Rabbits are more cautious towards new situations. Since you’ve only started doing this recently, he is not quite sure what to think of it yet and will most likely come out when he’s ready to explore. Also, hormones don’t really disappear with age as long as the bunny is still intact. On rare occasions an unfixed bun will not display hormonal behaviours because that’s just their personality, but it’s quite rare

Is he an indoor or outdoor bunny and where is his cage located?

Thanks for the update Harveybunny! It’s great that you are doing your utmost to not discomfort your rabbit or do anything that your rabbit may dislike.

Picking up a rabbit is, by default, something you should avoid doing because as you mention, many rabbits do not like it at all; however, there are times when you need to pick up a rabbit for transportation, safety, or medical reasons. In these cases, as long as you’re doing it in a way that is not harming your rabbit, I think it’s acceptable. It is good that your rabbit felt secure when you were holding him.

A rabbit has its own mind and intentions. Lets say someone randomly opens your front door and leaves it open. Just because it’s open does not mean you want to necessarily leave. Maybe you want to stay in your house at the moment, or maybe there’s not really much out of your house that you’d want to do; however, going out of the house is important for exercise and general mental stimulation! So, what to do?

I would encourage feeding him outside his cage to get him comfortable with leaving and being in the new living room environment. It may look very new to him, have smells he’s not accustomed to, and maybe he hears noises you can’t. He feels safe in his cage, so that may be why he doesn’t want to leave. I recommend keeping it cage door open, and just letting him take his time getting out. Maybe, as I said, have food out there to help, and put some hay out as well.

My bun lovvess her little shed and would rather be there, than anywhere really, There are places where rabbits feel safe, and for most buns it’s their cage. And since you mentioned you’ve only tried it 4 times, he’s probably a little sceptical about it. You can try bribing him out with his favourite food, and he might go around and explore. But always leave the cage door open In case he gets scared he can go back to his safe place

One of the things I love about bunnies is that they love their cages. Consider other small animals, like hamsters – they are always trying to escape! Our bun is free reign when one of us is home (which is most of the time), but she often stays in her cage and she always gets back in her cage on her own. I take that as a compliment: we built her a really cozy home!

That being said, if I need/want her to get out of her cage (usually because I want to clean it or I am judging her for being so lazy) all I have to do is close her cage door! Lol. She’ll sit in her cage for hours, but she likes the option of exploring and she gets annoyed when we take away that option. It is hilarious.

Glad to hear that!