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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Is it possible to alter a rabbits sleeping pattern ?

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    • Melissa
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        I know this seems rather cruel to a rabbit, but is it possible to alter their sleeping pattern, even slightly, because I have an outdoor rabbit and she sleeps during the day. I try to encourage her to play at day and pet her to sleep at night when she is back in her house.

        its for her health, because she needs to burn any excess fat accumulated. 

        PS: when I encourage her to play outside, or sometimes pick her up and put her down out side her house, she will run back inside :/


      • MoveDiagonally
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          Rabbits are crepuscular which means they are naturally more active in the morning and evening. I don’t think there is a way to change this or that is should be changed. Have you considered bringing her inside to live? It would be safer for her, especially since she’s escaped a lot in the past, and easier for you to give you more exercise during her active times.

          As for worrying about her burning off fat I think with overweight rabbits diet is the biggest factor. Have you been to a vet to determine whether or not she has a weight problem? What and how much are you generally feeding her? What type of pellets/hay? How old is she? How big is her cage? Does she have room to hop around inside of it?

          Sorry for all the questions, lol. I think a little more info will help us give you better advice.


        • Deleted User
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            I worried about Henry’s sleeping pattern for the obvious reasons. Not that I can offer any advice – I can just let you know what we do…
            Henry is an indoor bunny – so as soon as someone wakes up he is let out – this is when he is the most active/outrageous. When it is nap time throughout the day, we find that he still wants to be in the same room even though he isn’t interacting with us. For example, if I’m in the kitchen/dining room, he will nap under the table or in his house which is located at the end of the room, cause this is the most used room by our family . If after lunch I move to the lounge, he will make his way to that room and sleep under a chair. Then early evening – he’s back at it! When I make my way to bed to watch telly, he will come in and if he’s still up and at em, jump on the bed, or if he’s over it, will go under my bed to chew on my packing boxes and I’m guessing sleep again? He is put to bed around 10, and because I worry he will be bored, I feed him his vegies (at night, not the day) and try and give him toys to play with – idiot me, gave him loud toys – try to avoid that! Lol… I’m not sure you can change a sleeping pattern that comes naturally? I’m curious to know what others do, so am eager to see your replies toooooo!


          • Stickerbunny
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              If you are worried about weight make sure the cage area is big enough your bun can run during the times it is natural for them to be awake. Mine are most active 4-6am and 5-7pm and 9-10pm. It isn’t really possible to alter their genetics to make them not crepuscular, the only way to really alter their pattern would be to bring the bun inside and make it seem like dusk/dawn at the times you want the bun awake… but that will have downsides too.


            • Melissa
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                We have considered taking her inside, but she disliked it. She didn’t like how every thing was extremely big, and we have a lot of cables around, so bunny proofing would be extremely time consuming. 

                We have let her in the garage, but she simply hated that as well. There was not much sunlight and she was terrified of the opening/closing sound of the garage door

                i haven’t taken my rabbit to the vet because they aren’t really specialised in bunnies. I have tried to determine if she is over weight or not by some reference pictures, and they have said she is over weight, but I think it’s just her breed, although her breed is unknown. She is 2 years of age, and approx 2 kg  

                as as for food, we don’t really give her pellets now because of the weevil incident, so we give her 6 peeled baby carrots including the top (3day, 3night) sometimes some coriander. We give her unlimited meadow hay, regular hay because they don’t provide Timothy hay


                her house is a 2 story hutch + run

                Thanks



                 


              • Deleted User
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                  Hey Mel – for fruit and veg, do you only feed your bun carrots?


                • MoveDiagonally
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                    Keeping her inside is really the safest and best thing for her. It keeps her safe from predators, weather changes, and makes her more a part of the family. Bunny proofing might be time consuming but it’s worth it. Even the safest outdoor enclosure is more dangerous than inside. Statistically indoor rabbits live longer than ones kept outdoors. Check out BB’s bunny proofing article:
                    https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/8/PID/940/Default.aspx

                    On diet, pellets are necessary unless you feed 10+ types of bunny safe veggies a day in much larger quantities. It’s not really healthy for a bunny to be pellet free without the additional nutrition, vitamins, and calories of extra types and quantities of bunny safe veggies. Carrots, cilantro/coriander, and hay are not enough for so please do get her some healthy pellets. Check out these sites for more info on bunny diet:
                    http://rabbit.org/faq-diet/
                    http://rabbit.org/suggested-vegetables-and-fruits-for-a-rabbit-diet/
                    https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/2/PID/940/Default.aspx

                    Because you don’t know breed or have a vet I don’t think you should assume she’s overweight and I definitely suggest feeding her properly until you can get a more professional opinion. If she is a female rabbit spaying is also highly recommended as intact females have an 80% chance of developing uterine cancer by the age of 4. Here’s some great info on spaying/neutering that includes a section on how to determine whether or not a vet is rabbit savvy:
                    http://rabbit.org/faq-spaying-and-neutering/

                    Hope some of that helps!


