In This Chapter
- Understanding your bunny’s misbehavior
- Saying “No!” to biting, chewing, and fighting
- Changing your little devil into an angel
Though the word “No!” may have
its place in training, in order to handle a bad bunny, you must first
understand what’s driving the bunny to do what she’s doing and redirect her in
a different direction. (For more on thinking like a rabbit, see Chapter Thinking
Like a Rabbit.)
If you realize that your rabbit
doesn’t think or see the world the same way you do, being patient with him is
easier. Then you can work on changing his behavior. For example, he doesn’t
recognize that certain objects have value or that urine smells bad to people.
When your rabbit acts in a manner that you find offensive or unpleasant, he’s
only acting upon his rabbit instincts and learned behavior from living in a
household. Many behaviors that owners classify as problem behaviors — chewing
and digging, for example — are really quite normal and can be linked back to
their wild ancestors’ lifestyles.
Take the time to understand why
your rabbit is misbehaving, have patience, and apply the knowledge you gain
from this chapter. You may be surprised at how successfully you can turn your
mischievous bunny into a real sweetheart.
Just Say “No!”
By saying “No!” to your rabbit,
you can train many rabbits to quit undesirable behaviors. Training your rabbit
to respond to this verbal command is an invaluable part of managing negative
behavior, especially if your rabbit is about to do something that may harm him.
If your bunny is chewing on an electrical cord, stealing some of the cat’s
food, or getting into some other kind of trouble, you can say “No!” to get your
pet to stop it immediately.
To train your rabbit to respond
when you say “No!”:
1. Catch your rabbit in the act.
2. When you see your rabbit doing something he shouldn’t, clap your hands loudly and say “No!”
The sound should startle him enough to stop the behavior.
3. If your rabbit doesn’t stop when you clap and say “No!”, use a squirt gun or spray bottle to squirt water at him immediately afterward.
Aim for his body, not his head or face.
4. Repeat these steps as necessary.
Rabbits don’t like being squirted
with water, and after going through the preceding steps a few times, he’ll
start to catch on that “No!” is followed by a shower. Soon enough, you’ll only
have to say “No!” to get your rabbit to stop whatever he’s doing. You can then
retire the spray bottle or squirt gun.
Taming Terrible Teenagers
Just about every species of
mammal has its adolescent years, and rabbits are no exception. Like human
teenagers, rabbit “teens,” which are typically around 5 to 12 months, are
coping with raging hormones, newfound independence, and moving from youth into
adulthood. And just like human teenagers, rabbit adolescents feel the need to
test their boundaries to see what they can do. They’re trying to establish
their social order within the group, and because humans are part of the
“group,” they’re included in the aggressive, “testing” behavior. This behavior
is normal and healthy.
Tip
Teenage bunnies tend to be mischievous, sassy, and even a bit hard to handle. Spaying or neutering before the behaviors become deeply entrenched can provide some measure of relief for the situation, as can a bucket load of patience. (Chapter Nipping Common Health Problems in the Bud talks more about the benefits of spaying and neutering.) Just keep reminding yourself that like your child, your rabbit will indeed grow out of this phase. Some people even manage to find some humor along the way. You should also
- Set the stage for success: Take extra care with rabbit-proofing at this stage. The measures you took to protect your home and your older bunny from harm may not be enough for a rambunctious teen rabbit. Think, too, about changing or limiting where and when a teenager has his freedom (similar to allowing a human teen to drive to her grandmother’s during the day but not to a party with her friends at night). For a rabbit, you may allow a lot of time in a cozy hallway and bathroom, but not so much time in the office, where the cords and books live!
- Outsmart and reroute: With any rabbit, but teenagers in particular, you’re not likely to be able to stop a behavior like chewing or digging. Instead, figure out ways your rabbit can take care of these natural urges without wreaking havoc on the household. Giving him ten acceptable things to chew may be the trick to keeping him from chewing the two things that actually matter to you (your oak baseboards and antique wicker chair).
Warning!
