PLEASE HELP! Bunny is acting stubborn!! *RESOLVED*

[Foo-ki]

hello i’m new here. I regestered because I knew there are  lot of people here who are experts with bunny behavior. please please guide me through this situation.

 

I have a 7 year old hollad lop. she has been in the same cage all her life and I just recently decided to get her a new, bigger, cage. Last night I bought the cage, moved her and her things into it. I thought she was enjoying herself until I noticed today that she would’nt eat a thing. I’ve seen her drink water once but thats about it. I tried to feed her her favorite treats but she wont take any. I tried taking her out to get some fresh air but she just slumped in the grass. Since she wasn’t doing much outside I just put her back in her new cage.

I just checked on her a couple of minutes ago and now she wont even get up to greet me. Usually when she hears me she’d jump all over her cage and beg for nose rubs. I open the cage to pet her but she avoids me hand and spreads out in a corner. i’m scared. I can’t tell if shes just being stubborn or is actually weak from not eating all day

this would’nt be the first time my bunny did something like this. Once before she attempted to starve herself to death because I moved her into the basement (it was cool down there. perfect to get away from the summer heat). I had to take her to the vets, force feed her pills, and move her cage back to it’s original spot. I don’t want to move her back into her tiny, filthy cage now. I just want her to be happy where she is. what should I do?? i’m on the verve of calling out of work tomorrow to take her to the vet

[Tate]

Hm- I’m not a bunny expert by any means. BUT, I would take her to the vet. I’m wondering if she’s had an underlying illness for some time that was stirred up by her “move”? I think new digs can be daunting to some rabbits, even though the cage is in the same house.

[Foo-ki]

Posted By Tate on 05/01/2011 06:57 PM
Hm- I’m not a bunny expert by any means. BUT, I would take her to the vet. I’m wondering if she’s had an underlying illness for some time that was stirred up by her “move”? I think new digs can be daunting to some rabbits, even though the cage is in the same house.

noooo I don’t think she’s been sick. she’s usually very active and playful. It’s the move that’s making her act this way. yeah I just might call out of work tommorrow and take her to the emergency vet

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Is keeping her old cage and adding an xpen an option, instead of the new cage? I’ve read a lot that bunnies get attached to their cages.

[Foo-ki]

Posted By OneTwoThree on 05/01/2011 07:12 PM
Is keeping her old cage and adding an xpen an option, instead of the new cage? I’ve read a lot that bunnies get attached to their cages.

the old cage is absolutly revolting. after 7 years the bars and the flooring is rusted and eroding. It’s so dirty I thought I was doing her a favor by getting her a bigger, cleaner cage. :<

I tried making an xpen enclosure a few years back but she isn’t litter trained so she peed all over the carpet instead of in her cage

 

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Have you thought of litter training her?

[Foo-ki]

Posted By OneTwoThree on 05/01/2011 07:43 PM
Have you thought of litter training her?

 

is it not too late? I assumed she was too old O_O

[Monkeybun]

it may take a bit more time, but she can definitely be trained. We had an untrained 8 year old boy come into the humane society, and now he is awesome with his potty habits

[Eepster]

Definitely take her to the vet if she isn’t better in the morning.

Can you put the door of the old cage up against the door of the new cage and leave both open, so she can hop back and forth between the two cages. Move all her stuff back to her old cage fort now, but gradually move it one piece at a time into her new cage. After a few weeks maybe she will be OK giving up her old cage.

[Monkeybun]

Some buns do take harshly to change, you may need to do the over time thing with her.

[Foo-ki]

ok guys thank you for the advice! I moved her back in her old cage a couple of minutes ago and I immediately saw change in her eyes. I think she’s going to be alright for the night. I will also be looking into litter training. I was not aware that older rabbits could be trained or else I would’ve done it long ago lol.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

I *think* training an older bunny is the same as a new one, but it’s going to take a lot of human training for a bit too. Make sure there isn’t any bedding that she’ll pee on in the cage, have an actual litter box with some hay on one side, pick up poops and put them in the litter box, that kinda thing. I’m still LT’ing my baby bun, so take my input with a grain of salt LOL.

