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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 5sd replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 10 months ago by RB.

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- 06/15/2015 at 11:20 AM
  RB
  Participant
  2 posts
  Hi, I’m hoping someone can help me help my bunny to acclimate to our home. A bit of background (I’m sorry if this is too much information but it might be helpful towards helping me solve the problem):
  
  I’ve never had a bunny nor have I ever been exposed to one in a pet capacity. Recently, my neighbors asked me to take care of their dogs while they were out of town. They also had a bunny. The first night my husband and I went over we found this poor creature in a filthy cage with no water to be found and something that maybe resembled food mixed with feces in a dirty bowl. My husband and I are both huge animal lovers and even though we’d never come face to face with a rabbit, we could immediately sense that he was very sad. Once our neighbors returned home I casually mentioned the bunny and they told me they didn’t want him anymore and were planning to put him on Craigslist. We knew right away that we were meant to go to crash Google bunny school and bring him into our home. We got him a huge hutch and with the help of our local pet supply store owner, we got high quality food, bowls, toys etc. Buster has now been with us for a little over 4 weeks and we had him neutered 3 weeks ago. It’s been an incredible experience getting to know him and learning how to care for him. He has been so patient with us. He’d never had fresh vegetables before but now devours them daily. He’s sweet and loves cuddles and nose kisses. He even kisses us back! I didn’t expect that. He also gets along very well with our two cats. He only goes into his hutch at night and when he decides it’s time.
  
  My concern for him is that he never plays. From all that I’ve read, he should want to run around and play and do something called binkies. However, he only seems to want to hang out on the floor and be brushed or kissed. Do I just need to be more patient or should I be proactive? He’s spent the last four years of his life unacknowledged and isolated. I’m eager to show him how beautiful and fulfilling life can be for him. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
- 06/15/2015 at 11:35 AM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  Thank you for saving him! It sounds like he’s very content and happy. I think just allowing him to do as he pleases is just the right thing to do. He’s probably just not into playing – my rabbit does not really play either – he hangs out with me and just does what he does and I imagine just having a nice place to live now makes him very happy.
- 06/15/2015 at 11:35 AM
  RabbitPam
  Moderator
  11002 posts
  If he’s been living there for 4 years, it will take him a while to recover. You did a wonderful thing taking him in.
  Adult bunnies do not binky nearly as much as they get older the way young ones do. That doesn’t mean they aren’t very happy, and he sounds like he is. He may not run much after being confined as well, so I think you don’t need to worry about that. Be sure to have him examined by a vet who knows bunnies, in case he has any movement issues or undetected illnesses from his former environment, but otherwise he sounds just fine. He also may like the cats, but still be rather skittish around other animals. I would take him out for some exercise in a hall or room by himself with just you, where no one else can disturb him. He may decide to run and binky then.
  
  Loads of info. and tips are in our Bunny INfo. section from the banner above this page. Use the drop down menu to check out the detailed pages. Also, read some of the forum posts for past advice from members. The older posts are read-only, but full of helpful ideas and info.
- 06/15/2015 at 12:00 PM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17033 posts
  I too want to say thank you for rescuing this little boy!
  
  I have one bunny who never plays, I’ve seen him do the odd binky over the 3,5 ys he’s been with me, but that’s all the playing he ever does. He was an adult when I got him, and it is as RabbitPam and Sarita says, a bunny doesn’t have to play and binky to be a very happy bunny, esp when it’s a grown-up bunny =)
  
  You may see him do a binky or a half-binky yet, but if he doesn’t, it’s not a problem. I’m sure he thinks he has won the National Lottery with you guys (and in a way he has since it was chance that brought you together).
- 06/15/2015 at 3:02 PM
  Flopsie
  Participant
  388 posts
  like everyone has said, bunnies don’t always play. Also, their “play” is a bit different than what we would consider playing. They like to toss things, and remodel cardboard boxes. I would say don’t push it, your bunny is in a much better place and that counts a lot. If you want, you can try to entice by giving opportunities by providing things to play and see if it works. Infant plastic keys are awesome, they love to toss those. You can also get toilet paper rolls, they like to toss them as well. A phone book can be shredded and cut a hole in a cardboard box and see if they dig and remodel it
- 06/16/2015 at 10:53 AM
  RB
  Participant
  2 posts
  Thanks so much for the helpful advice. I was very concerned about his lack of activity but now that I’ve learned it’s not absolutely necessary, I’m so relieved.
  
  Buster was thoroughly examined by our vet the very day we took him into our home. He got a clean bill of health in addition to lots of attention from the entire staff . As far as our 2 cats are concerned, it’s Buster who shows the most interest in interaction. He regularly approaches them and my sweet Charlie loves to gives him head kisses. He took over one of their little beds that we have scattered everywhere and couldn’t be cuter snuggling in it.
  
  Initially when I made his daily bowl of greens and veggies I would have to coax him to it. Now he hops over to his food mat and stands on his hind legs like ‘whats taking so long?’ My husband is thrilled because he’s been waiting for any signs of entitlement out of our new little fuzzball.
  
  Last night we spent some time on a box and toilet paper rolls.( Imagine two full grown adults on the floor having arts and crafts hour.) When I first showed Buster the toilet roll he just looked at it then at me like I was a complete moron. However, when I stuffed a slice of dried apple inside and folded in the ends of it, it was a big hit. He tossed it around and chewed on it. Quite entertaining!
  
  Thanks to y’all for the advice and reassurance. We’re trying to make Buster’s life a very happy one and it’s nice to have people willing to take the time to share their experiences.
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