At all times, it’s important to handle misbehaving bunnies properly during this period. Rough handling can cause irreparable damage to the bond you have with your pet.
Coping with Aggressiveness
Not all rabbits are bossy, but
more dominant bunnies behave this way toward human and rabbit companions. If
your rabbit is an adolescent or hasn’t been spayed or neutered, your pet may
behave aggressively. Rabbits can demonstrate aggression in various ways — for
example, lunging and biting, which are discussed later in this chapter.
Not all rabbits are inclined to
get aggressive, some more dominant bunnies can start behaving this way toward
human companions. An adolescent bunny or a bunny that hasn’t been neutered or
spayed can exhibit aggressive behavior. Most bossy bunnies are either
- Adolescents finding their way in the hierarchy of the household (and trying out the dominance theme). Read more on sassy rabbits in the section “Taming Terrible Teenagers,” earlier in this chapter.
- Established as dominant. The top-dog status can happen when they’ve gone unchallenged during the establishment of dominance. In other words, people stopped handling the rabbit during his adolescent testing period, so the rabbit learns that he’s at the top on the social heap.
You can gently show a bossy bunny
that this behavior is unacceptable. (Not sure whether your bunny is being sweet
or ornery? Check out Chapter Thinking
Like a Rabbit for rabbit body language information.)
Biting the Hand That Feeds You — Literally
When a rabbit bites you, it
hurts. Those incisors are designed to shear off pieces of tough plant material,
and when they’re directed at human skin, it’s pretty darn painful, not to
mention just plain upsetting.
Tip
Rabbit bites rarely break the skin, so you probably won’t have to do much to your wound other than lament over it. If your rabbit does make you bleed, wash the area with plenty of water and soap and then check with your doctor to see whether further medical attention is needed.
Rabbits often bite when they’re
- Defending their food
- Asserting dominance
- Protecting themselves
If your rabbit is a biter, you
first need to figure out which of these situations you’re dealing with. Then
you can figure out how to solve the problem.
Food aggression
In the wild, rabbits must compete
with one another for food. Because bunnies live in large social groups, someone
is always trying to snag the best patch of grass. The rabbit who is good at
defending his food source is the one most likely to survive, especially in the
wintertime when food is scarce.
If your rabbit gets nippy when
you feed it, you have a rabbit with food aggression. Understanding this
behavior is difficult for people because you’re the one giving the rabbit the
food in the first place. So why is he attacking you like you’re going to take
it away from him?
Actually, bunnies are pretty logical.
From the bunny’s perspective, food is present and so are you, and you may take
it away if he doesn’t defend it by biting your hand. Also, the fact that your
hand places the food down and then moves away mimics the actions of another
rabbit, who may come in closer to investigate a food source and then retreat.
Solving this problem can be
tricky because in most cases, it’s a product of your rabbit’s inherent
personality. However, you can try the following actions to thwart this
inappropriate rabbit behavior:
- Instead of placing your rabbit’s food in the same place every time you feed him, place it somewhere else. Relocating his bowl to different parts of his hutch, cage, or your home discourages your rabbit from viewing his food bowl as being within a specific part of his territory that needs defending.
- Help your rabbit make the connection between the presence of your hand and the giving of a food item. Feed him outside of his cage or hutch, holding onto a food object while your rabbit eats it. Use a carrot, piece of hay, or something long at first so that your hand isn’t in close proximity to the bunny’s teeth should he decide to nip you. After your rabbit is comfortable routinely eating from your hand, move the procedure to the inside of his cage or hutch and continue it.
- Place food items all around your rabbit’s cage or hutch so that he associates food with being all around — not just in the food bowl. If you disperse food in this way, then your rabbit can’t be quite so territorial about food that’s spread out.
Dominance
Rabbits are programmed to
establish a hierarchy in social groups, and your domestic bunny is no
exception. Just as with people, some rabbits are more aggressive and pushy than
others.
If you have a rabbit who nips for
no apparent reason, such as when you’re watching TV, making dinner (ankles are
the usual target), or simply moving around in his vicinity, you probably have a
dominant biter.
