Tag, You're It!

Last night, Walter and I played what I can only describe as Freeze Tag. After being out all evening, I came home to a very snuggly rabbit, in desperate need of attention. I gave him some forehead scratches, but he seemed to be in a much more playful mood. So, while kneeling on the ground with Walter, I did a (very modified) binky. At first, Walter was really confused, but he was definitely paying attention. So I did it again. And then, to my surprise, he binkied back!

I just need some love!

I used to do this stuff with my dogs, make the “I want to play” pose (stretching your arms out and sticking your butt up in the air). They would always respond in kind. But I never expected my rabbit to do this, too!

We traded binky hops for a few minutes, and then Walter turned the game up a notch. I would fake-hop, he would dart around the room and end with a jump. But then he would freeze. Until I gave him a gentle bop on the nose with my finger, at which point he would wait for me to fake-hop and freeze, and then he would run over and bop his nose on my nose.

This went on for a while! It was so cute and silly to feel like I was actually playing a game with Walter, rather than trying to engage him and failing, or just watching him entertain himself. I could tell he was having a fun time too. After our hour of freeze tag, he happily hopped into his cage for bedtime: no stomping, no struggle. This was also a nice surprise.

Okay, Mom, I'll go to bed..

All in all, Walter’s been doing great, so long as you don’t count the fact that his nails have grown wildly long and he still won’t let me trim them. I found out his veterinarian (who I posted about here) moved to the Upper West Side, so I either need to find a new vet, or trek across the park to get Walter in for his check-up and nail trim. I have noticed an uptick in Walter’s need for attention lately. This is definitely due to my late arrivals home after class or the gym for the past few months. In the mornings before I go to work, Walter has taken to standing between my feet while I ready our breakfasts. Hopefully I can find some rabbit-only time for him this weekend to make up for my neglect during the work week!

What games do you and your bunnies play?

Playtime and a New Friend

Walter made a new friend yesterday, in the form of a stuffed giraffe that I have. In lieu of getting a second rabbit, I’m determined for Walter to become BFF with a stuffed toy.  He’s already rejected Little Blue Bunny, he shows very little interest in Eeyore, and he only occasionally grooms Moley Lamb (a stuffed lamb that also looks like a mole).  So last night, I tried the giraffe, whose name is Woodrow.  It seemed successful! Within a few minutes, Walter was giving Woodrow a good sniffing and, subsequently, a good cleaning.  He didn’t freak out when I positioned Woodrow so that he was snuggling up next to him.  And when I “hopped” Woodrow around the room, Walter got pretty excited and showed off some hops of his own.

Woodrow!

To be fair, the excitement could have been more from Walter’s enjoyment of having me pay him a lot of attention.  This morning, he wanted my attention so badly that he cuddled with my shoe while I was trying to put it on my foot.  And then he followed me to the front door and tried to hop out into the hallway of my apartment building and come with me to work!

I don’t know what it is. It’s not like I’m never home or never trying to play with him.  Last night, I lured him out of hiding and we sat together for a long time, watching TV.  But, on a typical night, by the time he’s done hanging out by himself in his box fort, it’s time for me to go to bed!

Do you have a playtime schedule for your rabbit?  Do you ever find that your schedules are out of sync?

Bunny Flop

The cutest thing my rabbit (any rabbit!) does is the “bunny flop.” Walter rarely does it, so I doubt I’ll ever catch it on camera, but it’s adorable. Basically, the rabbit starts sitting upright and then suddenly flops down on his side, curls into a small semi-circle, and then stretches back out in total relax-mode.

It always catches me by surprise, because one minute, Walter is sitting there looking at me, and the next minute, he’s nestled into a perfect napping position. It’s a sign of true rabbit comfort, I’ve read, since it puts the rabbit in a position in which he can’t be on high-alert for danger. His stomach is exposed, which is rare, and unless something is going on around him, his eyes are small slits while he sleeps.

