Rabbit hates any form of confinement

[Katinthebox]

I have a year and 3 month old, spayed female rabbit, Oreo, and she Hates her cage with vengeance. At first we thought it was size so we went and bought the oxbow rabbit habitat with a metal fence yard, this was fine for two weeks. She then tore up the rug and cardboard we put over the normal carpet to try to escape the yard. Then at nights she began choping through the plastic of the cage. She spits out the plastic, and cannot be dissuaded.

She gets plenty of time out of her cage, at least 4 hours a day. When we are home she is out, but when we are not up or home, we want to have her be safe as she will eat the carpet and wood modeling and test nibble everything. She has free access to hay, is fed in the morning her pellets and green forging in the afternoon. (I hide her green in spots all over the main parts of yhe house.) So this isn’t about hunger or food.

We have tried apple bitters applied to the out side of the cage to no effect. I have tried this stuff myself and I instantly hated it. I have tried patching it with plastics, card board, tape, all gets mowed through. I have tried gentle correction by gently nugging her away, to calm her when she starts as she seems stressed when she starts but I get swatted to put it mildly, unless I instantly start to let her out. I have tried toys, food, extra play, hiding food for her to find, to make the cage a positive but she is smart, extremely social, and as the vet put it sassy.

At this point I am about to construct a metal cage pan as I have run out of ideas. Would this be a good alternative?

[sarahthegemini]

I don’t think 4 hours a day is long enough in all honesty. That would mean she is confined for 20 hours a day…can you not bunny proof one particular room for her to roam while you’re out?

[Jessica]

Amelia also hates having the door of her cage closed. She will go in there and nap as long as the door open, but will start chewing on the bars as soon as the door is closed. She is now 15 weeks and she is starting to settle down on this, but what I discovered is that she is acting out when she can’t get to me. In her case I think its a bit of separation anxiety. She will also climb out of her pen or over a baby gate to get to me if i leave the room.

At this point she has free run of out living room and dining room all while someone is home, if i cant be in one of those two rooms i keep the dog in those rooms with her.; Im still supervising, and the dog is about the same size as the bun, the bun will be bigger very soon. But that has stoped her from climbing the gates to get to me.

She now stays quiet all nigh once i go to bed, but she starts chewing the bars as soon as she can hear that im awake.

My guess would be that she needs more time out, shen she is getting into stuff she shouldn’t be give her a different option. Amelia is loving to dig on two tiles in the living room, to stop this ive made her a few tied fleece blankets and when she’s starts digging i put the blanket there for her to dig the blanket. After a few days she now goes right to one of her blankets to dig.

I know that time is hard to come up, but she is still young and “testing” the boundaries.

[Juicy]

So I think the average recommendation is 4 hours, but that’s mostly because there are people who will do less. It’s not necessarily their fault, in many cases their living situation/work schedule just isn’t set up for more. However, I agree with Sarah that it’s not really all that much. It sounds like you’re really trying to give Oreo what he needs, which is so sweet of you. That cage is pricy! And your carpet…that’s no fun. But when you let Oreo out, you should let him roam around a much larger space than just the tiny “play yard”. And that’s the manufacturer’s fault for promoting such low expectations! Unless your bunny has a bigger space to run, he’s going to be stressed.

I had to experiment with habitats too, and it kind of seems like the bunny chooses. Mine is free-roaming, using the open cage just as a “safe place” and to use the litter, but I recognize not everyone can make that work around the house. So my suggestion to you is this:

1. Measure from the back of the cage to the furthest opposite point of the yard fence, to get a length. And from the leftmost point to the rightmost point of the play fence, to get a width.

2. Get a crappy but durable rug that you don’t mind looking at on Craigslist (or elsewhere), it should be a little bigger than your measurements.

3. Put it under the whole cage and play yard.

4. Bunnyproof the room! 

That way, you can leave the cage open to the play yard 24/7. Let him run around the room (supervised) for that 4 hours, then when he goes back to his space he will only be able to tear at something you don’t care about. Giving him more freedom will help with the stress, though, so he may stop doing it period. 

Is there a couch and tv in that room? I watch an hour of tv a day when I come home, and I feel like this is a great way to multitask. She knows what’s up. As soon as my butt hits that couch, she hops up ready for pets! Just saying, that’s a whole hour you just killed making your bunny happy with zero effort. Maybe that’ll help Oreo!  

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