Remember
The object of the dominant biter is to get you to move over, get out of the way, stop whatever you’re doing, or get some food. Recognizing this motivation and refraining from rewarding the biter by giving him what he wants is important, because rewarding him just reinforces his biting behavior.
Try these approaches to help curb
a dominant rabbit’s nips:
- When the rabbit bites you, let out a screech. Then reach down and gently push your rabbit’s head to the floor and hold it there for a couple of seconds. This action is rabbit speak for “I’m the dominant one here, not you.” Hopefully, your rabbit will get the message over time and stop trying to push you around.
- If your rabbit nips you for food, don’t give him any. Try screeching to discourage him and offer him food later on when he’s being nice.
- If your rabbit keeps biting you and acting obnoxious, put him gently into his cage for a time out. He may soon discover that challenging you means his freedom is restricted, and he will cease and desist.
Self-defense
Rabbits prefer to use running
away as a means of self-protection, but in situations where they can’t run,
they resort to biting, lunging, snorting, or attacking (lashing out) with their
front feet. If your rabbit bites you when you approach him or put your hand in
his cage, he’s most likely nipping you out of fear.
Tip
Consider taking the following actions to alleviate this problem:
- Avoid approaching your rabbit from below eye level. Placing your hand in front of your rabbit’s face to make contact or reaching under his face to scratch his chin may be the problem.
- Reach down into his cage through a top door. If your rabbit bites you when you reach into his cage to remove him, he’s reacting defensively to your approach. This reaction usually occurs if you reach in through a side door in the cage. Instead, reach down into the cage through an opening in the top door. Your rabbit is less likely to back into a corner and force you to appr ach from the front if you reach down to get him.- Back off from mother-to-be or nursing mother. If you have a pregnant doe or one that’s nursing a litter or experiencing a false pregnancy (a condition where the rabbit’s hormones make her feel like she’s pregnant, when in reality she’s not), you can expect some maternal aggression on her part. Your rabbit is attempting to keep you away from her nest (before giving birth) or away from her young (after birth). Either way, try to cut her a little slack. This behavior is normal and shows that your rabbit is a good mother.
Busting Loose: Kicking
Finding a rabbit owner who has
never been kicked is hard — it sort of goes with the territory. Rabbits most
often kick their owners while being held, and they do it because they’re trying
to escape. (Remember to always provide support to your pet’s hindquarters and
hold him against your body to provide the greatest amount of security.)
Tip
When your rabbit kicks you while you’re carrying him, your pet isn’t deliberately trying to hurt you. Kicking is a rabbit’s way of flailing and trying to get his feet underneath him. If your rabbit is repeatedly kicking you when you’re carrying him, you’re not handling your pet correctly. See Chapter Cleaning Behind Those Great Big Ears and More and work on your bunny-carrying skills.
Taming Bandit
Another example of how to deal
with an aggressive rabbit comes from Marinell Harriman, an experienced house
rabbit caregiver. In her book House Rabbit Handbook: How to Live with an
Urban Rabbit (Drollery Press, 2005), she tells the story of a bunny named
Bandit who was so dominant and aggressive that he attacked her whenever
someone entered the room. Instead of punishing him, Harriman’s approach was
to give Bandit a rub down, brushing (which he loved), or scratching behind
his ears. Eventually, Bandit’s aggressive greetings became loving ones, and
he would meet people with excitement and bunny kisses.
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Remember
If your rabbit doesn’t kick you but seems to be scratching the heck out of your child, then you need to work with your child to help foster his rabbit-carrying skills. Remember that young children aren’t strong enough to handle most rabbits, so only allow your young children to interact with bunnies while all the rabbit’s feet are squarely on the floor.
Boxing Bunnies
Some aggressive rabbits may
express their feelings by hitting and otherwise threatening, lunging, and
growling at their rabbit and human companions alike. Doesn’t sound like fun,
right? Give your boxing bun an outlet for his aggression by providing him with
toys that help let out steam. Think “punching bag for bunnies” and peruse the
pet store for toys that you can hang, avoiding any plastic toys that he can chew
apart and potentially ingest.
