cagebound rabbit

Question
hi
i have another problem i am hoping you can help me with.

i adopted another rabbit who after he is neutered will hopefully be a friend to chloe.  he is a 3 month old dwarf mix.  the problem is that before i adopted him he was never let out of his cage not even at the shelter.  he is out 12 hours a day (chloe has one room he has another) and only in his cage at night and when i am going to be out for more than an hour next to chloe.  he's very happy and things are good when he is out of the cage but when i put him back in he gets mad and has chewed holes in the bottom of the cage.  i have tried using fooey spray (more bitter than bitter apple or lime),  ivory soap, and tobasco sauce, but nothing stops him from chewing at the plastic tay at the bottom and ripping pieces off.  i have even tried putting resue remedy in his water.  do you have any ideas that might help?  i can't leave him out 24/7 because when left alone to long he gets into things and it wouldn't be safe for him.  the cage is a big dog kennel so he has a lot of room.  when chloe is in her cage she has to be beside my bed or she gets mad and i am hoping to bond them so his cage needs to be next to hers and with him chewing at his cage i don't get much sleep.  
i don't know what else i can do
Michelle

Answer
Dear Michelle,

Once he's neutered he should calm down some.  But you should prepare yourself for the possibility that he's a very intelligent rabbit who thinks it's entirely unfair that he should be locked up *at all.*  There are just some rabbits like that, and they take a very long time to ever adjust to a cage.

One solution might be to designate a room for him and Chloe and make sure it's completely rabbit-proofed so they can't get into trouble while you're gone.  But there is absolutely no way to stop him from fighting to get out when he's caged.  It is against his nature to give up, and now that he's tasted freedom he doesn't want to let it go.  (Who would?)

None of my rabbits are caged, so I really can't give the best advice for how to keep a caged rabbit happy.  My honest opinion is that you can't.  Rabbits are meant to be free, just as a dog or cat is.  The onus is on the "bunny parent" to properly "bunny proof" the house so no major mischief can happen.  At least not *dangerous* mischief.  But living with bunny mischief is one of the special joys of living with a bunny!  :)

Hope that helps!

Dana