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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR My bunny seems to hate her HUGE play pen area

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    • Megan
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        Hello! 

        This is my very first post as I am a new bunny mom to my adorable mix breed lop eared bun, Molly. I rescued her about 5 days ago and we seem to be having some housing issues. She is sweet as could be but VERY mischievous and does not like being “behind bars”. I currently have her set up in a spare bedroom with a very large NIC pen (we’re talkin about 1/4 of the room), wide variety of toys, cardboard boxes, blankets, chew sticks (I got my bun everything and anything to try and give her the best home). No matter what I get her she still seems to want to escape the pen. I don’t trust her to roam the room freely yet and I don’t know how to make her busy/satisfied/happy with hanging out in the pen when I can’t be with her. I let her out multiple times a day and hang out with her while she explores the room and she’ll hop back and forth between inside her pen and outside. 

        So my questions are: 

        Has anyone else dealt with a bunny who really dislikes being in a pen? And if so, how did you deal with it? Is this just because she’s young and gets bored easy? 

        “Hide the treat” games don’t work well because she finds the treats in about 30 seconds and then is bored again. 

        When I’m in the room with her she’s very content, loves to explore, hangs out in her pen just fine and plays with the toys, but as soon as I leave (and close the pen door) she starts the digging, biting at the flooring, bar biting and doing “naughty” things. I feel like she just doesn’t like being alone but I can’t be with her 24/7 and I can only keep up with one bunny for now.

        I also would like to add that the shelter suspected she’s only 6 months old but no one knows her age for sure. She is super curious and stubborn (Molly wants what she wants when she wants it). I have her in the spare bedroom because I have dogs and am letting her acclimate to the new home before I introduce her to my gentle giants (If they all get along I may move her pen to either my room or a higher traffic area of the house for more human interaction). For now I can’t move her to any other location in the house. I really want her to be happy with her living space but I feel like I’m stressing her out when I leave her which stresses me out!  I just want a happy bun! 

        Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks!!


      • jerseygirl
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          Congratulations on the new bunny! Molly sounds like quite a sassy girl.

          It’s not too unusual for a rabbit to be trying make their way out of an enclosure… for some, it’s like a project. But mostly, i really think it comes down to them being a prey species and their inherent need to make they way clear for a quick escape. I do wonder if she senses or smells your dogs and is just not feeling secure in your home yet. If so, once she is socialised with the dogs, this would improve.
          Just being their 5 days, with or without other pets, is still a short time and she may still be getting acclimatised to her new home.

          As a sort of deterrent, you could affix some hay mats or seagrass mats to the pen sides.. She could go to work destroying those instead of chewing on the bars or flooring. It would keep her occupied and they are materials she can safely chew on or even eat.

          I think she will likely become more settled and this annoying behaviour will lessen in time. Her age likely has something to do with it also.


        • sarahthegemini
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            No animal wants to be penned up. It’s unrealistic in my opinion to expect a rabbit to be happy and content being behind bars. It’s not difficult to bunny proof a room so I’d do that and let her out. She’s biting the bars because she’s frustrated and bored and wants to be free.


          • Luna
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              Hi! It sounds like you have given her plenty of toys; maybe look into some logic games? There are some commercial ones or diy ideas. Is there a hideout in her pen that she can go in?

              When Luna was younger, I used to keep her in her cage right before I went to sleep and she would rattle the cage bars even though she had been out all day. Eventually, I beefed up the bunny-proofing in my room so that I could leave her cage door open at night. She rotates between sleeping in and out of her cage, so I think she just wanted the option of being out.


            • Megan
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                I totally agree and would love to have her out all day long. Unfortunately right now she is really into chewing up the carpet and I don’t trust her when I can’t supervise. 

                Last night she managed to find her way out of the pen and even with having boxes out and rabbit friendly chew toys she still went for the rug  Any suggestion on how to help that so I can get her out of the pen quicker?? 

                Thanks! 


              • Megan
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                  Thank you for the suggestions!

                  I’m definitely going to try the mats, she is real big with the chewing! Hopefully it helps! 


                • sarahthegemini
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                    Posted By Megan on 8/24/2017 11:57 AM

                    I totally agree and would love to have her out all day long. Unfortunately right now she is really into chewing up the carpet and I don’t trust her when I can’t supervise. 

                    Last night she managed to find her way out of the pen and even with having boxes out and rabbit friendly chew toys she still went for the rug  Any suggestion on how to help that so I can get her out of the pen quicker?? 

                    Thanks! 

                    You could try putting heavy tiles down? Or fleece blankets anchored by something heavy.


                  • DanaNM
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                      You could try providing a digging box, and cardboard cat scratchers. My girl Bertha is a digger (females tend to have the instinct to burrow), and the only thing that distracts her from the carpet are cat scratchers. Phone books for shredding are also good. She has very little interest in timothy mats. Concrete building forms (from the hardware store) can also satisfy the urge to tunnel.  

                      You also might try adding some levels or things to climb on in her pen, to make it feel more like a safe and interesting burrow. 

                      Keeping a routine that lets her run around when she’s most active (morning and evening) should also help. 

                      . . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  


                    • jerseygirl
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                        Just make sure she cannot use anything you add to the pen as a launching spot to make her way over it.

                        Another thing I noticed with young rabbits is, they can more easily scale over a pen then older, more heavy-set rabbits. Once young ones put on weight and become more bottom heavy, they’re less skilled at getting over. Or maybe they lose the devil-may-care attitude of the young.

                        Having said that though, Rumball launched himself over a door barricade at age 7, years after never having attempted such a thing.

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                    Forum BEHAVIOR My bunny seems to hate her HUGE play pen area