The following diversions may also
help redirect your rabbit’s propensity to hit:
- Throwing: Rabbits love throwing balls around; look for wire balls with bells in the center for extra excitement.
- Nudging: Some rabbits get a real kick out of playing with rubber playground balls, which are great for nudging and rolling around the house.
- Batting: A simple solution may be to hang a bell from a piece of cotton string (not a loop, which may catch a rabbit’s head); some rabbits get a thrill out of hitting it with their noses.
Though it may take some trial and
error, a bit of thought and patience may be all it takes to soothe your bunny’s
inner beast.
I’ve got the TTOUCH
You won’t find many training
schools for rabbits out there, but if your rabbit has training and behavioral
issues, you may find a method called Tellington-TTOUCH Training helpful.
First developed for horses, this method is being used more frequently for
rabbits. It has also been adapted for other companion animals.
TTOUCH employs a gentle,
nonforceful way of helping your rabbit deal with whatever is troubling him.
Using circular movements of the fingers and hands over the rabbit’s body, as well
as other related methods, TTOUCH practitioners help rabbits discover new ways
to deal with problems. Issues, such as excessive fear and aggression, are
addressed through this method.
To find out more about this
type of training or to find a TTOUCH rabbit practitioner in your area who can
help you, visit the TTOUCH Web site at www.lindatellington-jones.com/ttouch.htm.
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Chowing Down
Look at those choppers — rabbits
are built for chewing. In the wild, rabbits chew branches, twigs, and leaves to
help grind their teeth down. Without such items in your home, your rabbit will
look for alternatives, mostly furniture, molding, books, carpeting, and cords,
— you get the idea. Is this a bad bunny? Or just a bunny doing what he’s
supposed to do?
Wild rabbits chew on plant
material that ranges from abrasive to soft. They don’t chew on dead wood
because it has little nutritional value. They do strip bark off young trees,
however, but only because it has nutritional value in the living tissue. Both
outdoor and indoor pets need to have exercise and healthy materials for their
teeth. In domestic situations, however, the strong urge to chew can create huge
problems for both the rabbit and his owner.
Tip
If you have an indoor rabbit who is making short work of your wooden furniture legs or electrical wires, you have a problem. Fortunately, you can easily solve this common problem. To begin, Chapter Shacking Up with an Indoor Rabbit has information about rabbit-proofing, protecting your property, and supervising your pet.
Although you can’t (and
shouldn’t!) stop your rabbit from chewing, you can redirect her chewing urges.
Consider the following:
- Whenever you see your bunny start to nibble on a forbidden item, quickly give her something else to chew, preferably something similar in taste and texture. Replacing the forbidden item with an acceptable chew toy is key.
- Provide your rabbit with a variety of different objects to chew: toilet paper rolls, cardboard boxes, phone books, wicker baskets, blocks of nontreated wood, and so on.
- Say “no” or clap your hands when you see your bunny chewing on something she shouldn’t.
Digging In
Pet rabbits love to dig, which
goes back to their days as wild bunnies when they had to excavate their own
homes. By digging their little hearts out, wild bunnies create their very own
dens located safely underground.
Tip
Although your rabbit doesn’t need to dig tunnels and warrens in which to retreat underground, her body doesn’t know that. Unfortunately, when domestic bunnies get that urge to dig, it causes problems. Their owners get angry because the digging ruins the carpet, destroys the garden, and shreds the sofa. If your bunny is a merciless digger, causing damage and destroying your house and yard, you can take steps to rabbit-proof her surroundings, which is an essential part of the solution (see Chapter Shacking Up with an Indoor Rabbit).
Rabbit-proofing will help but not
prevent digging, however. Your next tactic is not to stop the digging but to
provide your rabbit with acceptable digging alternatives:
- If a rabbit is determined to dig in a particular area, no matter what you do, cover a piece of board with carpet and put it in that favorite spot to protect the real carpet.
