I Can’t Catch Her

[Bindilicious]

I know I sound like a newbie and I am concerning little tiny Napoleonic bunnies!  Bindi lives most of the time in a large cage – see pics.  I have not yet built her a pen like all of you have mainly because we are really short on space, but I’m working on it.  In the meantime, I take her in my room for a couple of hours and let her run and binky and explore.  I have bunny proofed this room and can leave her in there by herself if I’m doing laundry or whatever, but mostly I just read while she races all around me.  She is not cuddly at all and doesn’t really like me to pet her, but she will jump on me and sit and stare at me and sniff my face and seems really comfortable with me.  

It has become increasingly difficult to get her back in her cage when “Bindi Time” is over.  I have been able to eventually herd her onto the bed and into her cage, but tonight was a nightmare.  Three hours and the last 1.5 hrs was me trying to get her to go to bed and her running around giving me the finger.  I knew when I was chasing her around that it was all very counterproductive, but I needed to get her in her pen.  Finally, I got my soft sided pet carrier and placed it in a narrow space and was able to herd her into it, closed the flap and placed it against the door to her cage and she hopped in.  I have no doubt that will be the only time I will get her into that carrier.  She is no dumb bunny  She figures things out really quick.  She is not terribly excited about any kind of treat, i.e. raisin, carrot, apple, she can pretty much take them or leave them.

Do you guys have any suggestions?  Oh, and the other thing, I have learned not to corner her (see other post) and last night, I reached in her cage to straighten out her towel because I thought I saw some loose poopies (they weren’t) and she bit me on my knuckle.  I know, I know, they don’t like you messing with their stuff.  Anyway, she has no problem lunging and biting so I can’t corner her and grab her.  I don’t know what to do and I am getting discouraged.

TIA.

 

 

[skibunny8503]

I always find chasing doesn’t do anything. They just learn to run away from you when you get close. When I find it difficult to catch mine I try to bribe them with a treat. So maybe just sit on the floor with a treat in your hand and wait for her to come and get it so you can pick her up. They can be stubborn though. She’s just gotta trust you and chasing isn’t helping….I’ve had my share of chasing them too

[jerseygirl]

Sorry but I have to admit, I find the Behaviour section of the forums entertaining…it usually has me giggling. If it makes any difference, I’m usually giggling when trying to herd my pair of bunnies also. There are many behaviours that I also find very un-funny.

So, onto what hopefully may be a useful tip: could you build a removable ramp upto her cage? That way you can put it on during her Bindi time and she may go up and down it herself. Chances are she’s avoiding being picked up more than avoiding her cage.

[Bo Bunny]

Well what I have done, is I always prepare Bo’s food in front of his cage. If if have to herd him into his cage I’ll put a small handful of greens (or pull out what he hadn’t eaten, but was still good) and give him a green when he comes by me. Don’t grab him or anything like that. I’ll then gradually move the greens closer to the cage until he is in then he gets the ‘new’ greens. So far this has worked. It takes some time and sometimes he doesn’t do it, so I try to take him out and put him back home when I have time to ‘waste’.

Also I noticed your cage was on a stand, maybe give her a place to hop into her cage so you are not carrying her up there. Those pet stairs you see on drfosterandsmith.com would probably work.

Best of luck!

[Bindilicious]

Thanks, Jerseygirl!  Actually, I was thinking about this tonight while Bindi ran circles around me and threw in a binky for good measure.  She is so close to pure evil!  I look at her sweet little face and I can see the wheels turning in there.  My eyes were darting around the bedroom looking for something to make a ramp.  So, thanks for the tip and tomorrow, I will try to fashion something that I can install during Bindi time – preferrably along the lines of a miniature cattle chute   Thanks again!

[Bindilicious]

Thanks, BoBunny, I really like your ideas.  I could actually let her have Bindi time before her Salad and use her salad to get her in the cage.  I always put her cage next to my bed and the door/ramp lays on the bed and I let her get out by herself.  Since she is up and down on and off the bed during Bindi Time that is where I try to herd her in.  I really think feeding her later might work.  Thanks again.  

