Medusa is being difficult

[poopy]

I adopter her earlier this month. A few days ago I’ve given her open access out of her pen to roam around my room as she pleases. The trouble is, she will go to sleep in places where I cannot reach her. Like under the sofa or under the dresser. This is a BIG problem because 1) I don’t know where she is to make sure she’s alright 2) Incase of an emergency I won’t be able to locate her let alone get her out quick.

Today she was hiding under the dresser and I kept poking her with a yard stick (because I couldn’t reach her) in the meantime hurting my back while leveling myself on the floor. She responded by thumping and making a "merghhhh" squeak. She knows I want her to get out but she won’t. And I can’t reach to spray her with the spraybottle either.

What should I do? It’s not like I can just totally get rid of my furniture.

[poopy]

oh and did i mention i am exhausted from this routine that’s been going on for the past few days?

[poopy]

this morning when i let her out, she avoided going under the dresser UNTIL AFTER i gave her veggies. then afterwards she bolted toward the dresser while kicking her hind legs together in defiance and she went under the dresser

[dmh426]

Rabbit are prey animals and they go under our beds and sofas because they are also den animals and feel the most protected there, rather than out in the open where they can be “snatched up” at any minute. I wish I could say don’t poke her with the yard stick, but I am guilty of it too. I don’t poke though, i slide it into her side or make a loud noise right behind her and she’ll run out. Can you block off under the bed? I have a lot of storage boxes under the bed and managed to block her from getting under there. I would hit a Home Depot or Lowes about see about buying something that would prevent her from going under the furniture. Sophie is only allowed in my living room, dining room and hallway area because those rooms are completely bunny proof (and basically one large room where I can see her from any point in the room). Do you a different room where you can do something like this?

[Lucy]

Ha! Ok welcome to my world! Fujoe would get under the bed (we have one of those low to the ground platform bed) and not come out fo hours. If would would try to get him out- it would be lunging and attacking time. I got beat up pretty bad- and my boyfriend has I think two scars from trying to get Fujoe out from under the bed.

We blocked off the bedroom. Fujoe will chew on the baby gate for hours trying to get back into the bedroom. We had to do the same thing with our couch. There was about a 4in crawl space, and he managed to get under the couch and dig a hole and get INTO the couch. So we had to cover the space with cardboard stapled to the understide of the wood trim. We were going to paint the cardboard black so it would look like the natural shadow, but never got around to it.

The thing to do is anywhere you can’t get to, and she goes- block it off. Now Fujoe likes to sit under one of the dining room tables, or on one of the chairs (when it’s tucked under the table) It’s still really dark for him, but we can access him when we need to. Get more cardboard boxes with holes in them, so Medusa has another alternative place to go.

[Lucy]

I was reading some of your other posts.. you can’t train a bunny not to go somewhere that is dark and feels safe. – I was reading the water spray one. You just need to take those things away from her. I wasn’t able to leave fujoe alone till I bunny proofed EVERYTHING – stapling cardboard to all of the baseboards…and blocking everything off.

When she does have free time- give her one room at a time- so whatever room she is in- block it off from other rooms. Then, don’t expect her to come running to you. Let her explore, that’s what bunnies do. I would say sit on the floor as she’s exploring and eventually she’ll come to explore you. It might take a while. I think iof it in this way- bunnies are like cats. Cats will come to you when they want to. It doesn’t mean they don’t love you, they just have other things they have to do before they can have a petting and snuggling session.

[poopy]

hm looks like i can’t really stop her other than blocking off. the thing that worries me is that i can’t grab her incase of an emergency. and i still am not able to pick her up sucessfully *sigh* this is exhausting!

[Anita Stark]

Here’s what we’ve been using to keep Sable out from under/behind the tv stand.  He was a rabbit obsessed with going under there, we would chase him and I used a knitting needle (the knobby end not the pointy one) sometimes just rattling it between the stand and the floor.   Still he would turn right around and try to go back.  Clapping loudly and saying NO worked for only a brief time and my hands would get sore from having to clap so much.

