Yesterday morning, I committed the ultimate sin. Sprinkles was in his room (cage) and I was filling his water etc before going to work. I was in a hurry so I grabbed my water bottle to just squirt some in to his bowl. I don’t normally do this and misjudged the angle and the pressure.. and accidentally squirted my pour baby right around his forehead/base of ears. He freaked out a little and ran and jumped in his adjoining “bathroom” cage. I immediately got him a raisin and cooed over him and apologized profusely, but I got the idea he was still mad at me. I had to go though so I texted my husband what happened and left.
When hubby got home, he opened the door so Sprinkles could come out (he always does immediately) and he didn’t. He stayed in his bathroom for almost an hour before he got out and hopped around like normal. This morning again, he won’t come out of his bathroom. He’s been in there since I woke up an hour ago, and the door is wide open. I made sure he has hay and greens in there… I don’t know if he’s still upset, if something is wrong, or if he just feels like being in there.
Relevant information:
-The bathroom cage is one with litter guards on the side so the whole thing is filled with litter that he can lay in. Maybe it’s comfy? He doesn’t usually spend extra time in there though besides using the bathroom.
-We do not use spray bottles or anything like that for punishment, he’s never experienced it before. The only punishment we ever do is a loud no and a clap or ‘dominant bunny’ pressing his head down for a moment.
– He has done this before, a few months back. There was no precipitating even that we noticed, but he just stayed in his bathroom all day and then the next day was back to normal.
-He has accepted treats and looked around and doesn’t appear to be lethargic.
-To go between the bathroom cage and the normal cage (where his water and pellets, and the door to freedom are), he has to hop over the barrier, which he always does quite easily.
-He is 3 years old and slightly overweight, and at least part lionhead as he has a mane and ‘skirt’ of long fur around his butt. (Yes he often suffers from poopy butt, we’re working on changing his pellets)
Anyone have any thoughts? Any bunny psychologists about?
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