Nighttime

Question
Since I have moved her cage to my room, she's been having a lot of activity at night time. I find myself waking up many times during the night to hear her throwing stuff around, trying to dig (she likes to move all the bedding away from one area where she lays down), and drinking. The latter doesn't really bother me because she doesn't do it much and she has to do it to survive. Is there anything that can be done about the night time activities? Last night I was woken up at 2 AM, and yesterday at 5 AM.

Also, I let her roam my bed for a couple hours a day, she seems to have fun with that, but it's kinda scary sometimes because she all of a sudden has these spazes where she'll run and jump randomly at random times. Sometimes this even occurs in her cage. I just wanted to know if this is normal or if this is a sign of something that could be happening.

Answer
Dear Rich,

I think it's time for you to consider litterbox training your very bright bunny and also "bunny-proofing" your room so that she can run free all the time.  She'll need to be spayed:

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

by a good rabbit vet, whom you can find here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

All my rabbits run free and are never caged.  They need as much free time as a dog or cat, and once they are litterbox trained and the house is bunny-proofed (electric cords out of reach and/or covered, all dangerous things out of reach, etc.), she can live free and be happy.  The "spaz" dance you see is her joyful "binky" at being free.  Rabbits need to be free for good health and happiness, and there's probably no reason to cage her once the above has been taken care of.

She's just bored in there at night, and wants to play.  There's no good way to stop her from making a ruckus in the cage if she's bored.  But if you let her run free and entertain herself, the situation will improve.  Spaying will reduce her sexual frustration and also allow you to set up a "blind date" with your local rabbit rescuer to let your bunny pick her own (neutered) mate.  Two bunnies are less bored, and less likely to be destructive.

For more information, please see:

www.rabbit.org/

Hope that helps.  Please write back if you have more questions.

Dana