[Bindilicious]

Posted By skibunny8503 on 02/15/2010 08:26 PM
I always find chasing doesn’t do anything. They just learn to run away from you when you get close. When I find it difficult to catch mine I try to bribe them with a treat. So maybe just sit on the floor with a treat in your hand and wait for her to come and get it so you can pick her up. They can be stubborn though. She’s just gotta trust you and chasing isn’t helping….I’ve had my share of chasing them too

 

Sorry, SkiBunny, not ignoring you just missed your post.  I know chasing doesn’t work with any animal, but I just get frustrated.  I am going to try feeding her after Bindi Time because she does love her salad.  I know lots of bunnies love their pellet treats, but when I give her the little tiny scoop of pellets, she usually dumps them on the floor of her cage, but she loves her Salad.  Thanks again!

[Monkeybun]

I personally love having the cage on the floor, so the buns can hop in and out whenever. The whole up on wheels things just never did it for me. And they much prefer being down on the floor have you tried an x-pen set up? She might enjoy that more

[Monkeybun]

Oh, and it sounds like Bindi is related to my Monkey.. she is pure evil in the cutest body ever. She gets away with dang near everything.

[KytKattin]

I used to use a towel to catch Nova. Her cage is so big and she was so aggressive that I didn’t really feel like I had any other choice. Two years and a spay later, not to mention a lot of trust building, she has calmed down a lot and lets me handle her. She can still be difficult to catch though, but she also loves her bunny loves and nose pets. Oh, and she adores papaya tablets! The ones from Oxbow. I can pretty much get her to do anything for them. So if you can find a treat she likes (or just her salad), maybe try sitting on the floor and feeding her? This will really increase your trust! Even if you aren’t hand feeding her, maybe just put the bowl next to you. If she doesn’t want to come close to you, just set the bowl further away and keep adding little bits of stuff and moving it closer.

[Karla]

Posted By Bindilicious on 02/15/2010 08:16 PM

I know I sound like a newbie and I am concerning little tiny Napoleonic bunnies!  Bindi lives most of the time in a large cage – see pics.  I have not yet built her a pen like all of you have mainly because we are really short on space, but I’m working on it.  In the meantime, I take her in my room for a couple of hours and let her run and binky and explore.  I have bunny proofed this room and can leave her in there by herself if I’m doing laundry or whatever, but mostly I just read while she races all around me. 

It has become increasingly difficult to get her back in her cage when “Bindi Time” is over.  I have been able to eventually herd her onto the bed and into her cage, but tonight was a nightmare.  Three hours and the last 1.5 hrs was me trying to get her to go to bed and her running around giving me the finger. 

She is not cuddly at all and doesn’t really like me to pet her, but she will jump on me and sit and stare at me and sniff my face and seems really comfortable with me.  

 I knew when I was chasing her around that it was all very counterproductive, but I needed to get her in her pen.  Finally, I got my soft sided pet carrier and placed it in a narrow space and was able to herd her into it, closed the flap and placed it against the door to her cage and she hopped in.  I have no doubt that will be the only time I will get her into that carrier.  She is no dumb bunny 

Imagine it’s you living most of your time in a cage that is just twice your size when you lie down. Now once in a while, someone lets you out for a couple of hours…would you be happy to be locked inside the cage again? Or would you try to do your best to avoid it? You have to see it from her perspective. What can that cage offer her that can be better than a chance to run around, be active, have fun and sniff interesting things?

My best advise is to get her a pen like most people in here have and your problem would be solved and your bunny will be happy. Or let her be a free-roamer. Is she neutered?  

I could suggest you ways to catch your bunny, but I have to admit I’m on your bunny’s side on this one. But until you give her a chance to live in  a pen or be a free-roaming bunny, then make sure that it is a fun cage at least. Let her have various types of toy in it, go out and cut off some branches that smells nice and that she can chew on, et. c.

Oh, and the other thing, I have learned not to corner her (see other post) and last night, I reached in her cage to straighten out her towel because I thought I saw some loose poopies (they weren’t) and she bit me on my knuckle.  I know, I know, they don’t like you messing with their stuff.  Anyway, she has no problem lunging and biting so I can’t corner her and grab her.  I don’t know what to do and I am getting discouraged.

