hates his cage!

[KatelynT]

I bought my netherland dwaft a week ago and im having some problems. i would let him out of his cage for a half hour or hour everyday bc websites were telling me to give him play time outside of his cage. the problem is, now he hates being in his cage! he never goes back to his cage and when i finally get him back in hes biting nd pulling on the door all night and all day. also, i think giving him that play time made him less social. now he jumps out of my arms when im holding him. i dont know what to do! please help me

[luvmybunny]

What size is his cage? Does he have some toys and chew items to play with? Bunnies get bored! Most bunnies need more time outside of the cage. I think maybe you should consider getting him an X pen (exercise pen) so he has more freedom. Some bunnies don’t like to be held. Mine like to sit on my lap or beside me on the couch, maybe you could try that? Hope that helps and good luck! I am sure some other members will think of more ideas too!

[KatelynT]

i think his cage is pretty big! i have toys in there for him. a hay ball, tiolet paper roll, carrot flavored wood for him to chew. its only one level, but i dont really have money to buy a two story one. should i limit his time outside of the cage to only being with me? not free running around? should i leave him in his cage and not take him out for a while? is that cruel? i dont know how to fix this! 

[Monkeybun]

Most bunnies require a good 4 hours of exercise/play time outside of the cage each day, its good for them to get lots of exercise. With you having him for only a week so far, I wouldn’t worry much about the fact he doesn’t seem too social with you. He needs time to bond to you. Hang out with him on the floor, letting him sniff you as he likes. Let him jump around, climb on your lap, etc. my nethie Monkey hates being picked up and held. She’s slowly getting used to us being there all the time,and is more comfortable with jumping in our laps now. She doesn’t stay long, but she’s getting there We have a cage for her, but have a pen around it all the time. We never close her up in the cage anymore, as she likes to tug on bars too. She’s more content being in the pen than the cage. I’ll take a pic of my current setup later on when my camera is recharged and show ya what I mean

[Elrohwen]

I think Monkey gave you some really good advice. It can take bunnies months to become social and trust you. In fact, many are easy to pick up when they first arrive because they’re nervous and scared; after they start to relax and enjoy their new home, they realize they don’t have to put up with being picked up! Haha. Most buns do not enjoy being picked up at all (mine won’t let me do it in any way) so don’t worry about that. Just spend time down on the floor with him letting him sniff you, getting him to take treats out of your hand, etc and he’ll become more social with you. It just takes a lot of time and patience. They’re not like dogs who will come running up to you the first day they meet you. It takes more time to win a bun’s love, but it’s definitely worth it!

Second, I think he needs more time out of his cage, not less time! He’s putting up a fight because he enjoyed his little bit of play time so much that he wanted more and more. I would let him out of the cage for longer periods of time, and after supervising him for a while you should find out if he’s able to be left alone while you go about your normal household tasks. The more time you can give him to run around and exercise, the less he’ll filp out in his cage.

Another great idea is to attach a pen to the outside of his cage to give him more room. You can get a puppy playpen and use that, or get some NIC cubes and make them into a pen. Giving him more room on a daily basis may make him less antsy. I left my bun with some friends for a week with only a 4’x4′ pen. His usual set up is 4’x8′, so in that pen, which still wasn’t small by any means, he got pretty bored and destructive, despite all of the toys we left him. The lesson we learned is that he definitely needs lots of interaction and time out of his cage, and the bigger his cage is the better. He’s never destructive at home with his big cage and plenty of time to come out and hang out in the living room.

Finally, to get him back into his cage every night, try feeding him when it’s time to go home. He’ll eventually learn to associate dinner time with going in his cage, but until then you’ll probably just have to herd him back to the cage every night. Is his cage set up so that he can go himself without you picking him up? That’ll help as well because he’ll eventually go back in to get you to stop herding him around 😛 If you have to pick him up every time, it will just stress him out and cause him to think of going back to his cage as a stressful time instead of a good time.

[MooBunnay]

Everyone has given a lot of great advice so far. Don’t lose patience because sometimes bunnies just take awhile to com around. None of my bunnies like to be picked up either – and netherland dwarfs are in general pretty skittish bunnies, I have one and she only lets me pet her a little bit from time to time before she runs for safety I agree about getting her a pen, then you can open it up right around her cage so that when it is time for bed, you can just herd her towards her cage. If you are chasing her to pick her up, it probably really scares her because she doesn’t know you well yet, and to her you can seem like a predator chasing her. I would try looking on websites like Craigslist to see if you can get an inexpensive puppy pen.

[Beka27]

Welcome here!

Bunnies do love to play outside of their cages! As time goes on and you get used to each other, hopefully you can work out a good schedule. The 3-4 hours of daily playtime do not have to be all at one time either… you could try an hour in the morning and then longer in the evening after you get home…

How is your bun doing in terms of littertraining? Sometimes when they are new to a house, a previously trained bunny can slip up…

[Lintini]

I have a dwarf and she is a demon to catch as well and never wants to go back into her cage. She wants to run around rather than be snuggled and attack my feet if she does want my attention. I think as your relationship grows it will become better. Sometimes I just let Bun run around my room for a few days before I have the heart to put her back in her cage.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Welcome!!

Yes-four hours is the standard. Try letting him out in the evening when you are home, and let him get some exercise You got some great advice already, so I won’t add to it. Congrats on your new addtion.

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