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How to encourage Frankie to use a ramp?

Morrigan1981

Mama Doe
Hello :wave:

When my new Dawson's rabbit hutch is here and it's FAB! :D I'll put up some pictures when I get home later, but it's 6ft x 2ft x 2ft for the hutch, with an attached run underneath. It's ace and really well built :D It arrived just before I went away to Germany, so I've had to wait for a week to play with it :lol:

I haven't moved the rabs into it properly yet as I want to wait until the weekend when I can be home with them, but I did let them play in the run part last night for a few hours. Jenny figured out the ramp almost straight away and was charging around both the run and the hutch part quite happily, but Frankie won't even try to use the ramp. I'm really worried that he's not going to get the hang of it :? Any ideas on how I can encourage him to hop up please? Thank you! :wave:
 
food! or put him half way up and let him figure out how to get either up or down? I'm sure he'll get the hang of it don't worry!
 
food! or put him half way up and let him figure out how to get either up or down? I'm sure he'll get the hang of it don't worry!

I tried putting a few SS pellets on each of the 'steps', but he just stood on tiptoes and knocked them off :roll: :lol: I didn't try putting him halfway up though.. maybe I'll give that a go tonight :)
 
I had the same problem with one of mine. I tried food, putting her half way up, putting her in the top and trying to bribe her with treats to come down - nothing worked.

Then one morning after about a week she was in the top! For two days though I had to keep bringing her down because she couldn't work out how to get down herself, then one day it was all good. I can laugh about it now but at the time it was very worrying!

I think Frankie will manage fine by copying his friend - it might just take a week or two! Good luck

Emma
 
When I first got a hutch over run it took Pippa and MJ a whole month to use the ramp. I ended up carpeting it :oops: which worked really well as it wasn't so slippery. Now MJ and Opal bomb up and down, carpet has fallen off, but it's not needed now.
 
Thanks guys. What did you do in the time that they were living in the hutch, but couldn't use the ramp? Just make it so that they had access to everything in the run? I think it might be some time before Frankie gets the hang of it (*whispers* he's not as bright as Jen :oops: )
 
I had the same problem!

With one pair, the boy whose hutch it was originally helped his new girlfriend learn - he would sit on the ramp and lean down and lick her ears to encourage her up - so cute!!

With another pair, I put her upstairs in the end, and made sure food / hay / water were all up with her. I figured she was more likely to explore leaving the hutch and would then use the run - rather than leave her in the run and hope she wondered where the ramp led!
 
I always make sure there is plenty of water and hay in the hutch (upstairs and downstairs) and run. The biggest thing was making sure there were warm snuggly places in the run - I got them a little dog bed and put it in the snuggliest most sheltered part of the run, I'm a bit of a worrywort:oops:

I am sure it will be fine, he'll get there in the end!
 
Thanks guys. What did you do in the time that they were living in the hutch, but couldn't use the ramp? Just make it so that they had access to everything in the run? I think it might be some time before Frankie gets the hang of it (*whispers* he's not as bright as Jen :oops: )

I transferred them up and down, and down and up - put the food in the run in the day, carried them and their food upstairs at night....

.... actually they probably didn't need to use the ramp, they had me :oops: :lol:
 
Thanks everyone. Actually I popped both rabbits back in the run part again yesterday evening (just to play) and when I went out to check on them five minutes later, Frankie was up in the hutch! :shock: So, I now know he can go at least one way up the ramp :lol:

I'm going to put them out in the hutch proper on Saturday (once I've had chance to add some extra bolts on the doors) - wish me luck :)
 
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