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Bar biting and weeing on the bed. About to strangle the rabbits!!

Well I spoke too soon. Came to bed to find they had in fact ****** on my duvet this morning, and I hadn't noticed. It hadn't even dried all the way. I don't have a spare duvet so I've had to dry as much up as possible with tissue and just put a spare duvet cover on it for tonight. I am beyond livid. I am really beginning to resent them.
 
Nooo, that's not what you said to me this morning :lol:

It's *your* place :D

Well, perhaps that's true a bit! But I am having to slowly replace half our furniture so it's suitable for living with a rabbit (at the moment, trying to find bookcases with doors to replace our "normal" bookcases, so I can stop piling my books up in every available high space and store them properly without coming back to find them nibbled). And Monty does do his own thing wherever he goes and we have to just tidy up behind him. Clearly the wire he chewed the other day was my partner's fault for not putting it in the wire protectors properly - Monty just saw a wire hanging around and wanted to be helpful and tidy it away :D And if I will knock my wedding present necklace onto the floor and not notice, well, it's *his* floor, so he surely has the right to nibble through it if he chooses... :roll: If he confines his destruction to things I can replace, I'm happy! (The hamster was never this destructive *sigh*)

(((Vegan_Bunny))) I'm really sorry you're having such a difficult time. I don't know enough to say myself, but could you perhaps look at spraying a smell the bunnies don't like (but that you can stand) over your duvet to try and deter them? We have just given up with Monty and accepted the inevitable, but I understand how frustrating it can be having to change the bed all the time.
 
My room isn't my room..it's the bunnies room and I've literally given up everything to the rabbits. Everything gets wrecked. Even my clothes when I once forgot to shut a drawer and Fiver jumped in, peed on everything and chewed it all to bits. I accepted that as my fault. All I have is my bed, a bedside table, a set of drawers and a cupboard. I have no wires or electronics because even though it was all tidied away, Fiver managed ti find a way to the wires and chewed everything. I literally have nothing in my room apart from the basics and he even wants to destroy those. Sick of it.
 
I've not read through the whole thread but I can really empathise with you. Up until a week ago I also had bedroom bunnies. Sally constantly peed on my bed and pooed. I put a tarpaulin over it, but that got gross. Barred the bed with carry cages. It was infuriating. Had to shut them in at night etc.

Anyway, had to move them outside for other reasons, and Sally is so much happier. (Well they all seem to be really). She is binkying like mad, lets me fuss her more and has lost that nasty, disgusted look she has had for the last eight years :lol:

Sad for me. I was planning on sneaking them back in, in the future. Looks like they made their own decision.

Good luck :love:
 
A friend of mine who is new to bunnies was going to join RU on my recommendation. She then asked me why a rabbit lover wanted to "neck" their rabbits? I had no answers for her so had a look for myself. If you resent rabbits for acting like rabbits perhaps they are not for you VB. We all have our own problems but resenting little animals is not the way to go - very sad.
 
A friend of mine who is new to bunnies was going to join RU on my recommendation. She then asked me why a rabbit lover wanted to "neck" their rabbits? I had no answers for her so had a look for myself. If you resent rabbits for acting like rabbits perhaps they are not for you VB. We all have our own problems but resenting little animals is not the way to go - very sad.


Hi Sarah

Lovely to see you again, and I hope you're doing as OK as possible :)

VB was not meaning strangle them literally! We can all get to the end of our tether and threaten to put them in the pot :shock:

Have a look at the recent video of Xena

https://youtu.be/LJcOfQFTgZM

Someone wouldn't post such a thing if they were seriously wanting rid of!

Having house rabbits has a special challenge all of it's own. Gracious I know, I've been there!

I believe VB to have a heart of gold. One post on one thread doesn't tell you the whole story :D
 
Well, perhaps that's true a bit! But I am having to slowly replace half our furniture so it's suitable for living with a rabbit (at the moment, trying to find bookcases with doors to replace our "normal" bookcases, so I can stop piling my books up in every available high space and store them properly without coming back to find them nibbled). And Monty does do his own thing wherever he goes and we have to just tidy up behind him. Clearly the wire he chewed the other day was my partner's fault for not putting it in the wire protectors properly - Monty just saw a wire hanging around and wanted to be helpful and tidy it away :D And if I will knock my wedding present necklace onto the floor and not notice, well, it's *his* floor, so he surely has the right to nibble through it if he chooses... :roll: If he confines his destruction to things I can replace, I'm happy! (The hamster was never this destructive *sigh*)

(((Vegan_Bunny))) I'm really sorry you're having such a difficult time. I don't know enough to say myself, but could you perhaps look at spraying a smell the bunnies don't like (but that you can stand) over your duvet to try and deter them? We have just given up with Monty and accepted the inevitable, but I understand how frustrating it can be having to change the bed all the time.


