She is becoming a nightmare!

Everyday I go out to feed them and let them both out into the garden at 11 then go back out to feed them again and put then back in at 5... He always goes in with no problem at all but she won't and it can often take hours to get her in! Also she does not like being handled at all, but she never used to be this bad!
Any advice on how to get her to go back in easier?
If I leave her out and him in, he often starts throwing everything around the hutch, the same as she did when she was left if in the hutch without him when he had his surgery!

Advice needed...

Get them a secure run that they can have access 24 hours a day - then you'll never have to put them away.

nessar said:

Get them a secure run that they can have access 24 hours a day - then you'll never have to put them away.

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They have a run attached to their hutch their allowed in 24/7 but I let them out in the garden in the day Aswell!

Locust bean treats from Wilko work for me every time I need to get my two do something - they go mad for them! I only have to have one in my hand and they'll follow me :thumb:

They do stink though :roll:

I use food to get mine where I want them. It's a battle at first but they soon learn and will go where the food is.


I will add, though, that if the rabbits are unsupervised in the garden (as in, no one is with them constantly) then I wouldn't leave them out all day. There are a fair few dangers. A fox wandering around in the day will take an easy meal if there's nothing to put them off, they can jump fences and are very quick. Even a visiting cat can do a fair bit of damage to a rabbit, or a stray dog managing to get in. Even other people might think it's funny to throw things over a fence or steal a rabbit.

Are you feeding them pellets at 11am and then again at 5pm??

Might be worth changing their routine so that they only get them at 5. Should make it a lot easier to get her in!

steph182 said:

I use food to get mine where I want them. It's a battle at first but they soon learn and will go where the food is.


I will add, though, that if the rabbits are unsupervised in the garden (as in, no one is with them constantly) then I wouldn't leave them out all day. There are a fair few dangers. A fox wandering around in the day will take an easy meal if there's nothing to put them off, they can jump fences and are very quick. Even a visiting cat can do a fair bit of damage to a rabbit, or a stray dog managing to get in. Even other people might think it's funny to throw things over a fence or steal a rabbit.

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I live in quite a posh area and there is no other pets in the street, my garden walls are like 7ft high Aswell! I have 2 cats myself and they all go in the garden together, they get on really well! He goes straight in when I put their food in but she doesn't

Nkwilkins said:

I live in quite a posh area and there is no other pets in the street, my garden walls are like 7ft high Aswell! I have 2 cats myself and they all go in the garden together, they get on really well! He goes straight in when I put their food in but she doesn't

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A determined fox could easy scale a 7 foot wall, especially at this time of year when they have cubs to feed, so I would really consider a big secure run to keep them in.

If not, in terms of rounding them up I would try and associate it with something positive like food. Chasing the bunny round the garden is likely to make her frightened and not to get her to do what you want her to. If you change their routine like others have said then that may help. That or some of her favourite treats scattered near and in the hutch/ run?

Fiver used to be very much the same, bed time always ended up being stressful as I attempted to herd him back into the run.
I'd feed them when it was time to go in too so what I did was put the pellets in a plastic cup and shake them as I was walking up to the run so they could hear it was dinner time. Then whenever they were out in the day and popped back into the run of their own accord I would go out shaking the pellets in the cup and give a fenugreek crunchie or small slice of carrot so they learned the noise and being in the run meant food but not always that they were going to be shut in.
It took quite a bit of time but he is now much better at going in the run when I want him to.

Mine have their veg at go away time
foxes dont care how posh your area is so please be careful