Thursday 7 January 2016

Understanding Stress in Rabbits

So, you may be reading this because you are at the end of your tether, tearing out your own hair and seriously debating whether a rabbit is the right animal for you, right?

The first step to accepting you've got a problem on your hands is to forgive yourself. You did not knowingly cause the problem and you are not responsible for your unhappy bunnies. Why do I know this? Because you're reading this article and actively seeking help, hints, tips and understanding. You are trying and that's the main thing, you have your motivation.

Breathe easy, bunnies can be taught and retrained. Thankfully there are always solutions to making your rabbit more comfortable and calm in your care. To first explore why rabbits get stressed, we will need to do some investigation.


What are the symptoms of stress in rabbits?


There are numerous signs to look out for when diagnosing stress. Not all symptoms are purely stress related - for example, thumping can occur at any point where bun is afraid or annoyed, but also communication to other rabbits and signs of change as well. However when numerous symptoms are displayed, it's time to go deeper to root out the source of the problem.

Various symptoms can include;

  • A sharp behaviourial change as of late
  • Excessive thudding
  • Defensive body posture
  • Sudden 'scrabbling' and running
  • Circling
  • Spraying and urinating in random places
  • Constant smells of pheromones
  • Excessive digging and dragging claws
  • Referred aggression to cage mates
  • Fighting and bully behaviour to cage mates
  •  Biting
  • Growling

Stress; Why is my rabbit behaving strangely?


Going into the intricate rabbit psyche, they are prey animals deep down regardless of how much you pamper, love and hold them. Even the most tame buns have their brief moments of fear and stress where they feel better hiding in a dark place - it's onky natural for them and may very well take hundreds of years to come to terms with humans fully.

The bottom answer to this question is simply: Change.

You need to ask yourself: "What has changed lately?" what has made your buns literally swap their personalities for these new scary, timid ones? Rabbits are massively sensitive to changes in the environment and household, they are able to pick out new strange scents and sounds a lot easier than you'd think.

If for example, you have moved your rabbits recently indoors from outside, it's important to understand that they need time to adjust to the new surroundings. Outside rabbits never get as much human contact as they would do in the house, so they need to come to terms you being around so often.

So to put it simply; your rabbit needs time and patience to adjust to the change that's occurred.

What can I do to calm down my rabbit to normal?


Is there any way you can restore normality to your rabbit's lives? Most likely, a big enough change to affect a rabbit balance, is usually a change that cannot be reversed easily. But that's okay because change is inevitable and your rabbit may need to accept this.

Keep calm, you and your bunnies will be completely fine. With time and patience, buns will calm down and accept whatever has changed and will eventually learn to accept it. The most important thing is to give and respect their own space and reinforce a safe, fun environment for them.

Rebonding and establishing a new friendship


You may need to 'rebond' with your rabbit in order to build that trust again, the dynamics of your relationship may have completely changed whether you have moved house, moved your rabbits or introduced more rabbits into the household, introduced a new animal, ect.

Start with leaving your rabbits completely alone without overly bothering them for one whole week - leaving them in their enclosure. Let them get used to their area without any distractions from you or any other animal, aside from feeding times.

After one week, spend at least one hour everyday with your rabbits, either sitting nearby or outside of their enclosure. Take down some notes of the behavioral changes and anything going on at the time that may be contributing to the issue. Do not force the rabbit into having cuddle time or petting time with you - in their eyes you may need to earn this trust again. Stay quiet and observant and let them get used to you and explore on their own terms.

When rabbit is exhibiting good behaviour, give them a treat and pet them lightly if allowed.

For more tips and tricks on bonding, head over to the 'Bonding' section at the top of the page and follow the steps until you and your rabbits are both comfortable again.

I must insist that when it comes to rabbit stress - you absolutely cannot allow yourself to scold them, shout or get angry or you may need to start from step one again. Stress can quickly turn into anxiety and crippling fear with a few wrong moves.

Moving on with your rabbits


Congratulations, you and your bun are now through the rough patch! Just bear in mind that a trust bond needs to stay strong in order for your buns to depend on and see you as one of their own.

Also try hard to maintain the new found balance with set routines and as little changes and amendments as possible. Remember to acclimatise your rabbit to anything new slowly and at their pace, to reduce the threat of stress in the future.

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Sunday 6 December 2015

Christmas at The Rabbit Cave



06/12/15

I can hardly believe that Christmas has flown around again! It only seems like yesterday that we were desperately tugging the fairy lights away from Winston's demolishing mouth and haphazardly trying t keep the decorations pretty without the cat on full out 'destroy mode'. Nevertheless - here we are again and I hope everyone out there has some petty cool Christmas plans!

Looking back on 2015, it's been a big year of change for us and also a pretty tough one in terms of choices and hardships unfortunately. Back in January we came home from a short break away to find that our beautiful Lilith had passed at only 1 and a half years of age. After a rough mourning period with Fuzzy and him trying to 'find himself' without his soul mate by his side, after a few months we decided to take on a baby bunny in order to balance out his 'submissive and shy' personality. Enter Panda - the Giant Papillion.

