You are giving her a good life, don’t feel as though she is unhappy! I think the reason you aren’t seeing her zooming around in the day, is because rabbits are most active in the dusk and dawn hours, so she could just be getting out her binkies then, and sleeping during the day.

As for chewing on the bars of the living room – to her it is frustrating, there is more territory out there, why can’t she reach it? To solve this, I would put a sheet, or towel covering the spot where she would be able to see the other room. Not too heavy though that it cuts off her airflow.

You are doing great with taking care of her, she is living the spoiled life, don’t think it is a bad one!

One thing I like to do to relax rabbits is playing some soft piano, and they immediately calm down. I’m sure you will form a bond with her, but all good and memorable bonds take time. 🙂 Wishing you luck and appreciative buns!

Keep us posted, hope to hear of more progress soon! 🙂

Even though it seems like you’ve had her a long time, some bunnies take a long time to open up. Forum leader Bam’s bunny Bam took about a year to decide he wanted to explore, after that was just the most amazing rabbit. And especially with the recent change in her home environment, she sounds like she’s still adjusting. Every bun really has a different personality, and it can take some time to find out how to bond with each particular bun. Having a good routine also helps. Feeding meals inside the pen or cage (even if you don’t close it) can also help the bun associate their pen/cage as their home burrow and feel better about being in it.

Is the room she is in very high-traffic? Most bunnies do best in a room with a good amount of activity. So if she’s in a bedroom that you’re only in briefly, then she is prob lonely and bored. A living room or a kitchen, or someplace else that you spend most of your waking hours in would be better. Buns are most active morning and evening, so spending time with her when she’s awake will be best for building a relationship with her. Hang out on the floor and let her come to you (having some treats on hand helps too!). It sounds like she likes cuddles, so that is a great foundation for your relationship.

Bunnies have different “toys” they like and might not “play” necessarily, but if she has destructive tendencies, then there should be certain toys she would like.

Is she digging the carpet? or mostly seeking out wires? It’s really important to completely block access to wires. You can also protect them with different kinds of wrapping, but those really only buy you time. My girl Bertha actually sounds kind of like your bun and she was amazing. She didn’t play with toys necessarily in the way you might think, seemed kind of lazy (a zoomie was a rare and exciting occurrence for her) was pretty destructive, but was also the most cuddly wonderful sassy lady. The best toys for her were grass mats, cardboard cat scratchers (they seem to really be good for carpet chewers), and assorted willow twigs. Wicker baskets were also great.

Having hide boxes and tunnels around the room will also help her feel more interested and safe exploring. Rearranging them also helps keep things interesting.

I felt a bit like this especially about the playing about my bun too if it helps and I know he’s a pretty content rabbit. He is not very into most toys, and prefers to just snuggle with his stuffed elephant or do some remodeling of his boxes. However he does love to explore, so we do outings to usually off limit areas sporadically and that seems to be pretty exciting for him. And he loves deck time, especially if the crows and jays are out there and he can watch people walk by. He really seems to like watching the dogs which is weird to me, but if he hears one he runs to go see with his ears in happy explorer mode. Anyway rambled on a bit there, none of these things may be interesting to your bun, but maybe they will give you ideas. She might just be a little bored and needs things changed up a bit… just a new box here and moving the tunnel could give her more to explore. She seems pretty smart based on the wiping off soap story, so maybe food puzzle/foraging games would stimulate her. Or maybe she would have fun learning tricks?

As for cables, I would try an option that’s more secure than soap. Maybe some kind of tubing?

Best of luck!!

Eating the cardboard scratcher is kinda the point! they will chew at them and reshape them as a project. Unless she is eating a really huge amount I wouldn’t worry.

There’s no such thing as phone books anymore… but they do make a good bunstruction project.

Oooooh yeah phone books are/were the best! They did make quite the mess though!

Very messy! And yet, for some reason the act of ripping the pages always seems so satisfying.

So a few things. For the wires, would you be ok with the room being a little ugly? You can put nic cubes around the room and run the wires behind them. Bunny won’t be able to chew them and it will also keep hey from chewing the baseboards.

Is your bunny spayed? If not her behavior should be better if you spay her. You’ll also save her from getting uterine cancer which is very common in rabbits. Have you considered getting her a friend? If she has an entire room, she could have another bunny with her without requiring more space. Rabbits are very social but they do tend to prefer the company of other rabbits. I have three and they’re still all very sweet and interactive with me but they really love each other so much. A bonded pair of rabbits is actually so beautiful to see how much they love each other!

Ah I get you on the wire covers, sorry I misunderstood!

I do the NIC grid, but not the prettiest, I saw a pic of someone who made a long box which was painted to match base boards, blended in nicely. If you are crafty that may be an idea.

Glad to hear it!

Sometimes bunnies get so obsessed with seemingly strange things!