                  • MoveDiagonally
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                      For vets, this is what I found in NZ via web search. This is just to give you some ideas. I cannot vouch for these vets so you’ll want to determine for yourself whether or not one of them is rabbit savvy (check out the link I posted in my previous comment for that):

                      From HRS website re-direct: http://members.shaw.ca/cocoasun/AustralianRabbitVets.htm

                      Pet Doctors Terrace End
                      Dr. Becky Frost
                      591 Church St
                      Palmerston North 4410
                      Manawatu
                      Phone: 06 357 6569
                      email: terraceend@nzpetdoctors.co.nz
                      http://terraceend.nzpetdoctors.co.nz/

                      Rappaw Veterinary Care
                      Dr Tara Rana
                      15 Paremata Crescent
                      Paremata
                      Porirua (20 minutes north of Wellington)
                      Phone: (04) 233 8059

                      F V C Thames Small Animal Clinic (Inc)
                      Dr. Maarten van den Heuvel
                      623 Pollen Street
                      Thames
                      Waikato 3500 NZ
                      Phone: +64-7-8687005
                      Email: thames@fvcvet.co.nz
                      http://www.fvcvet.co.nz/thameshome

                      From Rabbitsonline.net:

                      Avondale Vets
                      2021E Great North Rd
                      Avondale
                      Auckland
                      NewZealand
                      Phone: 09 820 9991

                      Manurewa Vet Hospital
                      128 Great South Road
                      Manurewa
                      Auckland
                      New Zealand
                      Phone: 09 267 4055

                      Bucklands Beach Veterinary Clinic
                      340 bucklands beach road,
                      bucklands beach, east auckland (on the corner by the round-a-bout)
                      phone: +64-9-534 8118

                      Vets at Jansens
                      Hutington Centre Ti Rakau Drive
                      12 Amera Place
                      Botany Downs
                      271 4646
                      vet by the name of Sujata Divekar (Sue)

                      At The Vets
                      406 Brougham Street (Cnr Waltham Road)
                      Christchurch 8023
                      Ph 03 332 6632
                      Fax 03 982 3907
                      clinic@atthevets.co.nz
                      http://www.atthevets.co.nz

                      Lynfield Veterinary Clinic
                      122 White Swan Rd
                      1041 Auckland
                      09 626 4335
                      http://www.lynfieldvet.co.nz/

                      Point Chevalier Veterinary Clinic
                      67 Point Chevalier Road
                      Point Chevalier
                      Auckland, New Zealand
                      09 815 0696
                      http://ptchevaliervets.co.nz/

                      Royal Oak Veterinary Care and Cattery
                      649 Mount Albert Rd
                      Royal Oak
                      Auckland, New Zealand
                      09 625 9729
                      http://royaloakvets.co.nz/

                      Balmoral Veterinary Care
                      482 Dominion Road
                      Balmoral
                      Auckland, New Zealand
                      http://balmoralvets.co.nz/


                    • Stickerbunny
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                        Sounds like her diet is lacking in nutrients. Carrots are OK treats, but she really needs a variety of greens and dark leafy vegetables as well as maybe the occasional fruit if you aren’t feeding pellets. And you can’t really judge a rabbits overweight/not by looking at them. You’d have to weigh her. To do this you can use an animal scale with a basket, or the easier way is weigh yourself then pick up bunny and weigh yourself again. My rex looks FAT 90% of the time, since her body is stockier than some other rabbit breeds and she will bunch herself up and look like a big blubber ball when she does it – but she’s actually ideal weight for her breed and it’s just the body type she has/how she sits.


                      • rayray
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                          AndHenry, Ziggy is the exact same as Henry by the sounds of it. On weekends when I’m home all day he’ll just sleep in whatever room I’m in, no interaction. After 5pm he perks up and runs around doing binkies on the carpet. His sleeping pattern was the reason I got a rabbit. His active times are the same times I’m at home. Perfect for both of us.


                        • Deleted User
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                            Hi ray ray and Ziggy! So I’m guessing that Ziggy is a spoilt bun tooooo! ha ha ha……

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                        Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Is it possible to alter a rabbits sleeping pattern ?