Ladders

I've put Caramel in a hutch/run set up with a ladder for the first time this morning. She's been in it for about 6 hours now and doesn't seem to have moved from the top hutch :shock::? Do all rabbits work it out in the end or am I going to have to buy her a new hutch? :shock:

Is it a ladder (with holes), or a ramp (without)?

In my limited ladder experience, it depends!

Smokey worked out how to use a ladder instantly (she's a bright little girl) and was straight up it. Inky, on the other hand, had no idea what to do! However, once he saw Smokey do it, he managed to copy her. So, if you have any other rabbits, they may be able to show yours what to do.

Alternately, make sure that Caramel has food and water in the area she is in, if you leave her, she may work it out. Also, you could try putting her at the bottom of the ladder, they seem to find it easier to go up the first time.

yes sorry it's a ramp. I have had 4 other rabbits in this hutch at different times and they all worked it out quite quickly! I've seen her look down the hole but not attempt it. She is an older rabbit now so i wasn't sure if that had anything to do with it, but she doesn't have any mobility problems and is more lively than some of my younger ones :? I have put her tray, food, hay and water in the area she is in

All my rabbits have taken to ramps fine; they do have "issues" coming down; Nyx prefers to jump down :roll: and Lucifer sort of slides & jumps off half-way, when she doesn't jump.

Maybe put her downstairs & she will go up & realise how to get down?

How steep is the ramp? Scarlett wouldnt go down hers until I placed bricks underneath to raise the bottom a bit x

When we got our first two we made their cage to fit under the kitchen worktop on two levels with a ladder leading down but it looked like they were struggling with it so we replaced it with a step up...



It's held there by a couple of shelf brackets. In our experience all rabbits have preferred this and it increases floorspace. Hope this helps.

Neil

ETA There's a hole about 6 inches square above the level.

My Berri never took to a ramp, even though she was the brightest rabbit I've ever had - she just wasn't comfortable using a ramp. :? Thankfully, it was a playhouse with the ramp leading up to a small second floor, so it wasn't that big a deal that she never used it. Ebony and Pebble, and Maddie when she was living in there, took to it right away. Berri was a little older than the others when she was first introduced to a ramp, I always assumed it was either that, or her funny feet (she was a rex and had bad issues with her hocks) why she couldn't use the ramp.