Just adopted two adult bunnies and need some advice

[GuyT]

We adopted a bonded pair of three year old mini lops three days ago, as a friend of my girlfriends living situation changed and she was no longer able to keep them. We both love animals but neither of us have owned rabbits before. 

We purchased the ‘Liberta Retreat 150’ cage in preparation (http://www.therabbithouse.com/indoor/rabbitcages.asp?cage=73) prior to their arrival and after they arrived we let them in – and they haven’t left it since. We’ve tried to encourage them out with treats and food, we’ve left them alone to see if they would come out without us present, but while they will peer over the edge neither of them will actually leave the cage. I don’t want to pick them up and bring them out as I don’t want them to associate leaving the cage with an unpleasant experience. I understand that it can take rabbits a little while to gain the confidence to leave their cage, but I’m slightly worried that they are getting absolutely no exercise. They do sometimes sit out in the open part of the cage or on the upper shelf that I covered with a couple of hemp mats, but the majority of the time they hide in the covered area underneath the shelf, and they seem to spend alot of time trying to burrow into the plastic. They will eat pellets and mint leaves out of our hands, although one of them occasionally charges at us when we offer him food or try to clean up the litter in the cage and even gave me the lightest of nips. He will also flop while we are around, but again only in the cage. We have been told that one of them is rather timid, but the other was apparently alway very confident and mischievous which we saw for ourselves when visiting the friend previously so he does seem to be very subdued. They are eating plenty and drinking some water, they’re leaving pellets all over the cage and in the litter tray, so I think that they’re slowly adjusting; is this behaviour normal for a bonded pair whose lives have been uprooted in this manner?

I need to clean their cage this weekend and I’m not sure how to go about doing it without causing them stress if they are unwilling to leave the cage. Should I try to entice them into their pet carrier and set this aside whilst cleaning, or try to clean around them and let them charge or nip at me? Also, I’m not sure what to do about grooming them at present; should I attempt to do so or wait until they are more confident around us?

Any advice is much appreciated as they are quite unlike any other animal I’ve owned in the past!

[tobyluv]

It’s nice that you were able to take in these rabbits. I looked at the cage and see that it is elevated. I wonder if the rabbits are not used to heights, that their former cage or pen had an opening at or just above floor level? That, plus being in a new situation may make them not want to come out of the cage yet. They had a conversion chart for the cage size, which is 4’10” x 2’6″. It is usually recommended that a minimum cage size is 2′ x 4′ for one rabbit, and that it’s tall enough for the rabbit to stand up comfortably, so that might not be quite large enough for two, although at the moment it seems that they are taking up very little space inside. They might feel more comfortable in an x-pen, with a hidey box for them to go into. That way they would have more space and be at ground level. But you can consider that for the future.

It is very common for some rabbits to be cage protective. They do not like hands or other objects coming into their cage. That can be due to the fact that they consider the cage to be their property and they don’t want any outsiders coming in, or they may fear that hands are going to grab them. I know a person who has had rabbits for years and they are still cage protective. Either reason could make them charge or growl or nip at you.

Could you put a ramp against the cage door so that the rabbits could hop down with ease, instead of jumping down? Even though it’s probably not that high, it could look scary to them, making them not want to jump out.

It would be easier to clean their cage without them in it, but you don’t want to stress them. If you can put a ramp there, maybe you can entice them to come out with some food. Unless their fur looks very raggedy, or looks like they are shedding badly, you could hold off on the grooming for a little while longer, until they got more used to you and their new home. If they do need it, use a soft brush on them if they will let you. If you have a top opening carrier, you could try to groom them when they are inside.

I hope that they will settle in soon and want to come out of their cage and interact with you.

[BarbaraC]

Hi GuyT. I agree with tobyluv, the cage looks really high so a ramp would be a good solution. Also, when I brought one of my bunnies home it took him almost a week to come out of his cage when I was around. Our setup is a C&C cage with an xpen attached to the front. His cage door almost always stays open so he has access to thr pen area. Even with this it took almost a week for him to be comfortable around me. But once he was I started getting bunny kisses constantly. Now when he sees me coming in the morning he runs out of his cage and greats me at the fence. It’s a very dog like behavior and melts my heart every time.

Just give them some time to adjust. Unless their cage is filthy you could just try doing a light cleaning and litter change until they are more comfortable.

Did their previous owner ever mention aggression or just that one was more rambunctious?

[GuyT]

Thanks for the reply. To be honest with you we don’t plan on keeping them locked in the cage; we have a large pen which we are going to put around the cage and allow them free access in and out. The reason we chose an elevated cage was so that there was additional floor space in the pen. The cage is very high – when they’re standing up on their back legs they aren’t even half as tall as the cage. I agree re the ramp and we’re going to ask a carpenter friend to build one, but in the meantime we’ve been sliding the tray out of the cage and placing it on the floor so that from the raised platform it’s only a small drop to the floor – and we’ve even placed a stool to help them get down! The more confident of the two has come close to coming out but always seems to back off at the last minute.

The same one who gave me a gentle nip does allow me to pet him, even when he’s flopped, so I think he’s becoming more comfortable with me. I’m writing this sitting on the floor with the tray of the cage on the ground to my left, and the more confident of the two has been up to have a look around but they’re both now hiding again. They always come out to have a look around when we first open the cage up but soon go back into the covered space. We’ve tried enticing them out with food but when it gets a certain distance from the cage they seem to lose interest. Hopefully they adjust soon, I’m just sad for them that they’ve spent the last few days in the cage!

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