Behaviour/health people please help!!

[Gemmapookie]

Im having a few issues with Mimi

In my bedroom Timmy and Mimi have their base under my bed with their litter tray water and bed and the rest of the room to play in with toys etc. I have wooden floors which Mimi has a real issue with (the other 3 have no problems with it atall) so I bought a load of interlocking foam matts for the bedroom ages ago. She was abit funny with them for a while but is now absolutely fine on them under the bed, binkies and runs around on them fine. But in the rest of the room I found she wouldnt go in until I put down duvets and blankets for her. This is a massive pain in the bum as they both wee on the duvet and I have to wash it about twice a week. So I decided a week ago that I would take the duvet and blanket away and work on getting her used to being on the foam matts. She will come out onto them for her pelletts or veg, but will not come out and play/run around in the rest of the room without the duvet :roll: Its so strange as she is fine on them under the bed and its exactly the same flooring, no gaps inbetween or anything :?

Anyway I was persevering with it and encouraging her to come out until yesterday when I ket finding tufts of Timmys fur around :shock: Then at 4am this morning the snow plough went past our house and was reeeally loud waking me and OH up, then a second later we heard a massive curfuffle under the bed. I leapt out of bed and switched the light on to find a very alarmed looking Timmy and loads of his fur around, she'd been attacking him :shock:

With Mimi I know that this is all fear related. Shes a very nervous bunny damaged by a very sad history and her confidence hasnt been helped atall by her head tilt 2 and a half years ago. I offen wonder how good her sight is, I wonder if it could be getting worse?

Anyway I didnt know what else to do so Ive put the damn duvet and blankets back on the bedroom floor incase that was upsetting her. Ive checked them both, no signs of any obvious illness at the moment. Both are eating enthusiastically and have nice big poos.

I might just have to live with washing the flippin duvet all the time, I just hope to god she stops attacking my Timmy. Hes such a sweet boy and a good husbun.

Any advice atall?? My poor damaged Moomy

ETA. This morning I also found loads of poos and a few wees in their bed which is unusual. I occasionally find the odd poo but never that much and never wee aswell :?

 

[gwaterhouse]

you know i'm no expert... so don't really know what to say.

other than I hope she is alright, and that timmy is alright too

 

[Gemmapookie]

you know i'm no expert... so don't really know what to say.

other than I hope she is alright, and that timmy is alright too

Thanks G :wave:

Shes such a complicated bun and such a worry I loves her to bits though of course

 

[ripminnie]

Oh dear! I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions, Sky-o is normally the best person for this sort of thing, but I'm afraid she has disappeared for the time being I do hope she comes back I hope your buns are ok x

 

[Gemmapookie]

Oh dear! I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions, Sky-o is normally the best person for this sort of thing, but I'm afraid she has disappeared for the time being I do hope she comes back I hope your buns are ok x

I know I was hoping she would see this Come back Sky-O, I neeeeed youuuuuuuuu!!!!!

 

[RogerRabbit999]

I'm so sorry to hear of the problems you are having, but rabbits aren't good with change though are they as I'm sure you know. I have previously tried making changes with my house bunnies to make things more manageable, but then have had to revert back to what they preferred, and I guess at the end of the day, it is all about them isn't it lol. Hopefully this will just be a blip shall we say, but I have previously had bonded buns that were devoted to each other and were only seperated by one passing away, but I have also had the situation whereby for whatever reason it was and I never did find out, but for the other bunny's safety, they just could not continue to live together. Often it seems the one who starts the attacking is then happier as a single bun, and the other bun can be paired with another, but obviously only you will know if they may be applicable in your case. My head tilt bunny did eventually live much happier as a single bun, and because he had had a very bad start in life and had numerous problems, I think another bun was just too much for him to cope with eventually.

 

[Gemmapookie]

I'm so sorry to hear of the problems you are having, but rabbits aren't good with change though are they as I'm sure you know. I have previously tried making changes with my house bunnies to make things more manageable, but then have had to revert back to what they preferred, and I guess at the end of the day, it is all about them isn't it lol. Hopefully this will just be a blip shall we say, but I have previously had bonded buns that were devoted to each other and were only seperated by one passing away, but I have also had the situation whereby for whatever reason it was and I never did find out, but for the other bunny's safety, they just could not continue to live together. Often it seems the one who starts the attacking is then happier as a single bun, and the other bun can be paired with another, but obviously only you will know if they may be applicable in your case. My head tilt bunny did eventually live much happier as a single bun, and because he had had a very bad start in life and had numerous problems, I think another bun was just too much for him to cope with eventually.

