Cage behaviours

[molly2686]

Hi,

I am looking for advice about my 8 month old neutered male rabbit. He stays in our bedroom. He has his own cage but is becoming very reluctant to go into it unless it is to use his litter tray, he gets very stressed or cross I’m not sure which, and he chews at the bars and doesn’t relax. He’s a very loving rabbit and constantly wants our attention especially at night and recently has been waking us up for at least 2 hours a night. he burrows at us or nips at us until we stroke him then he calms down and lies down. He’s very food oriented and sometimes that is only way to help calm him down in his cage. He usually has free run of the room apart from recnently when he’s been nightmare at night time and we have been putting him in his cage. Can anyone give me any advice to either help get him used to being in his cage or to help with him not needing our constant attention at night. Thanks!

[Sirius&Luna]

Hi Molly,

How big is his cage? Many commercial rabbit cages are simply not big enough, so he probably just doesn’t like being confined to a small space after having free run of a room. It should be big enough for him to do 4 hops across, stretch out in width wise, and stand up to full height in. He should also have at least 5 hours out of it a day.

Is there a way you can block your bed off so he can’t get to it if he was free range at night?

Have you tried giving him a stuffed toy to cuddle with?

The other problem is that you’re reinforcing his negative behaviour, so now he’s learned that if he nips and burrows at you he gets what he wants, so he’ll keep doing it.

He does sound like a bunny that might benefit from a bonded partner, since he sounds quite attention seeking. Of course, this is a big commitment and its certainly not the only solution, but it could be something to consider. There’s lots of factors to think about if you did go down that route, and people here could advise.

[Wick & Fable]

Reinforcing those behaviors is not good.

At night, no rabbit wants to be in a cage because that’s one of their most active times. Cage bar chewing and pulling is extremely tempting because cages are so see through, it literally looks like something the rabbit should be able to get through and go roam his/her territory, yet they can’t.

Wick used to be in the bedroom hutch at night when I slept, but we upgraded his hutch to be bigger and be made of cage grids, and after one week, the system was completely switched. Now Wick is 24/7 free roam, but at night I shut the bedroom door. Him having a larger cage actually stressed him out so much more being in there because it was such a deceiving idea of freedom. Is such an arrangement possible for you?

Wick’s bedroom hutch is permanently open now and he does go in to use the water bowl and litter box there when he’s in the area.

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.

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