Dh had this Halloween noise maker with a remote control.  We turned it on and slid it under the tv stand and kept the remote handy.  Whenever Sable was getting set to go under we would hit the remote and the noise (a range of effects from howling to a ‘scary’ voice saying ‘boo’ or ‘Happy Halloween’) would startle him.  We haven’t had to use it for about a week now.  We still put the device under the stand just in case but so far Sable seems to avoid the area.  A few times he has appeared ready to try venturing under it again but he seems to remember that there’s something unpleasant about it and will turn and scurry away!!

[poopy]

Posted By anitastark on 12/25/2006 3:29 PM
Here’s what we’ve been using to keep Sable out from under/behind the tv stand.  He was a rabbit obsessed with going under there, we would chase him and I used a knitting needle (the knobby end not the pointy one) sometimes just rattling it between the stand and the floor.   Still he would turn right around and try to go back.  Clapping loudly and saying NO worked for only a brief time and my hands would get sore from having to clap so much.

Dh had this Halloween noise maker with a remote control.  We turned it on and slid it under the tv stand and kept the remote handy.  Whenever Sable was getting set to go under we would hit the remote and the noise (a range of effects from howling to a ‘scary’ voice saying ‘boo’ or ‘Happy Halloween’) would startle him.  We haven’t had to use it for about a week now.  We still put the device under the stand just in case but so far Sable seems to avoid the area.  A few times he has appeared ready to try venturing under it again but he seems to remember that there’s something unpleasant about it and will turn and scurry away!!

HAHA thank you for sharing!

[osprey]

Our bunnies were obsessed with going under our sofa too.  I tried the squirting and the "No!" thing, but those only work for a little while before they come back to try again.  Bunnies seem to have a natural instinct to try to do things that they know they are not supposed to.  I finally built a frame of 2×4 lumber, screwed it together, and laid it under the sofa.  Now there is not enough room for them to get under it, and they also have some wood that they are allowed to chew on.

[poopy]

haha…once she gets fatter and unable to fit into those tiny spaces i’ll have the last laugh

[Theresa Moan]

Yeah, that is one good thing about having larger breeds…they can’t get into as much!

[bunnluff]

My bunnies only have free range of the family room during playtime. We have a reclining couch and a reclining chair. They ALWAYS go under the chair because there is a nice little crawl space under there. And if the couch is reclined, Pippin will go under it in the part that isn’t reclined. One time my mom freaked me out and Pippin was stuck but i was afraid to recline the thing to get her out because of the metal parts under there. So she proceeded to recline it and i looked under and saw a metal bar being pushed onto Pippins neck! Yeah i FREAKED OUT SO BAD that we had to lift the couch to get her out! So we now have a rule, when the bunnies are out playing, no reclining the couch!

[BinkyBunny]

Welcome Bunnluff06!!  I know what you mean about those recliners.  We don’t have one anymore, but we used to have a recliner couch, and the rule was always make sure to have someone check before reclining and no reclining alone unless the bunnies are in their pen.  But visitors may not remember the rules.  Also, we’re human and may forget too

Usually before one of us reclined, we’d ask the other to look around and make sure all bunnies were clear, but one time my husband forgot and started to recline and I asked if he knew where the bunnies all were, and he said, "Ooops!!! Forgot" and so while he’s holding in mid recline, I went searching with a flashlight underneath.  All was clear, but recliners just make me too nervous.   When we got a new couch, we decided on a big compfy one with ottomons   

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By anitastark on 12/25/2006 3:29 PM

Dh had this Halloween noise maker with a remote control.  We turned it on and slid it under the tv stand and kept the remote handy.  Whenever Sable was getting set to go under we would hit the remote and the noise (a range of effects from howling to a ‘scary’ voice saying ‘boo’ or ‘Happy Halloween’) would startle him.  We haven’t had to use it for about a week now.  We still put the device under the stand just in case but so far Sable seems to avoid the area.  A few times he has appeared ready to try venturing under it again but he seems to remember that there’s something unpleasant about it and will turn and scurry away!!

That’s a novel idea! I will have to add that in the House Proofing section. I"ll be sure to give you credit for being so clever.

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By osprey on 12/26/2006 10:02 AM
Our bunnies were obsessed with going under our sofa too.  I tried the squirting and the "No!" thing, but those only work for a little while before they come back to try again.  Bunnies seem to have a natural instinct to try to do things that they know they are not supposed to.  I finally built a frame of 2×4 lumber, screwed it together, and laid it under the sofa.  Now there is not enough room for them to get under it, and they also have some wood that they are allowed to chew on.

I also added this to the House Proofing section!  Great idea.   Anyone using this idea, be sure to not use redwood  I hear it can be toxic to bunnies if digested, and my understanding is that also is the case for many soft woods too.  

 

[dmh426]

How is Medusa doing?!?

[MooBunnay]

I just wanted to sympathize with the problem with Medusa…whenever my bunnies get into my room the same thing happens with them under my bed and it is SOOO frustrating!!

The trick that works with my TV shelf they crawl under: I rolled up a blanket, stuffed it in the space, and then sprayed it with body spray…they don’t like the strong scent, and don’t mess with the blanket (and now my room smells like cucumber melon)

I just do not let them in my bedroom anymore.  My boyfriend’s bunnies go under his futon, even though they are totally comfortable with his room, they like have the security that they can’t be seen.  However, I noticed that if I leave my bunnies to do exploration on their own, they will often investigate the dark areas, hang out in them for a bit, and then get bored of them and come back out.

Mayberry, my foster bunny, does not even care to hide anymore, she just spreads out in the middle of my floor! I think that comes with age

[BridgetteBunny]

Just to add to this and commisserate…It’s been my experience as well that all bunnies love to go under beds and hide.  Like BinkyBunny said, its just natural.  What I have found that might help, however, is giving them a nice secure place that they can go hide but that you have access to.  A lot of bunnies don’t seem to really like going under places that they are then cornered, they like to have lots of escape options so I have created a den under an open kitchen chair witha big blanket or towel.  There is a straight through escape route but if I really need Bridgette I can just take the blanket off the chair and its easy access.  She likes to sit under there and groom and all.  She still tries to get under the bed though but I have just had to be very creative in blocking it off.  Once we’re all settled in I plan on making a barricade with left-over NIC cubes from her cage and just putting that around the bed.  It’ll mostly be covered by the bed skirt so I don’t think it’ll look to bad.  good luck with Medusa!

 

[osprey]

Here is a picture of my 2×4 contraption.  BinkyBunny asked for it:

1225571216671.JPG

[poopy]

Oh my. I hope I don’t have to put that in. Hehe looking back on this thread I realize I had no idea what I was getting into in terms of bunny behavior. I’ve accepted that Medusa wants to hide and just wants nothing to do with me. I let her, now that I have Pookers I no longer get depressed because he actually comes when I call him and he actually seems to love me!

[BinkyBunny]

Thanks Osprey – it’s now in the Home Prep section!  

[osprey]

Not to worry, Poopy.  They are hidden by the skirt of the sofa.  I pulled up the skirt so that you can see the lumber.

[Deleted User]

Ive been really lucky with Teddy and the bunny proofing… I went to great lengths to make sure every wire and every easy to hide cubby holes etc etc inc the underneath of the bed were bunny proofed… and after all that… he doesnt even go near any of it anyway… fact is… he’s too frightened of my laminate flooring so he wont step off the rug.. he wont even step foot on Linoneum or however u spell it lol… so i had to put carpet tiles down for him in the kitchen…. and… yes and…. he’s not even interested in coming into my bedroom even tho he’s allowed… it may have something to do with the rug i have in there tho…. its a brown sheepskin…. think he thinks its a huge animal lying in wait for him.. even tho its never moved. Teddy is a bit of a chicken really… he wont do anything til ive placed him there first.. ie…. he didnt go on the sofa til i lifted him onto it and the bean bag.. now theyr his favourite toys!

[BinkyBunny]

Ah, Teddy sounds like my Jack.  Jack had a very difficult time getting used to our new place, and he won’t venture onto the hardwood floors, and it took him forever to walk on one rug.   There wasn’t anything unique about it, but maybe it had a funny smell to him.

He finally conquered his fears only after I picked him up and placed him in the new place.  I waited  a LONG time before I did that, but it was getting ridiculous.  You can see this drama in the last few blog entries.

[poopy]

"You can’t get me while I’m under the couch! Muahahaha!"

[Author]

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