Difficult stages?

Hey everyone,

The girls are now approximately eight months old. Everything's been going very well.

However, Xena seems to begetting almost impossible to deal with! She's learned how to pick up the cage sides with her teeth (it's a storage cube run, so not a solid cage) and bangs it up and down early in the morning when she wants her breakfast. She STILL chases Binky around and rips out chunks of fur. Binky doesn't seem to mind, she doesn't cower when it happens, but still...Xena's just generally acting destructive and sometimes mean! She nips at my trousers, will throw the cardboard hidey box around the run, tears the box and their cushion apart (I've just had to take the cushion away because she's ripped chunks out of it and I don't want her eating the stuffing).

I love them both to death, and nothing will change that, but I'm wondering if anyone else has any experience with this?

Have you had them spayed? This might help calm xena down so thry can live in harmony It all sound hormonal to me.

Yeh it does sound hormonal to me, but it could also be an attention seeking thing! Does she do it more when you pay attention Binky?

Nope, they're both speyed! It's been several months since the op.

It doesn't happen so much when I'm awake, it's more of an attention-seeking thing. This morning I'm sure she did it because she wanted me up, and feeding them...and the fur-ripping seems to be quite random...

How about giving her some more toys? It sounds like she is bored and just wants to destroy things!! A digging pit perhaps?? Do they ever get to have a good run on grass?

Just give her lots to do and hopefully she will be too busy to misbehave!! Or she may just b naughty!!!

Nicola

I sympathise :wink: - Rob and Molly bite the baby gate on their room every morning from about 7.00 - they have no concepts of weekends :lol:

I think it might be learned behaviour - we have played right into their hands cause they make so much noise we get up and feed them :? I don't think it's necessarily boredom - Rob and Molly have a bedroom with lots of toys they generally ignore :wink:

Do the girls get out to run about the room a lot during the evening etc - if so, my other thought is that they then don't like being confined to a smaller space overnight. I don't even think the size of space is the issue - Rob and Molly are free range in a bedroom overnight, however, I think its just the confinement of the gate that they don't like. :?

They get loads of time to run around every day when I get home, hoooouuuurs of running aruond fun. They do, however, opt to spend half of it stretched out in their cage/run instead of running about.

I know I've "rewarded" the behaviour with giving food, I just need my sleep, but once all my deadlines are passed, I'll start back at square one.

They've got looooaaaads of toys in the run, but Xena just isn't interested in any of them. It's frustrating...

Well, thanks for your views, everyone!

Beatrix sometimes chases Maisie, I have got use to it now. I woundn't worry about the chasing unless they are actually hurting each other. Unfortunetly some bunnies are active at night. I can always hear the jingle jangle of bunny bells in the night.