Rabbit help

Trinity

I got my first rabbit in August and he is adorable. Problem is he hates being in his cage. I dont particularly mind him being out of the cage but he has recently started to bite through the wires. I am worried about him electrocuting himself and well to be quite frank, i cannot replace the tv, dishwasher etc. He has destroyed several smaller items

I feel sorry for him he looks so lethargic in his cage. At first I kept thinking he was 'collapsing' and after several trips to the vet and a fortune later i realised he was quite literally bored.

He loves cuddles, follows me around like a pup, licks you and comes when called. Hes more like a dog. He can open his cage and i have tried tying string but he can either open it or bites through it.


Is there any way i can train him not to bite wires? he is so sociable its a shame to leave him locked up. On finer days i take him out the back garden and he comes in when called but its too cold to leave him too long out there.

Any advice or suggestions appreciated and most welcome as he is my first rabbit so i have no experience with them.

jameshayes

I don’t know about rabbits but if it was my dog biting wires I would try rubbing 'non tasty' things into the wires, it might sound crazy but it works - find out what flavours he doesn't like - Pepper, Tabasco etc and rub them into the wires. With a dog it will only take a week or so to fully deter him...

Bainne2

Going to try deal with different parts of your post separatly so bare with me;)

Collapsing - Is it collapsing straight onto the bunny's side and looking like he is dead, possibly with the eyes still open in a dazed like state ? That is actually one of the things bunny's do to show that they are relaxed, compleltly happy and not scared at all of their surroundings. Other things includes flips in the air, frogs legs, and just generally lazing about in a 'I don't care posture'. A way to tell if your bunny is lethargic or dehydrated is to pinch the skin on the back. It should go down/back in place reletivly quickly (compare it to yourself it you are unsure). Try this link to understand his body language a bit more : http://www.muridae.com/rabbits/rabbittalk_intro.html

Bored - What about getting the bunny a friend? Opposite sex pairs work best and you would have to get him neutered but that is a safer operation then it used to be with today's advancements in medicine.
- There is a wide selection of bunny toys available in petstores nowadays, or other good ones are cats toys that roll around(though not the ones that help to imitate stalking). Other toys that can be used are handmade ones, such as paper bags, a scrunched up ball of newspaper, teddy, a treat ball that you can put the treats into and the rabbit has to roll it around to get the treats out - my bunny loves hers.

Chewing Wires- Unfortunatly there is no cure for this, the best thing is pervention. Move as many wires as you can out of harms way, up high behind scirting boards, radiators etc. You can try putting horrible tasting stuff on them but occasionally the bunny just gets used to it. If you want to give it a go then try, chilli's, lemon juice, bitter apple spray, or a spice. But nothing posionous. There is chubing you can get to cover your wires online, if you google it I am sure you will find something.

Yes you could train him not to bite wires but it isn't worth it because he may not remember that one time you aren't looking and he bites something dangerous. I have had bun's bite wires before but luckily nothing was ever on however one shock could kill them instantly.:(:eek:

Good Luck:D

Sigma Force

The rabbit is bored. getting him amother rabbit friend is a good idea but you must solve his issues before that. find out from vet if he is indeed a he some vets cant tell until the rabbit is under anesthetic .speaking from experience. have him neutered or spayed. my website has info on rabbit before and aftercare in regard to these ops. also invest in a different cage or a dog crate is a much cheaper option comes in lots of sizes. he sounds very stressed so its important to deal with this asap. let him rip plain brown paper bags stuffed with hay. any pal you get ensure the new bun is neutered/spayed too.

Trinity

Thanks for replies. He is definately bored. He does that jumping in the air thing. He onl behaves lethargic when in his cage he is full of beans when i take him out. I didnt think he was stressed though. Poor thing.

A couple more questions if i may?

I was going to buy another rabbit and while in the pet shop i met a man who breeds them and he said it was ok to put 2 males together. I had bought a book on rabbits and it said they would fight so i didnt buy one just in case.

I would prefer not to put him through an operation if he was not going to come into contact with females anyway so can i just go out and buy a male? (his sex was confirmed by a vet)

Also, i bought the biggest cage in the shop which was 5ft long. Surely this is not big enough for 2 rabbits. I dont want them out doors so what is the best housing for 2 rabbits together. The dog crates are taller than they are wide??? A hutch is not suitable for my house as there is no room. Any suggestions?

Bainne2

It is best not to buy from petstores as they regularly ge the sex wrong. Try a good rescue group, the DSPCA always have rabbits looking for new homes.

Two males can live together, yes, but there is a high chance that they could fight. If you were to get a male the younger the better as your guy would be more likely to accept him. If you are adament that you don't want your bun neutered than obviously you can't get a female. The problem with a boy, is that you would have to get an extremly laidback adult male who would be happy with your guy being dominant or else a young bunny. But when the young bun starts to mature sexually they may start fighting even if they hadn't done so up till now.Whatever you do don't get a guinea-pig no matter what the petstore says as they cannot communicate with each other and in general are barely tolerating each other's presence, often rabbit have killed guineapigs.

