It can be frustrating when your pet rabbit decides to flip or toss their food bowl around their enclosure. This seemingly naughty behavior often leaves rabbit owners scratching their heads wondering why their bunny is acting out in this way. Let’s explore some of the top reasons why rabbits throw their bowls and what you can do about it.
Your Rabbit is Bored
One of the most common reasons rabbits throw their food bowls is simply due to boredom. Rabbits are intelligent, social animals that need ample stimulation and exercise. A lack of mental enrichment and physical activity can lead to undesirable behaviors like food bowl tossing as they seek outlet for their energy.
Try providing more interactive toys, changing up playtime activities, allowing exploration time outside of their enclosure, or getting a bonded bunny companion to alleviate boredom. Just be sure any new toys are rabbit-safe to avoid digestive issues from ingestion.
Attention Seeking Behavior
Similar to boredom, rabbits may also flip bowls to get your attention. If they feel neglected or lonely, acting out by throwing their bowl can be their way of saying “pay attention to me!” Rabbits are quite smart and learn that tossing their dish makes noise that gets a reaction from you.
Be sure to give your rabbit adequate daily one-on-one interaction with petting, talking, and playtime. Providing mental stimulation with puzzle toys can also help satisfy their craving for attention.
Stress or Anxiety
Stressful situations like a loud noise, a change in environment, or introduction of a new pet can also cause rabbits to toss their bowl. Acting out by flipping their dish helps release nervous energy or frustration. Any major changes to their normal routine can be stressful and cause anxiety.
Try to minimize stressors when possible and give your bunny time to adjust to changes gradually. Providing enrichment tools like chew toys can also help rabbits work through stressful emotions in a healthy way.
Marking Territory
Intact, unneutered male and unspayed female rabbits may throw their food bowl to mark their territory, especially if they feel their space is being invaded. Hormonal behaviors like chin rubbing and spraying urine are also ways rabbits mark areas as their own.
Getting your rabbit spayed or neutered can minimize hormone-driven territorial marking. Be sure they have their own clearly defined space as well with dedicated food, litter box, toys, and sleeping area.
Disliking Placement of Bowl
Something as simple as disliking where their food bowl is located could cause a rabbit to toss it. Rabbits can be quite particular about the arrangement of their environment. They may not like that their dish is too close to their litter box, resting spot, or elsewhere in their enclosure.
Observe if there’s a pattern to when your rabbit moves their bowl and try placing it in a different spot until you find a location they seem happy with.
Wanting a Different Bowl
It’s possible your rabbit simply doesn’t like the food bowl itself. Plastic dishes can accumulate odors over time even after washing. The shape, size, color, or material may also be unappealing to your bunny for some reason.
Try offering your rabbit’s food in a different style of bowl like ceramic, stainless steel or even a plate to see if they have a preference.
Wanting Fresh Food
Some rabbits will toss their bowls to indicate they want completely fresh food. Even if their current dish still has food, they may flip it over to say “I expect my meals served fresh!” This signals they are ready for their next scheduled feeding.
Stick to a regular feeding routine so your rabbit knows when to expect meals. Immediately replace tossed bowls with a clean one and fresh food to satisfy their request.
Playing a Game
Believe it or not, some clever rabbits actually find flipping their food bowl to be a fun game or way to interact with their owners! If they get scolded or rewarded with fresh food and attention when they do it, the behavior can become reinforced.
Try to refrain from giving your rabbit attention right after they throw their dish so as not to reinforce the behavior. Offer praise and pets during designated playtime instead so they learn when interaction is appropriate.
Medical Issue
In rare cases, persistent food bowl flipping could indicate an underlying medical problem. Issues like dental disease, gastrointestinal upset, or neurological conditions can sometimes manifest with behavioral changes.
If your rabbit is tossing their dish compulsively despite addressing other probable causes, have them examined by a rabbit-savvy vet to rule out illness.
How to Stop Rabbits from Throwing Bowls
If your rabbit develops a habit of flipping or throwing their food bowl, try these tactics to curb the behavior:
- Ensure their enclosure has adequate space with room for exercise
- Provide interactive puzzle toys to relieve boredom
- Set aside daily one-on-one playtime and interaction
- Get a compatible bunny friend if yours is solo
- Spay/neuter to decrease territorial hormonal behavior
- Introduce changes gradually to minimize stress
- Stick to a consistent daily feeding routine
- Try different styles of bowl until finding one they like
- Refrain from scolding or rewarding right after dish tossing
- Have them medically examined to rule out health issues
Use a Heavy Bowl or Dish
Using a heavier, weighted food bowl that’s not easy to pick up and throw can curb this behavior. Choose a sturdy ceramic, stoneware or stainless steel dish that has some heft to it.
Tip-resistant bowls designed for pets are also available that have a wide, low profile and non-slip rubber ring on the bottom to prevent spills and flips.
Place Bowl in a Corner
Position your rabbit’s food dish tucked into a corner of their enclosure. Having walls/fencing on two sides makes the bowl harder to flip or slide around.
