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

I have been thinking of rehoming one of my bunnies, Myrtle. Her behaviour has been driving me insane and I am feeling quite stressed out with it. I have had many bunnies in my time but her destructive behaviour beats them all, especially for an indoor bunny. She has been Health checked a few times and she is healthy. She's spayed as you know. I am now loosing sleep as she wakes me early every morning with her banging and thrashing. Their pen is full of toys (far to many in fact), just to keep her occupied. But it's never enough. She is hell bent on destroying everything and it's causing me a lot of stress trying to prevent that from happening (things getting destroyed). I can just never relax, and with a full time job i am exhausted as I am always fighting her with something when I should be relaxing. When I am out of the flat her behaviour escalates. I know there is Spring Fever around but it's no help to me knowing that.

I have a new pen that I am sorting out for them, which I hope can be delivered early July. But if that doesn't help ease the stress then I will need to rehome her.

The plan with them was to have them both partly free range, however due to her extreme behaviour i just cannot trust her. She has caused enough damage to my flat just being in her pen. Its very frustrating. I just feel that she is probably more suited as an outdoor bunny. But i am just reaching the end of my limit and i suffer with anxiety enough as it is. I have a new bespoke pen arriving early July and i am planning on doing more bunny proofing in the flat...though if that doesn't work then i will absolutely need to rehome her, as i can't cope... :(
 
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At the moment she is in a 4ft x 5ft pen (large square). Again the plan was to have them free roaming with that as a base. I can't use an attached run due to space. But i cannot allow her to free roam while she is so destructive...hence why i have thought about rehoming her. She has only just been bonded with Finn (my original rabbit) and are now living together 24.7, he had a rough start in life ending up in me spending thousands to put him right, and his sister passed away in Jan hence how i ended up with Myrtle. She is just over a year old now.

I have been told that it could be that her hormones still need to settle. She was spayed on the 16th Feb of this year. I am in the process of bunny proofing my flat but the skirting boards and carpet still remain a problem.

Again, I have kept rabbits all my life (over 20 years), and she is by far another level to what i have experienced before.
 
Her pen sounds too small to be shut in. Min recommended size is 10 x 6 feet ...
 
I'm sorry you're having problems, I know how frustrating it can be.

it sounds like (imho) her destructive behaviour is because of not enough room. don't get me wrong, my bunnies destroyed a few things. however, destruction to their hutch and home base is 10x worse when shut in. sure, they munched a few blankets and put a hole in my duvet, but that's nothing.

if this is new behaviour (since spring) it may be spring time hormones.. Luna goes crazy in the spring.

have a "home base" of a double hutch with a pen, the hutch being 4ft x 2ft, and the pen being 4ft x 2ft. even this I find not enough room for them, they have free roam to my room 12 hours once they are fully bonded, as they are still having a few arguments at the moment.

bunnies just are destructive...if you can not handle, or deal with, a bunny perhaps munching some wallpaper, a couch, some holes, then you shouldn't have them inside. I'm sorry how harsh that sounds.

also, at this point you wouldn't just be able to rehome Myrtle by herself. she would have to go with Finn. even if they have been bonded for a few days, they would likely both suffer consequences if separated.

if all else fails, pet remedy may be of use.
 
But I thought she was shut in?

The plan is for her to be free range, but with her destructive behaviour at present i cannot trust her to free range. She gets out time, but i have to work the time up. I need to be able to trust her, as well as the fact that she could her herself. Bunny proofing can take time.
 
The plan is for her to be free range, but with her destructive behaviour at present i cannot trust her to free range. She gets out time, but i have to work the time up. I need to be able to trust her, as well as the fact that she could her herself. Bunny proofing can take time.

Yes, I appreciate that is your plan but in the meantime she is shut in an area which is too small and which will contribute to her behaviour.
 
Have you taken a look at the housing section - there are some really good ideas for indoor housing.
 
The plan is for her to be free range, but with her destructive behaviour at present i cannot trust her to free range. She gets out time, but i have to work the time up. I need to be able to trust her, as well as the fact that she could her herself. Bunny proofing can take time.

it is true, giving a rabbit too much space too quickly will cause problems, esp with newly bonded pairs. however, her current space is far too small hence why she is so destructive. I wouldn't paint her as the destructive type when she is shut in. I was told my Luna was a horrible bunny, destructive, nasty, of course she was - she was shut in an 80cm cage all day. I think once you were to allow her free range.. it would make such a difference.

how much out time does she get per day? are we talking an hour or 8?
 
To me that's not enough space :( sorry I know its tough inside but they really do need the minimum requirements of space atleast :(

Some rabbits seem to cope okay with less space, but my female bunny often gets upset when she can't free roam even if it's only for 10 minutes [emoji38]

I also agree with what Codie said about you couldn't just rehome your female bun now that she's bonded with you male... Would be heartbreaking for them both to be separated :( and could cause ill health

She may calm down as she gets older tho, I hope things improve for you and you don't have to rehome them both :( x

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I'm sorry you're having problems, I know how frustrating it can be.

it sounds like (imho) her destructive behaviour is because of not enough room. don't get me wrong, my bunnies destroyed a few things. however, destruction to their hutch and home base is 10x worse when shut in. sure, they munched a few blankets and put a hole in my duvet, but that's nothing.

if this is new behaviour (since spring) it may be spring time hormones.. Luna goes crazy in the spring.

have a "home base" of a double hutch with a pen, the hutch being 4ft x 2ft, and the pen being 4ft x 2ft. even this I find not enough room for them, they have free roam to my room 12 hours once they are fully bonded, as they are still having a few arguments at the moment.

bunnies just are destructive...if you can not handle, or deal with, a bunny perhaps munching some wallpaper, a couch, some holes, then you shouldn't have them inside. I'm sorry how harsh that sounds.

also, at this point you wouldn't just be able to rehome Myrtle by herself. she would have to go with Finn. even if they have been bonded for a few days, they would likely both suffer consequences if separated.

if all else fails, pet remedy may be of use.

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.
 
To me that's not enough space :( sorry I know its tough inside but they really do need the minimum requirements of space atleast :(

Some rabbits seem to cope okay with less space, but my female bunny often gets upset when she can't free roam even if it's only for 10 minutes [emoji38]

I also agree with what Codie said about you couldn't just rehome your female bun now that she's bonded with you male... Would be heartbreaking for them both to be separated :( and could cause ill health

She may calm down as she gets older tho, I hope things improve for you and you don't have to rehome them both :( x

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I can't cover any more floor space...I can only go upwards...I am not sure if that is any good?

Their new pen which is a little bigger and i was planning on putting a Wendy house inside it that goes up a few stories. That should arrive early July.

I couldn't rehome Finn -- his been through far to much and needs specialist care with his vet who knows him. Rehoming him would cause him big problems....as well as me...hence why i hope it wont come to that!
 
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!
 
I can't cover any more floor space...I can only go upwards...I am not sure if that is any good?

Their new pen which is a little bigger and i was planning on putting a Wendy house inside it that goes up a few stories. That should arrive early July.

I couldn't rehome Finn -- his been through far to much and needs specialist care with his vet who knows him. Rehoming him would cause him big problems....as well as me...hence why i hope it wont come to that!

I really empathise :( hopefully the new pen and time will improve things, but I really don't think you can rehome just her now they are together.

Really hope things improve xx

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I really empathise :( hopefully the new pen and time will improve things, but I really don't think you can rehome just her now they are together.

Really hope things improve xx

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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.
 
The problem is that rabbits need to be able to exercise - run around - whenever they want and I don't think that a playhouse is going to allow them to do that.
 
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