Defiant Bun

[Rachel]

Okay, so ive had my bunny Peaches since April, so almost a year. She was 6 weeks old when I got her so her birthday is coming up very soon! We have had the same routine everyday almost for almost this whole time. She is free roam all day, but at night when she gets dinner she has to sleep in the cage. Its a good size cage, and I always keep it stocked with hay, fresh greens, water, her blanket and her toy. I keep her pellets and a second water bowl outside the cage so she can always decide what shes in the mood for. Usually when I feed her she will happily hop right into the cage and munch away, but tonight she wasn’t interested. Earlier today she was acting normally, if happier because I cleaned out her bedding and she loves playing in the fresh bedding. But for some reason shes mad at me now and refuses to get in the cage. I dont know what I did? I was letting her and just suddenly she started chewing on my blanket and then ran away from me. I dont want to force her in the cage bc I dont want her to associate it with being in trouble or something.

She is eating, I tried to coax her in but she snatched the food and ran to hide. She only has one toy, because I bought her like seven or eight and she never liked anything except the one she has right now, she has two igloo home things that I keep near the cage but really she never uses them anymore, and I have three blankets on the floor bc I have hardwood in my room and I know its bad for her paws.

[Sirius&Luna]

Is she spayed? Generally they get hormonal before 9 months old, but it could be due to that.

I wouldn’t be too concerned, often something tiny will spook a rabbit – like a noise you couldn’t even hear. If she’s eating and otherwise behaving normally then probably something spooked her, or she’s feeling hormonal and so being a bit stroppy.

[Rachel]

She’s so picky! It turned out that while cleaning her cage I took out her blanket to make room for the new bedding, and forgot to put it back. Once I put it back in she hopped right in and started eating! I didn’t realize she was so attatched to it

[Wick & Fable]

It seems like a natural response to develop after a routine is established. She feels a bit more comfortable and has a better idea of the territory, so it may be making increasingly LESS sense to her why she has to be restrained to a smaller area of HER territory when you say so.

I used to only have Wick in his cage at night, but after a while he developed a similar habit and now he’s just always free roam, haha.

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.

[GarfyTheLop]

It sounds like pretty normal bunny behavior to me. Why don’t you save her greens for when she has to go into her cage, so she can associate going into her cage with getting nice food. Like Wick said, she’s familiar with the area now and probably getting brave and happy enough to be in the room so she’s probably thinking “I’ve been good outside my cage, why do I have to go back in” so I think the greens could help with this?

[Author]

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