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

TheThreeB's said:

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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Yes, he's always been an indoor bun and he's very, very people orientated so being outside would not suit him, even with SF. He really is a demonbun, all my friends and family know him as that haha. He's a dutch x so tbh, they're pretty notorious for being ********* haha. I debated putting him outside when he was younger but I knew he'd just bar bite any mesh that he could. He has an outdoor setup for when it's nice and he literally spends hours sitting inside the hutch and bar biting the mesh. The hutch is 6x3x3ft and the run is 6x6ft..so not small. He's just one of those buns that is never happy no matter what you do lol. Well, he is happy but he just always wants more. He's now 10 years old and has arthritis in his spine so deffo not possible now. Things have settled down since I penned off my bed. They've stopped bar biting and Fiver did poo on my bed this morning so he was pushed off everytime he jumped up.
Xena is the complete opposite. She does poo everywhere but she doesn't chew anything at all. She's a star lol.

Oh yes I understand, and at his age too much change now probably wouldn't be good for him. I think some buns are just wired differently. How odd that when he's outside he still chooses to sit inside bar biting, lol.

Good luck with everything x

This is a tricky one. Once the smell of urine is in an area (even after it's been cleaned) bunnies still seem to smell it and then feel compelled to mark their territory.

Could you move the furniture around so the bunnies only have access to half the room at night?

If not, I'd pen them in a different room during the night. It sounds mean, but your sleep and peace of mind should be paramount here, as well as cleanliness.

I think you have been a saint to tolerate it as long as you have - my house bunny isn't allowed in our bedroom at all!

Just another point that incontinence - pooing all over when previously house trained - is often age related.

Ten is old and pushing him off the bed all the time probably isnt ideal.

Is he on pain meds for his arthritus? I wonder if the peeing in odd places it pain related. My bun Oliver has artritus from being used as a football by children and if his is acting up the first sign is that he gets pee stains (he's a REW) where he stands awkwardly.

What are you cleaning with? I've used simple solution (the green bottle aimed at cats and dogs) for ratties so should be bunny safe aswell.

He is on pain meds and gets acupuncture every 4-6 weeks. This time of year he is pretty much pain free and quite comfortable. I did think it was illness related but his bloods came back fine. He's not in pain that I can tell. Pushing him off the bed doesn't hurt him. When I say pushing him off I generally just gently push him so he has to jump off or I lift my legs up under the duvet and force him to jump off.
They've been bar biting at night before I go to bed but it's not lasting as it did before. We've had 2 mornings with no poos so fingers crossed he's getting the idea.
I clean with an animal friendly disinfectant but I did used to spray vinegar with no effect lol. They only pee on my bed. There's rarely pee elsewhere in the room so it's literally JUST my bed so I'm ruling out incontinence. The pooing everywhere doesn't bother me apart from my bed but I did wonder why they suddenly started doing that, Fiver has always been litter trained but I didn't think about it being age related.

Vegan_Bunny said:

He is on pain meds and gets acupuncture every 4-6 weeks. This time of year he is pretty much pain free and quite comfortable. I did think it was illness related but his bloods came back fine. He's not in pain that I can tell. Pushing him off the bed doesn't hurt him. When I say pushing him off I generally just gently push him so he has to jump off or I lift my legs up under the duvet and force him to jump off.
They've been bar biting at night before I go to bed but it's not lasting as it did before. We've had 2 mornings with no poos so fingers crossed he's getting the idea.
I clean with an animal friendly disinfectant but I did used to spray vinegar with no effect lol. They only pee on my bed. There's rarely pee elsewhere in the room so it's literally JUST my bed so I'm ruling out incontinence. The pooing everywhere doesn't bother me apart from my bed but I did wonder why they suddenly started doing that, Fiver has always been litter trained but I didn't think about it being age related.

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Do you try the Bunny Be Gone Leg Scissors? Monty used to half wake me up jumping on the bed, but not enough for me to register Monty -> bed -> wee. In the end, my brain got the idea, and without waking up I was able to wildly contort my legs (up and down, side to side, occasionally slide them under him the start to lift up so he'd move) until he decided it just wasn't worth being around the human in such a weird mood and would hop down again. Not so useful when he sat on my pillow and wound himself round my head - which he only ever did preparatory to weeing on me...

One theory I read (somewhere) when he started on the sofa was that it was about dominance - that in his head, the places you like to relax (bed, sofa) are your "warren", so by weeing there he is claiming territory. Apologies if that's already been mentioned! Also didn't get me much further with stopping him weeing on the sofa, but perhaps a useful thought if you've been noticing other signs in that vein?