Olaf’s Outside Adventure Fail

[pinknfwuffy]

So… I thought Olaf might like to hop around in the grass.

Quick backstory: I adopted Olaf from the local shelter. He had been found running around outside with his brothers at 3 months old. I got him at 6 months and he has been an indoor house bunny ever since. He has supervised free-roam of my living room for about nine hours a day, split morning and evening.

I’m not a huge fan of taking indoor rabbits outside. I love seeing cute videos of those who do it safely but I don’t think it is 100% necessary for every bun. I’m also super paranoid and the idea of it always stresses me out.

Anyways, it was a super nice day so I thought I would try taking Olaf out in his x-pen. Just a small, safe space in a little patch of untreated, fresh grass. Food galore!

After setting up the pen I took him out in his carrier and set it inside. I climbed in the pen, sat down with some treats, and opened the carrier. I also put a small towel down next to me in case he didn’t like the grass. It was fairly quiet and a really beautiful day. He poked his head out, looked around, and immediately started roaming the edges of the x-pen looking for a way out.

His breathing was heavy (from new smells and, I assume, stress) and he had that wide-eyed, what-do-I-do look. He had no interest in the grass or treats. It was all business. We were only out there for maybe ten minutes and he just couldn’t settle or seem to enjoy himself.

I knew it was best to go back in so I popped him in the carrier and we went back inside. For the rest of the day he hid under the coffee table looking remarkably fluffy. I’ve heard some rabbits shed a lot from fear (this happened at the vet last time) but on this occasion his fur looked super puffed up like it was standing on end. It was so bizarre and I felt terrible for making him so uncomfortable.

Needless to say, I think Olaf is officially an indoor bunny. 

[Bam]

Awww, Olaf!!! My Yohio that had been living feral for a while never liked the outdoors run. It was like he’d had enough of that, thank you very much.

I think Bam enjoys his run, because he grazes or semi flops and looks very relaxed.

[pinknfwuffy]

Exactly! I was thinking he might be having flashbacks to when he was running around out there as a wee bun.

Either that, or I’ve spoiled him to the point of no return. Outside? Out-SIDE? I do not do this side-of-out you speak of.

Bam is a unicorn!

[Bam]

Spoilt to the point of no return ???
Bam was also found outside, but I don’t think he’d been abandoned for more than an hour tops before I happened on him. He probably wasn’t outside long enough for him to have any bad outdoors experiences.

[Author]

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