Behavior

[ashilovebun]

I just got my rabbit Ashi a few days ago and she is very stubborn.  I have blankets layed out on the bottom of her cage and last night and tonight after her free time shes been digging at the corners, pulling the blankets out.  I think she things that if she moves the blankets out of the way she’ll be able to get out of her cage.  She gnaws and tuggs vigerously at the cage and the blanket and hops around trying to get out.  I’m scared she is going to hurt herself .   I have many toys and even a tub of bedding so she can dig but she is having none of it.  Her cage is also very big so the only thing i can think of that is displeasing her is that she wants out to roam free.  Is there any way i can stop this?  It’s making me feel like a bad mother

[Bam]

Bunnies are very stubborn as a species. They tend to like moving things and blankies around. The blankies shpould preferably be fleece or sherpa-fleece, i e materials that don’t have long fibers that can get stuck in her intestines if she has a nibble at them. I have one (male) bunny that digs in and moves his blankies on a daily basis: It’s a thing many rabbits like to do.

For more activities other than gnawing at the cage bars, you could try and hide her food (not too difficult places to begin with) here and there in the cage so she has to search for it, hang her salad (if she’s old enough to have salad) from the roof of the cage so she has to reach to get it – anything that means she gets to live out behaviors that she’d live out “in the wild” are good. Twigs and small branches of (untreated) apple or willow to chew are good for that too.

How much time out of the cage does she get? You could get a cat-tunnel that she can run through during free time and a cardboard hidey-house with openings so she cat in it if she likes and on top of it so she can rest on it as an elevated platform. Many bunnies (including mine) like to bunstruct/remodel cardboard houses.

How old is she? Have you let her explore you (you sitting still on the floor letting her approach you and perhaps use you as a jungle gym)?

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