Urine Spraying & Carpet Chewing

Question
Hi, I've had my 1 year old bunny for about 1 month now and I'm fairly happy with how he behaves except in two areas: urine spraying and carpet chewing.

He's un-neutered and I know that neutering will reduce his spraying habits, but due to financial reasons, neutering is not an option. He seems to spray for no reason at times. Sometimes, he'll be startled and spray(usually at me) but at other times, he'll just be chomping on a carrot and suddenly, he'll turn around and spray me. Are there any additional steps I can take to reduce his urine spraying or train him to stop it?

Carpet chewing: he also really enjoys chewing my carpet and even though I've provided plenty of chew toys and given him a special towel to chew near his cage, he is still constantly chewing the carpet - and I'm very consistent about yelling "no" whenever I see him and moving him to the "chewing towel". Any pointers here?

Thanks!

Answer
I hate to tell you this, but the only way to stop him from spraying is to have him neutered.  It is a hormonal behavior, and no one has been able to stop rabbits from doing it.  Spraying on you is telling you that he loves you.

What kind of chew toys have you given him?  Cardboard boxes, paper bags, phone books, newspaper are all good alternatives.  You could also put plexiglass or untreated grass mats over where he chews.  Pier One sells untreated grass mats that a lot of bunnies like to rip up.

The fact that you are being consistent is good, he just may be slow in getting the point.  Rabbits respond well to positive reinforcement, but they don't understand negative reinforcement at all.

Kim