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Why do rabbits chew the cage bars?

Chewing is a normally a natural behaviour for rabbits, they chew to obtain food and to investigate and alter their environment. It’s not always desirable – most people would prefer their rabbit not chew a tunnel through their sofa – but it is normal.

However, not all chewing is a rabbit just being a rabbit. When chewing becomes repetitive and purposeless, such as when Charlie chews his cage bars all night, it is an abnormal or ‘stereotypical’ behaviour. When animals perform stereotypical behaviours like chewing the bars, pacing their cage, rattling their water bottle, or over grooming, it is a sign they are bored, stressed, or frustrated. It means that something about their living arrangement isn’t meeting their needs.

It’s important to understand that in this situation your rabbit isn’t chewing because he wants something to gnaw on, hence just providing some chew sticks won’t cure the problem. He’s also not being ‘naughty’ so saying “no”, spraying water, clapping your hands or any other method of expressing displeasure will not stop it, because training him not to show those feelings of frustration (which you're unlikely to manage anyway) won't make them go away. To stop it you need to address the underlying causes of that frustration.

Why do so many rabbits hate being picked up?

Being picked up is not a natural experience for a rabbit. Unlike many animal parents, such as cats and dogs, rabbit mothers don’t pick up their kits and carry them around. The only time a rabbit would experience this type of movement is if a predator attacks them!

For a rabbit to be comfortable with being picked up, it must learn through positive experiences that being lifted isn’t something that causes harm. This should start when they are just as few weeks old as part of socialisation. The person caring for the young litter should get them used to being touched and picked up so they grow up thinking that it is normal and nothing to be worried about.

Unfortunately many baby rabbits miss out on this socialisation before they go to their new home, or they may have bad experiences later on that make them fear being picked up. When a rabbit kicks out and tries to stop you picking him up, it’s because he is frightened.

Why is my rabbit aggressive?

Rabbits have a reputation for being cute and cuddly so facing a rabbit that bites, scratches, and kicks can be a bit of a shock. Rabbits can be aggressive towards people for several reasons, and there maybe more than one factor at work. To get to the root of the problem, first you need to rule out heath issues and hormones, which can make a happy rabbit into a grumpy aggressive one.

Step 1: Rule out Pain/Health Problems

Rabbits are good at hiding when they are unwell or in pain, because showing symptoms of illness would make them a target to predators in the wild. A sudden change in behaviour, such as unexpected aggression can be your rabbit's way of saying 'I'm feeling a bit off, please leave me alone'. Problems such as a sore mouth from overgrown teeth or a bladder infection can sometimes cause pain without showing any other symptoms. For this reason, the first step with an aggressive rabbit is to visit a vet for a health check to ensure that there is no underlying health reason for the aggression.

Step 2: Neuter to Rule out Hormones

The most common cause of aggression in rabbits is the hormones that drive them to compete for territory and protect their home from invaders. The arrival of sexual maturity, usually between 3-9 months, can trigger what seems like a complete personality change, turning a friendly baby rabbit into an aggressive teenager.



Marking: Spraying Urine & Scattering Droppings

Although rabbits have latrine areas for toileting, they also mark their territory by spreading droppings and urine around their home. These smelly messages warn other rabbits that the area belongs to them, and helps to make their territory smell like them so they feel more at home. Human noses lack the level of sensitive scent receptors needed to interpret exactly what these messages say, but, in simple terms, they mean, “this is mine”.

The onset of sexual maturity is the trigger for a rabbit to begin marking his or her territory. If you've had your rabbit from a young age, this often means your perfectly litter-trained baby rabbit will suddenly start leaving poop and urine all over the place. If you have a male rabbit, he may start spraying urine up walls or even at you. Males spray females during courtship, and sometimes rabbits will express their love for a human companion with a jet of urine – who needs flowers and chocolate!



Neutering

Neutering is essential to good litter habits. Once your rabbit is neutered they no longer have such a strong urge to mark their territory so droppings and urine are generally confined to the latrine area. The first step for anyone trying to litter train a rabbit should be neutering - most rabbits will only be 100% house trained after neutering.

Male rabbits can be neutered as soon as their testicles drop, which is usually between 12-18 weeks and females from around six months old. There is no upper limit as long as your rabbit is in good health. With an experienced rabbit vet, neutering is a routine operation and rescue centres carried out thousands of neuters on rabbits every year. It may take a few weeks post-op for your rabbit's litter habits to improve, as it takes time for the hormone levels, which drive territorial behaviour like marking, to decrease.

Litter Training Issues

So, you've had your rabbit neutered and put a tray in their chosen latrine area, but your rabbit hasn't quite got the knack of using it - there are a couple of common issues:

Urinating Over the Side

When rabbits urinate, they shuffle back into the corner and lift their tails. If the tray is quite shallow then, by the time you've added litter, this may mean your rabbit is sitting on the edge of the tray when he shuffles back and completely misses. You can resolve this by swapping to a tray with high sides – around 15cm/6 inches is a good depth.

Digging Out Litter

Rabbits love to dig, and a whole tray full of soil like litter can seem like the perfect spot to your rabbit. A covered/hooded litter tray, or putting the tray into a cardboard box with an entrance hole in the side will stop litter getting everywhere. You could also try providing an alternative digging area for your rabbit to swap his digging activities too.

Going Next to the Tray

Sometimes rabbits have the general idea of where to go, but aren't always getting into the tray. You may get puddles or droppings just next to it. Again, a high-sided tray is helpful, as it makes a clearer designation between in the tray and outside the tray. Likewise, don't use the same litter in the tray as in other areas, otherwise there is little distinction between the two and, to your rabbit, it may seem like the whole cage is a litter box.

