How to get buns to go in cage on his own?

[Babyfacecupcake]

I need advice on how I can get my bunny buttons to go in his cage on his own. I let him out for a few hours a day and he has a blast but hates going back into his cage. He’s not very fond of being picked up. I have tried to leaving the cage on the floor with some fresh veggies or fruits. His cage will be completely clean and well stocked and he still wont go in. We do not have room to keep his cage on the floor fulltime. I hate having to chase him and scare him. What should I do?

[Azerane]

Does he come running to the sound of pellets? I trained my previous bun by having bedtime in his cage being pellet time ? So the meal time for pellets is when you want him to go back in. Make sure bun knows they’re in there and once in you cam shut the door and bun gets rewarded for being in there. I know you already tried with salad, sometimes you just have to try a particular food or persist for longer.

[sarahthegemini]

It’s important that he associates his cage with something positive. Could you get a special treat for him that he only gets when in his cage? A piece of fruit or carrot perhaps. I know you’ve tried with fruits and veggies but if it’s something that is reserved for cage time, you might have more luck?

You could set up some activities for him to do in his cage too like hiding forage. It’s imperative that he enjoys his cage time so he remains happy so if you get him to associate cage time with yummy treats and fun activities, I think that will really help!

[Babyfacecupcake]

Thank you! I will try these ideas out! I just seem to be having the most trouble because he doesn’t seem very food motivated. I am also working on bonding with him. Do you think once we have a better bond things will be easier?

[Sirius&Luna]

If he’s a baby, I’ve found that most of my baby buns haven’t been that food oriented, but as they grew up they’ve turned into normal bunny scavengers! I would keep going with the veg trick and hopefully he’ll get more enthusiastic about it as he gets older!

[LittlePuffyTail]

My bun hates being picked up so I put her back in her pen at night by shaking the treat bag and putting a treat in her pen. Doesn’t take them long to figure it out if food is involved!

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