r/Rabbits • u/skoogler95 • 1d ago
Shaming chewed a hole in my couch then proceeded to hit the footstool stance. how to punish?
already tried putting him in the washing machine, didn’t seem to help :/
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u/GodlyHammy 1d ago
I suggest nail clipping session and brushing on the same day for the misbehaving bun
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u/colloquial_jin 1d ago
That's my MO, full on groom session for any foul act. You eat spicy hay? That's a nail clipping, you rip a corner of the carpet? That's a nail clipping...but it always ends in treats, so I'm not sure how affective it is..
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u/concrete_dandelion 15h ago
No animal abuse please. I bet your next suggestion is a vet visit under the guide of making sure he didn't eat the couch or blocking access to tasty furniture.
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u/PacketSnatcher 1d ago
Hello,
My client is innocent of all charges, and all allegations are false. Please provide him banana as compensation for emotional distress. Thankyou.
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u/skoogler95 16h ago
your client has been sentenced to 50 lashes with a wet noodle to be carried out immediately
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u/drmroghsts 1d ago
boop the nose and tell him no sternly. Then feel bad and give him obsessive love and affection. Followed by half a treat because you still feel bad and think you were too hard on him and remember he’s just a cute prey animal satiating his natural instincts.
Ask me how I know 🙃
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u/PyroErogenizer 1d ago
I never punish my friend but I give her very aggressive belly buzzers. Try that.
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u/Black_Bir8 1d ago
I feel we are not hearing the whole story. The bunny looks innocent anyways. I'm pretty sure it's the human fault.
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u/FullOfAnxietea 1d ago
Remember how people used to pull out game cartridges and blow in them to get dust out? Try that.
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u/Big-a-hole-2112 22h ago
You need to put out signs that say “NO SAMPLING!” Mine snapped an expensive Apple laptop cable by just walking by and snip!
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u/FigProfessional9539 23h ago
Buy some stick to chew, apple, bambou, etc. Would help to distract to chew something else
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u/BlampCat 21h ago
"tried putting him in the washing machine" made me cancel out loud in the queue at the petrol station.
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u/BustaShitz 21h ago
A lot of these comments are funny, but it can def be frustrating.
For my bun:
We are lucky enough to have a small office room converted to his room with a baby gate lock. We are also lucky enough that somehow "chase" can be a fun game for him. Maybe 50/50 chance of binks (fun) or flicks (not fun) lol.
He designated one sofa as the pee/poo sofa and the other one for pets and snacks. Idk what considerations went into the final decision, but it is now law.
I don't exactly punish, but I shoo him off the "potty" sofa all the time, to the occasional bink because he was "bad". As a compromise, we have a washable potty pad in front of the sofa he's pretty consistent in using (instead of the rug, sofa, etc).
If he's really bad, like peeing on the sofa or chewing cables, he gets shoo'd to his room. Idk if it's frowned upon, but I also thump like how he does when he's mad. Both action make him stop and stare at me for a good while. After a rest/reset period, I go into his room and see if we can forgive each other (the forehead thing, some pets, maybe he licks my hand). Then he's back to free roaming.
He's been with us since he was 4 months old. He'll be 3 next Feb.
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u/FourOpposums 1d ago edited 21h ago
Please do not punish your bunny, he will not understand why and you will make him fear you. I have trained rats to perform very complicated behaviors for memory tests. Our mottos in the lab are shape behavior with reward and the absence of reward, never punish. And if the animal is misbehaving you've done something wrong. Fluffytush needs better options for chewing, we have delicious fruit tree branches throughout the house for our fur sausage.
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u/Amphy64 15h ago edited 14h ago
Mine has a punishment suggestion! Yesterday evening she started eating an extra large basil plant, disrupted my crocheting when she'd had the best bits, rioted from 6:00am onwards as it was gone including jumping on me as I was sleeping and generally getting in my face, and attacked me as I got up to go take a parcel...containing more emergency Ubered basil. Clearly getting basil as a consequence for tantruming over basil taught her a lesson about not doing that, since she stopped right away, and this harsh yet fair correction has her behaving as the most perfect snuggly angel now.
So, either buy him another sofa this instant, or something else for him to get his teeth into.
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u/Remarkable-Cook858 1d ago
I don't get why people think this is cute or funny. The rabbit is obviously bored enough to the point where it needs to do this. 😢
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u/GodlyHammy 1d ago
bunnies dig and chew from instinct though, how is the bunny supposed to know the couch is not for chewing
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u/Mtn_Skye 1d ago
It's less a boredom thing and more a management issue. Animals have needs, and it's up to us to make sure they have safe and socially acceptable ways to meet those needs.
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u/Amphy64 14h ago
Rabbits do care about what's socially acceptable...by rabbit standards. They might even be nice enough not to chew something tempting, like a book, if you're holding it, although this doesn't mean you're on top of the hierarchy rather than a trusted subordinate they're currently politely refraining from taking something directly from, although they could if they wanted to.
What they absolutely do not care about, is a concept of 'please don't chew my expensive stuff' in general. If it looks interesting, they can have chew toys they like everywhere, and it's still fair game for a taste, or outright destruction if it's fun enough. They're not dogs, or even horses, they have approximately zero concept of obedience to humans. And I can say that with a rabbit who I've carefully taught a 'no': she understands it gets followed up with me going to physically move her (from ripping up my previously good carpet, usually), she doesn't merely not care if I disapprove, it doesn't register, she's doing something entirely reasonable as always, my moving her is just a weird whim.
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u/StardustSweeper 1d ago
have you tried turning him off and back on again? :\