- Provide mats made from natural fibers, such as grass mats, which may satisfy the urge to dig and take your bunny’s focus off the carpet.
- Sacrifice or buy a pillow or cushion for your digger.
- Fill wicker baskets or cardboard boxes with newspaper or shredded paper; cut holes in the boxes to create tunnels and make things more interesting.
- Make tunnels out of old carpet rolls or cardboard concrete forms; try stuffing newspapers in one end to give your bunny a mission: dig through that paper!
- Try a cat scratching post, ramp, or mat.
- If outside (in safe conditions, of course), let your rabbit dig in a protected designated section of garden or yard; a big pile of hay or a box of sand also work.
Duking It Out
Rabbits have a reputation for
being gentle and peace-loving creatures; so many new rabbit owners are shocked
to find out that bunnies can be real hooligans when it comes to interacting
with other rabbits.
Warning!
Don’t let your rabbits fight because it can result in serious injury. In situations where rabbits are closely confined and don’t get along, they can even fight to the death.
Tip
Fighting is usually a problem in households where more than one rabbit resides. In single-bunny households, fighting is sometimes a problem between rabbits and other pets, although in most cases, the other pet backs down quickly and that’s the end of it. If you have more than one rabbit and are encountering a number of bunny battle royales, you need to take a close look at the situation to figure out what’s going on:
- Sex: If your rabbits aren’t spayed or neutered and they’re fighting, then the fact that they’re not spayed or neutered may be the problem. Intact males, in particular, like to fight and may even try to castrate each other. Either have your rabbits altered or separate them. Two males that haven’t been neutered will fight with each other. In many cases, females that haven’t been spayed will also fight with each other.
- Dominance: Two dominant rabbits who refuse to back down to one another won’t be able to live together peaceably. Keep these kinds of bunnies in separate cages and limit their exercise time together. Avoid feeding them while they’re together because the presence of food can often trigger a fight.
- Personality conflicts: Rabbits who normally get along well sometimes get into fights with each other. Pay close attention to the circumstances that lead up to a fight and try to eliminate the situation in the future. A favorite toy, a certain treat, or attention from a special person can start a fight between bunny friends. If necessary:
- Separate the rabbits when offering special things so that they won’t fight over them.
- Make sure that you have sufficient hide areas and litter boxes available when the rabbits are together. Have at least as many hide areas and litter boxes as you have rabbits. If space permits, one more space than the number of rabbits is preferred.
- Establish extra feeding areas on opposite sides to avoid “discussion” at feeding time.
- If all else fails, house the two opponents separately and give them individual free time. Although this approach will add to your workload, it may be best for the bunnies’ well-being.
Protecting their space and place
This penchant to brawl goes
back to the rabbit’s strong sense of territory and social hierarchy. In wild
rabbit colonies, each bunny has to get along with the crowd yet also maintain
his own space, territory, and place in the group. Because rabbits aren’t big
on conversation, they claim their space and place through body language.
Fighting is body language taken to the extreme. (For more on rabbit body
language, see Chapter Thinking
Like a Rabbit.)
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Pee Marks the Spot
Dogs and cats aren’t the only
critters who can urinate around the house and make a huge mess. Rabbits can be
guilty of this atrocity, too. Just like dogs and cats, rabbits use their urine
to mark their territory. When a rabbit urinates on something, such as your
carpet or possibly even you, he’s making a statement. In the case of an
inanimate object, the statement is “This is part of my territory.” If your
rabbit is spraying you, he’s claiming you as his mate!
Remember
You can take one significant step to eliminate the problem of inappropriate urinating: Spay or neuter your pet. The rabbits who are most guilty of this behavior are intact males, who are committing this act as a result of raging hormones. Females who haven’t been spayed are also prone to the behavior of urine-marking for the same reason.
If you don’t want to neuter or
spay your rabbit because you plan to breed him, then you have to live with the
urine-marking problem or keep your bunny from running loose in the house.
Chapter Shacking
Up with an Indoor Rabbit has information on how to clean up messes.
