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stairs problem

susie bun

susie bun

Wise Old Thumper
I know I'm not the first to have a problem with a rabbit and stairs, but I'd be grateful for any comments on these. My rabbit, who is quite big, can go up but not down. :(It's not a big problem at the moment because even in Scotland the weather is good enough for him to spend several hours a day (usually) in his run. Come the winter, the situation will not be so good for him. I'm a bit upset because the hutch is effectively half the size I planned for him - and it wasn't cheap. :shock::shock:

P4150326.jpg
 
Hi, that does look very steep, could you put a longer ramp in so that its a much more gentle climb? I have also tacked some carpet onto mine so that they have something to grab onto. :wave:
 
I'm certainly open to having a new ramp made, and the carpet idea. He might try to eat the carpet though ... :roll::roll:
 
susie bun said:
I'm certainly open to having a new ramp made, and the carpet idea. He might try to eat the carpet though ... :roll::roll:
Click to expand...

If you make sure there are no edges, it should be ok, I have used a cheap short thread one and they havent touched it. My very expensive stair carpet is something else entirely though :lol:
 
That does look quite steep. I'd definitely try making the incline more gentle, even if you just raise the bottom up with a brick or bit of wood, then they can jump off the end.
 
Thanks:wave:, I'll try reducing the incline. I did put the stairs (removable) in the run at a very low incline in the hope of familiarising him with them, but all he would do was sit underneath! :( At the moment they are out of the hutch and the trapdoor in place in the interests of his safety.
 
I got the impression that you don;t leave the stairs in all the time :? I think this is probably confusing him as sometimes they are there and sometimes not. Sorry if I have got that wrong.

I think the best thing to do is leave them in and maybe place small amounts of food down it when he is at the top of his hutch to encourage him to come down. He may well stumble down them a few times but will soon get the hang of them :)

As he is a REW his eye sight is probably not great which will make him a little nervous to start with, but if everything is kept in the same place he will find his way around in no time :wave:
 
It depends a great deal on whether he is a chewer or not as rubber can be a huge risk of impaction if bun chews and then swallows it, but we have found that the best thing for grip and impact cushioning on our ramp is cheap rubber car mats cut to size and glued on. We had to cut off the bit at the very bottom that overhung the ladder end as Poppy did start to chew it because it was there. Because the rest is glued firmly to the ladder and nothing overhanging the edge - it works fantastically. We used the cheep Halfords rubber mats which have a sort of fine corrugated rung effect.
 
Hugo's There said:
I got the impression that you don;t leave the stairs in all the time :? I think this is probably confusing him as sometimes they are there and sometimes not. Sorry if I have got that wrong.

I think the best thing to do is leave them in and maybe place small amounts of food down it when he is at the top of his hutch to encourage him to come down. He may well stumble down them a few times but will soon get the hang of them :)

As he is a REW his eye sight is probably not great which will make him a little nervous to start with, but if everything is kept in the same place he will find his way around in no time :wave:
Click to expand...

That makes sense. I got put off by the mother of one of my pupils. She breeds rabbits, took one look at the hutch and told me my rabbit would break his neck on the stairs. It would make life easier for me to leave them in - they are very heavy to lift in and out. I would just feel awful if he did injure himself.
 
susie bun said:
That makes sense. I got put off by the mother of one of my pupils. She breeds rabbits, took one look at the hutch and told me my rabbit would break his neck on the stairs. It would make life easier for me to leave them in - they are very heavy to lift in and out. I would just feel awful if he did injure himself.
Click to expand...

I could never say he wont hurt himself, as you know all too well - accidents happen. But overall I think it would be safer to just leave them in and let him work it out for himself. I am sure he will be shooting up and down them in no time :)
 
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