Walter did the bunny flop twice this weekend. Once on Saturday evening after my mom and I got home from our adventures in DC. I was lying on the living room floor, petting Walter, when out of nowhere – FLOP! – right onto me. The next instance was on Sunday, when Walter was locked in his cage for a time out. He was sitting awkwardly halfway in his wooden cave when he suddenly flopped onto his side, ready for a good nap.

Hands down, it is my favorite rabbit movement (closely followed by the process of Walter washing his face and ears). I found a couple videos on You Tube of someone else’s rabbit doing the Bunny Flop, in case you aren’t sure what I’m talking about:

Now, in this video, picture me as that cat, because this is basically what happened with me and Walter on Saturday night:

Awww!

Weekend Update

Walter had quite a weekend! There were guests at my apartment all weekend long, and I’m not sure Walter knew what to make of it. On Friday evening, my friend Stephanie was in town. I didn’t get home from work until just before Stephanie arrived, so I had barely two minutes to spend paying attention to the rabbit.  Steph and I went out for the night, leaving Walter to run free around the apartment. By the time we got home in the early hours of Saturday, my stubborn rabbit was not pleased to be sent straight into his cage without so much as a forehead scratch.

On Saturday morning, Stephanie left and I frantically ran around the apartment, cleaning up as much as I possibly could before my mother arrived. (To my mother, who is likely to be reading this: I’m sorry it was not very clean.) Walter, as I mentioned in an earlier post, usually loves chore day.  But this day, he was still holding a grudge from being snubbed the night before.  He spent most of the day sulking in his box fort until my mom arrived.

Now, Walter is not usually quick to approach strangers.  He keeps an eye on them from his box fort (or, formerly, under the couch) until much time has passed and feels like it’s safe to show himself.  For some reason, this was not the case with my mom.  As soon as she got there, he greeted her with curiosity and pleas for pets.  He started following her around the house. He even showed off some of his funnier hops and running moves!

Still, sadly for the bunny, we had places to go and people to see, so we didn’t have much time to spend on playtime.  Leaving Walter to his own devices, we set out for dinner and some local theater, and didn’t come back for several hours.  When we got home, it was clear that Walter needed some attention.  While my mom set to inflating the air mattress, I spent a handful of minutes scratching Walter’s forehead and rubbing his cheeks.  He seemed pretty content.  Even more so, he seemed really curious about the air mattress.

And that’s when I got the brilliant idea to let Walter stay out of the cage all night long.  I figured I would sleep on the air mattress, and if Walter still needed some cuddle time, he could hang out with me while I was sleeping.  But, as usual, with a rabbit, nothing is ever as easy as it seems.

Walter began our sleepover by running laps all over the apartment.  Then, under cover of darkness, sneaking through his box fort, hopping on and off the air mattress, making tunnels out of my sheets and blankets, until finally settling in for the night and catching some Zzz’s.

He then woke me up in the same manner, only this time he never stopped for a restful nap.  Instead, he turned my body into part of his obstacle course.  Talk about a wake-up call!

Over the course of the morning, it became clear to me and my mother that Walter had been given too much freedom in the past 24 hours.  After a few frustrating hours of deterring Walter from chewing or digging at everything in sight, I finally decided it was time for him to have a time-out in his cage. We locked him up and then once again left the house for food and theater.  Walter had calmed down dramatically by the time we got back, and he was allowed apartment freedom again.  Once out of his cage, Walter set to running laps and spending a lot of time hopping all over the air mattress.  I’m not sure if he loved the bounciness of the mattress, the fact that it afforded him a better view of the apartment, or just the newness of the mattress’s existence, but he had a grand ol’ time hopping on, off, and on top of it.

Seeing that the rabbit was behaving well outside the cage, my mom and I left for dinner and to run some errands.  We were on a mission to get me a new vacuum cleaner. Being a person with allergies who now lives in an apartment with wall-to-wall carpeting, I needed something to help get rid of all the rabbit hair and hay particles all over my apartment.  Lucky for me, my mom picked out the Dyson DC28 Animal Vacuum Cleaner.  It’s beautiful! If it does what it claims, I should be able to vacuum my apartment so well that no one will even know that I own a pet rabbit.  (Thanks, Mom!)

