# Scratching at the cage floor



## beebop11

I have 2 rabbits , male and female housed together both of them I noticed scratch at the cage floor alot! its hard to sleep when I have to hear that is there something I can do to prevent it ? Are they bored ? not sure why they do that


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## Yield

My rabbit Solara does that a lot during the day.
They're trying to dig into that floor- and it's natural for rabbits.. 
(they burrow as you probably know XD)

Here is my suggestion.
Get toys that they only get when they sleep.
And get a piece of apple, carrot, strawberry, some sort of fruit
And give them each one before bed, and give them the toys that are for bed time before as well.
Put a blanket or sheet over the cage at night as well, so they know it's bedtime and they need to sleep.

How much out time/play timedo they get during the day?
More playtime, more sleeping and less noise during the night.

I also give my buns pellets in the morning (I also have a boy and a girl housed together. Theyhave a BIG pen for all day running and playing and a BIG dog cage to sleep in.. Like big enough for me, 5"5 to sit comfortably in there) and I give them their veggies at night, so they can concentrate on eating that throughout the night, and not digging and spazzing out.

My buns used to fight me about getting in the cage at night, but now they run in there when they smell me come in the room, veggies in hand, and they're well behaved and quiet most of the night.


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## tamsin

:yeahthat:
Digging is natural rabbit behaviour but when it becomes repetitive and without a goal it's a sign of boredom and frustration. A rabbits equivalent of pacing back and forth.

If you address the boredom by increasing their exercise and mental stimulation you should find the digging naturally decreases


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## beebop11

Thanks for the information . I have had my female bunny for 6 to 7 months now and the male bunny for around a month. They get on average 2 hours out a day because they aren't litter trained and my mom doesn't like them peeing and pooping all over the floor .

I am looking to make a cage for the probably a CC cage or a Nic ? cage but I want one that is going to smell less , and I dont want to use shavings anymore .. I will post pictures of there cage in the housing section ...

Can they eat peaches or nectarines .


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## beebop11

Are they supposed to eat all day long ? I usually fill up there dish 3 times a day they eat alot . 
Do you have a site on what they can and cant eat


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## Yield

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html
Thelink above tells what is necessary in the rabbits diet.

This link: http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html
Is a list of suggested veggies.

This link: http://www.rabbit.org/care/fruits.html
Is a list of suggested fruits.

They need hay at all times, mine get timothy hay.

With my rabbits, in the morning they get 1/3 cup of premium timothy pellets every morning. They usually don't finish it all before bedtime. They leave the same amount every day, and they eat the rest at night.

I wing it with how much veggies I give them at night. last night they got bok choy, romaine lettuce, celery, red/green/yellow/orange bell peppers, curly/normal parsley, cilantro, and small pieces of apple and strawberry, also a blueberry.

How big is your dish? If you feed them too many pellets, they will become overweight and that calls for an unhappy rabbit. Plus with lack of excercise they will be as well.

Litter training is easy, and it makes sure that they won't pee out of it usually. My rabbits never pee out of the litterbox, though they do leave territorial poops, whichis easy to just pickupand toss in the litterbox.All I did to train mine was stick most of their hay in the litterbox, and I stuck the bowl of pellets in front of the litter box. They usually poop where they eat.

Most people use wood stove pellets or equine litter for their litterbox. I use "Yesterday's News for Rabbits Litter"

I bought two pens from Petco or something and connected them. NIC cubes are okay too, but remember that rabbits can jump pretty high. I've heard of rabbits jumping over 3 feet pens.

Peaches are okay, nectarines.. I don't think so.

What shavings do you use? I think some are dangerous to rabbits.


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## beebop11

I use unsented aspen as pine and ceder are toxic . There dish is a cat dish 2 sides .


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## Yield

That's good.

Yeah, if I were you, I'd buy a litter box, and put it in the corner that your bun seems to pee in/poop in most often. Buns learn litter habbits very quickly.

As long as you clean the litterbox every few days or so, the smell should drastically decrease.
Though, if your bun is not spayed/neutered, then they will still pee out of the litterbox and poop a LOT out of the litterbox.

They can also share a litterbox.. my buns do. And even when they are out of their cage, they run to the litterbox to go potty.


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## beebop11

Okay yes the female is not spayed and the male is not neautered it is really expensive to do so here .


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## Yield

1. Rabbits who are non-spayed/non-neutered have a high chance of getting testicular or ovary cancer. (Something like that.)

2. The rabbits could get frisky and have some babies, which is difficult... and this world doesn't need more rabbits that need homes..

3. Without being spayed or neutered, the rabbits will pee and poop everywhere, no doubt. They can get really ornery, and sometimes mean as well... (biting a lot, getting gave aggressive, lunging, scratching, fighting each other)

Overall, it's very beneficial to spay/neuter them. And almost necessary, unless you plan on showing them, which then, they should probably be housed seperately.

Here is a list of rabbit vets in Canada: http://members.shaw.ca/cocoasun/CanadianRabbitVets.htm

I highly recommend youlook into them, give them a call, see how much it is to get them spayed/neutered.Your bunswill most definitely have a better, longer, and happier life if they are spayed/neutered.