Use a Crock Bowl or Holder
A crock style bowl that attaches to the side of the enclosure can prevent your rabbit from tossing it. The bowl screws or fastens into a holder attached to the wall or fencing.
Crock holders come in handy sizes for rabbits and prevent the dish from ending up on the floor of the cage.
DIY Tethered Bowl
You can also DIY a tethered bowl using a small ceramic dish, sturdy cable tie, and securing it to the side of the enclosure. Loop the cable tie through any openings in the dish and around a wire on the wall to hold the bowl in place.
Be sure to check that the tether doesn’t allow hazardous slack for your bunny to get caught in.
| Bowl Type | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy ceramic or stainless steel | – Harder to flip or move – Keeps food fresher |
– More expensive – Makes noise if still tossed – Can chip or break |
| Tip-proof pet bowl | – Designed not to spill or flip – Rubber ring prevents slides – Comes in metal and plastic |
– Pricier than basic bowls – Rubber ring needs replacement – Can still be lifted and tossed |
| Crock bowl | – Attaches securely to cage – Range of sizes for rabbits – Allows minimal movement |
– Need to purchase holder – Ceramic can chip or break – Limited scooting still possible |
| Tethered DIY bowl | – Inexpensive to make – Secures bowl in place – Owner controls slack |
– Potential choking hazard – Ceramic can chip or break – Bunny can still lift bowl |
Use a Bowl Cover
You can also place your rabbit’s food bowl inside a slightly larger container or cake pan. The lip of the outer container essentially acts as a lid to make the bowl more difficult to remove and toss around.
Just ensure the cover container is heavy enough itself that your bunny doesn’t slide the whole thing around their enclosure!
Positive Reinforcement
With time and patience, consistently rewarding desirable behavior can help reinforce that tossing food bowls is unacceptable. Any time you see your rabbit approaching their dish without throwing it, offer verbal praise and a treat.
Over many repetitions, positive reinforcement helps rabbits associate leaving their food bowl alone with rewards rather than attention from flipping it.
Remove Bowls Between Feedings
If your rabbit is intent on making a game out of tossing their dish, simply removing it completely between scheduled mealtimes can eliminate the opportunity. Without a bowl to throw, the undesirable behavior is unable to continue.
Just be sure to promptly return it at feeding time so your bunny doesn’t go hungry in the interim!
Provide Alternate Toys
Giving your rabbit appropriate alternative outlets for their energy and curiosity can curb redirection onto their food dish. Offer a variety of safe chew toys to occupy idle mouths and paws.
You can also provide empty cardboard boxes, paper towel tubes, or untreated wicker baskets to satisfy their urge to toss and throw harmless objects instead.
Top Tips for Stopping Food Bowl Throwing
Here are some top tips to remember when trying to get your mischievous rabbit to stop throwing their food bowl around:
- Eliminate causes like boredom, stress, territorialism
- Use a heavy, tip-resistant bowl that’s hard to pick up
- Place bowl in a corner or attach it to the enclosure
- Reward good behavior, not bad
- Provide alternative activities and chewing options
- Remove the bowl completely between feedings if needed
- Get medical causes ruled out by your exotics vet
When to Seek Help for Rabbits Throwing Bowls
While many rabbits may toss their food bowls on occasion, seek guidance from your veterinarian or a rabbit behavioralist if:
- The behavior becomes excessive or compulsive
- It happens alongside other behavioral changes
- Your rabbit seems to have new, unexplained anxiety
- Redirecting or preventing the behavior is ineffective
- Your bunny seems to have an obsessive fixation on their bowl
- They aren’t eating normally due to constant bowl tossing
Professional animal behavior experts can observe your rabbit’s behavior, assess possible causes, and help develop targeted treatment plans for correction.
Preventing Food Bowl Flipping
While some rabbits seem predisposed to food bowl flipping no matter what, there are some tips that can help prevent this behavior from developing:
- Get your rabbit spayed/neutered by 6 months old
- Provide puzzle toys, chews, and box play for stimulation
- Give your bunny space for exercise and exploration
- Gradually introduce any changes to their environment
- Keep litter boxes extremely clean to avoid annoying your rabbit
- Ensure their enclosure is comfortable with places to hide
- Give your rabbit one-on-one interaction and play time daily
- Make sure children know to treat rabbits gently
Stopping undesirable behavior in rabbits takes time and effort, but is definitely possible. Identify the underlying motivation, make adjustments to their care routine, and have patience working with your bunny.
Conclusion
Rabbits flipping food bowls can be both disruptive and perplexing for owners. However, this behavior usually has an underlying cause based in boredom, stress, territoriality, or their environment. Addressing those root triggers along with deterrent options like heavy bowls, tethers, and positive reinforcement allows you to curb the undesirable conduct.
Have realistic expectations for the training process and be consistent. With attentive care and enrichment, your mischievous bowl flipper can become a model rabbit citizen in no time!