After all of our outings, my mom and I were pretty beat on Sunday night.  But Walter was just getting started.  He hadn’t really seen me in days, and he looked pretty lonely.  So, my mom and I sat on the ground to play with the rabbit, and he immediately came over to me, nudging for some pets.  Two seconds later, he melted onto the ground, eyes closed, and teeth grinding.  I suggested that he get up and get some pets from my mother (a rare treat – ask any of our dogs!), and she replied, “I think he’s got exactly what he wants already.”

And she was right, for two minutes, until Walter got bored and started running laps all over the apartment again.

Caught on Camera!

So, this video is perhaps not the most riveting depiction of Walter's antics around the house, but I managed to catch the rabbit on camera (a difficult feat, trust me!) long enough to show off some of his racing speed.  This was taken one morning last weekend after Walter woke me up by prancing back and forth in his cage. Clearly, he wanted to get out and stretch his legs:

With enough camera-stalking practice, I'll be able to catch some of Walter's more entertaining jumps and binkies around the house.

Freedom!, Part 2

Well, it finally happened. Walter’s teeth chomped their way through my laptop charger cord. The other day, I turned on my computer and noticed that it wasn’t charging. I assumed the plug had wriggled out of the socket, so I gave it a little shove back in. Still, not charging. I double-checked to make sure it was plugged into the computer properly, and sure enough, it was. That’s when I noticed the skinny stream of smoke rising out of the cord. And that’s when I freaked out.

I unplugged the charger immediately – both from the wall and from the computer. And then, with my laptop on its last legs of battery power, I ordered a new charger.

It’s probably for the best. Forty percent of the cord had been covered by duct tape (what I had to use before I owned any electrical tape). Another twenty percent of the cord had been covered by actual electrical tape. It was only a matter of time before it happened; I’m just glad I was there when it started smoking and unplugged it before matters could get any worse!

So it’s been a few days since I’ve been able to blog, now that my laptop is officially uncharged and my new charger is still somewhere in the mail. And, as much as I love my smartphone, it’s no easy task to type more than a small paragraph on the device.

I wanted to check in with those of you who responded to the poll in my last entry. I was really surprised that the majority of people indicated that their rabbit was free to roam the house unattended! This gives me some hope for Walter, who I dread locking up every night and all day while I’m at work. I want to believe that Walter can be trusted all day without my watchful eye. I would certainly feel less guilty about being gone all day if I knew he wasn’t confined to sixty square feet of space.

For those who responded positively to rabbit freedom, how old was your rabbit when you started letting him loose about the house? What kind of boundaries did you set up? And how did you know that your rabbit was ready to be trusted without supervision?

Little Blue Bunny

Several months ago, I found a small blue stuffed rabbit at CVS in the pet toy aisle.  It reminded me of several stuffed toys that my dogs used to love, and figured I'd pick it up for Walter.  He was never very interested in this rabbit friend, and I soon found that he was actually a little scared of the toy.  I used that to my advantage.

Little Blue Bunny (that's his official name) would stand guard in front of door frames that Walter liked to chew.  Suddenly, Walter would no longer even attempt to nibble that part of the wall.  I never understood this fear; Walter is significantly bigger than the toy.  The toy never moved.  Walter could have easily knocked the stuffed animal over and chewed the door frame to shreds.  And yet, he didn't even try.  Walter would take one look at Little Blue Bunny and hop in the opposite direction.

So, tonight, I tried to bridge the friendship gap between these two rabbits.  I offered Walter a very large collard green leaf.  Excitedly, he began chewing it from one end.  I moved Little Blue Bunny to the other end of the leaf, as if he was trying to share Walter's dinner.  Walter ran away, essentially giving up his meal to his fear of the Little Blue Bunny.

I felt bad, so I moved the stuffed toy back to his doorway guarding station, and gave the collard green back to Walt.  Walter picked up the entire leaf, tossed it around a few times in front of Little Blue Bunny's face, declaring his victory, and then ran away with his meal before the toy could snatch it back up.