[Monkeybun]

Squirrel was using his potty on the first day home. Its just poops he misses with, he pees in the box all the time.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Posted By Monkeybun on 05/01/2011 08:24 PM
Squirrel was using his potty on the first day home. Its just poops he misses with, he pees in the box all the time.

Samson does pretty well, only a couple stray poops here and there when he’s in free play. In his pen he’s a pig though :/

 

[Foo-ki]

So I woke up this morning and my rabbit was back to her normal self. she’s eating and drinking and begging for attention. It looks like she just thrown a fit to get her cage back. i’m still determined to get rid of it though (I don’t need two cages) but i’ll take it more slowly next time. i’ll be moving her from cage to cage for a couple of hours a day

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Can you let her move herself? Like, bridge the doors and “fence” around it,  or during her free play let her explore it herself?

[peppypoo]

I’m glad she seemed to work things out eventually. However, I do encourage you to litter train her, to make like easier for both of you!

[jerseygirl]

She is obviously very sensitive to change. Her behaviour would not have been something deliberate but rather due to stress. As a prey species, her cage is her security. So it not being there may have caused her stress, loss of appetite and activity. I’m really glad you saw an improvement once she was back in her safe place. When they stop eating and pooping it can become serious so quickly. Stress can bring in GI stasis.

If you do still want to change the habitat, do it slowly. I like Eepters idea about letting her access the new cage in her own time. She sounds like a bun that needs lots of time to adjust. Sometimes new things have a strong smell (like the plastic tray base) or the floor is more slippery and that could be disorientating.

Goodluck with the litter training and cage transition!

[bunnnnnnie!]

I also like the idea of somehow allowing her free access to both cages for awhile until she gets acclimated.  Bunnies can get quite set in their ways, a big change can really turn their little world upside down.

When I first got my bunny, he’d lived in a crappy, tiny cage for his entire life.  I thought I’d really spoil him and let him just live in my bathroom, cage-free, with a baby gate in the doorway.  He HATED it!  Didn’t sleep, didn’t relax, threw little bunny tantrums and tried to rip the baby gate apart. .  Moved him into a dog crate, he was happy as a clam.  It was obviously a smaller space than having the whole bathroom to himself, but he really relies on the security of a cage.

Now I have him in a “cage” that’s actually designed to be an outdoor pen to attach to a hutch.  It’s quite large, offers plenty of space, but still feels “cage like”.  I’m not sure if he could handle giving in just an x-pen alone.  He lived in nothing but a cage (with no out of cage time, even ) from birth to age 2.  That’s what he’s used to, what he’s comfortable with, and what I use for him to keep him happy.

Also, on a related note, he wasn’t litter trained until he was 2, either.  He learned it in literally under 2 days, and after I got a deep enough litterbox (my mistake, not his), he NEVER has accidents. 

[Foo-ki]

Posted By Samson’s Mum on 05/02/2011 07:19 AM

Can you let her move herself? Like, bridge the doors and “fence” around it,  or during her free play let her explore it herself?

 

I tried that. it worked well actually. first I started her off in the new cage and then I connected the latch with the old cage. she curiously moved to the old cage and back in the new one. her behavior in the new cage is excellent now. I just had to take things more slowly. I know better now than to move my bunnies so drastically and suddenly

[Foo-ki]

Posted By jerseygirl on 05/04/2011 01:21 PM
She is obviously very sensitive to change. Her behaviour would not have been something deliberate but rather due to stress. As a prey species, her cage is her security. So it not being there may have caused her stress, loss of appetite and activity. I’m really glad you saw an improvement once she was back in her safe place. When they stop eating and pooping it can become serious so quickly. Stress can bring in GI stasis.

If you do still want to change the habitat, do it slowly. I like Eepters idea about letting her access the new cage in her own time. She sounds like a bun that needs lots of time to adjust. Sometimes new things have a strong smell (like the plastic tray base) or the floor is more slippery and that could be disorientating.