 

This gorgeous girl was definitely a great decision for Fuzzy and coming up to her first birthday she is the best companion we could have hoped for. She protects Fuzzy, ensures he's groomed properly and makes sure to perk him up when she feels there's more noise to be made. Regardless that she's double the size of him though, she really is a gentle giant.

On another note we also decided to move both Winston and Breeze inside the house due to the neighbours dog breaking into our garden during high winds and accidentally terrifying them (poor boy just wanted to play!) They're living in our hallway provisionally until the fence is fixed, however due to the fact they will both be four next year, I may make it a more permanent thing and would then be able to spend more time with them as opposed to braving the awful winter weather outside.

We're also in the process of applying to be official small animal foster parents for the RSPCA - although this is on hold at the moment due to financial restrictions. But this will be a great dream for us and on the front practice for one day opening our own rescue and rehabilitation centre!

That's pretty much everything rabbit-related summed up for us. We celebrated our first whole year with our rescue cat - Gus. Plus we also adopted two Chinchillas as well - so that's more research to be done!

Here's hoping that 2016 will be a great year, For us, for the cave, for all of you out there.
Don't forget to hold your buns close this Christmas and let them know how much they're loved!

Merry Christmas!
Holly & Ryan.
@therabbitcave

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Saturday 28 February 2015

Update


Update 19/05/15


A lot has happened at the Rabbit Cave in the last couple of months that has unfortunately rendered me not being able to update this site as much as I would like. First of all unfortunately I need to announce that Lilith - our black dwarf lop passed away this January after we returned from a few days away. With her only reaching her second birthday this year, we don't know what killed her except that the day before she died, she was behaving strangely and moving slowly. But I dismissed this as fear down to the fact we had someone come into the house to look after the rabbits whilst we were away and Lilith was always very, very wary of strangers. After a chat and a quick health check of Fuzzy, her cage mate -  we opted not to take her to the vets for an autopsy but instead buried her in the garden next to our previous cat, so she remains close to us.




The next few days were very shaky and uncertain. We moved Fuzzy into our bedroom and into the two tier 120 indoor cage to enable us to monitor him for signs or disease or illness that may have passed over. Fuzzy was quiet and subdued and preferred to stay in his litter box or the corner of the cage. Having been left alone with Lilith's body for a good few hours, he understood and was grieving for the mate he never so much as had a single scrap with.

After a difficult few months and some room moves for poor Fuzzy, we eventually moved him into our spare bedroom to allow him some freedom to take his mind off the loneliness. Eventually I made the decision to bring a three month year old Giant Papillion doe into the room and set her up across the room from Fuzzy. (We then decided to name her Panda)

It has been an insanely packed few months but as of last week I finally managed to bond them together and they now free roam happily around the spare bedroom together, the change in Fuzzy is immense and emotional for me to see him happy again.

So that has what has been happening over here at the Rabbit Cave and pretty soon I will update our Bonding section with a full play by play of how I went about bonding both Fuzzy and Panda together.



More tutorials and guides to follow soon.

Holly.



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Sunday 10 August 2014

Launching the new website!


Thanks for dropping by.

For those who have just stumbled by through a search engine or by following me on social media - welcome! You have fallen onto the result of my whim to teach others and myself about the importance of keeping Rabbits. This website will be a beacon and a go-to guide of the general every day experiences of keeping these fluffy destructive darlings, whilst also ensuring a fantastic quality of life for both you and your four-legged friend. I have started this blog with adding the most important articles, to which I will continue to update further as and when I can. 


  • About Me
    A light introduction into my daily life and how I live with my four rabbits. I find that when I'm scouring the depths of the internet in search of various nuggets of information, it really helps to see how others deal with various questions and situations. So here is mine.
  • Befriending your Rabbit
    Something that I think every self-respecting rabbit owner would want to know and understand in order to start and maintain a great relationship
  • Behavior
    From bunny binkies to Rabbit 500's, from digging to chewing on the furniture, we have it all here.
  • Bonding
    The art of introducing a Rabbit into another pet's territory or to another Rabbit.
  • Grooming
    Another well sought after article - how to groom your Rabbit and keep them happy and healthy.
  • Health
    Worried about your furry friend? What to look for in a rabbit's health and what to do in an emergency.
  • Living with House Rabbits
    For those who have opted to have their Rabbits indoors as opposed to an outside hutch. This will follow my journey on how I deal with my first official house rabbit and the processes that I decide to follow/alter/change/implement. 
  • Photo Gallery
    Want your bunny fix? Check out these adorable photos of user-submitted photos along with my own. (If you'd like to submit your own bun, drop me a message over on our Facebook group - link at the bottom of this post.)
  • FAQ
    A quick solution to those frequently asked questions that seem to be on everyone's lips. In order to submit your own FAQ to me, leave a comment on the page or visit out Facebook.
  • Useful Links
    Links to some fantastic websites that have helped me hugely along the way and have given me some fantastic ideas. I will also add some trusted websites of Bunny adoption and breeders that provide some bunnies looking for a forever home.
Haven't found anything that fits your issue/query? You can find us on various channels around the internet, feel free to stop by and say hi and fire those questions at us.

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