Silly rabbits.

A rare moment together.

Little Spoon

I think Walter's obsession with the bedroom door is more about getting my attention than actually wanting to go into the other room.  For the past two days, all he's done is dig and chew at the door, despite my use of lemon oil.  Every time I get up to redirect him, he gleefully runs over to me and nudges my hand for some forehead scratches.  Tricky bunny.

He has been doing this more at night than during the day.  I think he just really enjoys an evening snuggle session! I've taken to lying on the ground and watching as he curls his small bunny body into me, as if he wanted to spoon.  So for a couple minutes each evening, we lay on the floor, me on my stomach, with Walter basically nestled in my armpit.  He gives me a few licks with his scratchy rabbit tongue, and then grinds his teeth in contentment.

Who knew my formerly antisocial, uninterested rabbit would become such a love bunny!

Lemon Oil

I don't usually let Walter in the bedroom.  I did when I first moved into my apartment, but then I discovered that Walter's lounging time under my bed was really time spent pulling up the wall-to-wall carpeting.  Figuring neither my landlord nor I would not like the carpeting to be ruined, I banned him from the bedroom.  Over the past weekend, however, I had some friends over for brunch.  Walter can be a pretty shy bunny, and I assumed he would want to be able to get away from the noise of company, so I allowed him to spend the afternoon in the bedroom, hiding under the bed.  Apparently he loved it, and now he can't get enough of playing in there.

For the past two days, the bedroom, as usual, has been off-limits to him.  Walter has spent much of the day staring longingly at the closed bedroom door, then scratching at both the floor and the door itself, and then eventually biting at the walls.  Of course, none of these things work, and all they do is manage to make me mad at the bunny.  This morning, Walter was particularly feisty.  So I had to resort to more clever methods than just turning him away from the door.  Enter, lemon oil.

I've used lemon oil on the door frames before, and it deters Walter from chewing things that he shouldn't.  Today, I decided to put some on the door and the floor mat in front of the bedroom door, in the hopes that the smell would be enough to keep Walter away from the entire area.  Sadly for Walter, this method worked.  Also sadly for Walter, I accidentally got some on his nose as I was waving my lemon oil-covered finger in front of his face.  He is still not pleased with me.

I bought a small (0.5 fluid ounce) bottle of Aura Cacia lemon oil from Whole Foods a while back.  I am sure I probably paid too much for it there, but you can find it online for about three bucks.  You only need a teeny tiny bit of lemon oil when applying it to door frames or wherever, so even a bottle as small as half a fluid ounce will last you a long time.

Using lemon oil as a chewing deterrent is something I definitely recommend.  It's been a huge help for me. I just put a tiny bit on my finger, then rub my finger across the door frame or the table leg or whatever else Walter likes to chew.  It's such a small amount that I can barely smell it, but it keeps Walter away for days or even weeks.  And, as I discovered today, using more than my usual amount can keep the rabbit away from an entire area! He hasn't gone anywhere near the bedroom door for the past hour.  (Though, that could also be because he's still mad at me for getting a dab of the lemon oil on his face.)

What do you recommend as a rabbit chewing deterrent?

Rabbit vs. Robot

As it turns out, Walter hates my computer.  I think he thinks it’s my new pet rabbit that I love more than him, or something.  Over the past few days, I’ve been spending much of my evenings on the computer (job hunting: a tedious, yet necessary task) and Walter has made it perfectly clear that he resents my time dedicated to this small, glowing machine.

He starts showing his discontent by hopping up on the ottoman and staring at me.  No, really.  Staring.  I can practically see a scowl on his rabbit face.  Sometimes I’ll ignore him, but sometimes I’ll put my laptop to the side and give him some forehead scratches.  Whenever I show him affection and attention, he melts into a puddle of bunny love on the ottoman.  The minute I turn my attention back to the internet, the scowling begins again.