I don’t mean to come down on you and I don’t hope you take it this way. But this is the same thing that the previous owners of my female bunny said about her. My female spent most of her life in a cage similar to yours. I read several places that bunnies that are frustrated with being caged, may be more prone to attacking and biting due to frustration. Molly is a free-roamer here, and she has never once been aggressive towards me.  

Don’t mess with her cage while she is in it.  

[Elrohwen]

I had to laugh at your description! Bunnies are smarter than people give them credit for 😉

The only thing that has worked for me is to serve dinner right after Otto goes back to his cage. After doing this long enough, he’s pretty excited to go back to bed at night. Sometimes he’ll even misread our cues and head back to his cage early because he thinks we’re getting his dinner ready. I know you said she’s not into treats, but if she hasn’t eaten since the morning she may be excited about it. Especially if you save her pellets for the evening.

I think you will also have a lot more luck if she has more room to run and more time to do it. If she could have a pen permanently attached, or maybe be allowed to run for 5+ hours she wouldn’t be so ornery (and possibly less cage aggressive).

[Sarita]

I have to agree, that cage is way too small and it doesn’t look like it offers much stimulation either. I hope you can either get a pen built or build a larger cage for her – it can be built up if space is an issue and offer different levels for her to jump up and down on.

[MirBear]

bindi, i love the set up you have in the cage, i have the same cage for twix, anyways my suggestion, do like lintini and put an x-pen in the closet… thats what im doing

edit: sarita these cages are actually alot bigger thsn they look, when twix is flopped the cage looks smaller but other than that there actually is alot of room, and bindi, another idea that im working on is im going to build levels, because the cage is so tall…

[Sarita]

I’m familiar with these cages and in my opinion, it is way too small.

It is a Marchioro cage and the dimension are 21.5L x 32W x 32H – this cage is WAY TOO SMALL.

The House Rabbit Society recommends a cage be at least 4 times the size of your rabbit minimum – more if they are confined all day.

[Karla]

I think it is quite obvious from the pictures that Bindi needs more space, and as Sarita says it should not just be twice her size but a whole lot more – particularly when she is confined as much as she is.

Bindilicious, I hope you give her some more space. She will be a much happier bunny, and you will enjoy her more when you know that you are doing the best you can for her. She is telling you in every way that she doesn’t like being in the cage. I know a pen takes up a lot of space – but that is unfortunately something that comes along with having a bunny.

[TARM]

I have two different size cages for my rabbits. My “small” ones are 70×28 and my “big” ones are 84×28. I cannot imagine putting a rabbit in any store bought cage.

[mocha200]

if you want cage setup ideas i am sure every one would be more than happy to post some pictures of there cages.

[Monkeybun]

I’ll get a good pic of Moose’s pen/cage area later on. He loves it

[Deleted User]

What gets me is that these cages, the marchioro for example with the stand here, cost way more than an xpen or enough NIC grids to build a bunny four-star condominium. It is a rip-off for the rabbit inside the cage and the owner.

[Bindilicious]

 

Before anyone flames me, husband moved his laptop stand away from the cage so she can’t reach the cords in this next pic.

 

 

[jerseygirl]

Hi. I’m sorry if you’ve felt a disheartened from this thread. You did state clearly at the beginning that Bindi’s cage was temporary. You also said you allow exercise time. I think that alone was great until you could set up something that would work in your home. Many members use cages as that’s what suits them. I think compensating lack of room by interaction and exercise time is fair.

The new crate set up looks good! You could even put in a low shelf she can jump up onto if she’s that sort of bunny. How is she liking it? Any troubles still getting her back in?

[Bindilicious]

Thank you, Jerseygirl, I appreciate your thoughtful posts!  I have been using salad and the soft carrier to scoop Bindi up when Bindi Time is over and so far, it seems to work pretty well.  I was off work today so I got this kennel out of the basement, cleaned it up and “decorated” it.  Bindi spent most of the day in my bedroom – we even took a nap together.  She was under her old cage and I was on the bed, but hey that’s something, huh?!  I was actually planning on putting a little loft in there for her soon.  She loves her cardboard box and I put an old phone book in there and she loves ripping it and digging it.  Thanks again!

