Freedom…

[JamieM]

Lately, Layla has been waking me up by shaking the door to her cage and/or digging near the bottom of the door at all hours of the night.  I can’t say for sure whether she does this all of the time or just when I’m there but it’s getting to a point where I’ve now had 4 hours of sleep per night for the past several weeks.  Not good.  I’m wondering, is this Layla telling me that she wants more freedom?  And how do you know when they’re ready for that freedom?  Layla has been doing really well with litter training (no pees outside the box, just poops), however she has been moving her litter box out of the corner she uses and just GOING in the corner, but this is only after I don’t let her out right away when she demands to be let out.  Any ideas what might be going on…or what I can do to stop it?  I can only sleep with ear plugs in so much before I’m late for work! 

[Cassi&Charlie]

Do you trust that she wont get into trouble, that she is fully litter trained and wont bother you while you sleep anyway? Can you put her cage outside your room while you attempt to sleep? It’s really hard to know when you can give them freedom, I gave my 1st bun Charlie freedom too soon and he promtly detroyed my house and every appliance within it, even after substantial bunny proofing. So I’m being very careful with my Layla, only giving her freedom when there’s someone around to watch her. An example of why -> the other day I was suprised to find a bunny sitting on the top of my TV, yes the top. I don’t know how, I don’t know why but there Layla was, looking smug and confused at the same time. She hasn’t done it again but she couldn’t get down by herself and I was very glad to be around.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

How is she when she’s out and how is your bunny proofing? If you think she can go out for a few hours unsupervised, you could try her out…Why not take a nap after work and let her out; That way you can test her out!

Do not let her out when she’s making a stink though, if she gets rewarded for making all that noise, she’ll just continue! Make sure you let her out before or way after!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Bunny sounds bored. Maybe giving her some chew/dig toys would help. Bindi will scratch the corner of his cage obssessively if he runs out of hay. As soon, as I give him a refill he stops.

[JK]

Can you add an xpen to the cage so she has a lot more room?  I did that with Edson and he was such a happy guy.  Now I have almost removed the entire xpen so he has complete freedom.

[JamieM]

Well the room she is in is not ok for her to have too much freedom in but it’s also the only room with air conditioning because the rest of the apartment is open and my little air conditioner wouldn’t be able to cool the whole thing.  I used to think it was because she ran out of food but now she’s doing it even when she still has hay left.  It’s definitely an attention thing and not a boredom cause I’ve been stealthy and watched her around the corner when she thinks I’m gone and she stops immediately.  She does an alright job in the living room which is very very very bunny proofed but I’m not sure I trust her alone yet.  Maybe I’ll try an x pen when I move her cage back into the living room after it cools down.  Eh…  maybe she’s just trying to establish dominance. I don’t let her out after she does this but I have given her food cause sometimes it’s quite possible she’s making a fuss cause she’s eaten all her hay. 

I slept on the couch last night so I could get a good night’s rest.  Ha.  Diva bunny kicked me out of my own bedroom. 

[kimberleyanddarren]

if found the most effective thing is to let the bunny out for a roam for about an hour right before bed time, and they will likely be abit calmer.

[JamieM]

I do that. Ha. I’m at a loss.

[kimberleyanddarren]

hmm, maybe you could make like an extension on her house at night? remove some toys during the day so she has something extra at night?

[JK]

Still really think she needs more space.  A xpen is so great.  She’ll have so much more room.  You could put a 2nd litter box in there. I would really try this and then eventually you can let her out of that too.

[Balefulregards]

Honestly, I gave up and just let Coco have run of the bedroom. I bunny proofed all cords, tied up my curtains so she couldn’t chew and simply gave over. I too wasn’t getting any sleep at night for the banging, digging and carrying on.

Since having free reign, Coco sits on the rug next to my bed and allows me to sleep ( I call her the watch rabbit). She wakes me promptly between 6:30 and 7a.m. ( when the light really comes into the room) by leaping up on the bed and onto my head.

[JamieM]

Her cage is 4 foot wide by 4 foot tall by 4 foot long… but I guess if this isn’t enough room I’ll add on. Soon, however, her cage will take over my whole apartment. The “give her extra toys at night” thing is a great idea, though and I’ll try that.

[Balefulregards]

Yes – My bedroom is a total rabbit zone now.

[Alicia Conklin]

Is her entire cage covered?  With Tucker he doesn’t like being covered..it makes him feel trapped and “locked up”.  What if you made just a little bit of a pen?  I found with Tucker that since we switched him from more of a cage to a pen type situation he does much better at night.  And it’s approximately the same size as his old cage was…well it’s 1 cube wider and 1 longer but still it’s not THAT much bigger but he seems to think of it as bigger since it’s open.  It’s more like part of the room and less like a cage to him.    He still wants FREEDOM!!! in the morning but he doesn’t grouch about having to go in at night and he doesn’t seem to bang on the doors at much.   I also put all of his toys up on his shelf with him.  He doesn’t like things up there so then he throws them down..that takes him a little while..because he doesn’t do it all at once.  Then I give him his pellets right before bed..this way he has some eating to do too..and I give him a bit of alfalfa in a toilet paper roll for a treat so he works at that too.  This along with making sure that he gets some run time before bed (I like to do 2-3 hours before bed..and I will go in there and rile him up a bit if he’s not being active on his own.  This gets him running and playing instead of just laying there since he has all night to just lay there!

[JamieM]

Ha those are great ideas. I usually let her out for about an hour when I come home because I work until midnight and I’m wiped out when I get there. I’ll look into the “pen” idea… I’m just worried about my landlord’s reaction to that. She said the bunny was ok so long as she’s “enclosed” when I’m not home. She gets pellets and some greens at night before bed, but I’ll try the tube thing. She loves alfalfa so probably would work hard to get it again as I have weened her off it. It’s really that she starts scratching her cage at 3am and just keeps doing it until I get up. And I work till midnight, like I said, and often don’t get to bed till 1am. I’ll just have to try to live with it until its cool enough for her to be in the living room. Ah, the sacrifices we make for our friends!

[Author]

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