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Help please...

Hollip0p

New Kit
We have two house rabbits, a boy and a girl, both about 4 years old. They were spayed/neutered early on.

Up until a few months ago, we lived in a flat and they had the spare bedroom as their own. We had a baby gate on the door and would leave it open if we weren’t at work but they very rarely left this room. They’d come out for a quick nosy then go back in and lie in their room. Before we got Pepper, Mr Bojangles was social and would come and sit with us, kiss our noses, run and binky around the living room etc. Since Pepper came along, he is only interested in being with her and she has never been interested in us at all - I don’t even think she likes us if I’m honest!

We’ve since moved into a new house, and they still have their own bedroom but now there is no baby gate - they are in a puppy pen that fills the entire room. We don’t let them out into the rest of the house because we’re worried about the new carpets, skirting etc getting chewed and there is the added worry of them falling through the bannister/down the stairs. Part of me doesnt feel too bad about this because when we were in the flat they didn’t want to socialise with us anyway but at the same time I feel guilty because I don’t really do anything with them now. I obviously go in to feed them and clean them but all they are interested in when I go in is getting the food and then going back to cuddling each other.

It just doesn’t seem like much of a life for them. They don’t play with each other, or with me, they just seem to eat, sleep and cuddle. She also goes through random phases of chasing him around and humping him.

Is this normal bunny behaviour? They are both healthy according to the vets but it just seems like the most boring life and if I’m honest part of me wishes I had never gotten Pepper. I feel so awful for saying that but Mr Bo just seemed a much happier bun before she came along.

We’re thinking of moving them to a shed and run in the garden in the spring but I’m concerned they’ll then be even more out of the way.

Thoughts?
 
Cuthy was like this, whereas Dillon seems to like us Cuthy just liked Dillon. I have no advice for you but just wanted to say I had the same with Cuthy
 
Seems normal to me. I had four houserabbits for nine years. As they aged, particularly, they didn't want to do much. They liked to explore and to find somewhere secret to do something they shouldn't. That was their main hobby. Toys didn't interest them at all. Tunnels made great 'secret latrines' - 'secret latrine' being their very, very favourite activity...

Sounds as if I didn't like them. I did. But today I've been de-hairing the last of the clothes I had in their time. All day. All hair.
 
dear hollipop,I believe we are on the same page here,-what your feeling are human emotions,consider what feral rabbits encounter-are-,environmental,predatorial,factors not to mention diseases,viruses
[myxi]..we believe we are doing the right thing out of love devotion and longevity of the bun--that cannot be wrong,-,I have out lived all my buns,the last being 13 yrs.old[Bdenium],passed sept.24.th 2018,--if I may suggest,-outside in the spring sounds good,-but then you must judge where to go from there,..kinda like raising kids isn,t it,--sincerely james waller,from across the great pond
 
You should find a way to let them come out of the room for adventures.

You could buy some carpet roll ends of offcuts and put them down on top of your nice carpet to protect them. Then you will have more time to interact with them, you can give them treats for coming out of the room and exploring.
 
Some rabbits are like yours - happy to be snuggled up to their friend and not interested in much else. If they seem happy and eat well then I would let them be. I think it's more worrying for us to watch them like this. They would probably not do much more if you put them outside.
 
Our boys were like that. we adopted them as a pair from Pets At Home when they were between 10 and 12 weeks old, they weren't unsociable as such, but they just preferred each others company to ours.

Ours were outside bunnies, they had access to their run for 15-16 hours a day but aside from the odd moment of craziness they just liked to snuggle up together and watch the world go by.
 
My four outdoor rabbits stay mainly in their shed in a big rabbity pile. They have 24/7 access to a run but mostly stay in the warm shed.

My two indoor rabbits have a room to run around in and spend a LOT of time cuddled together just chillin.
 
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