My bunny can’t jump

[xxmelaniedawn]

Well, she can, just not very high. I was wondering if this is normal? I mean, she is a mini bunny, so she’s not as big so I wouldn’t expect her to jump as high, but my friend just got a baby bunny (12 weeks) and it can jump up onto and off of her couch. Mine can’t. Or is too scared. But she tried once and did not succeed. Is there something wrong or can some rabbits just not jump very high?

[Deleted User]

Yep, it does depend – and mostly on how determined they are? I bought a board (blockade) that whenever I try to step over it I tripped, caught my foot. Thinking that Henry couldn’t possibly get over it, bugga me! He couldn’t jump it, but jumped up, front paws on the other side and with his back legs clawed his way over. I’m guessing it was to much hard work for him, he only did it 3 X’s and that was a few months ago now.
Some breeds can jump high – some can’t but try and the result is purely determination! Some are just down right lazy and just can’t be bothered!
When it comes to your BED, give her time – she WILL work out a way, eventually!

[LBJ10]

How high a bunny jumps has more to do with determination than physical ability. Sure, different sized rabbits are going to be different. But really, some rabbits just don’t care to jump up high. Leopold never tries to jump over or onto anything. The only time he ever did was when we first brought Wooly home. I was holding Wooly in my lap on the couch and my husband thought it would be funny to “accidentally” leave the baby gate to the rabbit room open. They had not met yet, but Leopold was so determined to see this bunny that was sitting in my lap. It was like super bunny, he came flying through the air out of no where! And for what? He wanted to hump Wooly. o_O We bonded them not that long after that. Leopold has not flown through the air like that since.

[LBJ10]

Oh, I wanted to add that Leopold does still get on the couch. He just prefers to use the dog’s ramp.

[Deleted User]

Ha ha ha ha haha LBJ10 – I would pay to see that!
And agreed – if there’s an easy way….. not Henry (yet) but my hubby put a step stool for our older (slightly FAT) dog to get up to the bed. She worked it out in no time! LOL!!!!! Why jump when you can STEP up! Too funny!

[justwildbeat]

If the rabbit is physically fine it’s more to do with their personality as LBJ pointed out. My first rabbit, would easily jump over barriers that were 3.5 ft high or higher and on slick linoleum. Yeti (current rabbit), is a total weenie lol. He’s capable of jumping but doesn’t feel the need to break out. Some just prefer to stay closer to the ground.

[Monkeybun]

My Smudge is a hesitant jumper too. She just isn’t sure of what is up there to land on. Jumping down is an issue too, for her. She’s a dainty lady, doesn’t want her fur ruffled I guess

[Bam]

Bam is a flying bunny. My mother noticed this during Christmas when she was sitting in the sofa eating from a bowl of fruit-sallad. Bam came out of nowhere, shoot through the air like a cannon-ball and landed in her fruit-salad-bowl. She’d whipped cream on top of the fruit which added to the effect, huge bunny feet landing in whipped cream is quite spectacular.

Bam is an otherwise lazy bunny and he looks very clumsy. But he isn’t. Don’t let your bunny fool you. If a bunny wants sth bad enough, it’ll jump =/

[Eepster]

Porky’s not a jumper. He’s perfectly healthy.

[Bam]

Eepster, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean a bunny that doesn’t jump is unhealthy. Just that a bunny may look very clumsy and still be a terrific jumper when it needs to be. That’s why gates etc need o be higher than a person perhaps would think, in case of a crisis or just a bad enough urge to get over the gate. Looking at Bam when he laboriously hop-walks around on the floor, his hind feet angling out, you’d never guess he was a jumper and the idea of him being a flying bunny is ridiculous to those who haven’t seen him in action.

[RetroSquid]

We had a low sofabed in our bunroom for a fairly long time, one of our buns, Navi, never looked confident hopping up to it even though it was probably only about a foot off the ground… 
But today, she cleared her new safety gate…

I think it all depends on how determined they are at any particular time.

[Eepster]

Sorry Bam, I wasn’t trying to argue with you. I was just trying to reassure the OP that not being very interested in jumping isn’t a sign of an unhealthy bunny.

BTW RetroSquid, Navi looks a lot like Porky.

[Jessie1990]

You people with non-jumpers are lucky lol… We have yet to find a baby gate that can’t be jumped or pulled over by Moogle and Ashe. But, they are supervised at all times now anyway since Ashe removed a softball sized area of carpet in 5 minutes, and Moogle eats the carpet like it’s hay -_-

[calipa_st]

my first rabbit, he is extremely active…jumps on and off the bed, the couch, escaped his ex pen once…probably jumped from his carrier to the outside, had to take the carrier out. he’s crazy.

my new guy, he’s at least two pounds more than the little one, I’ve seen him binky quite high, but he’s absolutely terrified when he tries to get off the couch (which I bring him onto) he acts as if he’s 10ft off the ground. i didn’t realize a rabbit would be frightful of that. he’s quite shy though, and I am starting to think he was used for breeding/in a tiny cage all the time. he is loving free range when he’s allowed but is not a people bunny. the jumping thing is just odd to me, but I figure he’ll come around eventually once he’s more comfy.

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