Bunny is a climber

[TheRicardos]

One of my bunnies has started climbing into my desk and I don’t know how to stop him. Has anyone else had this problem? How did you deal with it?

[prince dorian the bun]

I have a climber, but he isn’t very brave when it comes to hoping anything higher than a foot. So I have just learned to move things up, ideally on stools with narrow legs so that he has nothing to help him climb up. If that doesn’t work I put a fence around it. I am trying to figure out how he is climbing into a desk though. Can you describe your set up, type of desk? Might help with helping you come up with bunny proofing ideas.

[TheRicardos]

It is a desk with a rolling desk chair and I have a dog crate set up at the end. He has run of the whole room but I keep his litter box, food dish etc in it. I uploaded a photo to Pinterest here’s the link https://pin.it/3ToV5Tq.

[Littlemouse93]

Hi,

One of my rabbits is quite an adventurous climber. I have to be very careful to make sure I don’t provide her with any “steps” to things/places/furniture I don’t want her to reach. I once caught her all the way up on top of a tall bistro table haha (I have since made sure she can’t get up there because I’m afraid she will jump down and hurt herself).

If your rabbit really likes to climb, could you maybe provide him with some more appropriate places to climb? Like cardboard boxes or a small cat condo? I’ve found that redirecting my rabbits by giving them something more interesting really helps.

[Wick & Fable]

If he is not inclined to listen to even after persistent shoo’ing when he does it (hit or miss if rabbits actually learn boundaries without physical barriers), you may need to re-arrange in order to make it work. That is a part of having a free-roam rabbit many times.

As someone mentioned, you could also make the desk less enticing of a spot if you offer another ledge spot instead. I find one of my rabbits especially enjoys “perching” on higher elevations in a room. He enjoyed being on my dresser when I went to sleep (which was higher than my bed), and always enjoyed being on the top level of his old cage. At this point, he enjoys being on the ikea doll bed vs. the floor, because it is slightly elevated as well.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[prince dorian the bun]

Having the crate right there makes the desk super tempting, I bet he is climbing up via the crate? Is there another spot you could keep it? At least while he is out and roaming?

[TheRicardos]

I agree that the crate is how he is getting up (caught him doing it yesterday). I don’t have anyplace else to put the crate. I will definitely try to give him a better place to climb as soon as I can. Thanks you so much for the help ❤️

[DanaNM]

It might not be the most attractive set up, but I wonder if you could make a cube grid barrier between the crate top and the desk to block access? Mine won’t really hope over just 1 grid, so that could work. You could scooch the blanket over and then attach them to the top of the crate.

LOL cube grids seem to be my solution to all bunny-proofing problems.

He would also probably be much less inclined to hop on top of the crate if you remove the blanket from the top of it.

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[TheRicardos]

Update: I have rearranged (awhile ago I kinda forgot about this forum) and purchased a cat tree for my bunnies. They love it and Ricky hasn’t been climbing on my desk since I moved the crate and pull out my desk chair when I’m gone.

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