New bunny - Willow

Hi, I'm brand new to the forum - first post!

I have had two guinea pigs for about 4 years - lovely long haired ones called Nutmeg and Pootle. Recently I decided I would get a rabbit too.

We got Willow, a black and white lionhead at the beginning of November. He is lovely but how different and EXTREMELY more active than our guineas! All of them are house pets but they do not have free run of the house. we do let them out for "floor time" though when we're home.

So far Mr Willow has been quite mischievious and I wonder if anyone can tell me if all the following behaviour is typical rabbit behaviour please?

1. He chewed through my husband's playstation controller wire - he was not happy!

2. Every morning when we put his food in he goes to bite our hands. I manage to avoid his excited nips but he keeps nipping my other half! LOL Is this just him being excited about being fed? He doesn't do it when he's had his food and we put our hands in.

3. The worst thing is the chewing on his bars - it's so noisy. However I have managed to stop this to some extent by putting lemon juice on the bars - as someone on here suggested - good idea it does work!

4. He has learned quickly how to go up the stairs!

5. He doesn't like being held or picked up . We can lift him out of his cage ok and when he is on the floor he will come up to us and lay down inviting us to stroke him. I've read on here that a lot of rabbits don't like being held so I don't mind. I've decided not to keep trying and to just settle for stroking him in his cage and when he's out which he seems to enjoy. It's very good that he lets us stroke him isn't it?

6. the cutest thing is the constant "flaking out" when he is out of his cage and is obviously worn out. I love the way they just suddenly flop!

7. He has been doing some high binkies this week which is very funny to watch and makes us giggle.

8. We let the guineas and Willow out together and they were fine. Willow just hopped over the pigs!

We are enjoying having him but had no idea how active rabbits were. It was a bit of a shock!

Hi welcome to the forum!

Bunnies will chew wires! You can get protective covering for wires and make sure all wires are out of reach

Making sure he has plenty of room in the cage and lots of toys and things to chew should distract him from chewing on the bars

Im not sure about the stairs. My vet told me never to let my bunnies climb them incase they fell and hurt their backs so I keep them well away.

Most buns dont like being held but some will tolerate it for a short time. As long as he is ok being lifted in and out of the cage I would just leave it at that. Mine wouldnt be to happy if I started just lifting them for cuddles all the time :lol:

It is very good that he lets you stroke him

Bunny flops are sooo cute and Im sure I read on here that it means the bunny is happy. Binkies are a sign of happiness too, and also very cute!

I know buns and guineas shouldnt be kept together, but Im not sure about letting them out to play together under supervision. Im sure someone will be along soon that can advise you on that though

he sounds like a normal bunny to me - and good idea about the lemon juice - might try that myself on Zeb who keeps me up all night

you might want to consider getting him neutered - then you wont get the humping which im suffering at the moment until Zeb is ready to be done

i think the food thing is just territorial behaviour - try feeding him outside his pen perhaps? and i dare say neutering will go someway towards solving it too

as for letting him out with the piggies - i have 2 piggies and 5 bunnies and although they do get on well under supervision - i think if willow accidentally binkies onto one of the piggies it might be a bit dangerous - i think i see a friend for willow coming on!!!

i found with mine that once they got older they werent so manic - and Gus my older boy now likes to be cuddled - but its nice just to stroke them too

anyway good luck with Willow

Thanks for the replies.

I agree it's a bit risky about the pigs out with Willow as I've read he could literally squah them. It's only occasionally and we keep an eye. I'll be careful about the stairs too.

I'd love a friend for Willow but my husband is only just getting used to Willow! He loves the guineas but isn't so keen on the rabbit! I guess if I got another at some point I'd have to keep them seperate and then bond them as people talk about on here.

He loves the guineas but isn't so keen on the rabbit!

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Well my boyfriend says he doesnt love the rabbits, but I have seen him cuddling them and telling them how great they are. And when we went to bed last night he insisted he go and check on them because he thought he could hear Scarletts cover coming off her hutch. It wasnt but it proves he cares about them :lol:

Awww im sure he would love a friend! Once he has been neutered you could always take him to a rescue to pick out a girl for himself. And some rescues will even help you with bonding