:( Is it mendable?
 
:( Is it mendable?

Alas no, not in its current form. But I have two from the same day, so I have one I can keep as an "original", and I should be able to salvage the charm from this one if I can find a chain. I've always been so careful not to leave them in Monty-reach because they're a cord chain not a metal one, so it was my fault for not noticing I'd knocked it off (though I think I may have done it in my sleep). I should really get around to buying a jewellery stand - more bunny proofing!

I think, Vegan_Bunny, your frustration is completely understandable - dealing with it day after day can be so wearing - but unfortunately, it may be a case of either accepting it and tidying up around them, or removing them. I know it's all too easy to become annoyed with them; I seem to daily turn round and say "No! You're just a pest!" in a strict tone to one of the animals round here. The question you have to answer is whether the benefits are worth persevering with this. What will you do if you really can't bear to keep them in the bedroom?

You have to do what is best for you and them, and that's a call only you can make. But if venting on here makes it easier to cope with them, I think everyone with an indoor bunny can sympathise with how annoying they can be!
 
My Mr B lived in our bedroom for six years. We had to get rid of everything electric and had nothing plugged in. He had a dog crate but was never locked in. An antique bed legs were chewed badly so replaced with a metal bed and also bought a metal bedside table. I had to accept Mr Bennett was going to chew whatever he wanted, especially as he was a dental bunny. Admittedly he didn't pee on our bed but when he was younger he chewed the buttons off the mattress. You have to accept this is what is going to happen, occasionally something good like a leather jacket or Calvin Klein shirt was chewed because OH forgot to put it away but we had to laugh about it because Mr B doesn't know it's a designer shirt or good jacket, antique bed, built in wardrobe or cable for the installed heating. I had to not care about any material items he could access because these items can be replaced. If it is stressing you so much can they not go outside ?
 
I missed my appointment on Monday with Fiver (totally forgot) so took both Fiver and SF up today. I feel awful. Fiver has lost quite a bit of weight and now weighs 1.5kg..the lowest he's ever been so now I'm thinking the weeing in the bed is a symptom of something going on. The vet who does his acupuncture wasn't worried because he's 10 but I really think getting bloods done is a must. What do you all think? Just to top it off they're overdue for their vacs and SF needs a dental. I'm so stressed out. I've applied for job seekers allowance today...although, I don't want a job since I'm doing the dog walking but I think I'll have to get a part time one again. SF doesn't desperately need a dental but since she did stop eating for a few hours the other day, she needs it sooner rather than later. I also need to get the new VHD2 vac done and I just have no idea where I'm meant to get the money from.
 
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It's not the destruction I'm bothered about. I've had Fiver 10 years and it's something I accept. However, SF has been the one suddenly taking an interest (after 4 years) in the carpet and my mattress. I was just pointing out that my bedroom is really not my bedroom and more the bun room and that I've sacrificed a lot for them and it kinda feels like a kick in the teeth when they do something for no apparent reason other than to just wreck something for the sake of wrecking it. They have everything they could ever want but it's never enough.
Fiver can't go outside. He has spondylitis and is on meds for it. He's 10 and has always lived with me in the house. It is not fair to put him outside now. I'm just really stressed atm and what I say on here might sound harsh but I'm just venting my frustration.
 
I was just pointing out that my bedroom is really not my bedroom and more the bun room and that I've sacrificed a lot for them and it kinda feels like a kick in the teeth when they do something for no apparent reason other than to just wreck something for the sake of wrecking it. They have everything they could ever want but it's never enough.

The thing is that they aren't doing this just to wind you up or because they want to hurt you, they're just being bunnies. Destruction pretty much follows in their wake, whatever attempts are made to control it - the best you can do is damage limitation. And with something like the weeing on the bed, I'd be almost certain (based on the patterns we've observed of Monty doing just this) that there was something specific that set it off - possibly putting up the bars. Monty seems to do it whenever he feels like he's lost control in some way (eg when we've picked him up to groom him) or when he doesn't like a new development (eg after the first time we handled Ossie and so smelt of another bunny). It's his way of communicating with us.