It's important that your rabbit can recognise the litter tray as their latrine area. Many new owners make the mistake of cleaning too thoroughly, removing all traces of odour that indicate to their rabbit that's the spot to use. To help your rabbit learn, avoid strongly smelling cleaners and return a small portion of dirty litter to the tray after cleaning, to help retain the correct scent.

Placing any scattered droppings into the tray and soaking up urine with a tissue and placing it in the litter tray can also help teach your rabbit where to go, as again you are creating the correct scent. Cleaning up accidents outside the tray with white vinegar, which is an odour neutraliser, will help make sure only the tray smells like the place to go.

One final tip: pick a tray that is large enough for your rabbit to turn easily and has space for a handful of hay to one side – rabbits love to munch and poop and having hay in the tray encourages its use.

Not Always Using the Tray

If your rabbit isn't neutered it's likely that they are deliberately scattering droppings outside the tray to mark their territory – this usually improves after neutering. If your rabbit is still scattering droppings after being neutered it may be that they've just got into the habit and need a little retraining. The same techniques for a rabbit going next to the tray will help.

If your rabbit has access to a very large area e.g. several rooms it may also help to temporarily restrict the access a little. Providing multiple trays i.e. one per room or one each end of a room can help. If there are certain areas your rabbit favours – put a tray there, even if it happens to be the middle of the room. Once your rabbit is using the trays, you can gradually decrease the number and move them to locations that are more practical. The important thing is your rabbit gets into the habit of using a tray. Again, moving droppings and providing hay will help encourage their use.

Multiple Rabbits

Neutered rabbits living together will generally share a tray but if you have problems provide two trays (or more). If it's a recent match, you may find they will be more amenable to sharing once they've had more time to settle in together. Rabbits will often mark more when first introduced, and this will reduce as they settle.

If you have multiple rabbits but they don't live together, you may find that your rabbit marks even when neutered, particularly along the boundaries between enclosures. This is because there is a rival and they feel the need to make it very clear where their territory is. You may find it helps to put a spare tray along the boundary as this maybe enough to satisfy their desire to spread their scent.

Sofas & Beds

There are some spots that seem extra tempting for rabbits to mark, and some rabbits will continue to mark these even if they are neutered and otherwise perfectly litter trained. The most common areas are beds and sofas – these are areas that humans spend a lot of time resting on which means, to a rabbit, they contain a lot of scent. It may be that this acts as a trigger for rabbits to add their own scent markers.

Training a rabbit not to mark these areas can be tricky. It may help to temporarily place an extra litter tray in the area that your rabbit is toileting on – even if this is not a place you'd usually leave a tray such as the seat of your sofa. If you can retrain your rabbit to use a tray placed on your sofa, rather than the sofa, you can then gradually move the tray to a more appropriate spot.

If this does not work, then restricting access may be the only solution. Training a rabbit not to jump on a sofa he is used to accessing is very difficult, so a physical barrier may be necessary. If that's not practical, placing something over the area to protect it such as a puppy pad or plastic cover may protect your furniture even if it does not cure the problem.​

Preventing Health Problems

Having such a specialized digestion system has drawbacks. Whilst it’s very efficient at processing high fiber food, the wrong types of food or sudden diet changes can easily disrupt it throwing the whole digestive system out of balance. This can have serious consequences, the most common include:



‘Sticky Bottom’
This is the common name for the production of excess cecal droppings, which is characterized by sticky droppings caught in the fur around the tail. It leaves a rabbit prone to secondary problems like fly strike. This is often the first indication that your rabbit’s diet isn't quite right.

Stasis
Stasis is a potentially fatal illness in which the content of the gut stops moving along the digestive tract. The initial symptoms are a loss of appetite and reduction in size and quantity of droppings, as it progresses dropping production completely halts. Without prompt treatment, a rabbit will deteriorate rapidly.

Bloat
This has similar symptoms to stasis but the gut becomes filled with gas. This is very painful and again needs prompt veterinary intervention.

My two rabbits used to get along, but now one is biting/humping the other.
Bonds between bunnies can sometimes break, especially if they were bonded before reaching sexual maturity. Once they reach sexual maturity, territorial feelings and aggression may arise. Your rabbits may be trying to reestablish dominance by fighting or by mounting one another. To some extent, you do have to let your bunnies decide dominance before they will ever get along. However, you need to ensure that they're not causing serious injury to one another. Monitoring them is essential, and if the violent behavior escalates, you will have to separate them. One thing to note is that getting your rabbits spayed/neutered can help ease aggressive behavior. (See our article about bonding for more information about the process of bonding two bunnies.) Sometimes people also find that what they thought were two males/two females turn out to be one female and one male. In this case, it is imperative to get your rabbits spayed and neutered.

My rabbit is eating his own poop. How do I make him stop?
Rabbits excrete two forms of poop. One type takes the form of compact, dry pellets that you should see in your rabbit's litterbox. The other form is called a cecotrope. Cecotropes are soft, pungent feces that look like tiny clusters of grapes. Rabbits eat cecotropes directly from their behinds and reingest them. This process, called coprophagy, is a vital part of a rabbit's normal digestive cycle. Cecotropes provide important nutrients and help keep their digestive system in balance. In short, rabbits are supposed to eat their own poop and should not be discourage from doing so.

Help! My bunny's not eating/drinking/pooping/peeing. What should I do?
These are serious symptoms in a rabbit. Take your rabbit to a rabbit-savvy vet immediately. Below are a full list of Rabbit savy vets in your area.


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