Goodluck with the litter training and cage transition!

I never thought of it that way… I always thought she was just being difficult but now that I think about it I don’t think any animal would act that way on purpose. she’s 100% back to her old self again in the new cage. I think it’s safe to let the other one go but i’ll hold on to it for a couple more weeks. I added lots of new toys and boxes that she can hide in and feel safe.

 

litter training is gonna be a paaaaiiiin. un-spayed 7 year old female *sigh* u__u

oh well we have all the time in the world to perfect it.

 

[Foo-ki]

Posted By bunnnnnnie! on 05/04/2011 04:11 PM

I also like the idea of somehow allowing her free access to both cages for awhile until she gets acclimated.  Bunnies can get quite set in their ways, a big change can really turn their little world upside down.

When I first got my bunny, he’d lived in a crappy, tiny cage for his entire life.  I thought I’d really spoil him and let him just live in my bathroom, cage-free, with a baby gate in the doorway.  He HATED it!  Didn’t sleep, didn’t relax, threw little bunny tantrums and tried to rip the baby gate apart. .  Moved him into a dog crate, he was happy as a clam.  It was obviously a smaller space than having the whole bathroom to himself, but he really relies on the security of a cage.

Now I have him in a “cage” that’s actually designed to be an outdoor pen to attach to a hutch.  It’s quite large, offers plenty of space, but still feels “cage like”.  I’m not sure if he could handle giving in just an x-pen alone.  He lived in nothing but a cage (with no out of cage time, even ) from birth to age 2.  That’s what he’s used to, what he’s comfortable with, and what I use for him to keep him happy.

Also, on a related note, he wasn’t litter trained until he was 2, either.  He learned it in literally under 2 days, and after I got a deep enough litterbox (my mistake, not his), he NEVER has accidents. 

 

haha thats exactly how my bun is O_O

she absolutly NEEDS a cage to feel safe. no openings whatsoever. I guess that’s just what they’re used to. well at least we know they weren’t unhappy in their tiny cages so that kinda eases the guilt a little.

good to hear your litter training was a success in such a small amount of time

[BinkyBunny]

Some bunnies really are uneasy with change.  I have one of those!

 Jack does not like change at all.  Normally he lets his partner check things out first and then he’ll follow, but when we moved and the whole house was different…..well he wouldn’t explore the house for a whole month.  Rucy would come back to the entrance of his pen — it seemed as if she was checking on scaredy pants Jack, but then she’d go back and explore by herself.

Jack is the white one sulking at the cage entrance. 

 

    

Then I made a bunch of cardbord houses and stuff to entice him out into the rest of the bunny room, which did help, he’d explore and then go back toward the entrance of his area — just to look at it or hang out right by it.  (His partner at the time, Rucy, was a comfort)

       

After a month, this is Jack hiding behind Rucy as “braves” looking at the hallway to the rest of the house.   He still did not follow her that day when she did go to play in the rest of the house. 

 

 

Some bunnies are just like that.  Rucy was a brave gal who was rarely stressed by change and moving. She always settled right in right away.  Jack on the other hand sounds more like your bunny — just needs time.  

Sounds like the plan you are following to let her explore the other cage is working.  That was a great idea!!

 

[jerseygirl]

I never thought of it that way… I always thought she was just being difficult but now that I think about it I don’t think any animal would act that way on purpose.

Believe me, I’ve felt mine are being bratty, difficult, contrary, etc etc on many occasions. Lol. Maybe your success with was a bit of reverse-psychology you know? Making her think it was HER idea!

Glad to hear she transitioned in the end. You may be surprised with the litter training also. It’s really about taking advantage of their natural tendencies. So putting the box where she most likes to toilet, putting hay in the box as they often toilet where there is hay, leaving the cage floor clear of bedding to avoid confusion. She may surprise you. Keep us updated on her progress.

[Author]

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