Restlessness

Question
My pet rabbit is four years old. Recently she has been very restless during the night, kicking her bedding out of her cage, chewing on her food dish, etc. Other than this she seems perfectly fine. Her appetite is normal, she still plays, and her personality is the same as it has always been. I have not changed anything in her care. I've been using the same bedding for four year and the same food. She has not had anything new added to her diet. I give her timothy hay and pellet food eveyday and an occasional treat ( once or twice a week). She is also out of her cage for exercise on a regular basis. I've had her since she was a baby and she has never acted like this before. She still eats and drinks well, the only problem is the restlessness during the nighttime. Any advice?

Answer
Dear Ashton,

It is a little unusual for a rabbit to develop a new behavior like this suddenly at the age of four years, but many different things could trigger it.  If she was left out of her cage even once over night, then she has learned the joy of being out at night, when she is naturally most active and awake.  Once that happens, you'll probably never convince her that her cage is the best place for her at night.

Is she spayed? If not, then sex hormones could be making her extra restless.  Plus, unspayed, unbred females have a very high risk of uterine cancer, so she should be spayed for her health and longevity:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/spay.html

You can find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Is your bunny locked into her cage at night?  If so, I would suggest you consider letting her free all the time so that she has free run of the house.  As long as you "bunny proof" everything (make sure all wires are protected, etc.) and she's not destructive, this would probably make her *extremely* happy, and give you a better night's sleep.  If she's bored, then once she's spayed, consider setting up a "blind date" with your local rabbit rescuer (www.rabbit.org/chapters) to allow her to choose a neutered boyfriend.  A lonely, bored bunny is more restless and destructive than one who's happily bonded to another bunny (and they are so cute when they snuggle!), but you have to do this carefully, making sure *she* gets to choose, since rabbits can fight ferociously when they don't like each other.

Our rabbits are never caged, and they're happy as clams.  I highly recommend it.

Hope this helps. Please write back if you have any other questions.

Dana