New bunny behavior

[DarwinBunny]

I got Darwin, who is 6 years old, a week ago.  He eats beautifully and there has been one initial litter box accident, otherwise absolutely perfect litter box skills.

What I am wondering about is… behavior.  

Every morning for an hour and every afternoon/evening for 3+ hours, I open his cage for free access to the dining room/kitchen.  His cage is located in the combined dining room kitchen and I use an X-pen to block off the rest of the house.  WELL, he never leaves his cage.  He will poke his head out the door, especially if I am sitting right there talking to him, but otherwise it’s just a quick peek and back inside again.  

Today, I needed to clean his cage, so I picked him up and put him into the X-pen for 20 minutes.   He appeared to do fine with it, very curious and checking everything out.  So, tonight I set the X-pen up in the living room (with his litter box and some toys) and placed him there.  In the 45 minutes he has been in the X-pen tonight, he hasn’t left his litter box.  

I am assuming this is completely acceptable behavior, as he is in a new home and environment.  Am I correct?  Am I missing something?  Should I be doing or not be doing something? 

This is my first ever rabbit and although I have read tons… I feel completely clueless. 

Thanks in advance for any and all help! 

Heather

 

 

 

 

[Monkeybun]

It often takes them time to get used to new areas Just give him time, he’ll learn that the new place is all his

[jerseygirl]

Yes, he might be staying in his safe places initially. i.e. cage and litterboxes.

Is the flooring in the living room different to where the pen was before?
Do you have other pets that he might be sensing or feeling cautious about?

[DarwinBunny]

It was the linoleum! 

This morning, I put out a towel on the floor in front of his cage, which I linked to the kitchen rug, and he was off.  It was so awesome and exciting!  Guess I will be out buying a rug this afternoon after work. 

I do have 2 cats, but he has absolutely NO fear of them.  He hops right up to them.  My cats are a bit apprehensive, but there has been no aggressive behaviors from them. 

 

[Otti]

Oh yes the linoleum/lava flooring effect LOL most bunnies won’t walk on it. Mine acts like he’s in Mission Impossible and tries to inch along it against a wall, but that’s pretty much it.

[Huckleberry]

Lol linoleum/lava!!! I had no idea rabbits were afraid of it.
Huckleberry explored that area of the apartment first. After that, and still to this day, she likes to take a running start, hit the linoleum and stop so she will slide. It’s hilarious! Maybe Darwin will get more used to it. He is older, I wonder if the hard floor hurts his paws? I am not very experienced with rabbits and I have nothing to base that on except that tile used to bother my old cat at age 12.

The advice I would offer though is to just stay low on the floor and help make him feel more comfortable about being on the floor.
Congrats on the new addition!

[Elrohwen]

I was just going to say something about the traction, but it looks like you figured that out already! One of mine took over a year to cross the wood floors and even now much prefers if we carry him across in his maze haven. My other bun doesn’t have an issue with it, but Otto definitely thinks slippery floors are like lava! Haha

[Otti]

livingonfaith854, I don’t think that the hard floor hurts them, but I think most bunnies are made nervous by the ‘slipping’ feeling they have on it. I think it’s worse for lighter bunnies and bunnies with thicker back paw fur underpads (less traction).

[jerseygirl]

Glad you figured it out. Now you’ll be wondering how on earth you can round him up again!
Texture & traction is not the only thing that puts some off. I suspect it can also be light and dark floor coverings.

[Author]

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