How much out of cage time do you give him? A 5ft cage would be ok for two buns (many are kept in smaller) provided that they are given alot of time out of the cage to play and exercise.:D

Trinity

Thanks again Bainne2

As i said he can let himself out of the cage, so whenever he feels like it

He makes me laugh, i didnt know rabbits had such strong personalities, and thanks for the link, its very interesting. I bought him a log cabin for his cage, he takes in apart.

If there are other benefits to getting him neutered i will do it, i mean benefits to him. Otherwise i will just never get a lady rabbit!! Perhaps there are health benefits? Either way the thought of putting him through an operation is awful.


I would prefer a bigger cage with a 2nd rabbit and i will buy a baby once i know my rabbit wont kill him, my rabbit is 6 months old so still a baby himself i think. I will scout the internet, ideally i would like an 8ft cage or something and i am looking into buying a proper run for the back garden. He has the run of it but if i got another rabbit he might not be as quick to come inside when called

Bainne2

IMO you probally will never find an 8ft cage, not enough people are that kind to their bunnies for the need to produce them:D What about using cable ties to close the cage at night. It is about €2 for a pack of 100 of them and they are harder to chew through than string, or wire. I found that brilliant, you just make sure the end isn't sharp and then bend it around at night.

There are other health benefits to neutering I just didn't mention them above. If you google them you will come up with some but it prevents testicle cancer, calms an aggresive male and in reduces/eliminates any territorial behavior (as your bun is so yongyou may not have necountered any yet but these are things such as spraying, marking and being a bit grumpy. Google it on the internet for more info. if you want If after all this you still decide not to neuter and to get a boy then to do asap so that they can be introduced before either matures which is when they start not to get along with other bun's. Also you have to make sure 100% that if you get him from a petstore (which I don't advise) that he is defintly a he

If he likes to puzzle solve than one of the balls that you have to roll around to get food out of would be brilliant.: http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/rodents/toys_transport/rabbit_toys/14544 there are lots of other toys on that website too. The only thing I wouldn't advise there is the tunnel unless you can tie it up above because it doesn't stand up by itself which you are lead to believe it does in the photo. By rabbit loves to throw cat toys around, or at least used too until she started to prefer just lounging about.:)

Trinity

thanks a million for taking the time to reply!

Sigma Force

Didnt think my reply would work did it from my phone lol.

There are def. lots of health benifits from neutering wether you get another bun or not. Rabbits are ruled by the hormones, both male and female. The same health benifits as there are for dogs and cats, eg less risk of reproductive cancers.

Def. don't get any other rabbit until he is neutered and the stitches are out. The get a male or female females seem to work better but a male can it all depends on the rabbits and if they in general take a shine to each other. The other rabbit either way would also have to be spayed/neutered in the long run trust me it's worth it they are so much less frustrated and can become even more docile and all over a happier bunny.

Trinity

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

Didnt think my reply would work did it from my phone lol.

There are def. lots of health benifits from neutering wether you get another bun or not. Rabbits are ruled by the hormones, both male and female. The same health benifits as there are for dogs and cats, eg less risk of reproductive cancers.

Def. don't get any other rabbit until he is neutered and the stitches are out. The get a male or female females seem to work better but a male can it all depends on the rabbits and if they in general take a shine to each other. The other rabbit either way would also have to be spayed/neutered in the long run trust me it's worth it they are so much less frustrated and can become even more docile and all over a happier bunny.

thanks gpr, i will have a chat with my vet. Dread it to be honest, absolutely dread it.

Bainne2

You could try a more exotic savy vet if you are worried, one who is used to dealing with buns, where abouts in the country are you?

Trinity

North dublin city. Think my vet is ok. Been dealing with his practice over 15 years. Never get to see him anymore though always other vets in there

Sigma Force

Have you talked to the vet I have tips on my site for after care of neutered rabbits. One tip, never have them fasting if a vet says to fast a rabbit then avoid that vet like the plague. Rabbits cannot throw up and need to keep their guts moving. Keeping him quiet and warm after is important and you have to make sure the vet gives him a long acting painkiller and if he's still uncomfortable the next day you should be able to go back for a top up, a rabbit in pain isn't as likely to eat and it's important to have him eating and drinking as soon as possible. If he's a male and being neutered it's a much quicker operation so less risky than spaying a female. However the long term health benifits for both are worth it.

Trinity

I rang vets straight away the other morning. I was told they had leaflets, it was 90 euro and risky.

That was more or less it. Dont think i will be getting him done to be honest if its risky. I will just spend more time with him. Spend couple of hours each evening outside the cage he loves it, sitting on the floor with him and he sits beside you and on your lap and if you run he chases you