 and has been a house bunny all that time. He's the destructive one but I've just accepted that everything in my room is chewed. The ******* everywhere is new and the pooing. That is what is infuriating me.
Fiver and Xena have arthritis and need to be kept warm. I also have a high population of foxes in the area.

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You're a much nicer bunny owner than I am - having said that my three remaining bunnies are all young and healthy and I honestly think they prefer being outside as they have more space.

Given that they can't go outside it's trying to adapt their space so that they aren't ruining your bed and bedding which may not be easy, depending on the size of your room. Do you have a spare room you can use? My piggies are in a spare room as the carpet in there has already been wrecked by bunnies and has a huge hole in it. They mess everywhere but are in a large puppy pen which could be extended if I ever had house bunnies again once the piggies go to Rainbow Bridge.

It's really difficult to get the balance right between giving our furries the best lives we can and also giving ourselves as little stress as possible.

Our buns started weeing on our bed when we rearranged our bedroom furniture! They obviously weren't impressed that things had changed, in fact they were disgusted and they obviously wanted to let us know! We tried to persevere, we even slept under a big blue tarpaulin for a few weeks but it just didn't stop. In the end we had to change the room back to how it was and the weeing stopped instantly!
Has there been any big changes in the house?
Xx

The only change is the rat cage has been removed and we got another dog. Freya has been in my room to see the bunnies but the weeing and everything else started well before that. Perhaps the removal of the rat cage has triggered these behaviours but I can't exactly get more rats just for them! Lmao.

There is no way I can ban the buns from the bed. It'd mean me being there all the time and I'm not. I only sleep in my room and spend evenings in there. Possibly they are having a tantrum because I've not spent much time with them lately.
I'm going to consider a puppy pen but I have absolutely no money right now so it won't be until after Christmas. I live with my parents and I'm lucky they let the bunnies in my room at all tbh. Obv downstairs is off limits because of the dogs and the spare room is smaller than a hutch lol.
My Mam has had an op on her foot and so I've had to sort the dogs out and walk them for her but I also have a horse to think about, who has had no turn out last week due to the rain and no turn out tomorrow for the ******* hunt to belt around tearing foxes to pieces. I have no money and no petrol and I'm having to borrow money. I hate owing money. I'm just going to take Xena for the acupuncture tomorrow and ask if I can pay tomorrow when I get paid. She's definitely improved and I don't want to compromise her health. I'm just feeling really stressed at the moment and also feel like a really bad person.

Hey vegan bunny, why don't you put some grid around things you don't want them to jump on including the bed. I had the same problem with Charlie when I lived with my parents. So I put grid around the whole of the bed.

I will find a link somewhere

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I know this is expensive but just so you know what I mean then you can shop about

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Grid-Modular-Shelving-Storage-Cubes/dp/B009EADLJE

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Now I have my own house they have moved on to peeing on the sofa. Therefore as we speak I am sat on plastic covering on the sofa. We never get off this ride!!

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Maybe Fiver's change in habits is age-related? It might be a mental change rather than a physical one...this happens with cats and dogs too. For the sake of hygiene and your peace of mind, maybe consider building a pen for them with panels so they can't chew?

Vegan_Bunny said:

The only change is the rat cage has been removed and we got another dog. Freya has been in my room to see the bunnies but the weeing and everything else started well before that. Perhaps the removal of the rat cage has triggered these behaviours but I can't exactly get more rats just for them! Lmao.

There is no way I can ban the buns from the bed. It'd mean me being there all the time and I'm not. I only sleep in my room and spend evenings in there. Possibly they are having a tantrum because I've not spent much time with them lately.
I'm going to consider a puppy pen but I have absolutely no money right now so it won't be until after Christmas. I live with my parents and I'm lucky they let the bunnies in my room at all tbh. Obv downstairs is off limits because of the dogs and the spare room is smaller than a hutch lol.
My Mam has had an op on her foot and so I've had to sort the dogs out and walk them for her but I also have a horse to think about, who has had no turn out last week due to the rain and no turn out tomorrow for the ******* hunt to belt around tearing foxes to pieces. I have no money and no petrol and I'm having to borrow money. I hate owing money. I'm just going to take Xena for the acupuncture tomorrow and ask if I can pay tomorrow when I get paid. She's definitely improved and I don't want to compromise her health. I'm just feeling really stressed at the moment and also feel like a really bad person.