They're not aiming this at you personally, they're just using their space as they want to.
 
The thing is that they aren't doing this just to wind you up or because they want to hurt you, they're just being bunnies. Destruction pretty much follows in their wake, whatever attempts are made to control it - the best you can do is damage limitation. And with something like the weeing on the bed, I'd be almost certain (based on the patterns we've observed of Monty doing just this) that there was something specific that set it off - possibly putting up the bars. Monty seems to do it whenever he feels like he's lost control in some way (eg when we've picked him up to groom him) or when he doesn't like a new development (eg after the first time we handled Ossie and so smelt of another bunny). It's his way of communicating with us.

They're not aiming this at you personally, they're just using their space as they want to.

The weeing has been going on for months and months, I put the pen up to STOP that. Nothing seems to set it off. It doesn't happen every night. Maybe once a week, but has been getting worse. He poos all over my bed every day and every time he jumps on my bed. I don't know why he does it. Nothing has changed. Moving Xena out of the room has made no difference to it at all...in fact it stopped briefly so I thought it was her weeing on my bed. Turns out it's Fiver or Shadowfax.

This morning I let Fiver have cuddles. I'm worried that he's lost weight. He was really good but he did do one poo and as soon as he finished licking me and whatnot I gently pushed him down and then didn't let him up again. He got the message pretty quick. SF jumped up but I pushed her straight off..she doesn't like being touched lol.
 
I used to get so distressed by my rabbits not behaving as I wanted to, be it making noise and waking me up, weeing on my bed, weeing on my laptop, chewing holes in my clothers, tearing up my carpet, or anything else. It just used to drive me to distraction.

The only way I was able to survive, and eventually come to love living in their room with them was to lose my expectations of them. My wants for their behaviour were based on me, not what was realistic for a rabbit. I'd humanised them so much that I thought they were deliberately doing things to wind me up, or to wake me up, or whatever, and, they kind of were, but with a totally different motive than what I felt it was. I had to really work to get that they don't have the cognitive ability and human manner that I was placing onto them, and actually, they were just being bunnies.

Once I got that, I then had the power to adapt my room so that they couldn't do all the things that were driving me crazy (or that they could still do them, but it didn't matter anymore). Knowing that ultimately I was responsible for the space empowered me, and removed all frustration from them. If something happens now, then that's my error (like when they chewed my iphone charger, or my bra strap off, or pulled stuff off my bookcase), but it doesn't make me cross. Now, like you, my room is their space, but the bits I need to protect and I need out their way, are out their way. Over the years I've had all kinds of barriers, all kinds of heights of barriers and types of barriers to block off one thing or anything (one of which was a 5 ft tall barrier, part puppy pen panel, part material, to stop my pogoing lop from vaulting the 4.5ft barrier), I cover my carpet with carpet squares and they can do whatever they want, they are not allowed on my bed, or near it. That's my sanctuary.

I think, for me, it was important to accept them for who they were, and work with that, rather than changing them into who I wanted them to be.

I have six in my room now and wouldn't have it any other way (although probably will have to soon).

You do have my empathy, and I hope you manage to sort something out that works for all of you.
 
I used to get so distressed by my rabbits not behaving as I wanted to, be it making noise and waking me up, weeing on my bed, weeing on my laptop, chewing holes in my clothers, tearing up my carpet, or anything else. It just used to drive me to distraction.

The only way I was able to survive, and eventually come to love living in their room with them was to lose my expectations of them. My wants for their behaviour were based on me, not what was realistic for a rabbit. I'd humanised them so much that I thought they were deliberately doing things to wind me up, or to wake me up, or whatever, and, they kind of were, but with a totally different motive than what I felt it was. I had to really work to get that they don't have the cognitive ability and human manner that I was placing onto them, and actually, they were just being bunnies.

Once I got that, I then had the power to adapt my room so that they couldn't do all the things that were driving me crazy (or that they could still do them, but it didn't matter anymore). Knowing that ultimately I was responsible for the space empowered me, and removed all frustration from them. If something happens now, then that's my error (like when they chewed my iphone charger, or my bra strap off, or pulled stuff off my bookcase), but it doesn't make me cross. Now, like you, my room is their space, but the bits I need to protect and I need out their way, are out their way. Over the years I've had all kinds of barriers, all kinds of heights of barriers and types of barriers to block off one thing or anything (one of which was a 5 ft tall barrier, part puppy pen panel, part material, to stop my pogoing lop from vaulting the 4.5ft barrier), I cover my carpet with carpet squares and they can do whatever they want, they are not allowed on my bed, or near it. That's my sanctuary.