It then progresses into a heavy display of “look at me!”  This ranges from Walter chewing on things he knows are off-limits to Walter putting on his best show of jumps and antics for my entertainment.  Both methods work: his bad behavior means I have to get off the couch to discipline him (fifteen seconds of attention!), and his binkying means I watch him and laugh at his silliness (fifteen more seconds of attention!).  These are only temporary measures, though, as I inevitably must return to my work on the computer.

Then comes the final plea for attention.  Walter hops on the couch and climbs into my lap into the small space between my body and the laptop. And he’ll just lie there for however long I let him. He gives me sweet little rabbit licks while I’m petting him, and begins nudging me and biting me when I stop, even for a second.  Sometimes he’ll bite the computer, just to show it who’s boss.

Do your rabbits ever go to great lengths to get your attention? What do they usually do?

Angry Rabbit

It has come to my attention that Walter hates when I sleep in on the weekends.  During the week, I wake up pretty early for work, and give the rabbit his breakfast by 7:30 AM.  On the weekends, Walter’s typical breakfast time isn’t until 10 AM or so.  Just like his mama, he gets grumpy when he’s hungry.

He also gets spiteful!  Despite hearing Walter jump back and forth in his cage all morning, I slept in on Saturday.  When I finally got out of bed, around 10:30 in the morning, I promptly let Walter out of the cage and fixed him his meal.  But the rabbit was already mad and punished me by acting absolutely crazy.

For starters, he began chewing on a doorframe that hasn’t interested him in weeks.  Then, he maniacally dug at the bathmats on the bathroom floor.  With great fury, he picked up an empty box and tossed it all over the bathroom.  I tolerated all this, simply picking up the bathmats and placing it out of his reach and turning him around when he started chewing the walls.  But then I hit my final straw: Walter started biting my foot.  Nonstop.

I was standing at the bathroom sink, drying my hair, and Walter crept slowly towards me.  At first, he tugged on my sweatpants.  I stopped what I was doing to give him a few forehead scratches and then returned to my task.  He started eating my sweatpants again.  I ignored him.  And then I felt the sharp pain of rabbit teeth on the top of my foot.  Ouch! I yelled at him to stop and moved him to the other side of the bathroom, but this just made him come back to bite me again.  Double ouch!

This went on for a few minutes, until I got so frustrated with him that I had to lock him back up in his cage.

Later in the day, he started huffing at me.  He’d already been fed.  I’d given him attention.  But still, he huffed.  So I finally huffed back.  He echoed my huff, and we went back and forth for a couple seconds until I got bored of acting like a bunny and went back to reading my book.

What does your rabbit do when he’s mad at you?

The Next Best Thing to Noozles or Bonks

Usually Walter is perfectly content to be left alone for the majority of the night. He spends the evening running laps around the apartment, playing with his toys, and just relaxing.  But the past few nights, I've been more preoccupied than usual, and I think Walter has felt a little neglected. This has lead to a new lounging arrangement: Walter hops onto the couch, climbs the cushion behind me, and scoots as close to me as he can get. Then he stretches out his little rabbit face, and rests it on my shoulder, in the nook between my ear and my chin.  It's sweet, since it allows me to keep doing what I'm doing, but cuddle with my bunny and give him whatever attention he's craving.

What a snuggly bunny!

Ready, Aim, Fire!

My rabbit peed on my friend on Saturday night.

A friend from high school was in town for the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.  She came over on Saturday evening to catch up and just hang out.  Walter had been, for the most part, on pretty good behavior almost the entire day.

But something about my friend set off a series of bad bunny behaviors.  First, Walter started leaving droppings around the house on the carpet.  We’ve been living in the apartment for three weeks now, and this is the first time he’s done that.

Then, after telling my friend how well-behaved Walter had been lately, I decided to let him up on the couch for a few minutes.  This was a terrible decision.  I knew from the very moment Walter hopped up that something was not quite right.  He stood in the center of the couch, between my friend and me, and hopped in a few small circles.  Then he stopped, facing me.  The next thing I know, my friend shouts, “Oh no, WALTER!” And that’s when I see the urine stain spreading quickly on the side of her jeans and all over my couch cushion.

