Is rearranging your rabbits cage a bad thing?

I wanted to know if moving things around your rabbits cage is a bad thing? Will it change his behavior? i am mostly concerned if he will eat and drink if i change it or if i move his liter box will he stop using it?

:lol: We re arranged the toys in our bunnies pen recently - put the table in another place so they had a different view from the top, placed the tunnel at a different angle etc. Within an hour they had nudged the tunnel back to where it had started and had deliberately knocked the table over - watched them do it - and tried to push it back. Creatures of habit I think. I needed to move the water bottles to a more accessible place so made small moves each day. It took about a week but they're ok with them now.

It very much depends on the rabbit! I think some degree of stability and familiarity is good, but also think that some degree of novelty and change is good and keeps them interested in their environment. I wouldn't have thought that moving the food would be a problem at all, the water may be depending on how easy it is for him to find - try it and see, and keep watch until you're sure he's discovered where it is. I've moved water bowls without any problem before.

The thing you might have more of a problem with is moving a litter box - sometimes they might associate the box with the place to poop, but sometimes they might associate the location. So if you move it, he might move with it, or he might carry on going in the place he was before. I think just try it and see!

He might try to arrange it back to how it was, that's what mine did :lol:

a very timid rabbit might find it upsetting. mine are not always convinced by changes - if they don't like their environment, they adjust it to suit themselves. charles and cecile think the best place for a latrine is right in the middle of the compound, and will move their litter tray there if i put it somewhere else. every other bun i've known thinks a corner or hide is best.

I've left everything as it is since Bramble died but once Willow is away to be bonded, I will be re-arranging along with neutralising.

I don't want her to be any more stressed as it's hard enough for her being alone,

When they were together, I would move things but always kept their litter tray and water in the same place.

My buns really don't like things being moved.. particularly my young female Ferni... she is a hyper-nervy bun and feels most comfortable /relaxed if she knows she can flee for cover if needed ( even if she doesn't need to )

Sometimes when I've moved things, she has done her 'flee for cover' thing and banged herself cos her route had been obstructed. For novelty I tend to replace an item with a different item, but in the same spot, so she gets stimulation without her zone changing.

Litter tray always stays where it is.. I moved it just a couple of weeks ago and it got turned over, ignored...whilst they still used the same corner. Water bottles / bowls stay the same or get moved slowly, like others have said.

I do feed breakfast in the same area, but I scatter feed the evening feed... they seem to enjoy searching and it keeps them busy.

I'm a firm believer in the "Every Bun is Different" idea , and trialing what works best for you and your bun

He seems to be ok with the changes i made, though i think he now knows how to get a stuffed toy off his box for some "alone" time, but that's not a big deal, no pee that i can see so i am hopeful thank you for all your help

I would say litter tray and hideout box should be fairly fixed position but other things can move around them. It can even be a good thing to do so - I think it's much healthier for a rabbit to have to hop around their pen looking for dinner than have it arrive under their nose.

Nervous bunnies need a little more caution though, don't change everything at once and leave cover in the same place. However, keep everything exactly the same probably isn't helping either. Introducing new things/moving the odd thing around helps a rabbit learn than small changes don't have any negative consequence so they build confidence and resilience to deal with change. A nervy rabbits not going to gain confidence if the only changes to routine they encounter are big scary ones or out of your control like vet trips, firework night or redecorating your house.