Help needed please..........

We brought two house rabbits two weeks ago for my step daughter who stays with us at weekends, we really want the rabbits to use our house as their home, but they don;t seem to want to come out of their cage........

I have been putting food just outside to encourage them out, but once they have ate it, they go back in............

I did think about taking them out and shutting the cage so they cannot get back in until bed time, to encourage them to explore the house, but is this cruel keeping them away from where they feel safe?

They are both very nervous and any advice on how to encourage them to get involved with us would be appreciated.

What sort of flooring is it outside the cage? if it is slippery they might not like to be out. If so, try putting a rug or some carpet down for them to encourage them to come out. They might just be nervous, give it time and then gently tempt them out with some tasty food.

It is lino, but it isn't very slippery, but will try and add some carpet see how we get on, thanks.........

Hello :wave: Welcome to the forum

My little Oggie was exactly the same when I first got him. In actual fact, he was that small he couldn't actually jump the cage to get out lol so I put a book either side as a step.

They are probably still getting their confidance. Oggie took a few days to start coming out. Are they in a fairly busy part of the house or fairly quiet?

If I would have done it differently, I would put Ogs in my room from the word go as I'm always going in and out. He would have gradually get used to it (I was cruel and got rid of his hidey thing).

Also, with my other bunny, I put her on my bed everyday for a good bonding session since the day I got her. She loved these sessions and I think it did make her really confidant.

Firstly, Please dont lock them out of the cage. Rabbits need a safe place (or bolt hole, if you will) to run back to if they wish.

I'd just give them time. If they want to come out, they will im sure and explore. 2 weeks isn't ages.

Yeah I did have second thoughts about keeping them out of the cage, i thought it was cruel...................

Thanks

Give it a few weeks and you'll be asking us how to get them back in on a night time when you have to go to bed :lol: Honestly its just a time/confidence thing. Once they get used to it there will be no getting them back in.

my boy Buddy hates anything like lino or laminate even if its not slippery. i decked the shed in lino but ended up buying bud a carpet as he sat in the litter tray and refused to move. :roll:

the girls are fine with it though..

I would sit with mine on my knee to do their checks (the vet recommended I handled and turned them over to look at their bottoms every day as babies so they would be easy to handle when they came for check ups) then when I finished I would just sit them next to me and stoke them, and if they wanted to go back to the hutch themselves I didn't stop them but they had to jump down off the settee and go across the room themselves. I would also split there food so half of it went in to the hutch on an evening and I used the other half to hand feed them when they where sat with me. Sometimes I lie on the floor on my front and put the food on my back. If I stay really still they jump on my back to eat the food. They soon got confidence around the house. they all take different times. Toby claimed everything as his within a few hours and worked out how to get up the stairs after two days, treacle took 5 weeks to have the courage to come in to the lounge from the kitchen. Just be patient :wave:


PS I've copied from the pther thread as I didn't notice there where to, I guess the other one might get deleted?

Thanks so much for your advice, all sound stuff.........

Yeah I'm not sure how i started two threads and then couldn't work out how to delete one!!!

Do they look scared? Or are they confident within their cage? They may just need time, but maybe there is something which scares them, like the floor, or a strong smell of another animal or perfume etc.. Do they have a dog crate or a cage with a bottom that has a high edge? If there is a high edge, they would have to jump out, and that might be scary if they don't really know what the floor is like on the other side. In that case it would be good to give them some kind of ramp.

It could just take a little more time for them to build up confidence if they are very nervous bunnies but I would've thought that by now they would've wanted to explore as rabbits are generally quite inquisitive.

It could be the lino as others have mentioned, even though it's not really slippery it's probably not got enough grip for their little claws. Peanut has access to my kitchen but hardly ever goes in because of the floor, she panics when she tries to hop out but doesn't get anywhere, shouldn't laugh but it is funny Her cage is lined with carpet tiles for this very reason, otherwise I would've used lino.

If you're placing a rug in the room, just use some of those rubber grips underneath to hold it in place and see if it makes any difference. Also Peanut will normally take food from me and run back into her cage, she's a very possessive bun :lol:

No they don't look scared, infact they look content..........when we put food the other side of the cage, they jump out no problems and don't seem to mind the floor......... We brought a few toys for them and my partner did put a ramp in to see if that made a difference, but TBH i don't think it did.......

We do have two dogs, but they are outside in a kennel, so I'd be surprised if it was that, but maybe I'll consider changing where we put their cage to see if that makes a difference.??????????