Thanks for the reply :wave:

It would be so desperately sad if their bond was to break down He is such a sweet, kind little bun, he really looked after her through her head tilt. Even when I had to seperate them for both of their safety as she was rolling so much, he would wait outside her cage
Im hoping that putting the duvet etc back down will help, although I did just come in to find abit more of his fur and her trying to hump him which she has NEVER done before :shock: Luckily he is such a sweet boy that he so far hasnt retaliated and I dont think he will tbh.
A few minutes later they were both binkying around so I dont think either of them are particularly upset by the whole thing at the moment.
This is just so unlike her

 

[Elena]

I suspect the poos and wees in the bed is due to not wanting to leave it to go to the litter tray. I had the same with Mischa when he was feeling rough, after his abscess op I had to make up another box by their tunnel as he wouldn't leave it and wasn't eating hay. Could she be feeling ill again? Possibly coming down with an infection? I found this time of year at least one of my snuffle bunnies would feel rougher than usual. That could also explain her need to re-establishe some dominance.

Instead of duvets what about blankets? I have some fleece blankets that are really big but quite thin. I got them from Dunelm Mill, if you like I'd be happy to get some more if they still do them and send them to you over there. I find them easier than duvets because they wash and dry much quicker. I pin them down with furniture so they don't move and they get a lot more grip on those. Or carpet offcuts? She might not wee on carpet so much. I always find the thicker the material, the more likely they are to wee on it, so something thinner like those fleece blankets or a peice of carpet may give the grip she needs but not be so tempting to wee on.

 

[Gemmapookie]

Thankyou Elena

Yes I am worried she might be feeling off colour. Of course my real dread which I havent voiced out loud so far is that her head tilt is brewing again

Thanks sooo much for the offer of the blankets. The thing is shes really funny with thin things, its really only duvets she will walk properly on :roll: She used to be OK on carpet though so I might try and get some carpet cut offs when Im back in England at the end of the week, or maybe some bath matts?

She seems abit calmer tonight but I did find a tuft of Timmys fur when I got in from work

 

[Elena]

Could she have another ear infection? I found with Mischa that subsequent ear infections didnt present with a head tilt but he would paw at his ears a lot, itching them, shaking them and generally being 'annoyed' with them.

 

[Tamsin]

I've a feeling the problem is the amount of cover not the flooring, under/next to the bed means loads of cover, the further she gets from the bed the more wary she is. A puffy duvet may be enough to feel like there is a bit of cover - or even it holds scent better and acts as a security blanket.

I'd try adding some tunnels/boxes to let her explore further out whilst having cover.

Another thing to try would be putting a blanket under the bed for a few days and then gradually pulling it outwards - that way it would get her scent and might make her feel more secure coming out gradually with it.

Scatter feeding across the floor (without the duvet down) may encourage her to spend more time out and associate positive things (food) with doing that.

 

[Gemmapookie]

Could she have another ear infection? I found with Mischa that subsequent ear infections didnt present with a head tilt but he would paw at his ears a lot, itching them, shaking them and generally being 'annoyed' with them.

Hmm Im not sure. Shes not shaking her head or itching or anything obvious. Shes eating well etc. Really its just her behaviour at the moment thts out of the ordinary :?

I've a feeling the problem is the amount of cover not the flooring, under/next to the bed means loads of cover, the further she gets from the bed the more wary she is. A puffy duvet may be enough to feel like there is a bit of cover - or even it holds scent better and acts as a security blanket.

I'd try adding some tunnels/boxes to let her explore further out whilst having cover.

Another thing to try would be putting a blanket under the bed for a few days and then gradually pulling it outwards - that way it would get her scent and might make her feel more secure coming out gradually with it.

Scatter feeding across the floor (without the duvet down) may encourage her to spend more time out and associate positive things (food) with doing that.

Thanks Tamsin. Yes I considered this, I think it might be abit of a mix of both. Thing is at our old place she never had a problem with coming out from under the bed and into a different room even, as she was on carpet then.

I tried the scatter feeding for the past week, she'd run out from under the bed, grab a pellet then go back under to eat it. Occasionally she'd forget she was scared and eat away then when the pellets ran out she'd suddenly realise she was out from under the bed and suddenly turn into bambi on ice :roll:

I'll be keeping a VERY close eye on her needless to say

 

[Elena]

How long has it been since you moved? Has it been since then? Could the flooring have a strong smell, maybe of a previous pet?

 

[Gemmapookie]

How long has it been since you moved? Has it been since then? Could the flooring have a strong smell, maybe of a previous pet?

We moved nearly 2 years ago now and put in the brand new floor ourselves before we or the buns moved in. Its just the texture and hardness she doesnt like

ETA. Ive tried so many different things in that time, the only thing that works is the flippin duvet :roll:

 

[Elena]

So this isn't a recent thing then? I wonder if the head tilt has just left her with an uneasy, slightly unbalanced feeling. Mischa could be a bit unsure sometimes, it's why we had to build a ramp because he felt unable to jump down whereas the other three all do it no problem.