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Female rabbits behaviour is driving me to want to rehome her...

So do I :cry:

Although right now she's licking my feet from under the desk :lol:

I am going to be getting a load of climbing things from Manor Pets so i am hoping that will help also. The plan always was to allow her hormones to calm down until introducing her to free ranging after the bonding process. But its always been a trust issue with her. So far she seems ok out...a little nip and scratch here and there but nothing major yet. For temporary measure i have had to use NIC grids to protest the skirting boards around the lounge.

Manor House do some splendid things, don't they.
 
Finn has been through far to much himself, with several operations his had. He needs special care and i don't think i could trust anyone enough to do this. Plus his helped me deal with the breakup of a long term relationship. Rehoming him would probably cause me a fair bit of harm. I am not sure i could let him go. Id feel as if i was being punished for doing good by bonding him. But I am hoping it wont come to that.

Bunnies are destructive by nature yes...but not all rabbits are big chewers like she is. Some are better indoors then others. Finn was never a big chewer before he lost his teeth, neither was his sister before she passed away. My lion head before wasn't a big chewer either, or the rabbit before that. But I know some do express more "wild" like behaviour.

I am aware of the catch 22 situation which is why i have been letting her out but on shorter time intervals and build the time up. I just don't trust her at the moment because of her behaviour, so i need to build up that trust.

She was only spayed 4 months ago, and with the time of year. I just hope she calms down.

I can understand, I went through hell with my boy Snoopy and wouldn't have given him up under any circumstances. but, if it came to it and I couldn't deal with him and his partner, I'd either have to deal with the damage or do what is best. the thing is, you're not being punished by doing something good. bunnies do need companions but sometimes you need to adapt to said bunny.. if one is a chewer you need to root the issue out. I believe its boredom and space.

imho, I always believe there is a reason for bad behaviour. it may not be obvious, but I believe there is always a root cause.

make a forage box, or hide their pellet around the pen. its all well and good having toys but, those can be boring too. you'll need a bit more than that. toys by themselves are boring and without new ones coming in, they don't care for them.

a digging box with soil or sand may be a good idea too. apple sticks or pear sticks make good for them too, they're tasty.

perhaps some mental simulation, such as treat balls or puzzles would be helpful.

there is always something new to try..to entertain them.

I don't believe this is hormones anymore after her spay, 4 months is ample enough time.

re adding more levels, this will not meet said requirements either. they need x amount of space continuously, not x amount of space from combined levels. so I'm not sure it would be any help.

as I said.. if she has shown minimal destructive behaviour outside of the pen, then I think you're perhaps being a bit over cautious at that point. but the problem is, they will always destroy something. Luna wasn't a destroyer, but she's chewed a few holes in blankets and a few wires..

the destruction is probably from boredom and not enough space to move about in. along with that, rabbits get very frustrated about being put back in. they want x amount of space all the time, not for a few minutes. I know mine throw a fit at bed time from being placed back in their pen. so that will also add to the frustration, unfortunately mine live in my bedroom, and I have to sleep myself.

pet remedy is wonderful, it helps calm them down and any anxiety. perhaps she is even feeling some anxiety and stress hence her destructive behaviour. I can say, it really made a difference for mine. the 60 day diffuser is the best, and spraying it around their pen helps wonders too.

the unfortunate thing is....if you really can not allow more space, have them free roam, or allow a decent amount of time out per day (8-12 hours) then rehoming both may be your only option. they will need to stick together now, or it will cause ill-health to both of them being separated. however, there are plenty of other options for your to try for the moment.
 
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Before Myrtle came here Finn would stay out of his Pen all day...during the bonding process also but he wasn't happy when i brought Myrtle home. It took a while for him to take to her.

Rabbits will always throw a paddy when they are put away, but until I learnt to trust her i can't have her out when i am not here. Finn I can 100% trust and i am happy to leave him out while i am at work.

I can not expand of floor space...this is just something i cannot do. Free roaming was always the plan (which to be fair is better then being caged up anyway), however i didn't expect Myrtle to be how she was. She does suffer with anxiety, even being out now she seems quite stressed even though she's happily exploring, running around, binkying.

The issue is my flat is rented and although my landlord is happy for me to have rabbits I can't allow them to just freely destroy the place. Finn needs to stay indoors...again he needs special care. He would die outside...well they both would to be fair with the amount of foxes we have around here.

I have already discussed this with my vet (who is rabbit savvy), when i was having issues bonding them as Finn kept humping her (and still humps her from time to time) and he has already said that due to Finns illnesses it would be in his interest to remain with me. He cost me 3 grand after only 6 months of having him, and he needs to visit a vet twice a month (costing me a good £70 a time for his meds). Someone would need to have this responsibility and with the lack of good bunny owners i would be worried sick he wouldn't be taken care of properly.

So obviously this needs to work out one way or another.

As soon as i can trust her they can be out all day!
 
Hi there, apologies if I've misunderstood, but when your at work, is Myrtle in their pen and Finn free to roam? Could this be contributing to her behaviour?

I think as long as you are working towards free ranging and having a new pen / base area, then you shouldn't beat yourself up if you can't instantly provide quite the right amount of space. You obviously have extensive knowledge of rabbits.

