Bun hates being in cage

[Cloversmom]

Hi everyone! As some of you know I’m a first time bunny mom. Things have been going relatively smooth although we’re having this one issue. Bunny hates being in her pen. She hates it so much that when she’s in there all she tries to do is get out of it. It’s an x-pen with 8 panels 2 ft high and she has figured out how to jump out of it so we removed two panels and put them on as a roof but it’s giving her less space. She’s allowed out in the whole apartment from morning til night on the days I’m off work and the 3 days a week I do work she’s out a good 6-8 hours. Her pen is filled with lots of toys and box caves and things to chew but she wants nothing to do with any of it she just wants to be miserable and try to escape. The worst part is at night trying to get her to go in at bed time. I started out trying to casually herd her toward her cage but she caught onto that quick. I put in fresh pellets and fresh alfalfa but that didn’t fool her. Last night after trying For hours to get her in her pen I finally gave up and caught her and put her in which I hated to do. It’d made me feel like I set us back 10 steps. I feel so horribly guilty at night when she is just struggling to get out it’s breaking my heart. We’re training to be cage free but she’s only 9 weeks old and has only been home for just over a week so I’m not ready to try leaving her out at night yet. Anything I can do to make the pen more positive and make bedtime smoother and ease my crippling guilt? Thanks for reading!

[Danielle]

Hi there! I’m a new bunny mom as well! I’m glad to hear everything is going smoothly other than your cage problem. My bunny is quite the youngster as well, and she’s a Netherland dwarf making her very very tiny! Due to my supplies that I had at home when I got her, the cage was very small for her and, although I was really nervous and uncomfortable to let her roam, I opted to leave her out at night — and it went super well! My room is relatively small so she didn’t have far to go. I woke up to her licking my face!  I know it can be scary, but perhaps your bunny would take to it well! If you still don’t feel comfortable, maybe if you try designating her her own “room” for nighttime, that would work — such as a laundry room or bathroom. Thats what we did with my puppy when we first got him and it seemed to really work — that will eliminate the cage aspect and allow the bunny to roam, but still keep him/her contained. Another possible solution could be to try covering the cage with a t-shirt or blanket that smells like you. I imagine it would help if the bunny wasn’t able to see outside the cage, to see what they’re missing so to speak  Anyway, hopefully I could help! Enjoy your bunny!!!

[sarahthegemini]

Bunnies want freedom so it’s totally normal that she wants out and it’s good that you’re aiming for a cage free life for her I would continue with serving her food in the pen. It’s a bit tricky because they are very determined animals and once they’ve decided they want something, they do everything they can to achieve that goal! Buttercup used to make it her mission to get into the pantry. She became very sneaky, hiding against walls and stuff (white rabbit against white walls lol)

What about trying to herd her in a little earlier and playing with her in the pen for a while before bed?

[joea64]

I’ve been devoting a fair amount of time myself to making sure that Fernando stays in the X-pen during the buns’ overnight playtime, since he figured out last month that he can escape by jumping to the top of the condo and then to the stacked hay storage bins next to it. Placing a bedsheet over the top of the enclosure and fastening it down has been successful to date, but I have to be careful about monitoring him – in fact I had to shoo him into the condo this morning ahead of time while I was preparing their breakfast because he looked like he was getting ready to try another breakout. More generally, both Panda and Fernando have become reluctant lately to go back into the condo at breakfast time; they used to run helter-skelter for the pellets when I brought out their dish, but these days I often have to coax and cajole them into going to breakfast. Not sure there’s anything much I can do about it except carry on, since as Sarah notes, buns like every bit of freedom they can get. Hopefully next year I can get things better organized in my apartment so that bunnyproofing can become a real possibility, but I think ultimately I’m going to have to get a bigger place so I can leave the X-pen up 24/7 instead of having to take it down in the mornings when I go to work and put it back up again in the evenings when I come home.

[Deleted User]

When Bombur was that age he was so small that he could fit between the hinges of the x-pen. He figured it out one night, and I found him in the morning under the couch. Gave me a good scare!

[joea64]

Posted By Asriel and Bombur on 12/11/2017 8:35 AM

When Bombur was that age he was so small that he could fit between the hinges of the x-pen. He figured it out one night, and I found him in the morning under the couch. Gave me a good scare!

Fernando has definitely been trying to figure out for some time now if he can squeeze through the gap between the X-pen and the condo at where I’ve clipped them together with latches, which is why I fasten the bottom latch as far down as possible. Also, I have to make sure to throw both latches on the door closed, or at least watch that fluffy white long-eared scamp VERY closely when I’m in the pen for a floor session and he’s sniffing around the doors.

Why can’t that kid be more like his sedate, rather lazy mother?

[Deleted User]

Joea: That was the only time Bombur ever did that, but Asriel learned a lesson and consistently attempts to escape. Luckily he now has a cage that lock 4 ways on top and once on the door. Sneaky bunny pushes the door open with his snoot.

[joea64]

Posted By Asriel and Bombur on 12/11/2017 2:58 PM

Joea: That was the only time Bombur ever did that, but Asriel learned a lesson and consistently attempts to escape. Luckily he now has a cage that lock 4 ways on top and once on the door. Sneaky bunny pushes the door open with his snoot.

Even as I type this, Fernando is looking to see if he can chew his way through the X-pen’s bars, blithely ignorant that they’re made of metal. I think I’m going to need to see about getting extra NIC grids to put on top of the condo – unless I secure the bedsheet I’m using with clips or keep a VERY close eye on him during floor sessions (when the bedsheet isn’t secured to the condo), he’ll try to jump up there.

[Cloversmom]

I’m considering leaving her out at night. She’s been so good when she’s out in the apartment not chewing on anything she is strictly using her litter pan and not having any accidents. It’s just so new and she’s so young I’m nervous. I’ve only had her a week. Part of the problem is that we live in a studio apartment so I can’t just give her a room to call her own because her room is the entire apartment. And I can’t fence things off with x pen panels or nic cubes because she jumps them. I guess it’s just a learning experience for both of us haha.

[sarahthegemini]

As long as you’ve sufficiently bun proofed, she’ll be okay but I understand the nerves! I let mine stay out overnight after about a month I think (they were about 3 months old) I started leaving them out unsupervised during the day first whilst I was out running errands and that helped my nerves a bit. First few nights you definitely want to set your alarm to check on her though, just in case!

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