Tip
Other factors that contribute to inappropriate urination include
- Not enough litter boxes: You may not have enough litter boxes for the number of rabbits you have, or you may not have enough litter boxes for the space the rabbit is exercising in. If your rabbit has the run of the house, one box is not enough.
- Medical problems: If your rabbit was housetrained and is suddenly urinating outside his litter box (especially if he’s going in multiple places with small amounts of urine), call the vet.
- Behavioral factors: For example, rabbits object to changes in the household and their caregiver’s schedule, as well as the introduction of new animals or people. Rabbits urinate inappropriately in response to situations that are stressful to them for whatever reason. You need to address these problems.
Realize that rabbits, particularly
intact males, urinate (spray) on vertical surfaces. Females can spray but
usually do so to a lesser degree. Even if neutered, male rabbits tend to direct
the urine outward instead of downward, urinating along a border, wall, or
corner. In order to prevent inadvertent accidents in the litter box, make sure
that the litter box is deep enough to have a side to confine the urine and put
newspaper or plastic carpet protector under litter boxes that are outside the
cage to catch any urine that goes over the edge for easy cleanup.
Barbering
Technical Stuff
Do you have a rabbit who is pulling big chunks of fur from his coat? Barbering refers to hair pulling or hair chewing (not pulled out but chewed off). Rabbits can do barber themselves or each other. If you see barbering, it’s not because your rabbit is pulling his hair out in frustration or trying to make a rabbit fur jacket for your next birthday.
Tip
Actually, one of several things is going on:
- Your female is pregnant, preparing to give birth, or suffering from a false pregnancy. Pulling fur from her body to line the nest she’s preparing for her kits is normal, so if she’s pregnant or thinks she is, it’s not something you need to worry about.
- When two or more rabbits are pulling each other’s fur, it’s usually a sign of boredom or dominance behavior. The behavior may not stop until they’re separated or given a larger space and more things to do
- Someone is sick. If your female is spayed or you have a male rabbit who is pulling fur, take your rabbit to the vet. Parasites, such as fleas and mites, as well as irritating skin disorders, or internal pain can motivate a rabbit to pull out its fur. (Chapters Nipping Common Health Problems in the Bud and Coping with Other Health Woes and Aging Issues offer more health information.)
- Barbering can also be the result of a poor diet that is low in fiber.
Shaking in His Bunny Boots: Fearfulness
Being the owner of a nervous,
fearful rabbit is frustrating. Although rabbits tend to be flighty in general
because of their nature as prey animals, some rabbits never seem able to relax.
No matter how comfortable you make their surroundings, they seem to hop around
in constant fear.
Like people, rabbits are
individuals, and some individuals are more nervous than others. Factors can
include
- Breed: For more information on which breeds tend to be nervous, read Chapter So Many Breeds, So Lit tle Time. Smaller rabbits tend to be more high-strung than larger breeds.
- Genetics: Some rabbits come from genetic lines that are more fearful than others within their own breed.
- Socialization: Poor socialization as a youngster can make for a distracted adult.
- Stress: A stressful environment can put a rabbit on edge.
If you have a rabbit with a
nervous personality, think about which of these preceding factors may come into
play. If it’s breed or genetics, you can’t do much about it except create a
calm, relaxing atmosphere for your pet. If your pet’s environment is to blame
for your rabbit’s nervousness, the situation needs some reworking.
Tip
The following checklist can determine whether you can make improvements to your rabbit’s environment:
- Good climate: Don’t expose your bunny to temperature extremes, especially heat.
- Privacy: Your rabbit must have a nest box where he can go when he feels the need to hide from the world.
- Proper diet: Give your pet access to unlimited amounts of grass hay and fresh green foods daily.
- Proper handling: Your pet needs to be handled in a way that helps him feel secure; lift him only when necessary.
- Protection from other pets: Don’t allow your dog or cat to bother or terrorize your rabbit.
- Quiet surroundings: Don’t expose your bunny to repeated loud noises and activity.
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