Rabbit behavior

[LilLlama]

Hello.

I’ve have a rescue rabbit. I got her when she was a year and a half. She was always in a cage her entire life. I have gotten her spayed snd I’ve had her for over a year. She was extremely shy and I worked very hard with her to get her comfortable and trusting. I was always there to cheer for her when she finally wanted to step out of the cage for the very first time after getting her. I want the maximum happy life for her. I give her a lot of run time and a large cage with multiple levels and she has a little baby brother (from the same parents) , that we have gotten a few months ago to help her shyness, who is always out and playing and loving. She has since come out of her shell much since he’s been around.

My girl will only come out of her cage when I go to her, pet her and call her. This is a routine we do every day and it doesn’t bother me that this is the only way she will exit her cage to play. She is very active during early morning and mid afternoon. Yet, she will not come out until I call her and pet her.

Is this a behavior that I should be concerned about? Her brother always tells me when he’s ready to come out and he has no problem with telling me to move and such. Since having him, I feel that maybe she’s not having as good of a life as I expected?

I let them free roam for the most part. I even got carpets to give her more space since she won’t walk on the hard wood. She does her binkies and such but I never owned rabbits before. I can’t seem to find information on this particular behavior for rabbits either.

[Bam]

I dont think this is a problem. Your boy has had a different kind of life, where he has been able to express his rabbitude from an early age. Your girl didn’t get to do that as a youngster, because she wasn’t with you.

My bun Bam was an adult when he came to me. I dont know what kind of life he had before I found him, but judging from his behavior, he had been living in a cage or similar. It took him a whole year to venture out from under the coffee table  which he had chosen as his home base.

I had Bam for 7 years, during which time he became more and more outgoing, social and unafraid. I dont think a process like that can be sped up in any significant way – if you provide the bun with a safe and enriching environment, nutritious food and necessary health care (my Bam had fur mites when I found him), the bun will respond in its own time, at a pace that the bun sets.

I think your girl is happy. She is obviously very lucky. She is not done developing. She might still very well decide one day to come out of her cage without your calling her. She could do that tomorrow or 2 years from now, you never really know with buns. When an animal has grown up caged 24/7 it learns that initiatives are futile. (This is called learned helplessness https://g.co/kgs/88JLKM). Now she is unlearning this.

[LBJ10]

Every bunny is different. They have their own personalities and, as Bam pointed out, some of that can be influenced by early experiences. If a bunny is naturally shy and all they have ever known was a tiny cage, it may take more time for them to feel comfortable with the idea that they can venture out of their “safe space”. Continue to encourage her, but also keep in mind that she is going to ultimately set the timeline.

[Author]

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