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Help I Can Not Get Rabbit In!!

S

senatorvass

Warren Scout
I have 4 rabbits who are free range in a totally enclosed garden during the day and when it gets dark they all go in a hutch enclosure. One of my boys is being SO difficult lately I can not get him in - I have literally been out in the garden WITH my 2 and a half year old boy since 3:00 trying to get him in. The other three rabbits are fine they are all in. I REALLY do not want to leave him out for obvious reasons, its BLOOMING COLD outside!!! And I dont want them out in the dark! But I can not catch him he is too fast. I have laid every trap I could think of with his favourite foods etc and every time I approach the enclosure to close it he darts out and is out. To make it all worse he is black and his Mum was a rescued wild rabbit so trust me he is VERY fast. I just dont know what to do. There is no way to catch him. If he doesnt come in for food etc I dont know what to do.
:oops: I accidentally posted this message on another thread when I meant to start a new one, sorry! :oops:
 
:?

Bit of a dilemma. Does he not come to the shake of the dry food tin?? :lol: If youve been trying to get him since 3pm hes probably petrified by now hun :( Id leave it half an hour then try again...

How do you normally get him in? :? xXx
 
Lol, I saw this in the other thread about was about to suggest you post about it, but then you beat me to it.

I would just suggest not letting that bunny/the bunnies free range until you can train him to come. I don't have a secure garden, but if I did there are some buns I would trust to be free and others that I would NEVER allow out for that very reason, they wouldn't come back.

I would suggest, tonight, being very patient, and remaining completely calm because he will sense your emotions.

Try lurking, and leaving a carry case nearby and put food in it. Sometimes it's more of a waiting game than being proactive. Another option is a net, but that should really only be a last resort (The only time I have used a net was when I had an escappe bunny and needed it caught before a next door neighbours dog got it). I have a nightmare bunny, but you have to be clever and cunning and one step ahead of them. You know your bunny best so what other people can suggest may not work (although hopefully it will work :) ), but all suggestions are worth a shot, I guess.
 
Hmmm all I can suggest too is throwing a towel over him. I've only ever done it once and it wasnt nice but a large towel thrown over will normally give you a couple of seconds as bunny pauses to scoop him up.
As SkyO says ideally just waiting and being patient and you'll normally catch them in a carrier but with the weather being as cold as it is i doubt you wanna be waiting stock still in your garden for hours.
Do your buns have a set routine, none of my buns have run of the garden free range but if they did i feel pretty confident they'd come home in evening cos its veggie time and they go nuts for their veggies!
 
Do you have any large boards or if not towels you can heard him with? or restrict the area he is in in some way? It probably is a waiting game. I used to try leaving the back door open when mine wouldnt come in and eventually nosiness took over. Good luck
 
well he used to come in as soon as the food came out - brilliant! Of all my 4 they seem to take turns being well trained and turns being little blighters who refuse to come in. My Stardust used to be the worst and now he is in first every night. So... you know I dont know how to train them. (Are you allowed to swear on this forum? I keep wanting to say blo**dy but dont want to get shouted at!) I mean Celeste (the one who is out now) used to be the best of all of them. Its only been the last week and a half he has been like this and generally I have got him in by sitting very still with my hand outstretched with some fruit in it and when he comes to eat the fruit I grab him. I know he hates me now he was thumping at me this morning but I AM gentle of course when I grab him, and careful, but I cant very well leave him out all night. Anyway he isnt falling for it this time he isnt going anywhere near me.
 
Maybe there is a reason why the behaviour has changed? Maybe some sort of experience? Or maybe some sort of medical problem? It might be worth keeping your eye on him incase this is not just him being awkward but has actually been brought on by something. (not helpfuly for you getting him in, but hey, I had to say it, sorry).
 
they do have a very set routine, out every morning same time then I always go out to get them in shortly before dark. They have always been free range as my garden is enclosed. I would try the towel thing... and I might do that tonight if I have to but I really need a permanent solution and I dont know what it is. :(

Am so discouraged I adore my buns and do everything I can to make them happy, my birthday is 11 Jan and the only thing I have asked for is for some bunny stuff to be sorted out but I have been trying for MONTHS and I can not train them. They are totally wild. I just cant get them to be well behaved like most of your rabbits seem to be.
 
Sky-O said:
Maybe there is a reason why the behaviour has changed? Maybe some sort of experience? Or maybe some sort of medical problem? It might be worth keeping your eye on him incase this is not just him being awkward but has actually been brought on by something. (not helpfuly for you getting him in, but hey, I had to say it, sorry).
Click to expand...

I know he is struggling at the moment because my other boy is the alpha male and is chasing him around all the time - in the new year I want to send them all on a bonding holiday its one of the things I have asked for for my birthday.
 
Maybe you ought to restrict their area in the garden :?