[MorleyanBells]

She is sure a cutie! I know exactly what you are going through but instead of having one bunny loose, imagine having two loose through an entire apartment! lol I have taught Bella and Morley the word “bed”. They know that when I say “bed” that it is time to go back to their pen. Do they listen? I would have to say 8 out of 10 times they will listen to me and head back after much debate. Sometimes Bella thinks I am getting ready to send them to bed when I am not and she will run in there immediately and then hesitantly look around the corner at me to see if I am really sending her to bed lol It took a lot of time to get them to go to bed. A lot of chasing and herding helped. Whenever I would send them off to their pen, I would grab a big pillow and use it to help block their escape and then I would say “bed” over and over again and I shuffled them off to their room. Eventually they learned and now go off without too big of a hassle. It takes a lot of patience and persistence but eventually they figure out what we want out of them. It is a different story as to whether they care or not lol

[katiep]

So I’ve had some bunnies who don’t like going to bed after their time out.  My best trick is get their favorite treat, raisins in my case, and put them into a container and shake them and say “bed time” or “time for bed” they rabbits have associated that sound and those words with “if i go in my bed i get raisins!”  we only give them raisins at bed time and it is their favorite.  i find that if i’m taking too long to get them out i get circled and they run into their cage and back to me then back to their cage and so on until they get their treat.  It took time to get them “trained” to associate that noise, phrase, and time but it makes it SO much easier to get them to bed!!  good luck!

[Bindilicious]

Thank you, BellaNMorley and KatieP those are excellent suggestions.  I have not found her “currency” yet, but she loves her salad so that seems to work pretty well.  I keep forgetting to give her a command , which is really not like me (my GSD goes potty on command).  I think we’ll get the hang of it.  One of us will be well trained in the end, which one of us that will be is debatable .  Now I have to start bunny proofing the living room and the rest of the house (for once I’m glad it’s tiny) so she can play everywhere when I get home in the evenings.  Thanks again! 

[Monkeybun]

That looks awesome! Tons of room for bun in there! I agree with the using noms to get them into bed, Monkey will follow her raisins anywhere lol.

[Bindilicious]

MB, i just haven’t found the treat that makes Bindi do cartwheels over yet .  She likes raisins, apples,  carrots, parsley, cilantro, endive, romaine, etc. but not to the point where she has to have them.  I tried banana, but she didn’t like them at all.  Maybe I’ll try blueberries next.  Since we’ve only been together for 3 weeks, I’m sure we will get the hang of it sooner or later.  Thanks for the post!

[bunnytowne]

I had the same problem with Cotton.    I would try to bribe him with a treat he loves.  Blueberries banana pear.   I would coax him to his cage but he would go no further.  So I herded him in there after putting his treat in his bowl and letting him smell it.  AFter about 3 weeks he goes to his house at 10 or 10:30.

Also very important I was say go to bed Cotton go to bed.   When I say that even in the day he goes right in his cage knowing a treat is there.

As far as the cage you have.   You can put a shelf in there.   I saw these neat ones at Pet Supermarket.  They are pretty big too. 

I have chew toys in their cages for them that they enjoy.  Mostly the willow toys from BB. 

I have 2 cages like yours.  However with Ruby I pick her up and bring her to her play area.  After a few hours I pick her up and take her back. Must be a real special girl cuz she givesno problems when I pick her up.   Neither does Panda.

Both were handled from birth so I think that makes a huge difference including personality. 

If she gets out by  herself and goes from cage to your bed then yes perhaps you can coax her to going to bed with food when she is on your bed. Like you said.

Feeding her pellets later when she goes to bed is also a good idea.

Wish you the best with this situation.  I know it can be a pain. I have to chase Cotton around the living room since all those lip treatments.  I don’t run after him or grab at him til he finally settles in a spot and I can pick him up.  