I think, for me, it was important to accept them for who they were, and work with that, rather than changing them into who I wanted them to be.

I have six in my room now and wouldn't have it any other way (although probably will have to soon).

You do have my empathy, and I hope you manage to sort something out that works for all of you.


Wow, a great post :D

Losing expectations is a great rule for life and human beings too.
Makes for a much smoother passage all round :)
 
Wow, a great post :D

Losing expectations is a great rule for life and human beings too.
Makes for a much smoother passage all round :)

To be fair, I still have expectations of them, but it's inline with who they are. So I expect them to chew things, wee places, and generally trash my room, but at least we're all on the same page now :lol:
 
Sky-O. Your post is right. Tbh I have lost my expectations of them. I used to get so infuriated with Fiver's behaviour and I do sometimes get totally ****** off with him but now it's more just a feeling of defeat.
Fiver started out in a cage and run, fitted down the side of my bed. This was temporary and he hated it and bar bit constantly. So I then built him a cage into my room...which was not big enough as it was 6ft tall with 3 levels being just 3x3ft. He had access to the whole thing but I had not realised floor space was more important. He bar bit and ate my walls..rightly so imo. So I used to let him freerange during the day but blocked off under my bed with various storage boxes. He decided under the bed was the best place and completely wrecked the storage boxes and everything in them. So I let him have under the bed and had him freerange 24/7. He used to sit at the cage and bar bite for hours. So I ripped out the cage. He then decided to squeeze under my drawers and bedside table to rip up the carpet. So I ripped out the carpet and blocked off the gaps. I'm just saying this because I'm not being annoyed for him being a rabbit. Everyone I have spoken to have never encountered such a destructive rabbit as him. He's chewed my door, the mats I put down to protect his feet, my bed, my furniture, my walls (which I have now stuck laminate flooring to) my curtains (so I bought roller blinds) my bedding (which all have holes in and I don't care). Well, you get the point. He can do what he wants and has been absolutely fine, just the odd hiccup, which has usually been a mistake of mine. The only bits I want them to leave alone is my bed and my bedside table and the reason I'm so upset is because now he has everything...he's made it his life goal to get on my bedside table and my bed. As I'm sure you're all aware..if a rabbit wants to do something, they'll do it. So I've had to pen my bed off completely during the day.
The bar biting seems to have finally stopped. I've had no poos in my bed from overnight for the past couple of days so I'm hoping that if I continue, eventually they'll break the habit of messing on my bed and jumping onto my bedside table.
I know it sometimes sounds like I'm anthropimorphising them but Fiver is not like any rabbit I've ever met or ever will meet again. He's stupidly intelligent and as much as I might rant and rave about him, he's my soul bun and I've had him for 10 years this Sept. We have a very close bond and it really is upsetting me to have to block my bed off because he loves to jump onto my bed and then onto the windowsill and look out the window. I feel like I'm taking away a huge chunk of space and also enrichment from them both but I really can't allow them to ruin my mattress. I have no money and need to find over £300 for their vet bills and the last thing I need is to have to buy a new mattress.
I was hoping to have them outside for most of the Summer because I was thinking Fiver was bored of my room but the weather has just been awful. :(
 
To be fair, I still have expectations of them, but it's inline with who they are. So I expect them to chew things, wee places, and generally trash my room, but at least we're all on the same page now :lol:


:lol:
 
That level of destruction does sound so hard to live with. Whilst I agree that rabbits will be rabbits, some seem intent on causing carnage, no matter what you do!

We have 9 buns and only 1 is like this. She lived inside initially and no matter what we did she was intent on destroying things, including the carpet. We've since bonded her and moved them both outside. She's still feisty and destructive, but she can now do it do her hearts content, lol. We now have one of our boys, Spud, living in the room, and he couldn't be more different. He doesn't chew anything and the only mess is a bit of hay.

Have they always been inside (it sounds like they might have)? I think some buns are more suited to outdoor living, but I get that it's not always practical or possible.

I think it's fair enough to feel frustrated by the situation, anyone would. I hope some solutions can be found and that the situation settles for you x
 
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