New rabbit should be more active?

[LazyHarpSeal]

Hi  

I recently adopted a 14 month old Netherland Dwarf male (not neutered) and named him Bunford.  He has a 140 size cage but its open all the time unless I go out so he can roam as he pleases and its a pretty big room   For the first few weeks he just wouldn’t come out of the cage at all and he just seemed very wary of pretty much everything.  For the past 2 weeks or so he has been coming out and exploring.  He has a lot of toys but doesn’t seem to be so interested in them and although he doesn’t sit in the same spot all day, he doesn’t seem to be as active as he should be.  I have already taken him to the vets who did a full check up and said he was a healthy little bun apart from he had the early stages of conjunctivitis which we are currently giving him eye drops for.

I think I should also say that we adopted him from a small farm park and I think he was essentially in the petting zoo area.  They unfortunately didn’t give me any information about the food he was given or well… no information at all really :/  From what I can see they just had hay, not a massive area to run around in and no toys.  So my question is… should I be worried about him not running around too much?  The vet said he was healthy and he’s been pooping ok (apart from the odd cecotrope but I think this was due to me feeding him pellets according to pack instructions so too many, I now feed him slightly less than a tablespoon and his poops are normal now).  He seems to be getting more curious about me and although he isn’t comfortable with petting yet, he does sometimes lick me and come to my hand.  I feel like he is slowly improving but I imagine this is all such a dramatic change for him and a bit overwhelming especially since we have had to pick him and hold him for the eye drops which has scared him    I would just like him to be happy and a little more active    Does anyone have any advice or experienced anything like this?

Sorry for the large block of text but I thought I would include as much as I can

[Sirius&Luna]

Bunnies often take a while to come out of their shells, as they’re prey animals. Since he was previously at a petting zoo, I imagine he was endlessly prodded by different people, so it will probably take him a little while to trust you.

Do you give him a treat after the eye drops? That will help counteract the negative effects of that.

Bunnies are generally pretty lazy animals! Mine spend some time whizzing around the room at top speed, but they also spend a lot of time lounging flat out.

If he’s exploring the room, that sounds like a positive step. I think you’ll just need to be a bit patient with him! You could try hiding treats around the room to encourage him to explore. Another thing to consider is the type of flooring. Lots of bunnies don’t like wooden floors or slippery surfaces, so it might be worth getting a big rug for him if your floors are slippy.

[Puffbaby]

I’ve had my bun since the beginning of September and he is just starting to play with toys. Only food related toys tho. He will probably take some more time to warm up, and try more food based toys. Mine loves when I hang herbs with clothes hangers from a string across the room. And I’m sure having to give eye drops don’t help at all! Just try lots and lots of floor time with him. Laying on the floor and hand feeding the little amount of pellets and his greens.

[joea64]

I’ve had my own buns for just about two months now. Fernando is more active than Panda, but like Sirius&Luna says, they’re both lazy little scamps who love to lounge. Fernando’s idea of maximum fun is to sit sideways and give me the eye (usually sitting on the upper deck of their bunny condo) while I move around my apartment, and Panda is very fond of bunloafing/sphinx-style sitting. They’re not much interested in toys so far, at least not the ones I’ve tried; they’re buns of simple tastes who prefer bopping about with their hidey boxes both inside and outside the condo, often literally; Panda in particular loves shoving hidey boxes about as she goes around the condo or X-pen. Fernando likes chewing on his own hidey box upstairs (fortunately cardboard) every so often. I probably should try one of those kabob-type hangers sometime. They have a big sisal rug in their play area with a rough texture which seems to be very much to their liking.

[Wick & Fable]

Wick is a Netherland Dwarf and he literally just lounges all day. His physical activity is navigating to a different lounge spot if I’m bothering him, or navigating to and from litter boxes to do his business and eat. It’s natural for rabbits to be pretty inactive from 7AM to 2PMish (that’s Wick’s schedule) due to their natural cycle (crepuscular).

It may take a while to get to know your rabbit fully, and vice versa.

After 2 months, I was convinced me and Wick knew each other really well.
After 6 months, I realize I was naive and was then convinced of the same thing.
Now at 1yo, I’m pretty sure me and Wick have each other pinned down pat, but who knows!

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.

[joea64]

Posted By Wick on 10/17/2017 12:54 PM

Wick is a Netherland Dwarf and he literally just lounges all day. His physical activity is navigating to a different lounge spot if I’m bothering him, or navigating to and from litter boxes to do his business and eat. It’s natural for rabbits to be pretty inactive from 7AM to 2PMish (that’s Wick’s schedule) due to their natural cycle (crepuscular).

It may take a while to get to know your rabbit fully, and vice versa.

After 2 months, I was convinced me and Wick knew each other really well.
After 6 months, I realize I was naive and was then convinced of the same thing.
Now at 1yo, I’m pretty sure me and Wick have each other pinned down pat, but who knows!

After two months, I think I’m starting to get an idea of Panda and Fernando’s schedule. They’re most lively from late afternoon to early morning, with occasional nap breaks after full dark (which is why I decided last night to start leaving their X-pen up through the night, so they’d have more room to frolic) and from 8 am to 4 pm or so they mostly hang out in their hidey boxes on the upper deck, catch some sunrays on said deck’s open spaces, or retire to the litterbox (in the shaded, dim portion of the condo’s lower deck) to eat and toilet.

[Mikey]

It took over a year for my nethie to become comfortable enough to explore. I think youre little bun is progressing fine To try and get him to trust and exercise a bit more, you can try to lay on the floor and have him climb on you. If hes food motivated, you can try treat balls, too. Some bunnies dont care for toys at all and just prefer to run around (then nap) or explore around a room. If hes a curious type, you can consider putting boxes around the room. My three bunnies love to explore different boxes/box tunnels; it can keep them entertained for hours some days

[LazyHarpSeal]

Thank you everyone for the reassurance and advice! I did give him either a treat or his veggies after the eye drops and even though I think I might have to rebuild trust with him I think he’s doing pretty well He even let me pet him today as he ate his pellets!

Although I think it may have been a petting zoo type enclosure he was in (I’m not entirely sure but it was a family farm park so regardless whether there are signs saying “Do not touch”, children and probably plenty of adults are going to try to pet the animals unfortunately) he was rescued by the farm park so there is a possibility he has had a rough time. I think his personality is starting to shine more now though He is a funny little bun!

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By LazyHarpSeal on 10/21/2017 7:11 AM

Thank you everyone for the reassurance and advice! I did give him either a treat or his veggies after the eye drops and even though I think I might have to rebuild trust with him I think he’s doing pretty well He even let me pet him today as he ate his pellets!

Although I think it may have been a petting zoo type enclosure he was in (I’m not entirely sure but it was a family farm park so regardless whether there are signs saying “Do not touch”, children and probably plenty of adults are going to try to pet the animals unfortunately) he was rescued by the farm park so there is a possibility he has had a rough time. I think his personality is starting to shine more now though He is a funny little bun!

That’s awesome It’s amazing when the shy/timid ones gain confidence. I bet now that he’s in a loving home, he’ll come out of his shell

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