One of our rabbits started off indoors and despite having a whole room, plenty of toys etc and later a friend, she was still hell bent on destruction. She is definitely more suited to outdoor living. It's definitely frustrating when no matter what you try to do, they always find something else. Could you try something between the two, so don't have her shut in the pen, but she doesn't have full range (at least for now) either? Use puppy panels, Lino to protect the floor etc. Maybe proof just one room for them.

I now have two bedrooms that each have a rabbit in free range (eventually to be bonded) and they are 99.9% no trouble, so I think it can depend also on their personality x
 
One of my rabbits previously was just not an indoor rabbit in any way, shape or form. All of mine have been outdoors and brought in when the weather went off cold but it was impossible with him. He had the run on the whole house and would pull at carpet, try jumping up and over everything and this lasted days (thinking it might settle) and I was so worried he'd hurt himself I just really had to insulate his hutch, buy a load of snuzpods and have him outside. It just seemed to stress us both out him being inside and he caused so much damage. I'm not saying ur rabbit doesn't need more space etc but I found it to be my lovely Rupert rabbits personality
 
Hi there, apologies if I've misunderstood, but when your at work, is Myrtle in their pen and Finn free to roam? Could this be contributing to her behaviour?

I think as long as you are working towards free ranging and having a new pen / base area, then you shouldn't beat yourself up if you can't instantly provide quite the right amount of space. You obviously have extensive knowledge of rabbits.

One of our rabbits started off indoors and despite having a whole room, plenty of toys etc and later a friend, she was still hell bent on destruction. She is definitely more suited to outdoor living. It's definitely frustrating when no matter what you try to do, they always find something else. Could you try something between the two, so don't have her shut in the pen, but she doesn't have full range (at least for now) either? Use puppy panels, Lino to protect the floor etc. Maybe proof just one room for them.

I now have two bedrooms that each have a rabbit in free range (eventually to be bonded) and they are 99.9% no trouble, so I think it can depend also on their personality x

I was wondering if she was getting upset because your boy was out all the time but she is in her cage. Also we don't know anything about her past.
 
Thank you for all of your replies. They have helped. I know the situation isn’t ideal, but rehoming Finn would just cause him more harm then good. He was the run of the litter and has multiple problems including issues with his immune system. Otherwise healthy he needs monitors all the time as he gets sick.

That said, I have spoken to Lee who will be building my new Pen and I have asked him to put two hooks on to it so I can attach the pen they are in now to it while I am at work. This would give them space of around 10ft x 4ft (maybe bigger) and when I get home I can fold that pen away and let them out. So its just a case of juggling things now until i can get this new pen. Hopefully this will be a better situation for them.

Myrtles behaviour is quite calm this morning (inside her pen). In fact she is calm all night. She was out for about 7 hours (I didn't let her out until later) yesterday, and will be out for the day today. Once i have guided her more to free roaming i can then start leaving her out when i go out for a short time (i.e to the shop), then when i am comfortable with that, take half day at work and leave her out while i work in the morning. This is what i did with Finn while i built up trust and now his fine.

No i keep them together while i am at work.
 
I think some bunnies just really aren't the indoor type. I've had bunnies roaming around a large area of the house, but they still destroyed things. And mine weren't even that destructive compared to some!

Agreed. I had one that was free range and still chewed a hole in my couch. Some chewing is marking and wearing their teeth. It’s what they do, why farmers hate them so much! Mine will always be outside, they seem so much relaxed and happier in runs than living rooms - JMO !
 
Hi,

You’ve had some great advice here but I can fully sympathise with you as I’ve been through this myself. My Male has always been amazing and well behaved in the house but bella was an absolute turd even after she was spayed. She went through months of chewing carpet and being destructive!

With my bunny I found it to be her teeth, but obviously all rabbits are different!

She went to the vets and found she had some spurs on her teeth. We started offering her some yummy Apple sticks which are sold on here, offered them daily and after a couple of weeks, she was like a new rabbit. She’s since been back to the vets and her spurs are much better.. She hasn’t touched the carpet since but does have an occasional dig on a rug just to annoy me! :love:
 
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I've seen a reply from you where you said you can go upwards (i.e. about floor space). One option you could look at is NIC/ storage cubes. I have but various enclosures for my rabbits with them (they are seriously destructive so are out all the time when we are in, but whilst we are out of the flat or at nighttime they have their area. NIC cubes are fantastic as you can build upwards as well and literally build to the space you have. I used to have a decent floor area but because mine love jumping, I had 5 cubes upwards. If you wanted you could do even more! I've only really built a bit of a maze for mine to explore, but you could build whole levels to give your buns more space without using your floor space. The great thing about them is you can remodel and keep making it better!

These aren't my enclosures (I no longer have any photos on my phone as broke it and currently just use the cubes to box in the wires and my fire (the rest of the room they are in is now bunny proofed), but these photos will give you an idea of the sort of things you can do:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/336292297146830986/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/591941944743616389/ (this one even has space underneath so maybe you could get a bit of extra floor space by where you currently storage things like food or hay on the floor etc

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/397583473325696334/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/374221050263013451/ - could definitely make the 'layers' larger but gives an idea of building upwards

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/96334879505404924/ - video on how to make them

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/71916925279640448/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/336292297146830992/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/537335799285690428/ - obviously not great on floor space on this one, but it gives you an idea that you can just keep on building higher and higher!

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/196469602464458779/ - another high one

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/100697741648782335/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/146718900333792447/

I'll have to try and find a photo of the ones I have made, I even put a chair in one that they loved to sit on!
 
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