Baby Bunny – Acting out or normal behavior?

[m26430]

Hi everyone. This is my first time posting here although I have referenced this site many times due to the great information on here. I am a first time bunny owner and am hoping to receive some advice and thoughts. I’ve recently noticed some changes in my bunny, Kingsley. Below is some helpful information (and a couple cute photos).

Background:

Kingsley is a 10 week old lionhead dwarf. I received him when he was 8 weeks. He’s gone to the vet and is physically healthy and growing well. He is not yet neutered as his testicles have not dropped.

For the first couple of weeks that I had him at home, he was very mild but playful. He has a cage but his play pen basically encompasses the entire living room. He always has several hours of run time.  He stayed within his play pen and enjoyed the area. He occasionally would chew the carpet but responded well to a “no” accompanied by a soft clap. At night he would always crawl all over me as I lay down in his play area.

The new behavior:

Kingsley has since learned to crawl/jump out of his play pen. Granted, the height is only 1 foot tall as this is his temporary set up until I get an Xpen. I assume this new ability is also because he’s gotten stronger and bigger. The first couple of times he did this he would listen to “no” and not attempt to climb over anymore. Now he does it every morning. 

Additionally he has now started to chew cords, something he totally ignored before. Even when I catch him and tell him “no”, he’ll stop for a few seconds and resume again. Basically, he just doesn’t listen as well as he used to. Furthermore, I noticed last night was the first time he didn’t crawl over me when I laid in his play pen. I’m hoping it’s just because he’s now preoccupied with his new interests in cords and “escaping”. 

One other new behavior to note is that at night when I put him in his cage, he will climb on top of his house (one of those domes used for shelter/hiding). When I wake up in the morning to let him out, he’s on top of his house. He happily jumps out of his cage as soon as I open the door. I’ve interpreted his standing on top of his house as being mad that play time is over but cannot be sure. 

My question is:

Is this normal behavior? Is Kingsley just acting this way because he’s getting older? Am I doing something wrong? I’m genuinely trying the best I can. I’ve always wanted a rabbit and want to give Kingsley the best life possible. Any insights you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Sorry this was so long, thank you for reading! 

[Bam]

It sounds like absolutely normal rabbit behavior to me =)

It sounds like he’s growing up and expanding his horizon and trying new things. Young rabbits are very curious about their world. Make sure he can’t reach cords and cover those you can’t remove with cable/cord-covers. There are many types and brands, here’s just one exampel from IKEA called Rabalder: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zEFChOkQL._SX425_.jpg
Your bun will escape from his pen if it’s only a foot tall, and a “no” won’t stop him. You can teach a bunny “no” to a certain extent, but a bunny won’t be as obedient as a dog.

[m26430]

Thank you for your reply, bam! I appreciate it. It’s reassuring to hear that he isn’t acting out. 

We’ve definitely understood that a bunny won’t respond to a “no” like a dog will which is why we combine it with a soft clap. It’s nice to know it’s a universal behavior though! The 1 ft play pen is definitely temporary as I wasn’t sure how big Kingsley would grow and I had all the intention of getting a taller gate but it seems Kingsley is ahead of me. 

Thanks for the IKEA cord cover recommendation. I will have to check those out. 

[kirstyol]

Sounds like totally normal behaviour to me. Rabbits can jump around three feet and they are naturally inquisitive so its totally normal for them to jump out of a pen if its only a foot high. I have never heard of a rabbit to listen to being told ‘no’ if I am being totally honest. They can be trained to an extent (litter training for example) but they cant be trained the way dogs can to know not to chew things. They also like to sit ontop of things because it gives them a better view of their surroundings, being prey animals in the wild, it lets them see the things that are trying to eat them coming and gives them a chance to get away.

Don’t worry, you aren’t doing anything wrong.

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