New (first) bunny. Lots of questions

[Cloud]

I got my 1.9yr old lop named Cloud one week ago from the humaine society. According to the vet, he is healthy, litter trained and also neutered. For the first 2 days, I left him in his cage (mostly due to the fact that he didn’t want to come out). I really wanted him to get some exercise after day 2 so I left the cage open and he came out that night. While he was in the cage, I pet him, gave him treats, and gave him LOTS of toys to play with (he doesn’t like any toys) and he seemed to be used to me. But the problems started to arise when he tasted the sweet freedom of outside the cage. I have 3 major concerns.

#1:-Whenever he is out of the cage, he explores for no more than 2 minutes and go hides behind a coffee table in the corner of the room and will sit there for all day (I’m talking about 10+ hours) and will only move to scratch himself or re-adjust his position. I want him to bond with me so I try to give him treats which he obviously accepts, but when I go to pet him he hops back into his corner. The space between the coffee table and the wall is too small for me to fit in so whenever I try to get in there to pet him, he darts under the couch. I think I need to be able to pick him up for when he actually needs to go back in his cage because thats where his water is. I have not seen him drink water for 2 days. How can I bond with him and get him to trust me? I try to bond with him for at least an hour every day and he only comes to me when I have treats. How do I go about picking him up for the first time?

#2- At around 11:30 when I am ready to go to bed, I would like to put him in his cage because I can’t keep and eye on him. But at around 11:30 he gets really active, the only time in the day where he gets active. He runs around the house binkying so I just wait it out. On other forums it says “if I can’t approach my rabbit without it running away, don’t pick him up” and whenever he sees me coming his way, he just runs! I used to be able to pet him before I started letting him out and would actually like it. So for the past couple nights I’ve been trying to herd him back into his cage using a blanket but he refuses to hop back into the cage. I usually just end up going to bed around 1am and this is becoming really stressful. The one time I got him back in his cage, he started freaking out and jumping off the cage walls and just stared at me and it made me feel terrible. I want his cage to be his home base but he dreads it now. Even if I put a treat in the cage he just won’t go in. Is it possible to get him to be more active earlier in the day? How do I stop him from pooping anywhere he wants? 
During the night in his cage, he dug out his litter and left a mess everywhere! ( I am not cruel, he has a nice cage) For the past 2 nights I’ve just kept him out of the cage, got him a litter box next to his spot behind the coffee table, but I still find myself cleaning up “pearls” and the occasional pee outside the box. I’ve been doing this routine every day and I don’t know what to do. I would rather he get his exercise in before I have to go to bed.

#3- The cage I got him is 4ft by 2ft has water, food, hiding spots, toys, litter box, etc. It is good but nothing compared to an exercise pen. I would ideally like to have him free range. Is it too early? I am afraid if he is free range at this point, he won’t learn to go in his 1 of 2 litter boxes, will continue to hide from me, will become antisocial, and just sit in that corner all day and will continue to run away from me. My house has been “bunny proofed”. 

This is my first post I’m sorry if I broke any of the “rules”. This is really starting to stress me out because I want to have a good bond with him and want both of us to be happy. 

[Reesebun]

Maybe try using a puppy pen for his run around time?

[Reesebun]

Just until he gets used to you

[tobyluv]

Hi and welcome to Binky Bunny!

When rabbits are first brought home, it’s usually a good idea to limit their space for the first few days or first week. They need a little time to settle in before they can start exploring the house. And you need to make sure that any rooms they are loose in are bunny proofed. They of course need out of cage time for play and exercise. It would have been a good idea to attach an x-pen to the cage, then you could sit beside it or in it with him. Some rabbits are very cautious and it may take weeks or months for him to feel really comfortable with you and in your home. Rabbits do like hidey places – under and behind furniture. Treats can be a good way to get him used to you, but you don’t won’t to overdo them. Just sitting quietly near him, even ignoring him, may make him want to come and investigate you or interact with you.

If he has been peeing, he must have been drinking water. If you have started him on any greens or veggies (go slow with that if he isn’t used to them) you can make sure that you sprinkle a little water on them before you give them to him

The vet said that he had been neutered, and if he hadn’t, that would be pretty apparent since he is almost 2 years old. Once a male rabbit reaches about 4 months of age or so, you will see his testicles. The reason I mentioned him being neutered is that it isn’t always easy to litter train a rabbit that hasn’t been spayed or neutered. Was that the shelter vet who told you he was neutered or your personal vet? If the shelter neutered him, it should be in their records. Sometimes a rabbit can kind of suck up their testicles and you can’t see them, but when your rabbit is more comfortable with you, you can check to make doubly sure. You can even hold a treat over his head to make him stand up, and you would be able to see if he has testicles or not.

To get a rabbit back in its cage, give it a treat that it only gets at that time, like a small slice of apple. Or,if it’s bedtime, give him his pellets then, and only then. Hopefully he will want to go in for those.

Rabbits love to dig, and a litter box is one place that they do it. You can buy litter box screens to keep the contents in. You could provide him with a diggy box outside of his cage, filled with shredded newspaper, and maybe he would dig there instead. Some rabbits aren’t that fond of toys, or they lose interest in them quickly, so it’s not too unusual if he doesn’t play with his.

Picking up rabbits can be tricky, since they don’t like it and it scares them. You have to start slowly with that. If you are siting beside him, pick him up for a few seconds, then put him down. You could pat him afterwards or give him a tiny treat. Keep trying that until he seems comfortable enough for you to pick him up for more than a few seconds. Hopefully he will become calm enough at some point to allow it, for you to pick him up to put him back in a cage or to put him in a carrier if he needed a vet visit. My own rabbits hate being picked up, even though I have had them for a while. That’s a struggle for a lot of people, and we have to be careful that the rabbit doesn’t struggle and flail around and injure themselves.

It would be great if your rabbit could be totally free range, but it might be a little early for that. Try to keep him in a smaller area – cage + x-pen, then slowly expand his range.

[Lulu Cuteness]

Sounds like you are doing great! What I do for my rabbits is whenever its time to come out of the cage I pick them up and set them out even though its not necessary. It seems like they are always happier to see me and run around binking in their cage bc they know they are getting out. I know some people are rlly against people holding their rabbits but mine rlly enjoy it, just don’t hold them excessively. Its not too soon to let him go free roam just bunny proof everything and he should be fine. The litter box issue is normal (for me at least.) usually bc my angora rabbit, stella, has thick fur and when she jumps in her litter everything sticks to her and she spreads it everywhere. once in a while, she will dig everything up, I usually just clean it up lol I don’t rlly mind. also, the pooping everywhere thing I cant help with my bunnies mostly go in their litter box they ALWAYS will pee in their litter box but pooping they will sometimes go right outside or wherever there food is. what I do to help is put the hay above the litter idk why it helps but it does. Also, rabbits are known for being most active early in the morning and late at night in the afternoon its nap time.to pick him up ust let him sniff you and just try picking him up I used to have a netherland dwarf and he never rlly liked being picked up they are more of a hyper breed. I hope this helps I was kinda answering them all out of order lol sorry.

[LBJ10]

I agree with limiting his space for now. An exercise pen is a good idea. What is his feeding schedule like? To get him to go to bed, you could feed him at the time. If he’s hungry, he’ll come running! That’s what I did with my boys before they had free range of their room 24/7.

[Cloud]

Yeah, miscommunication on my behalf. He is neutralized. I will do that. Thank you so much for your detailed response 

[Author]

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