Unexpectedrabbitowner
New Kit
We got a pair of baby rabbits in Early November- they are boy/ girl siblings and were fully bonded when we got them- everything was fine. We then had about 6 weeks of separating them while they were neutered and still all fine- Ping ping was spayed towards the end of this time when she was big enough, but- when she returned from the Vet she seemed to have totally changed personality and has gone from being affectionate to very cautious.
Our main issue though is with Sprinkles - our neutered boy. He is so neurotic it's a real issue. They are indoor bunnies and have a 2 storey hutch that they stay in and we let them out for anything from 4-12hrs a day (the living room/ kitchen area is about 60m2 so they have a lot of space. We realised that they were essentially getting less tame as soon as they were back together again, as we were just opening the hutch to let them out in the morning so despite being with us we were having relatively little contact. So we've been trying to pick them up from the hutch to handle them before letting them run around- we have a very annoying hutch that has a real dead spot (do not buy the ferplast medium rabbit cottage- until they change the bottom access so you can reach the back right corner) that we can't reach so this is becoming quite stressful. The bunnies will do anything they can to stay in this spot. So we're finding improving our relationship really hard. Should we simply find a way to block this end of the hutch? We don't really want to reduce their space.
On top of this Sprinkles is absolutely hell bent on chewing the inside of the hutch- he won't eat any hay at all, but if he is hungry in the hutch he will chew the wood or the metal bars- at this rate we'll need a new hutch in 6months (not joking)- I've tried putting tabasco sauce on which works in the short term but he just finds a new bit and now he's chewing the bars it's even worse. They aren't too bad at chewing anything else in the house as we have bits of wood/ cardboard hidden about the place that they're allowed.
My main concern is that Sprinkles is very unhappy and stressed. When we got the rabbits I was keen to have them inside so they would be part of the family and have company rather than being forgotten about in the garden. The whole idea of pets does make me slightly uncomfortable but I decided to go for it to help my daughters mental health, on the grounds that they were well looked after. That said- his incessant chewing is really stressing me out! They have chew things in there- we keep it clean- they always have fresh food and water- HELP!!! At this rate they will end up in the garden which would be a massive shame as they love running about in the house in such a big space- I just don't know what to do, I feel like we've gotten stuck in a bit of a pickle......
Our main issue though is with Sprinkles - our neutered boy. He is so neurotic it's a real issue. They are indoor bunnies and have a 2 storey hutch that they stay in and we let them out for anything from 4-12hrs a day (the living room/ kitchen area is about 60m2 so they have a lot of space. We realised that they were essentially getting less tame as soon as they were back together again, as we were just opening the hutch to let them out in the morning so despite being with us we were having relatively little contact. So we've been trying to pick them up from the hutch to handle them before letting them run around- we have a very annoying hutch that has a real dead spot (do not buy the ferplast medium rabbit cottage- until they change the bottom access so you can reach the back right corner) that we can't reach so this is becoming quite stressful. The bunnies will do anything they can to stay in this spot. So we're finding improving our relationship really hard. Should we simply find a way to block this end of the hutch? We don't really want to reduce their space.
On top of this Sprinkles is absolutely hell bent on chewing the inside of the hutch- he won't eat any hay at all, but if he is hungry in the hutch he will chew the wood or the metal bars- at this rate we'll need a new hutch in 6months (not joking)- I've tried putting tabasco sauce on which works in the short term but he just finds a new bit and now he's chewing the bars it's even worse. They aren't too bad at chewing anything else in the house as we have bits of wood/ cardboard hidden about the place that they're allowed.
My main concern is that Sprinkles is very unhappy and stressed. When we got the rabbits I was keen to have them inside so they would be part of the family and have company rather than being forgotten about in the garden. The whole idea of pets does make me slightly uncomfortable but I decided to go for it to help my daughters mental health, on the grounds that they were well looked after. That said- his incessant chewing is really stressing me out! They have chew things in there- we keep it clean- they always have fresh food and water- HELP!!! At this rate they will end up in the garden which would be a massive shame as they love running about in the house in such a big space- I just don't know what to do, I feel like we've gotten stuck in a bit of a pickle......