Destructive behaviour

[Bramranzel]

I've had Alice a Dutch rabbit for just over a year now. We rescued her and she came with no history. She was an angry bun at first and it took a long time for her to trust me. We got her as a companion for our buck. The pairing did not go well at first and she tried to kill him. As her hormones calmed down (we got her spayed immediately) she bonded with him for a few weeks until he died suddenly. Since then I've had her in the house most of the time and put her in a large enclosure during the day. She's very sweet and will sit on me close to my face and I get kisses. The rest of the time she pleases herself as she is free range downstairs. Lately though she has been a menace in the house chewing huge holes in the carpet and not using her litter tray hardly at all. She has toys but isn't really bothered about them. I'm seriously thinking about moving her outdoors overnight too, but worried she will be lonely. I do plan on getting her another husbun, will she be ok for a little while on her own? I will still be giving her plenty of cuddles but I can't keep her indoors anymore if she is going to chew the house up. :?

 

[Tamsin]

It might help to look at each specific problem and see if you can divert the behaviour. So if she digs a hole in the corner, add a digging box in that spot.

For litter tray use - what's she doing instead? A urine infection can cause them to stop using the tray correctly. Otherwise, adding extra trays may help. Other thnigs can trigger it too like swapping cleaning brands.

 

[Bramranzel]

Thanks Tamsin. I've already put her digging box in the worst chewed spot. I've tried several litter boxes and she drags them about. She's never been fully litter trained like my buck was but I'll get the vet to check her over. I did have a doe a few years back who would use the litter tray if she felt like it, I did wonder whether it was a doe thing :lol:

 

[Tamsin]

Usually if they are spayed they will litter train but there are exceptions to every bunny rule!

Confining her to a smaller area might help e.g. one room that way you can super bunny proof it and work on litter training. An underbed storage box might work as it's larger and heavier. Is she moving them out the way and then wee-ing where they were? If so then that's more trainable as you just have to persuade her not to move them :lol: