Rabbit wont go in her cage anymore?

[LigerCrev]

(Sorry, I just joined this site. *Noob alert*)

Okay, so basically just a little back round info, I have two rabbits. My first one,Vanilla Coke, I got about a year and a half ago, she was a wild rabbit (As in she was aloud to travel the farm as she pleased) and wasn’t very well socialized. Today she is fine, she is a fantastic rabbit and I love her.. She uses the litter box fine (for an unaltered rabbit) and she is pretty friendly.

My second rabbit is named Panda Bear, I got her on Easter of this year. She is absolutely adorable. She was barely a month old when I got her and she is so cute. She is not a free roam because she chews cords and leaves the room. (I don’t have a door) I do let her out daily when I can watch her. Her litter box habits are okay too. She never pees on the floor but she does poop. She is also unaltered.

Now, Vanilla Coke use to have Panda Bears cage but when she got pregnant (not intentionally) about nine months ago I let her have a different cage cause she didn’t want to share a cage with her kits. (She had ten!) So anyway she liked the cage she has so I just let her keep it and be a free roam. 

Cage Description: Vanilla’s cage is just a dog crate, her pallets are hooked on the door that is always open so it faces out of the cage. Her water bottle is hooked on the side of her cage going to the inside of her cage. She has a litter box on the outside of her cage right next to it. If needed I could possibly post pictures tomorrow depending on my computers temperament.

My Worries: So I first noticed something was off when one night she pulled Panda’s water bottle off her cage, I thought it was weird but not the first time she had something like that. Then I noticed that her water wasn’t going down. Now this didn’t worry me until I saw that it was still almost completely full for a whole two days. Then I realized I hadn’t even seen her in her cage at all for the past couple days. We have a big dog who isn’t typically in my room, but sometimes he comes in and she runs into her cage, but she hasn’t been. I have not changed anything about her cage at all, I just don’t know why she wont go in? I am worried cause she wont go in to get water and I have no where else to put it. (I have held it up for her so that she can drink water)

Anyways, I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions or knows why she isn’t going in her cage? I can answer questions if needed.

Thanks!

[Muchelle]

Just to be sure, strip the crate off from any smells by washing it with water/vinegar or any other disenfecting agent that is safe. It can be she is being territorial and something disrupted her territory (the cage)?

Also if you’re worried she’s not drinking you could try to leave out a filled heavy bowl (that she can’t kick or throw) somewhere where the dog won’t bother it, at least until you have this issue sorted out. After vet visits, when my rabbit is too angry to go back to his cage, he spends hours roaming around and that’s the only method that works to keep him hydrated

I know someone has to say it, so here I go: if the smell is the cause to this, it may be that her territorial instincts are going up because she’s unaltered. They both should be spayed not only to keep their behave on check, but also because the chance of a cancer to the reproductive system is high for an animal that is not destined to reproduce (especially females).

[LigerCrev]

I tried washing it out and she still will not go in. I left a bowl of water out and she has been drinking out of it. The dog does not stay in the room and rarely comes in so he wont drink from it.
I do really want to get her spayed and have tried to find a cheap clinic to spay her. The one we typically use for our cats and dogs only does cats and dogs. The rest are asking $150 to spay her and that one is cheap, Not to mention the doctor said “I don’t like spaying them”. Which made me uncomfortable with him even trying.
I do sometimes see aggression in Vanilla, Panda has yet to be aggressive.
I intend to get them spayed once I move out and have a steady income.

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