New Holland Lop Owner-Baby bun questions

[Oh Bucky]

Hi Everyone!

 

I am new bunny mom! My husband and I welcomed a new 2 month old male Holland Lop about 3 weeks ago now. He is a sweetie…but saaasssy! If someone can help me to ease my mind about some of his behavior and possibly answer some questions, I would so very much appreciate any and all information, suggestions, answers, etc:) Not feeling like the best mom haha.

1. Is it bad not to allow him to free roam the house for his own safety?
2. Should we allow him to at least explore our space a little here and there?
3. We’ve given him a large cage with lots of toys, but recently he has been trying to get out, and last night it looked like he trashed his home, and even chewed his new bed. Why??
4. We bring him out when we get home from work and put him in his exercise pen, but he doesn’t look like he’s having much fun:( does he need to get used to it, or should we give him even more room to run? The exercise pen is made for a large dog, so there’s a lot of room….

Maybe I’m just being overly attentive, and projecting? Maybe I need to be a little more patient? Just want to make sure I’m doing the right thing, and that it will possibly take some more time for him to adjust to the schedule and our day to day.

 

I appreciate all the feedback! Thank you!

<3Bucky’s mama

 

[LBJ10]

How large is his cage and how large is the exercise pen? Can you combine the two? Bunnies need lots of room when being confined. They also benefit from regular run time in a bunny-proofed area. Young bunnies especially love to explore.

[Hazel]

Agree with LBJ. They need at least 4 hours of free running time a day in a bunny proofed room. The minimum cage size recommendation for a single rabbit is 16 square feet. The rabbit cages you can buy at pet stores are usually way too small, if that’s what you have I would recommend that you attach the exercise pen to the cage so that he has access to both when he’s locked up.

Rabbits will chew on anything and everything. They are hardwired to do this because their teeth grow continuously and need to be worn down. It’s very normal behavior and has nothing to do with them being upset or anything like that. So him chewing on his bed is to be expected, don’t put anything in his cage that would be harmful for him to nibble on or even to ingest. If he does tend to actually eat parts of the bed or something else that’s inedible, you should take it away. Make sure to bunny proof the room he will have access to, anything that you don’t want him to chew on or could be harmful to him needs to be removed or you have to block his access to it (wires, clothes, books, furniture that you want to keep intact). You might need to make a barrier with NIC grids or something similar along the walls if he takes a liking to chewing the baseboards or dry wall.

If you don’t mind me asking, where did you get him from? It sounds like you got him at 5 weeks of age, which is way too young.

[DanaNM]

I tend to think of bunnies, especially young ones, as a lot like puppies!

They need exercise and stimulation for sure, but also to be in a safe secure area when unsupervised (and the exercise area should be bunny proofed).

To answer your questions:

1. Is it bad not to allow him to free roam the house for his own safety?

There are varying degrees of “free roam”. I think that it’s important to have at least a room that is completely bunny proofed that he can get exercise time in, and aiming for at least 4 hours a day in that space is great. I have one bun that is more destructive, and I give him about 6 hours a day of run time in the living room (a few in the morning and a few in teh evening, more on the weekends). My other pair is not destructive at all and I only pen them at night because they need a lot less supervision. When you get to know your bunny more and get better with your bunny proofing (and he’s neutered and litter box trained), you can start to give more freedom.

2. Should we allow him to at least explore our space a little here and there?

See above! I think exploring a bunny proofed room is very important! You don’t need to do multiple rooms at this point, because it will prob make litter box training harder and bunny proofing will be more difficult.

3. We’ve given him a large cage with lots of toys, but recently he has been trying to get out, and last night it looked like he trashed his home, and even chewed his new bed. Why??

Bunnies like to chew things! Many buns don’t do great with beds because they just eat them, so giving safe “boredom buster” toys is important. Young bunnies have lots of energy especially! As others have said, most cages are too small, so attaching his exercise pen to his cage so he has a “front yard” will be a much better set-up for him. Bunnies are super active at night, so giving him more space will make him happier.

4. We bring him out when we get home from work and put him in his exercise pen, but he doesn’t look like he’s having much fun:( does he need to get used to it, or should we give him even more room to run? The exercise pen is made for a large dog, so there’s a lot of room….

Most bunnies do not like being handled and placed in a new area. It’s ideal to be able to just open the pen to the exercise space, so they can come out and explore on their own (and have a safe route back to their cage, which is their safe space). Most buns think of their pen/cage like their burrow, and will retreat to it if afraid. So I think an ideal set up for you would be to attach the pen to his cage, and leave the cage open 24/7. You can add some tunnels or a hide to the pen to make it more interesting and safer feeling. Then bunny proof the room his set-up is in, and during exercise time just open the pen and let him come out to explore. 🙂

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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