Won’t go up or down stairs or hop up on sofa!

[aliprowl]

 Clive has been with us for almost three months, and is Mr. Social.  He loves to be petted (NOT picked up!) and is free ranging throughout the upstairs with excellent litter box habits.  I’m puzzled, though, because he has never tried hopping down the carpeted stairs – not once.  I’ve picked him up (causing great angst) and carried him downstairs, but he then doesn’t hop back up the stairs or show any inclination to do so.  He won’t hop up on the sofa, either, or any other piece of furniture despite one really low to the ground sofa that he sits next to all the time.  Nor will he go up the ramp to the second floor of his (highly expensive, Leith Petwerks) rabbit condo.  He is slightly overweight, which might account for the ramp reluctance, but what gives with the stairs?  Might this change over time?  Have not tried forcing the issue at all – i.e., gently herding him to go down the stairs, but he doesn’t herd very easily; he just stays put.  I thought his curiosity would have kicked in by now.  I hate him to be confined to the floor and doubly hate that he isn’t using his entire cage.  One other item – he is now doing very well with litter box habits upstairs, after a few puddles in the beginning, but whenever I take him downstairs, he makes multiple messes despite having litter boxes every three feet. I wonder if over time, he will be comfortable downstairs and stop peeing on the carpet?  I don’t mind the pellets, but I have had zero luck in getting pee stains out of my carpets and I can’t let him do that.  Maybe downstairs is just a bad idea in general because then I have to corner him and pick him up to take him back upstairs, and that is horribly traumatic for him.  But since the family is so often downstairs, he would have way more fun being down there with us.  He’s an incredibly friendly rabbit and I hate for him to be alone upstairs so much.

[LoveChaCha]

Does he have carpeted flooring in his Leith Petwerks cage?

I have a friend who had a bunny that lived on the 2nd floor of the house. He was free range and he had the freedom to go downstairs, but he never did!

I’ve heard of members using Natures Miracle to get the urine stains out. Or a pet friendly stain remover.

[aliprowl]

He does have carpeting. A couple of times he sat at the bottom of the ramp and peered up, with paws about four inches up the ramp – but that was it. Afraid of heights?? I tried to entice him up with food, but no dice. It has been awhile – maybe I’ll try again with banana. I’ll try Nature’s Miracle – am afraid it might bleach the carpet, but can’t be worse than the existing stains, right? Interesting that there are other upstairs rabbits. I hope he changes his mind eventually! thanks for your reply!

[Beka27]

Is downstairs where you spend the most time? Have you considered relocating his cage and exercise space downstairs and making that his permanent area?

As far as his cage, are those levels adjustable? Can you lower the level so it’s less of a jump? Have you tried removing the ramp (some buns will jump but won’t climb ramps). You could also try a short box as a step up to the next level.

[Sarita]

The levels aren’t adjustable in the Leith condos, Beka. Have you tried putting him up on the second level of the condo to see if he’ll go down?

How big is he? I find that the large rabbits just aren’t suitable for the Leith condos – good for small to medium rabbits but not large rabbits (in my own opinion).

As for coming downstairs, I think if he doesn’t want to go downstairs, you should just respect that…he may eventually wander down there but it will be on his own time.

[Michelle&Lolli]

Some bunnies aren’t climbers or jumpers though. Lolli rarely jumps up on anything. I think it’s just because she doesn’t like her feet off the floor. She doesn’t like to be picked up either. So maybe it’s the same with Clive. ?????

[LoveChaCha]

My bunny is actually a little frightened of jumping onto higher things, like my bed. She stares at it… and stares at it. But nothing.

She enjoys going upstairs for a while. Ever seen a rabbit go down the stairs? It is hysterical.

[aliprowl]

Right, levels not adjustable. He is big, but not huge – not a Flemish giant or anything close to that, but definitely a bigger boy than many rabbits I’ve seen. I thought about getting him the Chubby Bunny ramps, but that also entails cutting bigger holes in the cage – not an inconsiderable expense, but I may be driven to it. The rabbit the condo was originally bought for was a small, spry, type who raced up and down like a maniac. I tried putting him on the second level once early on, and he just sat there. Perhaps I should try it again, now that he has settled in more. I would be more inclined to try the Chubby Bunny ramps (wider and therefore the larger hole) if he showed any inclination to “climb” at all, but since he won’t go up or down stairs and won’t hop up on anything, I’m wondering if he is afraid of heights?? He won’t jump up on top of his maze or up on a very low sofa (very small hop) for love or money. I really can’t move him downstairs – there is no place logical to put him that my husband will tolerate (rabbit are messy!) and also there is a lot of tile down there – huge expanse that he would have to navigate to go anyplace. The upstairs is entirely carpeted and he hops around very happily. He’s in his cage very little – door is never closed, he just goes in there to eat and hang out in litter box for a bit – which is a good thing, because with everything on one level, there’s little room in there. I wish I didn’t have the condo and could just give him a big dog crate, but then again, not sure he would spend much time in that anyway, since he has a lot of favorite areas upstairs. He seems very content to be an upstairs, uncaged, rabbit with four on the floor!

