Hutch etiquette?

[MB & Neville]

Lately I have been doing a lot of research on how to raise your rabbit, and the other day I was reading one lady’s blog about having your rabbit come to you. She says that you should never reach into his hutch and pick him up, rather, you should entice him to come to you.  Is this true? It makes sense.   I just want to cuddle him and let him go around exploring all the time, yet while he will come to the doors of the hutch, he won’t come out on his own.  

[Stickerbunny]

It’s usually a good idea to let them come out on their own because buns 1) can be territorial and 2) don’t like being picked up all the time. Babies tend to be better about letting you pick them up and hold them, but as they age, most bunnies prefer to be on the ground and picking them up all the time can make them wary of humans. Some bunnies are the exception and enjoy being cuddly lap bunnies though.

What is his set up like? How long has he been with you? You say hutch, so does he have to jump down a ways or go down a ramp to get out?

[Pipje]

When I had to keep my rabbits in a setting where I had to pick them up out of their condo and take them to a safe play area our relationship went really downhill. They hated it, and they grew to distrust me as I was always having to get them into their litter box or carrier to move them. Now they are back somewhere where I just open their door and they hop out and can come and go as they please and they love me again!

So I’m a firm believer that rabbits should be left on the floor as much as possible, they feel better this way and they will like you better for it. I’d just gives yours more time, lie on the floor with treats in your open hands and after a while he will surely want to investigate. Once he learns he can come and go as he pleases he will be much happier. But just don’t pick him up and smother him with cuddles all the time because unlike cats or dogs, bunnies are very scared of that. They prefer to sit on the ground or sofa and have you rub their noses/foreheads/ears like another bunny would.

Also, you say a hutch so is he outside and just in a hutch? it’s much better to keep him inside in something like an xpen with more room, hutches are never really big enough and an xpen attached to a cage (or the hutch, or on its own) will probably be easier for the both of you to overcome this current issue.

[MB & Neville]

Alright, you both make good sense- thank you! I have had him since last Friday evening. His hutch is in my room and sits about two inches off of the ground. My dad and I built the hutch and when we realized that he might want a ramp rather than hoping in and out, we made one last night, and the paint will be dry soon, so hopefully that will help.
I was waiting until he is litter trained before letting him out to roam, but if you think it would help, I can always spread paper and plastic down inside of his playpen once that arrives (should be a day or two).
Luckily, he is a very affectionate bunny, and loves to cuddle on my chest. He also LOVES to watch TV. He just sits on my legs and watches the news with me every night, attentive as can be. It is pretty cute! However, I will work on letting him come to me, rather than me picking him up.
Thank you for the feedback and have a lovely evening!

[Author]

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