won’t exercise

[johnesp]

My male dwarf Hotot loves to run!  He runs laps around the living room daily until he is exhausted.  My female Polish runs laps maybe once a week.  She has put on a couple of ounces and I would love to see her run more.  How can I encourage her to run her laps?  Both bunnies are a year old.

[MoveDiagonally]

Some bunny’s are more active than others. Weight gain is usually more manageable through diet as I don’t know of any way to make a rabbit more active (sometimes changing flooring, ect… can make them more comfortable with running around). What are you feeding them and how much to they weigh?

[MK]

Do they have a litterbox? try putting low cardboard boxes or tubes around the edges. This forces them to hop higher and farther to get in the litterbox.

Another good idea is to get a box full of litter or paper shreddings ( I wouldn’t use hay, just because of the risk to their eyes when they are digging their head in it) and hide pieces of a low calorie treat or veggie in it daily. This will hopefully get her to dig through it to look for the treat, once they realize that it comes every day.
There are a lot more helpful ideas on the House Rabbit Society webpage. They have articles on a bunch of stuff.

[JackRabbit]

Is she playful with you? Some buns like to play “get the bunny”. With Kieko that means a little tickle on her side while moving toward her and she binkies off, usually followed by a few laps and ending just out of reach so we’ll do it again. Not a great description of the game … maybe others can explain this better. (My lops haven’t figured it out yet but they try to humor me by at least hopping halfway down the hall before looking back at me like I’m nuts!) Some buns like this game and some don’t. I read somewhere that bunnies like to “practice” their evasion skills and show how good they are at getting away so this game gives them the opportunity.

Just a thought anyway!

[Author]

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