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I'm really sorry that you are under so much pressure from all quarters - enough to handle without bunny behaviour issues. Everyone of us reaches a stage of "no more" & having so much to sort out we can't manage it all.
I wonder if the root of the bunny problems is that you haven't been able to spend so much time with them, & sort of lost your place in their social set up? Remedy strict routine of special bunny times.

I well know the peeing the bed problem! an expression of love & adoration we can do without. although TBH the only time that Thumper peed my bed (& I was in it!) was the night after Timmy the fostered tortoise arrived. I purposely didn't give Timmy much attention. Timmy was just introduced to Thumper & then put outside. Believe me, that rabbit saved up a bladderful for over 12 hours, & dumped it in my lap at 3.00 am to make his point!
Peeing in my bed lots & lots when I wasn't in it - Benjie - was (hormonal) adoration / total besottedness. OK, sorted out by neutering,in his case. But it's still a behaviour of "I love you to distraction" in both cases.
How about giving it a whirl?
Good luck

I feel like the peeing is more a punishment! Fiver is ridiculously attached to me. He follows me around and constantly begs for attention despite having two girls of his own! Perhaps this is the problem? He peed on me (sat on me on top of a duvet and emptied his bladder) for the first time a few weeks ago. This is how I know it's him. I actually freaked out because it's not something he ever does. He's always been 100% litter trained apart from before he was neutered at 5 months!

Finding time to spend with the bunnies is a bit of a nightmare tbh. I used to get them out in the front room for a change in scenery until Mam redecorated and banned the buns. Perhaps I need to discuss the possibility of this. I really, really don't want to pen them in or even pen myself in by blocking off my bed. They go under my bed for safety and to sleep and Fiver loves sitting on my windowsill which is only accessible via my bed. However, it is something I will have to consider if this goes on. I just know Fiver will bar bite. He has a 6x6ft run with an attached 6x3ft hutch to go into for Summer. He spends hours inside the hutch bar biting the mesh. He's actually chewed a hole through it. The hutch is never locked. He CHOOSES to bar bite. :/

He's ****** on my bed again this evening so the vinegar didn't work.

'I pee on it, its mine'. That's a bunny perspective. You are his.
'I pee on your bed, I'm boss of you.' That's another. Rabbits do it when they enter another rabbit's territory.
I'm sorry. You'll have to contain them or live with it....

happybun said:

'I pee on it, its mine'. That's a bunny perspective. You are his.
'I pee on your bed, I'm boss of you.' That's another. Rabbits do it when they enter another rabbit's territory.
I'm sorry. You'll have to contain them or live with it....

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I certainly can't live with it. It's unhygienic and just plain disgusting. I just don't get it. Why now? He's been in my bedroom for the best part of 7 years with no problems.

I wouldn't dismiss the idea of putting them outside so quickly. You can get really strong sturdy sheds, complete with insulation etc and put an oil filled radiator in them. It wouldn't be any different to living in your room for them apart from you wouldn't be there.

I've just built a shed for the indoor boarding that's got double glazing, insulation in roof and walls and a heater and it's luxury - stayed at the set temp of 15degrees last night and will go warmer too. Didn't break the bank although we self built it

I couldn't have house bunnies, I couldn't cope with the smell and noise and mess especially in my bedroom

catherine09 said:

I couldn't have house bunnies, I couldn't cope with the smell and noise and mess especially in my bedroom

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Not sure what smell you mean? Ours smell of hay - I routinely ask visitors if they can smell anything nasty/off putting as I only clean their room/trays ever 3/4 days and I've never been told they smell

I love the idea of a custom shed etc, very lucky boarders you have.



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