This training will take a lot of patience and some time.  I know it can be very frustrating.

Also for me the condo nic cube cages dont’ work out.  They do for some people but not for all. 

[Barbie]

That’s the set up that I have for my two! I love it! It works out for us, since the bunnies are out most of the day anyway. Having the door that opens directly to the floor is great! Bindi will eventually learn that when she goes into her crate at night she’ll find yummy things in there. If you teach her a command like “go home” and lure her to the crate with her food, in the long run, things will be much easier for you.

I’ve also put a shelf in there for Leroy (I have yet to do Jeannie’s cage) and he loves it! Even though he has a bed on the first floor, he prefers lounging up high. If you want some suggestions for making a shelf… what I did was got three square dowel rods (5/8″ I think) and cut them to a couple inches longer than the width of the cage and stuck them through the vertical bars of the cage to rest on the horizontal bars. Then I took two NIC grids, ziptied them together, cut out a piece of thick cardboard to fit, wrapped a towel around all of it (leave the short ends open from the towel) and then rested it on top of the dowel rods and zip tied the open ends of the NIC grids tightly to the bars of the cage. You could cut out plexiglass or thick plastic and use that instead of the NIC grids and cardboard, but that’s what I used since I already had them and it was easiest.

[Karla]

That is a much better setup for her. I’m sorry if you felt that we were being hard on you, but it really was a small cage, and your problem was clearly caused by the small cage.

I bought a commercial cage for my first bunny as well with the intention of keeping him in it during nighttime and when we were off to work. I actually got quite a few harsh remarks on the bus when I was carrying the cage home, because people would ask me if it was for bunnies and when I said yes, I was told it was way too small. Although I felt told off, I actually appreciated their concern ’cause it means they are concerned with bunny welfare. Anyways, Karl naturally did not like being in the cage so after three days he was let out to be a free-roaming bunny.

Now the bunnies have a bunny room where they spend the night. I used to call them and give them treats at night time to get them into the room and because I felt bad about locking them up. I still give treats once in a while, but not always…nevertheless, I just have to move towards the bunny room and quietly say “come, come” and they will run as fast as they can into the room. With treats you can never go wrong. It might be raisins, some nice veggies or perhaps some pellets. Just make it a habit and attach a word to it, so she knows when you say “bedtime” that she will get treats inside the pen. When it comes to treats, bunnies aren’t always so clever

[Frankz]

 

I agree w/Jerseygirl, it’s prolly being picked up she doesn’t want. I usually just have to herd Sunny, because she goes under my bed, she knows that I can’t get her under there. Bunnies are noooo dumb animal. Usually I get her in there by herding, or bribing. Bribing always works for Sunny.

[Elrohwen]

Don’t worry too much about setting a command word yet – she’ll probably figure it out based on your body language and the appearance of salad 😉

My guy kind of understands “time for bed!” but I think he’s far more sensitive to our body language. He knows 10pm is about bedtime, so if I get off the couch and go into the kitchen any time after 10 he thinks “She’s getting me dinner! Time for bed!” Haha. They’re pretty smart little buggers!

I love your new cage! She’d probably really like a shelf too, since you said she jumps on the bed and that makes me think she likes being up high. The rescue I work at uses dog crates like that and they make great cages except sometimes it’s a pain to crawl all the way into the huge ones to clean up the back (but that’s a problem with most big cages anyway). I just wish they had doors on the side or something insead of just the end.

[Bindilicious]

Thanks, everyone, for the great ideas!  I will be adding a shelf for her probably this weekend and will definitely begin the “go to bed” training immediately.  Thank God, she has the world’s cutest face!!! LIttle devil!

[Barbie]

Posted By Elrohwen on 02/18/2010 06:34 AM

The rescue I work at uses dog crates like that and they make great cages except sometimes it’s a pain to crawl all the way into the huge ones to clean up the back (but that’s a problem with most big cages anyway). I just wish they had doors on the side or something insead of just the end.

 

They do have side doors! Some of them anyway.  Leroy’s crate doesn’t but Jeannie’s does.

