i have an eight month old beautiful house bunny whom i have not yet house trained. she was very natural with her litterbox: i.e. she always went to the litter box when she needed to go! however, in the last few days she has taken to peeing on my bed! i have a futon so it's not hard for her to get up there, but the more she wees on the bed the more she seems to want to. i keep her off but it's becoming a real chore. she has her spaying scheculed for next week but i'm worried because as soon as i let her out of her house, (i've had her for about three months but i don't yet trust her to be out all the time for the obvious reasons but also because she eats everything in sight including the carpet,) she goes straight to my mattress to reliever herelf. it's as if she has decided to forgo her litterbox to favor my mattress. is this simply a house training problem or is it something more serious? i'm concerned because she is my first indoor rabbit and she's gone from being naturally good to a nightmare. could it more a cry for attention? i work long hours and when i'm home she's jumping around but sometimes her running around time can be three or four hours a day. please help i feel like a very bad owner!
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help!
- Thread starter happypalm
- Start date
Please don't feel like a bad owner, everyone has had naughty bunnies :lol:
I should imagine she'll get better after spaying, you could try putting a litter tray on your bed so she could hop into it when she needs to go.
Do you have a plant spray bottle? You could always give her a small squirt and say No at the same time whenever you spot her weeing on your bed.
Hopefully some one else will be along soon to give more advice, Good Luck!
Pictures please!
Gem x
I should imagine she'll get better after spaying, you could try putting a litter tray on your bed so she could hop into it when she needs to go.
Do you have a plant spray bottle? You could always give her a small squirt and say No at the same time whenever you spot her weeing on your bed.
Hopefully some one else will be along soon to give more advice, Good Luck!
Pictures please!
Gem x
Hiya,
You're not a bad owner what your experiencing is a teenage rabbit. Her hormones have kicked in and she's turned into a little monster
There are lots of things that can help, neutering is a good start. That will help get rid of the hormone driven behaviour and give you a better idea of whats left to work on. Neutering isn't an instant fix the changes take place over several weeks - just something to bare in mind so you don't panic when she doesn't improve straight away.
Setting some rules as Gem suggested is a good idea. She needs to learn "no" so you can use it to stop when she's doing something she shouldn't.
Along side that you need to redirect the behaviour you don't want into something that is acceptable. For example providing a cardboard box full of hay/shredded paper can stop digging in other places. Chew sticks, wooden toys and being creative with food can stop chewing on your things.
Rabbits are intellegent and if they don't have enough to keep them occupied they'll make their own fun. They can't tell the different between a toy for them and your favourite book so you have to make their toys more interesting so they pick those to play with.
Food is the best toy. From now on don't put any food in her bowl... that's much to easy and boring. Hay can be stuffed into little box or toilet roll tubes. Dry food in boxes, treatballs, mixed in with hay, under empty flower pots, get creative If she spends two hours looking for and eating her dinner instead of 30 minutes that's less time during which she could be eating your furnature.
Hope that gives you some ideas
Tamsin
You're not a bad owner what your experiencing is a teenage rabbit. Her hormones have kicked in and she's turned into a little monster
There are lots of things that can help, neutering is a good start. That will help get rid of the hormone driven behaviour and give you a better idea of whats left to work on. Neutering isn't an instant fix the changes take place over several weeks - just something to bare in mind so you don't panic when she doesn't improve straight away.
Setting some rules as Gem suggested is a good idea. She needs to learn "no" so you can use it to stop when she's doing something she shouldn't.
Along side that you need to redirect the behaviour you don't want into something that is acceptable. For example providing a cardboard box full of hay/shredded paper can stop digging in other places. Chew sticks, wooden toys and being creative with food can stop chewing on your things.
Rabbits are intellegent and if they don't have enough to keep them occupied they'll make their own fun. They can't tell the different between a toy for them and your favourite book so you have to make their toys more interesting so they pick those to play with.
Food is the best toy. From now on don't put any food in her bowl... that's much to easy and boring. Hay can be stuffed into little box or toilet roll tubes. Dry food in boxes, treatballs, mixed in with hay, under empty flower pots, get creative
If she spends two hours looking for and eating her dinner instead of 30 minutes that's less time during which she could be eating your furnature.Hope that gives you some ideas
Tamsin
Oooh Tamsin those ideas are great! and i have to say getting them to learn ''no'' does work! I have two house bunny's one who pees on the bed and the other who pees where he's supposed to! I was at the end of my tether witth Grace and i had tried everything but then i started telling her no when she peed on the bed! and it does work she is getting better! She still pees on it but not as much but we've only been working on it for 2 weeks!!
If she is weeing on the bed make sure you thoroughly clean the spot cos they will go where they can smell where they have been before. Hopefully that will discourage her a bit. Have you got the option of keeping her out of the bedroom altogether. My 2 dont go in the bedroom - mainly because of my hairdryer and hair straightners, the cables are on the floor. I have a puppy spray as well to stop chewing. Plus i have alot of toys and tunnels and other things to keep them occupied. I have pictures of my rabbits bedroom on another thread. I have spoilt them just a little. :wink: :roll: It just takes time im sure she will get better once she has been spayed
It just takes time im sure she will get better once she has been spayed 
