Help with the details about my tornado of rabbit

[OnkelMicha]

I will make a list of short question in the end and try to add as much details I think are relavant and hopefully will help you answer my questions.

I'm 34 year old male that live with my GF for the last 18 months, in the mean time so have her rabbit been taken care of by her sister. The rabbit has in my mind suffered because of uneducation and not malice. My gf had another rabbit befire this one and she had it in the cage and it would make a ruckus in the night to come out and she would let it out sometimes, one night so did it jump up in bed. She unfortunately rolled over it and didnt wake up until the morning when it has suffocated from pressure. So she has a lot of guilt for it and have not had the new one in a cage. The onyl rule she really enforced was no rabbit in bed.

This one is mini lop from holland 7 years old and not spaded. Personally so do I take the concept of taking in a life in very serious so I feel I have to change some habits.

The rabbit has been free roaming all day long except nights where she stayed in the bathroom, the house has tiles everywhere and it's slippery.

She had been alone for the last 18 month as the sister just feed and cleaned after it, not interested in the rest.

We have her now in the bathroom as it is the favorite place for her, she likes to sleep behind the toilet bowl on the cool porcelain.

As she is not fixed so is she as hormonal as teenage person who does steriods. Droppings everywhere and "chinning" a lot of objects especially my shoes or feet. She tries to hump me almost every time I come to her.

As of now so does she have the bathroom and she goes to the toilet in 1m2 (3feet2) shower, then she has the room outside which is fairly large bedroom. I have bought cheap carpets to cover the floor where she is allowed to be. Seeing her trying to walk and looking like Bambi on the ice broke my heart She only went to one corner in the shower the first 2 days when she was introduced here. After that so does she poop and urinate all over that shower space. As well as the rest of the condo is she gets to roam free. There are 2 litter boxes in the corners with fresh timothy and paper in the bottom. They are fairly big and she fits easy.

The rabbit in my mind likes to bond with me and it goes fine she is not afraid of anything, vacuum cleaners, wash machine & louder noises. She reacts well when we say her voice in stern voice. Or soft voice when we call for her. She comfortable and will stretch out and lay down even rolling over to the side occasionally. She never binkied once when I seen it

She always have Thimoty and Alfa alfa hey, water and pellets. The brand of pellets was recommended by "reputive" dr. I think it looks like deep fried Big Mac set in terms of nutrition.

Ingredients: Corn, Rice, Rice Bra, Wheat Grain, Wheat Bran, Soybean Meal, Fullfat Soyben, Alfa Alfa, Leucaena Meal, Carrot Meal, salt, Essential Vitamins, Minerals, Antioxidant, Food Coloring.
Nutritional Analasys:

• Protein: 18% /Min
• Fat: 2.5% /Min
• Fiber: 16% /Max
• Moisture: 10% /Max
• Calcium: 0.9% /Min
• Phosperous0.75% /Min

All the reading I have done on this subject now have left some gaps for questions for me.

1. We have booked time at the vet for removing the hormone factory later this week, is there a high risk with performing surgery on 7 year old rabbit?
2. She leaves a lot of cecotropes, is she getting too much calories from pellets?
3. I read a high squeele is in place when biting happens, I'm 34 year old man with a deep voice I really can not squeele. Any ideas of what todo?
4. We are getting a cage today to set it up like it should, when people say start small then let them have more space. How do I know she is ready to have more space?
5. Do rabbits understand concepts of action and consequence? How do I communicate that she gets a timeout because of bad behaviour?
6. Is it unhealthy not to clip my rabbits toenails.
7. Is there any reason she chooses to mount me or mark my shoes way more then my gf.
8. As soon as she is spaded and housebroken so would I like to try and adopt another older male rabbit so she has someone (hopefully) to socialize with. Any reason why I shouldn't? I really want a help an old rabbit. That most people wouldn't look at because their own vanity says they want something cute and cuddly.