I know full well Lottie and George will get into the hutch everynight because i have the bowl of veggies in my hand :lol: If for some reason, i have to shut them up early, they will get in for a handful of pellets - all i do is shake the tin and they come running :)

If i was you, id throw a large bath towel over bunny tonight to get him in :( If youve been grabbing him maybe its worked this out which is why he wont let you catch him? Just a thought thats all :) xXx
 
Becky86 said:
Maybe you ought to restrict their area in the garden :?

I know full well Lottie and George will get into the hutch everynight because i have the bowl of veggies in my hand :lol: If for some reason, i have to shut them up early, they will get in for a handful of pellets - all i do is shake the tin and they come running :)

If i was you, id throw a large bath towel over bunny tonight to get him in :( If youve been grabbing him maybe its worked this out which is why he wont let you catch him? Just a thought thats all :) xXx
Click to expand...

thanks. I will probably do the towel thing. I have loved how happy they are free range in the garden - its a small garden with a pond & would be hard for me to just have them in a run that would be big enough for them, but "small" enough for me to have some usable garden left... but I will have a hard think about it.
 
What about getting a very large run for them all? It'll restrict them into a smaller area, and you'll easily be able to catch them. Are they all neutered, bonded?
 
in the short run I'd either try a large towel as suggested or a large cardboard box with the tops taken out. I was able to do this once or twice with my little one rosie but she soon cottoned on. The other possible way is with a nice snuggly carrier filled with hay and some food. If you see him go in.....quickly put the front in. The best thing in the long run is to get them to associate going back in with reward i.e. the food tin shake or some veggies...... It seems daft but I do a little pied piper little routine with mine which means I sound terribly excited about going home and make my voice all interesting and sqeaky.......I'm then bowled over by bunnies trying to get in prime time spot for their pellets.
 
ecudc said:
in the short run I'd either try a large towel as suggested or a large cardboard box with the tops taken out. I was able to do this once or twice with my little one rosie but she soon cottoned on. The other possible way is with a nice snuggly carrier filled with hay and some food. If you see him go in.....quickly put the front in. The best thing in the long run is to get them to associate going back in with reward i.e. the food tin shake or some veggies...... It seems daft but I do a little pied piper little routine with mine which means I sound terribly excited about going home and make my voice all interesting and sqeaky.......I'm then bowled over by bunnies trying to get in prime time spot for their pellets.
Click to expand...

aw that is really cute!! you sound a bit loony like me! :lol: I am forever singing & doing bonkers things with my animals/child etc :)
 
In the short term I'd try using large boards to guide him down to where you want him until he is cornered or in an area you can block his exit from.

I had a similar problem with one of my foster rabbits who is like a wild bun.

All my rabbits have free range time, but where the sheds are I have used the wire panels from a run to section off the bottom 20ft of the garden, using the last panel as a gate.

All my own buns go back into their sheds no problem, but for Blueberry I needed a smaller area to herd him into, so he'd happily go through the "gate" which I could then close, then I'd use a board to herd him to a smaller area between the sheds which I could block off with the board, and then use his carrier to "catch" him.

I'd definately try shaking a pot of pellets everytime you feed them so he associates the noise with food, and then he should start to come to his hutch/shed for dinner when he hears you. Only took a few days for my lot to pick this up!
 
My rabbits were terrible at first about coming in and it used to take hours of chasing, but now we have a set routine: kitchen light on while I prepare food - garden light on - I call them - I appear with huge plate of food - take it to shed - bunnies all come in. They are bright, and will figure out about being grabbed, as someone said. You have to find ways of working with their intelligence not against it. For now though - big towel!! Do hope he's safely in by now...
 
i have zooplus runs, and i have two connected together which makes it 14 foot x 3 foot, nice and HUGE

go to www.zooplus.co.uk and get yourself one or two, honestly it wille asier to catch the buns, they will be safe, and have lots of space!

:wave:
 
senatorvass said:
they do have a very set routine, out every morning same time then I always go out to get them in shortly before dark. They have always been free range as my garden is enclosed. I would try the towel thing... and I might do that tonight if I have to but I really need a permanent solution and I dont know what it is. :(

Am so discouraged I adore my buns and do everything I can to make them happy, my birthday is 11 Jan and the only thing I have asked for is for some bunny stuff to be sorted out but I have been trying for MONTHS and I can not train them. They are totally wild. I just cant get them to be well behaved like most of your rabbits seem to be.
Click to expand...

Patient, I would say! I let my buns free range during the day and used to have a mare getting them in (and used to 'chase' them and this made them worse!). Now I work calmly out, with a bowl full of vegs and they all go running in! The 'worst' one is bugs and if he isn't ready, I leave the food in his hutch and go back inside. Soon enough, he goes in and then I go and shut the hutch up ... I always praise them for going in too, no idea if that helps but so far I haven't had any problems! Just like a child, the more you praise the better they response!
 
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