Bunny and flooring

[12345ABCDE]

Hi guys, another day another query! As you know, me and the buns are in our new (temporary?) home. The rabbit room has laminate flooring. Peanut has never been on laminate flooring before so I made sure to use rugs to cover as much of it as possible. The last third of the room – nearest the door had a blanket as we didn’t yet have another rug. Anyway, I was playing find the dandelion with them last night for dinner and I noticed Peanut saw the dandelion on the blanketed area but refused to walk on it. It then occurred to me – I’ve never seen him on the blanket part and we’ve been here over a week! Rushed out today to get another rug to replace it but he still won’t touch it. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? He won’t come out into the hallway or me and my partner’s room (temporarily off limits, don’t wanna overwhelm them! But they’ll be allowed soon) because to do so, he’d have to cross the new rug area. I’d hate for him to be limited to just the other rugged areas of the room

[OverthinkingBun]

Maybe you could just wait a bit with this new rug and see what happens? I think animals can be pretty sensitive to new things just because they are new, and not because they dislike them. My bunny was scared to walk on her old mat when I first brought her home, but she decided that she liked it over a few days. If there is nothing about that part of the room that seems frightening from a rabbit’s perspective, maybe it’s just the novelty combined with moving?

[12345ABCDE]

I’m definitely going to give it some time. It’s just a bit strange as when we first moved, for the first 2 days we limited their space and then as soon as we extended and put the 2nd rug down he was on it immediately. Can bunnies see colour? I wonder if that’s got something to do with it as the first two rugs are brown and beige whereas the new third rug is brightly coloured. I’ll see what happens over the next few days. He has put his front paws on it so that’s something!

[Deleted User]

Is it possibly the door he is unsure of? Is there a slight gap under it? Maybe he is getting different scents coming under the door or if he can see shadows when someone’s passing the door when it’s closed and he’s unsure of what’s behind it

[12345ABCDE]

Posted By Eddyw111 on 10/09/2017 9:54 AM

Is it possibly the door he is unsure of? Is there a slight gap under it? Maybe he is getting different scents coming under the door or if he can see shadows when someone’s passing the door when it’s closed and he’s unsure of what’s behind it

We keep the door open 24/7. We have a gate at the doorway but we take it off when we’re home so they (or Buttercup, at least) can come into the hallway. You could be onto something. The dogs don’t seem to bother him but maybe the doorway is a bit scary because it’s that little bit closer to them? Or maybe there’s too many overwhelming scents? I thought about swapping the rugs around so the one near the doorway is the one that smells of him. What do you think? 

[Luna]

Swapping the rugs around is a good idea. It might also help determine whether or not he doesn’t like the rug because of its color.

[Author]

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