I write this as I work from home and like to go in and socialize with here when I take my breaks 10 min each hour it relieves so much stress when she is relaxed. Animals carries such therapeutic value

 

[Tamsin]

Welcome to the forum

1. It's slightly higher risk to do surgery on an older rabbit, the vet may do a blood test first to check her organs are functioning normally. However, old rabbits often get uterine cancer so there is a higher risk of that then there is risk from the operation.

2. Yes, the pellets are much to high in protein - this should be around 12-14%, and fibre should be 18%+. The ingredients list should start with some type of grass rather than corn. There is a chart here that might help you choose: http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-food-comparison.asp

3. You may find the biting goes away once she is neutered.

4. I expect you'll find she'd be upset to be confined to a cage after enjoying the space. Instead I would start by confining her to the bathroom where she is happy. You might find a childrens safety stair gate or a similar barrier would work for you so you don't have to have the door closed all the time. Once she's using the litter tray then you can give her more space.

5. Timeouts etc. don't usually work. You need to work out why she's don't the bad behaviour and change things to discourage her. What is she doing that's bad?

6. They need clipping if they grow long but rough surfaces make them wear naturally so you don't always need to clip them. Ask the vet and they can check and clip them whilst she is there.

7. It might be she likes you more

8. That sounds like a good plan

 

[OnkelMicha]

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer.

The biting has only been bad 2 times she broken my skin when she's been exited. Its usually just very light nibbling..

My limited knowledge tells me the bad behaviour is mostly hormone driven since its droppings, markings, mounting.

I also studied how my gf pets her and noticed a huge difference in the behaviour. I tend to pet her like I would stroke a cat or a dog from head to butt, and I really think I was triggering some "sexual" thoughts in her. twitching of the hips as well as her running around me stomping her backfeet and grunting the same time as droppings fly all over the place.
All day yesterday so did I only pet her around her head, cheeks, nose tip and ears even belly when she rolls over to the side. She has never been more calm didn't try to mount me a single time, she even jumps up in the sofa and asks to be stroked

She still spray and marks an awful lot and I hoping it goes away the coming weeks, tomorrow is the big day.

Will have her clipped tomorrow when she's, I saw a really good instruction on how to clip claws on my own as well and think I can do it in matter that doesn't hurt her..


We are looking to property to build our dream house me and gf, and been toying with the thought of having a flip door for the rabbits that will go outside to area with concrete walls that are at least 1m tall and then chicken fence going another 2 meters up and covering the whole thing. They don't have much pray birds here but plenty of venomous snakes and then a hill in the middle that's a bit higher so they can see far away.

Is there a downside to having rabbits free roaming from indoor to outdoors. We live in thailand so I can assume they won't like it out in the daytime heat.

 

[OnkelMicha]

Thank you for taking the time reply...

Her "bad" behaviour is in my novice mind related to hormones so noting really I was just thinking ahead. Going to the vet tomorrow.

Well we have had a major breaktroughs this week with her so I'm really really happy.

I have been "rape" free for the last 38 hours, just by changing one tiny tiny detail. I noticed how my gf was just petting her around the face and ears, cheek massage and light rubbing on ears and nose.

I would pet her more like I would stroke a cat or a dog with full strokes from nose to end of body and she must have taken the touching of her lower body as somewhat sexual since she would sometimes have the "twitch" in the butt when I stroked back there. If I then stopped so would she shoot up take a lap running around me and drop poop then mount me or chin me a lot.

I just stroke her head, nose, ears and cheeks now and she has not mounted me once in 38 hours. Pretty Sweet. Now she always closes the eyes and drop the head when she gets a facerub..

Only issues right now so dropping and peeing in all corners that are available if she's let out, I assume it will go away after she's sterelized.


I also thinking how I comunicate with her as I'm quite sure that you can transfer "energy" to a rabbit like a human. The easist way to calm down a yelling angry person would be to talk calm to them and not yell.

-Micha