Welcome Tahir to the board! Your bun is unfamiliar with his surroundings and might be a bit uneasy. Give it time and slowly he’ll come out more and more. It took my Archie a week before he finally went out to the living room. He’d hop out of his cage a little, run back in…go out a little more, hop back in, he kept doing that until he felt he was safe. Just make him comfortable and don’t force him to come out or he might be more scared of the outside world.

Welcome! Yes, he probably feels safest in his cage for now. Do you have it on the floor or up higher? Some people make a little ramp so their bunnies can come out more easily. He might be a little intimidated. If you leave the cage door open and then just go off and do something else in the room, he may venture out. There’s a trick that if you “ignore” them, they come up to you for attention – lol. Even then, just let them approach you and try not to reach out to pet until he really trust you.

Welcome Tahir!  Congrats on the new bunny!  I can’t say it better than skibunny and jerseygirl already did – it might just take him some time to adjust.  I found these sites helpful:

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/bbh.shtml

http://columbusrabbit.org/chrsbooklet.pdf

http://language.rabbits…g>

I know how hard it is to wait for them to open up and get used to their new surroundings, but just follow his lead and what he’s comfortable with. Soon you’ll have a well adjusted little bun binkying and zooming around your house.

What’s his name? What kind of bunny is it? Do you have pictures? There are a lot of good resources on this site, as well as on the forum, so browse around, but be sure to ask if you don’t find the answers to your questions!

Hi, Tahir,
Cage is almost a misnomer, since it implies a prison, but to them it is more like their own private room or den. It’s his turf, and he will only explore gradually, one step at a time. Is the cage very exposed?

Lie on the floor near his cage and just read a book or watch tv softly. Put a raisin hidden in one hand. Let him venture out and smell you, then if he gets near your hand, slowly reveal the raisin and let him take it from you. It’s a treat, and makes a good association with you.

You can also put a spare litter pan out in the room in a convenient spot for you, under a desk or tucked into a far corner. Put hay in it. That way, if he needs to go, he can have an option other than running back into his house. If you put a plain, cardboard box upside down with a hole cut into one side for a door, he may also find it a safe hidey hole out of his cage to visit. If he loves it, he may not want to come out!

Do you think he realizes he can come out? Is he a very young bunny? My girl Meadow was in a traditional plastic bottom cage when we got her (she was only 4 months) and she didn’t understand that she could hop in and out of the opening. After a couple days of leaving the door open, I lifted her out of the cage and placed her on the ground right outside the cage. This piqued her interest… she started to sniff around and it was almost like she was realizing, “WOW! That’s my cage… but I’m not in it!” It only took her a few minutes to hop inside, and then she hopped back out.

That was the last time she was dependent on me for anything… since then she has ruled our home and she finds her own way. ;o)

I know it goes against conventional wisdom to leave them alone and let them explore on their own, but for us it worked. Meadow was still young enough that she didn’t mind being handled and it wasn’t a big deal to her at all. If your bun is older tho or if he’s come from a bad background, going slower might be the right thing for him.

One thing I tried with my Monkey was to put something tasty just out of reach of the cage door, she HAD to hop out to get it, and once she was out totally, it wasn’t as scary. I have a pic up here of her first explorations when we got her, she looks a little wobbly in it. Try the tasty treat, see if that will lure your bun out to explore.

I have a lop (guessing mini lop b/c of his size and facial structure) and he is very, very cautious. Even a year after we adopted him, he can be a little bit skittish, so we just let him do his own thing for the most part. He adores his wife (Meadow) and they hang out all the time. He likes to explore his area and he lounges/binkies all the time… so as long as we give him some space, he is happy.

I know this post is old, but I have a question about my two rabbits. We’ve had them for about 4 months now and for some odd reason they will not come out of their outdoor Hutch, so that they can go play in the big playpen outside. My son and myself tried getting them out a little while ago and one actually bit me. Why are they all of a sudden not wanting to come out of their Hutch? They are not in any sort of danger whatsoever and when they are in their playpen they run around and I have a lot of fun. They are supervised at all times and never left alone.

I know this post is old, but I have a question about my two rabbits. We’ve had them for about 4 months now and for some odd reason they will not come out of their outdoor Hutch, so that they can go play in the big playpen outside. My son and myself tried getting them out a little while ago and one actually bit me. Why are they all of a sudden not wanting to come out of their Hutch? They are not in any sort of danger whatsoever and when they are in their playpen they run around and I have a lot of fun. They are supervised at all times and never left alone.

I know this post is old, but I have a question about my two rabbits. We’ve had them for about 4 months now and for some odd reason they will not come out of their outdoor Hutch, so that they can go play in the big playpen outside. My son and myself tried getting them out a little while ago and one actually bit me. Why are they all of a sudden not wanting to come out of their Hutch? They are not in any sort of danger whatsoever and when they are in their playpen they run around and I have a lot of fun. They are supervised at all times and never left alone.