Any suggestions?

[Deleted User]

Coney gets time to run around the house in the afternoons, this is after conner’s playtime.  He runs and binkies and then finds some place to lounge for a few hours.  My problem is that he gets well over 5-6 hours a day out time, but he will not go back into his house.  I don’t want to pick him up and put him in there so I try to wait until he goes in there himself.  But he won’t go back in there. Sometimes he will get close to it and sniff, and lean all the way forward checking it out but then he backs up and goes away.  It gets to the point that we are going to bed and he still will not go in his house.  He will not poop or pee around the house so I know he has to go potty, and that is usually the first thing he does when I put him in there.  I just don’t know what to do.  I am not sure why he won’t freely walk back in.  He used to do it just fine.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Can I ask why you don’t want to pick him up and put him in? Is he a “don’t pick me up mommy!” kind of bunny?

If this is the case, I’ve read you can train them to go “home”. Just pick a signal, like saying “night time” or something and then putting him in his home. Eventually, especially if they dont’ like to be picked up, they should hear you say “night time” and just hop on in!

[wendyzski]

A bedtime treat is also good for reinforcement.  Maybe give pellets at bedtime?

[Scarlet_Rose]

K & K, picking up a bunny to go into the cage may seem like punishment to a rabbit, and you really want them to do it on their own. Medina, like K & K and others suggested, try offering a treat and saying a key word like “In” “Bed Time” “Night-night time” or whatever and they will soon learn that when you say that word, it is time to go to bed. It sounds to me like he has gotten very comfy being out or needs motivation i.e. a treat to go in.

[Gravehearted]

I have a distinctive “it’s bunny roundup time” and “bedtime for bonzo and bonzette” so they know it’s bedtime. (yeah, we’re weird around my house)

We give our bunnies hay at bedtime, which generally makes Viktor run in to their house since he’s a piglet.
Pandora on the other hand loves to play chase and will avoid going in at all costs.
We generally just keep following her until she goes in. She *knows* she’s supposed to go in, but being sneaky is much more fun!
It’s become a game of sorts.

So you might want to try some nightly ritual to see if it helps and adding a treat as part of it might help too, like ScarletRose suggested.

[Beka27]

when we first got Meadow, about once every hour to hour and a half, i would put her in her cage and close the door for a few minutes.  she would sniff around a bit and then jump into her litter box and do her business.  while she was in her box, i would open her door back up so she would figure out the connection between going potty in her box and being allowed to come back out.  she’s still young, and not spayed yet (five more days…) but i’ve not a had a problem with her going potty outside her cage since we’ve had her.  sometimes she stays out for a long time, but i guess like people or other pets, they know when they need to go.

[Deleted User]

Coney is IMPOSSIBLE to catch when he is out running around. This chase usually takes us about 30 min. My husband can get him easier than I can (I have no idea why and it drives me crazy, I spend more time pampering them and they love him more) I will try to give the pellets at night, but that is a problem on its own. Neither of my buns are crazy about hay but Coney enjoys it, funny because since I bought the bunny blend he won’t eat the timothy hay anymore. So I will try to put that in there for him also. I wonder why he stops to smell it for so long. He almost seems to think that someone is in there. My husband thinks he is scared of it but once he is in he goes and plays just fine. 

 

Here is my pellet problem. Both my boys are addicted to the Ecotrition brand. I have been working very hard to switch them over to oxbow bunny basics but both refuse to eat them. I have been going at this for three weeks now. I mix just a tad of the oxbow into the ecotrition and give it to them. Connor, who is blind and can’t see the pellets, eats everything except the oxbow. I have no idea how he eats everysingle other piece except that. Coney just digs through his food when he doesn’t like it. THis is a new behavior, he has never dug through his food ever. He also does not eat the corn and seeds in it just the pellets. I have tried only putting a little in his bowl at a time but that doesn’t seem to help. He still manages to get his food everywhere. Coney never used to be a picky eater. He would eat what ever food I gave him, but since he ate the ecotrition he won’t eat anything else. Any suggestions? I started using 1/4 oxbow and 3/4 ecotrition. I mixed this up and put it in a zip lock bag.  They have been getting this mixture for two weeks and still won’t eat the oxbow. So I started giving more ecotrition and just a pinch of the oxbow and they still won’t eat them. ARG!!!

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