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

wallingtonpink

Warren Scout
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.
 
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:
 
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