What was that all about?!  He hasn’t done that since he was a bitty baby bunny, and even then it was just one time.

I locked Walter up in his cage and he was grounded for the rest of the night.  The next day, he was right back to normal.  No attempts to hop on the couch, no accidents, nothing.  What is going on with my Walter boy?

Rabbit Separation Anxiety?

It’s been a recurring observation in my last few posts – Walter’s been more snuggly lately.  And while I’m loving this side of my rabbit, I’m wondering if maybe he’s going a bit too far.  Last night, I got home from work at a reasonable time and let Walter out of the cage.  From that point on, Walter was beside me for almost the entire night.  If I went into the kitchen, he followed.  If I sat on the couch, he sat by my feet.

I sat on the floor with him for a little while, since I am trying to discourage him from hopping onto the couch.  Walter used this opportunity to squeeze himself between my back and the couch that I was leaning on.  If I moved, Walter gave me a disgruntled look.  Finally, he moved next to me instead of lying behind me and I gave him some forehead scratches while I read my book.  If I stopped for even a split second, the rabbit let me know he was mad.

What happened to my independent bunny?

I didn’t really think anything of it until later.  I got up to use the restroom and shut the door behind me.  Walter, suddenly aware that I was no longer with him in the living room, darted to the bathroom door.  I could see the shadow of his floppy ears underneath the doorway and then heard his frantic scratches to be let into the room with me. I’ve been keeping Walter out of the bathroom because he keeps chewing the door frames and my bathmats, so I thought his scratches were simply because he wanted to play in the bathroom.  When I went to exit the bathroom, I left the door open long enough to allow the rabbit to sneak inside the room, but he didn’t take the opportunity given.  Instead, he followed me right back to our spot on the floor in the living room.

It reminded me of a parent who brings her child to daycare or school: the child kicks and cries for his mommy, not able to bear the thought of being apart.  So, is this rabbit-style separation anxiety?  Or is this a one-time rabbit behavior?  Walter’s gone through some changes recently; we moved to a new apartment and he's now down by one "parent."  I’m not trying to go all psychology on my rabbit relationship, but I know rabbits are sensitive animals.  Is it a stretch to think that Walter’s snuggliness and over-attentiveness is related to making sure there aren’t any more changes coming soon?

Okay, even as I typed that last sentence, I realized it sounded silly.  That seems a bit intense for a little bunny.  Maybe he’s just grown out of his crazy baby phase and is settling into an adult personality of being a calm, affectionate pet.

In other news, Walter’s racing and jumping around the apartment has hit new levels of hilarity.  I will try to take some videos this weekend and post them here.  Happy Halloweekend, everyone!

Walter Learns Couch Boundaries

Two weeks ago, I posted about Walter’s love for playing on the couch.  I complained that he kept leaving droppings behind, and a commenter noted that the rabbit was being territorial and should be kept off the couch until he learned it was a place that belonged to me, not him.

Ever since, I’ve been working hard to keep the bunny off the sofa.  It hasn’t been easy! I’ve had evenings when Walter would do nothing but jump on, get pushed off, and then just jump right back on the couch again, and the cycle would repeat.

Fortunately, Walter’s been a quick learner.  Last night, I spent a few hours reading on the couch.  Normally, the rabbit would have taken this opportunity to join me on the sofa, and I would have had to interrupt my reading to clean up whatever droppings he’d left behind.  Instead, Walter would approach the couch, look up at me or nudge my foot to get my attention, and I would join him on the floor.  He didn’t attempt to jump onto the couch at all! 

Okay, that’s a lie. He did once after I patted the sofa and repeated, “C’mon up, it’s okay!” to him a few times.  I guess I’m sending him mixed signals.

But, when he did hop up upon request, it wasn’t to leave droppings or run around like a crazy bunny.  He climbed into my lap and nestled his face into the crook of my arm for a bunny snuggle session.  We sat together like that for a while – me, reading my book and Walter, grinding his teeth in joy.