[aliprowl]

Anybody want to buy a three level Leith condo, barely used???! Aaargh!
But I think BunBuns1 is right; he just doesn’t seem to be a climber of ramps or stairs, or a big jumper, and he gets highly nervous when I pick him up off the floor. But he’s curious – he puts his paws up on the sofa and tries to look around up there. I’m counting my blessings regardless – he was a shelter rabbit and is the friendliest, sweetest guy on the planet, and he uses his litter box! I LOVE him!

[Queensbun]

Maybe with time, he might decide to venture up to the other levels?

Pictures, please!

[Beka27]

The tile downstairs may be another deterrent for him to go down there. It sounds like he gets a good amount of horizontal exercise, so if I were you, I wouldn’t push the subject.

As far as the couch, once they learn they can jump on the couch, it tends to cause more problems than it’s worth. Hang out with him on the floor instead.

[hooty22]

Felony zooms up and down the stairs at our apartment despite the fact that he can’t get anyone upstairs bc the door is closed. He won’t go up or down stairs anywhere else though. Some bunnies are just peculiar.

[Andi]

My rabbits all will not go near stairs (Can’t keep my Degu off them mind u lol). Pitstop hates sitting on furniture, though does like ramps to upper areas of pens and such. Only this past month, has he built up enough confidence to jump onto a bed that sits on the floor, it’s very low down.
Honeslty, he may never like stairs or furniture, or it could just take him longer to build up the confidence to check them out.
As for the cage, someone already mentioned putting him on the top level and seeing if he will go down. I think that’s a good start.

[Elrohwen]

Some rabbits don’t like to jump. Otto never ever jumped on a piece of furniture the first year we had him and I think it took a few weeks before he learned to hop up to the second level in his Maze Haven (and months to climb on the top). Once we got Hannah and he watched her jump on couches for a few months he finally got up the nerve to try it, but you can tell he’s not as comfortable with it as she is.

I wouldn’t worry – he’s just more cautious than some other buns.

[jerseygirl]

Chubby Bunny ramps – lol !

It might be a perception thing for him. Some rabbits have lower vision (like the Red Eye Whites). If he has any vision loss, that might contribute to his wariness about certain areas and not using the boxes downstairs.

Do you have other pets that live downstairs at all? That could also be a reason for the litter habits downstairs.

I agree about the sofa, so many once they get up there will mark it. If he already shows some marking traits then the likelihood he would mark the sofa is high I would think.

He sounds lovely! : )

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I was going to ditto Jers-I was wondering if he may have vision problems or be blind….it’s actually hard to tell if a rabbit is blind, well what I mean is they can move almost perfectly, deceivingly well-and have no vision at all….I have a blind bunny now and had another in the past and it’s very hard just observing them to say that they were blind. In fact though Noot, my current blind bunny, had cataracts, I hadn’t realized he’d completely lost his vision AT ALL and it was my vet who pointed it out. They get around amazingly well when blind, BUT they will not (not ever) go up things or down things. Even just a small raised bit -nope. Definitely not down anything either. So perhaps his vision is compromised?

[aliprowl]

Had no idea they would mark the sofa, so thanks for the warning! Egad! I did put him on the middle level when I first brought him home, but he froze up there and did not move. It was early on; too early, in retrospect. I will try again – he just hates being picked up so much that I can barely stand the dirty looks I get for days after I commit that horrible sin. Clive lives peacefully with a dog and 5 cats, and everyone gets along – no chasing, no clawing, etc. – he seems quite relaxed with the cats, and even seems very eager to be friends with one cat in particular. The cats are all over the house. I keep the large, friendly, calm dog at a safe distance from Clive, but could the dog be the reason for the lack of litter habits downstairs? He seems to settle in and lounge, once he’s down there for awhile – but poops and pees in certain areas the entire time, no matter how many litter boxes I put down in those areas. Same thing in my bedroom, but not in the hall, my office, or “his” room, or my son’s room. Just my bedroom in one corner, and in the family room in a couple of corners. He will pee/poop right smack next to a litter box.

[aliprowl]

I would really be surprised if he is blind or vision impaired – hops around, binkies, clearly is looking at things, telescopes up and peers at the top of the sofa (I think he’s really considering hopping up on the one in my office – he has shown a lot more interest just in the past couple of days). His vision really seems fine to me. I put a carpeted ramp up on a tiny incline, like barely an incline at all, and he DID go up it (had it propped up on a huge cat bed and he went up the ramp and into the bed). I’m thinking the Leith ramps are both too steep for his liking and too narrow for him to feel secure. And maybe the stairs just look too intimidating. He’s a decently large guy. Maybe he needs some yoga to feel more secure with his body…

[Sarita]

Bunny yoga…sounds like a great idea – let us know if you find classes :~)

I do think some rabbits are just more adventurous than others when it comes to ramps and beds.

[Elrohwen]

LOL at the bunny yoga!

[Author]

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