Bunnies trying to escape from their cage – are they just spoiled?

[Tigargurl]

I have two rabbits that share a pretty large cage, the sides are made from wire shelving panels zip tied together to form a pen. One of the bunnies, Blackie, will do anything to try to get out of the cage. He chews on the bars, and pushes the shelving panels out of their rectangluar shape as far as he can get them. I never give in or let him out when he does this.

We let the bunnies run around in the living room/dining room when we’re home and can watch them. We shut the bedroom doors or use a gate so they can’t go into the bedrooms (we don’t want the bedskirts chewed up or fur where we sleep). But one of the doors doesn’t latch tight and they’ve learned to push it open. If you open the door they excitedly run to try to get in, or sit right outside it so you can’t get in or out without them running into the room. I’ve tried chasing them out of the bedroom hallway so maybe they would learn not to go over there and try to push the doors open, but maybe this is making them want to do it more since they know they’re not supposed to go over there?

I feel like at this point they know they’re in a cage or are being restricted about where they can go and they don’t like it. But it seems like they’re just spoiled rotten because they have a huge cage with everything they could want in it (food, water, litter box, towels, tubes to crawl through, cardboard and wood to chew, boxes to hide under and climb) and large living/dining room area to run around in when they’re out, but they just want more, they’re obsessed with getting out of the cage or getting out of the living room and going in the bedrooms. I worry they’re not happy when they’re in their cage and I don’t know what to do to stop them from trying to get out.   

[mrmac]

My buns kind mof do the smae thing. They are out of their cage all day from when my husband or I lets them out to right like 5 min. before we go to bed, but when you come out in the morning Davey just sits right in front of the door to his cage, and the Delilah will come over too. If you do not let them out they start throwing their toys and shaking a hanging doy by the door like “LET ME OUT!!!”, I feel bad putting them back in at night, just cause they love being out. Mine have an obsession with our bedroom too, like somehow they just know when you open the door and no one is in there, but then they are awful to get out of there then! lol Sorry not much help, but I know how you feel!

[kralspace]

Hi Tigergurl and welcome!

Your bunnies are training you well. already you feel guilty about them being in a ‘cage’ that’s like a bunny wonderland 😉

Some of us have found over time we enlarge ‘their’ area and eventually it seems like we fence ourselves into a cage and the bunnies own the house….lol

Sorry, I’m not much help, just know you’re not alone and your bunnies are pretty normal!

Kathy

[Beka27]

My buns are also obsessed with my bedroom. Their room is connected to my bedroom and if I leave the door open, they dash over there at the first opportunity. My girl loves my bed. Within moments of being let out, she will jump up and sit on my bed. I don’t know if they love our room b/c they are rarely allowed in there, or if b/c it smells more like my hubby and myself. It may just be b/c they like to explore and that is uncharted territory.

Bunnies love to push their limits, that’s just what they do. You are right to not reward the aggressive cage behavior. As long as they have enough exercise, and a regular routine, they should be fine.

[jerseygirl]

Yes, it’s really about changing your thinking and not feeling guilt. Man they get us good! The barriers are just challenges for them. It’s just natural activity for them to chew of dig their way through barriers. Mine has nearly the entire house but she is obsessive about getting into the one room that she’s not allowed. I think they can learn boundaries so maybe try a deterrant when they approach the hallway entry like “No!” or a loud hand clap. Is their panel cage reinforced around the bottom? You may need a solid wood frame around the base so they can’t push the panels out.

[Beka27]

Another thing you can do to reinforce the side is ziptie an additional grid to the bottom, but do it so it overlaps two existing grids, half and half. That will make it much stronger and they should not be able to push it forward.

Depending on the size of the pen, you may need to do that in a few different locations.

[Author]

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