This brings me to my next point: Walter has been such an affectionate rabbit lately. It’s wonderful; I lie on the floor, and Walter curls up next to me.  It’s the first time I've felt rabbit ownership was just as comforting as dog ownership.  I wonder what’s gotten into him!

Walter Surveys the Apartment

It’s official: Walter loves the new apartment.  I let the rabbit explore for a few hours yesterday, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him jump, binky, or run so much in one three-hour span as he did last night.

He helped me identify one particular trouble spot during his adventures, though.  The space between the refrigerator and the wall was just large enough for a rabbit to squeeze his way behind the appliance.  After a few frantic minutes of trying to first figure out where the bunny went, and then trying to lure him out from behind the fridge before he got hurt, I had to slightly move the fridge to prevent future sneak-ins.

Other than the refrigerator misstep, Walter behaved really well in the new apartment.  He spent some time darting from one end of the unit to the other, turning the path of unpacked boxes into an obstacle course.  He searched for a new hideout spot, since my couch sits lower to the ground than the couch at Paul’s apartment and Walter can no longer fit underneath.  He, of course, dug at the doors to both the bedroom and the bathroom, pleading to be allowed to enter.  And he sought out all miscellaneous wires and cords left around the apartment in an attempt to satisfy his urge to chew.

This brings me to a really exciting realization:  Walter learned the word “no.”  Whenever the rabbit hopped over to any exposed cord that hadn’t yet been bunny-proofed, I sternly told him no.  Walter would stop immediately and hop away.  I was one proud mama!

But, with any progress comes a few drawbacks.  Walter also learned that I can’t see what he’s doing when my back is turned.  As I was unpacking my kitchen, I saw that he hopped up onto my ottoman to reach the wires coming from my cable box.  I told him no and he hopped off with his best look of innocence.  The minute I turned back to my unpacking, the rabbit hopped back up onto the ottoman.  After four repeat instances of this, I finally had to lock the mischievous rabbit in his playpen.

I’m glad to see that Walter is handling this housing transition so well, but more than that, I’m glad to notice the changes in the rabbit’s behavior and maturity.  He’s one step closer to my ultimate goal of never needing to lock him in his cage at all.  But he’s still got a long way to go.

Don't Dig the Carpet!

Walter moved into our new apartment yesterday.  He was not pleased about the change.

We did most of the moving on Monday, but were too tired by the end of the day to finish the job, including Walter and his cage.  When I returned to Paul's apartment after work yesterday, I let the rabbit out of his cage so that he could hop around while I finished packing.  He loved hopping in, around, and on the empty moving boxes.  But, unfortunately, packing also meant taking down Walter’s cage and putting all his toys in boxes.  The rabbit went from happy to slightly confused to completely terrified in a matter of seconds.

He hid under the couch for as long as we would let him, and luring him into his travel carrier was more difficult than usual.  Paul and I had to resort to serious cornering tactics and then basically just shoved the rabbit into the crate: not my preferred method of getting Walter in there.

Once we got to the new place, though, Walter settled in pretty quickly.  I set up his cage and put the playpen around it so that the rabbit couldn’t discover any unpacked wires or wood items strewn about.  The apartment, as I mentioned in an earlier post, has one major downfall:  carpeting.

It took Walter maybe an hour to discover the joys of digging at the carpet, even within the confines of his playpen.  I am starting to worry that the combination of the rabbit and the carpet will become disastrous and expensive.  What recommendations do you have to deter a rabbit from chewing or digging at carpeting?

Walter and the Couch

I have mentioned in several earlier posts that Walter’s favorite hangout is underneath the couch.  What I haven’t talked about yet is Walter’s love for the couch itself.

It took a while before we decided to let Walter up on the couch.  At first, he wasn’t big enough to make the jump, so we would stack pillows as little rabbit stairs.  This confused him at first, but he eventually got the hang of it.  As he grew, we took away his steps pillow-by-pillow until he could make the full jump on his own.

