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Bunnies and Stairs (and Jumping in General)

aatkin

Warren Scout
Okay, so our wee buns have their own massive space in my office upstairs - last week we also introduced them to the hallway and landing, which they love to run and hop up and down (we've even had two binkies from Emerson, yay).

Now, ideally we'd like our bunnies to have free range of most of the house when we're in (the downstairs is already totally bunny-proofed), however they really don't seem to have a clue about stairs and are very nervous around the edge of the steps in the landing. Does anyone have suggestions for encouraging them to explore further (other than using food to get them used to the landing area near the stairs and the top step, etc).

On a similar note, they have a low shelf in their space, which we were hoping would introduce another level of fun for them - but they won't (can't?) get up onto it (even when I put a step-stool up to it). We're going to purpose build either steps or a ramp up to it. Could it be that they just have no experience with different levels and so have no idea how to handle them?
 
Some buns just aren't jumpers - others are.

Over time, if you leave them to it im sure they will find it.

First time Biscuit ever saw the stairs, he flew up them and actually BINKIED back down :shock: now that was a scary sight!

Ginger however, who has hind leg weakness, couldnt barely do 2 steps before running out of beans.

Sometimes, its just a case of leaving them to it - rabbits are naturally curious, but are also, naturally very weary of new territory.

Just give them more time - im sure they will pick it up :)
 
Alvin never climbs the stairs, would never climb on anything. I've bought things that he can hop on top of and i have never seen him do it, i think he's scared. Roxy used to love dashing up and down the stairs and could easily scale 4ft, for a mini lop that's some height.
 
Thanks for the ideas! The rescue said we may have to bring them downstairs the first time, but I try not to move them unless I have to (ie, Peabody only gets picked up for grooming, Emerson never gets picked up as he lets me groom him while he's relaxing), so maybe treats are a good idea (again, Peabody only gets them during/after grooming, Emerson has never had treats). But they LOVE pellets and veggies, so I could bribe with those!

I'll also try to put a tray of hay on the downstairs landing so they know it's down there!
 
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