[Elrohwen]

Well, the ones at the rescue are all lined up together, so even if they did have side doors I wouldn’t be able to get to them. It’s really only a problem with the bunnies who like to lunge and bite at me 😉 Then I’m not keen to put my whole face in there next to them.

[Bindilicious]

Barbie, mine doesn’t, but boy that would be nice.  Of course, I just crawl in the crate and clean away.  BTW, I liked your shelf idea.  I think I’ll try that over the weekend.  Thanks!

[Bindilicious]

Posted By Elrohwen on 02/18/2010 05:34 PM
Well, the ones at the rescue are all lined up together, so even if they did have side doors I wouldn’t be able to get to them. It’s really only a problem with the bunnies who like to lunge and bite at me 😉 Then I’m not keen to put my whole face in there next to them.

LOL – gee, do you have a lot of Bindis at your rescue?!  I will not be touching any of her “furniture” while she is in the house, that’s for sure!

[Elrohwen]

Yes, there are a lot of Bindis! And probably scarier than Bindy bunnies. There’s an 8lb+ lop who is quite scary! I have yet to clean her cage, but I’ve worked myself up to all of the other crazies at this point. I tend to use the vacuum hose and put it between the bun and my hand 😛

The only one I will probably never clean is Munchie – so named because she likes to munch on fingers :-O

[Barbie]

Hahaha Munchie! I love it!

What I do if I have to get into the crates without letting the buns out, I reach in with one hand and pet them for a bit, and then hold them firmly on their shoulders, and then do whatever I have to do in their cage. It’s a little awkward, using just one hand and trying to support your body weight with only your legs while you’re leaning way in there so you don’t squish the bunny, but it works. I figured this out after having a couple unfortunate incidents with Leroy’s teeth and my … ahem… chest area… when I was trying to replace his water bowl

Bindilicious, good luck with the shelf! If it doesn’t work out, at least it’s a cheap and easy project.

[Bindilicious]

Elrohwen, we had a miniature horse at a stable where I used to board named Munchie – for the same reason.  Barbie, it sounds like it will be fun.  Bindi was just racing around inside her new cage, jumping up and down on her little box house and binkying, so I guess she approves of her new living arrangements

[Barbie]

Yayy! That’s great to hear that she likes her new home

[Lintini]

That’s a great new home Bindilicious. Congrats on the new happy home for her! How cute she was binkying in it?! I bet you will see major improvements in her mood soon! Awesome!!!

[Elrohwen]

Barbie, yes, the petting on the head technique does work! I definitely use that. It’s hard though when there are two and they gang up on you 😛 And there are some who it doesn’t work on at all. I find most of them are fine until I’m putting more newspaper down on the floor – then they’re rearing up and boxing at the paper. Haha. I just keep my hands away and slide the paper on in.

And that is an unfortunate Leroy accident! I’m glad Otto hasn’t tried anything of the kind (though he’s grunted at hubby a few times for sticking his hand in to pet him in a confined space)

[Lintini]

Posted By Bindilicious on 02/18/2010 06:45 PM

Elrohwen, we had a miniature horse at a stable where I used to board named Munchie – for the same reason. 

 

 

Hehe Bindi…we had a miniture horse named Shotgun …and well…he took off in the cart with my mom and dumped the cart over with her and she broke her shoulder. Poor mom

 

[Bindilicious]

Lintini, minis are also a good example of being so cute that you get away with everything and boy can they be brats!  But sooooo cute .  

[Bindilicious]

I am very happy to report that Bindi is a changed little girl .  For the past 2 days, Bindi has been in her new cage and today during Bindi-Time, she kept jumping up on the bed with me and LETTING ME PET HER?!  I thought maybe she was sick or something, but no…she lets me pick her up and she doesn’t run away from me.  She even lets me pick her up to “go to bed” and her salad is waiting in her house for her.  She is a very happy bunny and I am a VERY happy Bunny Mamma.  I appreciate all the suggestions and tips from everyone.  I think Bindi and I are well on our way to a happy relationship!  

[Barbie]

Yayyy! Good job!

[Author]

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