Once he’s up on the couch, he refuses to acknowledge it as a place to relax.  He prefers to be the sole occupier of the sofa, and likes to dart back and forth like a maniac.  He’ll toss his head or throw in some funky jumps in the middle of his races, but mostly he just enjoys running from one end of the couch to the other as quickly as he can.

Recent attempts by the rabbit have been made, with some success, to hop from the couch cushions to the top of the couch back.  If he’s made the jump, he’s not really quite sure what to do while up there, and you can tell the jump back down onto the seat is a little scary for him.

If Paul or I are sitting on the couch, the rabbit doesn’t let it faze him too much.  We’re simply two extra obstacles in his race course, and he’ll have a fun time jumping over us, on us, around us, or nudging us to get the heck off the couch.

Letting the rabbit on the couch is only problematic in two cases: when his nails scratch the leather or when he's decided it’s his new litter box.  Unfortunately, both things happen about ninety percent of the time that Walter is up on the couch. Trimming his nails would be a good start to fixing the first problem, if I could get the rabbit to hold still and be patient while I did it.  But the second problem seems much harder to fix.  He never urinates on the couch (okay, he did it once when he was younger), but he leaves droppings all the time!  Sometimes it’s just a typical “I’m marking my territory” dropping here or there, but sometimes it’s a full potty break!

I don't want to ban Walter from another of his favorite play places.  I'd prefer to find a way to share the couch with him.  Do you have any tips or tricks on getting a rabbit to stop using the couch as his second bathroom?

Snuggle Bunny?

Either Walter feels like he’s been neglected by his mama lately, or he’s entered a new, cuddly phase of his life.  After running some post-work errands yesterday, I came home and let the rabbit out of his cage.  Walter’s usual routine is to clean himself before exiting his habitat, hop out and acknowledge my presence briefly, and then begin his circuit of sleeping under the couch and exploring the apartment.  But last night was different.

After his quick grooming session, he hopped out of the cage and stopped for a few forehead scratches.  He lowered his head to the ground and began grinding his teeth, so I knew he was happy to be receiving the rubs.  A few pets later and Walter’s entire body essentially melted onto the floor until he was completely transformed into a puddle of bunny affection, nudging for more rubs if I stopped for even a split second.

This makes me think of a tweet I received from a friend of mine on the day before I brought Walter home:

“Bunnies are like that when they're little. They just want to lick and love on you; then they develop an attitude lol”

Is this affectionate, loving version of Walter just a phase? Should I be enjoying it while it lasts?  Am I doomed to a life of rabbit grumpiness?  I certainly hope not.  I’m enjoying this sweet side of Walter, but I do feel bad when I can’t sit with him for hours on end, just giving him cheek rubs.

I suppose this is the part about rabbits that is more humanlike than doglike: the ability to change moods and attitudes.  One day he’s licking my sweatpants as his attempt at grooming me, and then next day he’s pretending I don’t even exist.  Rabbits can be so fickle!

Circling

Last night, Walter did something new.  He started circling Paul.  Paul was standing in the middle of the living room and Walter hopped over to Paul’s feet and slowly started hopping around them.  When Paul moved, Walter stopped and waited until Paul stood still again.  At this point, the bunny continued his rotations around Paul’s feet.

Paul gave the rabbit a few rubs and went back to his work on the computer.  Walter followed, waiting for my boyfriend to notice him.  When Paul got back up, Walter began his circling all over again.

Clip Art depicts what happened last night.

Circling, in unaltered rabbits, is a sign of sexual arousal.  Fortunately for Paul, we had Walter neutered in the beginning of the summer so it’s unlikely that Walter was trying to court my boyfriend.  In cases of altered rabbits, circling is simply a way for rabbits to get someone’s attention and signal an interest in playing.

This is the first time I’ve seen Walter actively try to engage us (especially Paul!) in playtime.  Usually, he’s content to binky around the apartment by himself, but it was certainly refreshing and entertaining to see him trying to solicit some attention from someone, even if it wasn’t me.  (No, I’m not jealous or anything…)

Does your rabbit circle?  How does your rabbit try to get your attention for playtime?