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## beebop11

Im aware that they should be spayed and neautered I cannot afford spending 350.00 on getting them done right away I am expecting in November and money is tight aswell as living at my parents . 
I am going to make a thread in the housing section if you would like to see their current cage ect.


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## Yield

Well I wish you luck then.

I'll check the cage thing later.


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## Bo B Bunny

Tony digs on the sides of his cage at night. We found that he is trying to get hay from the rack that hangs on the side of his cage..... it's not so easy but it comes through. He just gets irritated that he can't get it all at one time! LOL!


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## funnybunnymummy

Gus sometimes digs at the floor before he lies down. I think it's an instinctive behaviour because wild rabbits will scratch a dirt spot out in the shade and sleep there during the day.

It sounds like your rabbits are bored or looking for attention. As has been mentioned, litter training will help with this behaviour as you can then let them out for longer times. Unspayed/neutered rabbits can be taught to litter train. It just takes more time and they can still have accidents vs. spayed/neutered animals.

As for spaying/neutering, have you contacted the local SPCA or other animal shelter/rescue in your area to ask which vet they use for their rabbits? They may be able to get you a discount.

Hope that helps!

Rue


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## tamsin

Housed together? If you are short on cash how are you going to feed the hundreds of offspring that are imminent? You need to separate them immediately and cross your fingers you are not too late.

If you have an unneutered male and unneutered female you are unlikely to achieve much with litter training. They'll both be scent marking (smelly).

For a long term plan I would consider neutering the male the first priority. He is probably the worse offender and once he is done you can safely house them together and you may find the litter training and smell greatly improve. The male op is usually cheaper. It might be worth seeing if you vet does a payment plan so you can spread the payment over a few months or do the same thing by saving a bit each month and getting him done in a few months time.


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## Yield

^ Yeah, what tamsin said.
Has your boy humped your girl? And then grunted?

I've heard that meant that there will be a pregnancy most likely.
And in your other topic, you said when they were seperated, that your girl was ripping her fur out...

Was she ripping the fur out of her dewlap (under her chin)?
That's the sign of a pregnancy, or a false one usually..


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## funnybunnymummy

Eek! I missed they were housed together! Definitely separate them and soon!

Rue


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## Flash Gordon

i first got quoted 300 bucks for spay and a little less for a neuter ..but i was NOT gonna pay that kinda money for 10 buns..no way...so i kept looking around and asking and i heard of a vet that was very rabbit savvy that went to work at a spay and neuter clinic (so called chop shops)..but i new he was experienced and i now pay 48 bucks for neuter and 68 for spay ..with pain meds...i know i cant believe it either,,,so what my point is ...research..shop around..ask around..ull find a wayy better deal then that one ....also get on vets websites or rescue sites sometimes ull find a coupon for this kinda surgery on it...
im not tryin to cram getting them fixed down ur throat...just know for a fact that trying to live with unfixed house bunnies is crazy!!..between the circling of ur feet and the grunts and the luv nips that hurt ...then theres having to clean up all the smelly pee cuz they go anywhere they darn well please when their hormonal...they are just annoying and smelly unfixed...just my opinion.....good luck..


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## AngelnSnuffy

Just seeing this and my first thought. Separate them and now! Don't mean to be so blunt, but you don't want more vet bills or likely, more buns to take care of. There are so many in rescues and shelters now. Please take our advice. Separate them until, like Kirby said, the male is fixed, that is the less expensive and invasive. We are not harping on you, just trying to give you thee best info. If it were me, I'd appreciate it if I didn't know as well.

Great links Yield!

I came to this thread to add to what the topic is, see how it changed? Re: to the topic. My boy loves to dig to China every now and then, even older buns do this. Even if they have toys they don't use, haha. Buns are silly and sometimes will do it just to do it. I think Snuff does it to 'clean' a little area to lay down, even though his cage is pretty clean, he's goofy. So, there's that. aha. That's how buns are, a bit strange sometimes, BUT we LOVE EM!


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## beebop11

248.00 for female 161.00 for male to have them spayed and neautered . When the female was pulling out her hair she was pulling it out from the very top of her head and rubbing herself she was taken to the vet and the vet said it was separation because she did not have mites ect .. as soon as we got her a companion the hair grew back right away , the male has mounted her but has never been successfull that I have seen and she has no signs of nesting . I will work on getting the male Neautered I live in Canada in a smaller city less than 60,000 theres one spca in the town and I dont think they do discounts but I will be calling today if there is something along the lines .


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## Nancy McClelland

Litter boxes where they go might help. I use Kiln dried pine--the drying gets rid of the phenols, so it is alright to use. Also shred newspaper--they use it for bathroom visits as well as dig in it an generally play with it.


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## beebop11

I have a corner litter box the male uses it more than the female does , its alittle small so when I get there cage set up bigger I will put in a larger litter box , I was thinking of using corn cob bedding or yesterdays news for litter ?


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## funnybunnymummy

Don't use the corn cob litter. It's not considered safe.

Yesterday's News is a good choice, but it's more expensive than the kiln dried pine.

Is there a Rona or Home Depot in GP? (I'm guessing yes!) They should carry wood stove pellets (kiln dried pine) that make excellent rabbit litter. Absorbs the smell really well and is easy to clean.

Hope that helps!

Rue


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## beebop11

Thanks will check out Rona tommorow


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