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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR New bunny problems. :(

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    • novabun
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        Hi everyone! About a month ago I brought home an adorable lionhead bun – she is now 3 months old and is wonderful in many ways. However, I am having some trouble with some of her behavior. I have two major problems – she is OBSESSED with hanging out under my bed, and I cannot for the life of me get her to return to her cage. I live in an apartment, and she has a very large cage in my sizable room that is complete with litter box, water/food, lots of toys, and tons of hay – however, it seems like she absolutely HATES being in it!  I leave the door open and let her free roam my bedroom 90% of the time now, only closing the cage door when I go to sleep at night. When she is free to explore my room (which is safe and completely bunny proof) she goes straight for my bed and hangs out under it all day! When I first got her I tried everything to keep her out, just in case – she jumped over or knocked down stacks of boxes, chewed holes through cardboard reinforcements, and climbed/ripped up my comforter. In the brief periods that she couldn’t access under the bed, she ran back and forth, thumping, and completely ignored me. She seemed like she was distressed – and she got past any defenses that I tried – so I gave up. 

        Now, she is under there all the time. I open the cage door first thing in the morning and boom! Runs under the bed. Even when she has fresh hay and food in there, she doesn’t come out to eat it. When I lift the mattress to see what she is doing, she’s usually just lying down under there or nibbling on a cardboard box (there isn’t much of anything under my bed besides boxes). What worries me is that she doesn’t come out for hours on end, not even to eat or drink water! Isn’t this unusual? I try to tempt her out with treats, but she isn’t a very treat motivated bunny. I’ve tried carrots, banana, hay, kale, apple, pellets – she just sniffs it and hops away. This makes it very difficult to train her to go back to the cage at night. Nothing I do seems to work to get her in there, and it can take up to an hour of pleading and trying to finally get her in for the night! Sometimes I have to pick her up and put her in there, which she HATES, and she kicks so violently that I’m scared she’ll get hurt (she also does a lot of damage to my hands!) However, once she’s in, she’ll start drinking water and eating hay like she was thirsty and hungry after all!

        This is where my biggest problem lies- there are times that she needs to be secured, and I can’t get her in without picking her up. For example, today there were inspections in my apartment, and all pets needed to be secure. I needed to go to work for the day, but she wouldn’t go in the cage for anything. I was going to be late and I was too worried about leaving her out. I ended up having to pick her up and put her in the cage, which was super difficult, and now that I’m home she seems to be mad at me. (She’s hiding under the bed again.) I don’t want my bunny to resent me, but I also don’t know how to get her to listen to me.. For the most part she seems like a happy bun, she lets me pet her and binkies/runs about when she decides to show herself. What can I do about the bed/cage situation? Thanks in advance!


      • jerseygirl
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          I can why under the bed is so appealing to rabbits. It would feel a bit like a burrow. They are protected overhead and have multiple escape exits if they thought a predator entered. 

          My rabbits will spend a good part of the day not moving from the one spot. Then around 3-4pm they will go eat some hay and around 6 they’re expecting their dinner.  If you’re really concerned, you could pop a shallow bowl of water near or under the bed. 

          Another thing you could try is put a pet tunnel on the floor, leading from bed to the cage entrance. Even pop a blanket over the cage too to see if that helps.  Can she hop into the cage easily enough.  I suspect if the entire top of the cage was off during the day, she *might* hop into the base more often. But that’s not really going to help you when you need to shut her in! 

          If you want to stop her going under the bed altogether, do provide a hidey box as an alternative. They like them with 2 openings. Again, so they can bolt if they think a predator is at one entrance. 

          I came across a photo this week of a way to block underside of the bed. The only problem with blocking an area off is some rabbits (many!) view getting past a barrier as a project – as you have discovered. (Photo from Sindriona)

          If your bed is closer to the ground, you could do something more permanent with planks of wood. 


        • jerseygirl
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            Have you ever tried putting an open carrier down at edge of the bed and seeing if she’ll hop into that? Then you could transfer her to cage that way.


          • flemishwhite
            Participant
            195 posts Send Private Message

              I’ve been there.

              For some reason, bunnies seem to understand about being with you in your bedroom! 

              There was a point in time where we kept our new young bunny in the kitchen during the day, and then caged her at night.  However if she could ever escape, she would run like a bullet into our bedroom under our bed.   We gave up.  For the next 11 years, our bedroom was also her room.  She slept under our bed.  In the later years of her life, she would spend time with us in the house and living room, and when we went to bed, she would follow us to bed! Similarly in the morning.  I woke up early.  She would sleep in the bedroom and when my wife woke up, Bunny would then follow her out of the bedroom to the living room.

              We had an initial problem with Bunny and the bedroom.  For the first 4,5, 6 weeks? she liked to jump on the bed and pee on our pillows!  We had to cover the bed with a plastic sheet. She stopped that and there was no longer a problem. 

              Fast forward.  Our two new Flemish girls…10 months old.  They too really want in our bedroom. So far my wife has not allowed them in because she’s afraid of the peeing problem on the pillows, etc.   But I’ve let them in the bedroom, and they are so happy.  They jump and do binkys and make wimpering sounds of joy.  I suspect they can smell scent markers from our previous rabbit which makes them think it’s a safe place to be?   I think they are old enough  to be in the bedroom…I’ll have to try to work this with my wife.

              WHY SHARING A BEDROOM WITH A BUNNY IS A GOOD IDEA. They are like watch dogs!!!  They have excellent hearing (Oh! Grandma what big ears you have!) and excellent sense of smell (Oh! Grandma what a big nose you have!) If your bunny senses anything unusual they will THUMP.  And if it’s critical, they will keep thumping until you react.  Sleeping with Bunny for 11 years, she often would do a one or two thump in the middle of the night.  Don’t know why.  But when she would continuously thump it was important….two occasions. 


            • jerseygirl
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              22338 posts Send Private Message

                11 years.


              • novabun
                Participant
                16 posts Send Private Message

                  Thanks for the advice everyone! The carrier trick worked perfectly – one time.. now she sees the carrier and runs away. Haha!
                  Flemmishwhite, so sweet to hear about your bunnies. I hope I’m lucky enough to spend so many years with my own!

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              Forum BEHAVIOR New bunny problems. :(