getting bunnies downstairs

[Swamp Pop]

Hello all!  I’m sorry for the length of this post, but my wife and I are new bunny owners and want to make sure we’re doing the best we can for Mac and Jane.

We’ve had our bunnies for a few month now, and we’ve run into a bit of a tricky situation with them that we can’t seem to find any answers on.  We’ve got the buns in a pen in one of our upstairs bedrooms, and we try to let out to play and exercise at least 5 times a week.   The problem is, there’s really no room to play upstairs, and no room to keep a pen downstairs, so they need to come downstairs.  

We originally tried to get them into their carrier to bring them downstairs, but this could take hours and the poor things were so scared by the first few trips downstairs they quickly learned not to get in the carrier at all.  They love playing in our living room, but they hate getting there .  Since then, we’ve resorted to carrying them downstairs- even though they hate it, it seems to bother them less than being in the carrier.  So here are my two questions:

1)  Should we be trying to use the carrier even though it takes hours?  Honestly, this will come at the cost of play and exercise time, if we can even get them into it at all.  Picking them up and carrying them takes seconds, but coaxing them into the carrier or leaving it out long enough for them to get curious and hop in may take all night.

2)  Even if we use the carrier to take them downstairs, it’s our understanding that they need to be groomed at least once a week (they’re shorthair mini rexes, that’s what the local HRS chapter recommends) and have their nails clipped monthly.  They’ll only sit still for this while we hold them, but every time we go to pick them up, they run inside their hidey boxes.  At first we tried to reach in and force them out of the boxes, but that really upset them, so now the best thing we can do is to just pick the box up off of them and grab them quick before they can react.  Before I do this, I usually say “UP” loudly as a warning, so they aren’t surprised.  Still, they hate it, and it seems like they’ll never develop trust with me while I’m taking their house up off of them and picking them up against their will.

We’re both totally at a loss with this- the buns are playful and seem to like us, but we really want to make sure we don’t cause them any undue suffering or stress while still grooming them and giving them opportunities to exercise and play.  Does anyone have any recommendations?

[Roberta]

Is it possible to elevate the cages upstairs so that they can utilise the area underneath ?
Does the bedroom let on to a landing or hall that could be used as play space by restricting it with Xpen panels ?
Can you send pictures of their room to give us an idea ? Someone may see another option that is not immediately apparent.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Welcome!!

I’d carry them, and start practice holding them every day. A good practice is to only hold/carry them for a very short period of time and follow that with a reward-a treat and you leaving (since that means there is no possibility of being held this will quickly let them calm down and be a reward). When they start being more comfortable being held you can increase the duration and start handling their feet and ears and do very short brushing sessions. Slowly increase contact but keep the reward-‘out’ time and treats
Also I always pet my bunnies before picking them up-a nice head rub. And I make sure to pet them when I’m not about to pick them up. If you only pick them up when you touch them, they’ll quickly learn your hands coming towards them means picking up, and they’ll avoid you. So pet them without picking them up and pet them before picking them up.

Persistence and patience and you’ll have it in no time. Rupert was very skittish about contact or being held and in a very short time he became so comfortable he’s known at my vet clinic for being so friendly and easy to handle

[Swamp Pop]

Thanks for the advice! I’ve been trying to synthesize what I’m reading here, plus what bunny books and online resources say, plus the advice of the vet… we tried letting them run around a bit in the upstairs bedroom and hall outside, but there’s not much space there. They obviously have more fun downstairs- more bin lying, exploring, socializing with us. We live in a very narrow row house so there’s just not much room upstairs to give the any of the toys we built them.

The bad news is, a few weeks ago Jane got an ear infection and I had to take her to the vet. The vet was gentle and calm, but even driving up there scared the poor thing out of her mind, not to mention being around all those angry cats and dogs in the waiting room . Then, worse yet, the vet prescribes oral and ear drop antibiotics! So after spending about two hours on YouTube and practicing my “bunny burrito” with a stuffed elephant, I’m ready to give it a shot… It went horribly . I did pretty much everything I could but I think her abusive past has made her really skittish. She bucked, she twisted, she yelped, dug her way out of the burrito repeatedly- every time I landed a drop in her ear, she’d fling it back out (got some nice bunny ear medicine stains on a sweater ). Anyway, I finally got through with it and put her upstairs, where she jumped to her letterbox and sat extremely tense, shaking rocking back and forth-completely stressed.

Suffice to say, we repeated the performance every night till the medicine was gone. A few nights she was relatively calm but for the most part she just fought it like crazy. She even bit a few times hard enough to draw blood, and these buns are not typically biters… In any case, that was only for five days and it’s all over now. Since then she’s been so traumatized I’ve instituted a no-touching policy with both buns (Mac was obviously thrown off by this ordeal his sister had to go through). We’ve been bringing as many toys as will fit into the hall and giving them free run of it for several hours a day.

The problem is, I worry that I’ve permanently obliterated our trust relationship. She still hides from me everytime I go in her room, and even offering treats doesn’t help. Since my wife wasn’t in on the medicine duty, Jane will run right up to her and eat out of her hand, and they play and binky like crazy when I’m not around, but I think I’m just permanently associated with pain, especially for Jane. They never would tolerate being touched, from the day we got them just reaching how to stroke their nose would send them running in fear. Now Jane can’t even be in the same room as me… I’ll still take care of her and love her all her days, of course, I’m just worried that by giving her this medicine against her will I’ve permanently traumatized the poor thing

[Roberta]

You’re doing great Swamp Pop and Kudos on the Bunrito test runs on the stuffed elephant….
She will forgive you the trick is finding a level that they can relate to you on. Trying spending some time on the ground… A few minutes every day on the floor eye to eye the curiosity will eventually drive them mad and they will want to know what you are up to. If I get to ground level with mine they all leap on to check me out and have a taste of any new clothing they haven’t previously sampled.

[Swamp Pop]

Thanks! They’re so sweet and so rewarding, I really just want them to enjoy my company the way i enjoy theirs. We did get down to eye level with them a few times and that did seem to pique their curiosity, although I sometimes have a hard time due to an old back injury… My wife and I are brainstorming ways for me to get down there right now thanks for the suggestion!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Don’t worry about your bun being permanently traumatized from the ear infection. Bunnies are very forgiving. My lop has chronic ear infections and is often brought to the vet and he still loves me.

Sounds like you are both very wonderful bunny parents with all the best intentions. Your bunnies are lucky.

[Beka27]

I would try your best to rearrange a space (either upstairs or down) where they can have their pen and exercise space together. Rabbit cages/pens/condos are their “safe zone” and I believe they should always have access to their area. While this may work short-term, carrying them up or down for exercise isn’t a long-term solution; they may tolerate it, but this will cause them stress and will impact the relationship you want to have with them. Wherever you choose to have their pen, you want to be able to just open the door and they’re free to play in that space. If it’s just a room, that is fine. If it’s a room and a connected hallway (with other bedroom doors shut and staircase gated off) better yet. I would also evaluate where YOU spend the most time. If you guys are downstairs in a living/family room area the most, find a space for the pen that can include the living area as exercise space. It might not be easy to rearrange things, or remove something from the area, but long-term it will be worth it.

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