Fernando’s athletic jumping – a potential problem?

[joea64]

Yesterday in the Lounge, I related an anecdote about how Fernando had staged repeated “jailbreaks” from the X-pen enclosure he shares with his mother Panda of an evening. At the time, it was pretty funny. Last night, though, I found out how he’s actually doing it, and it’s not quite that funny anymore.

I was having a floor session with the buns last night, lying down prone on the floor, and Fernando was climbing around over my back, something he likes to do but hasn’t actually done in a little while. So, I was just lying there feeling his little paws scamper around, thinking how nice it is that he’s trusting me so much, and all of a sudden he tenses up, then *sproing* he jumps something like two feet, two and a half feet maybe, straight up and at least a foot across, and the next thing I know he’s on top of the condo looking down at me with the rabbit analogue of impudent glee. He led me a merry chase around my apartment for the next few minutes before I was finally able to lure him back into the X-pen with his beloved Simple Rewards treats.

I worked out that he might be jumping from one of the two hidey boxes I’ve usually put in the X-pen, so I removed the one closest to the condo, then went to bed. Guess what – a few hours later, I woke up and just like last night, Fernando was skittering around on my bed again, and I had to use treats to get him back into the X-pen again. This time, I had no choice but to latch both him and Panda up in their condo for the remainder of the night (and I ended up oversleeping so that I barely had time to give them their breakfast and refresh their hay and water before I had to go catch my train).

Right now, I’m not sure what to do beyond making sure the X-pen ends are securely latched to the condo (which I’ve already done) and removing both hidey boxes from their X-pen enclosure when I go to bed (while leaving the cardboard tunnel, which isn’t stable enough for Fernando to get a purchase on for a jump). This shouldn’t be a hardship for them because they still have their condo, and the hidey boxes inside it, so they can run inside it and take shelter if something triggers their instincts. I’m going to try it this evening and see if that works. My real problem, as far as I can see it right now, is that when I go down to North Carolina for Thanksgiving and take the buns with me, since I can’t carry the condo in my car, I’ll have to figure out some way to set the X-pen and their gear up so that Fernando doesn’t get tempted. Any ideas?

(Panda, by contrast, has been perfectly well-behaved. She hasn’t even been tempted to slip out of the pen while I’ve had the door partially opened while chasing her naughty little boy.)

[Sirius&Luna]

Can you put a bit of netting or a sheet over the top of the X-Pen? Sirius was an escaping bunny (and sadly, this is what led to his death – not to be dramatic, but yes, it could turn into a serious problem), and MOST of the time, a bed sheet draped over the pen stopped him, because they see it as an enclosed space with a roof.

[Wick & Fable]

A bed sheet over top would probably do the trick. Rabbits need a certain sense of “yes, this is possible” before jumping, so seeing a ceiling deters most.

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.

[joea64]

Now that’s a good idea. I believe I do have a spare bed sheet or two, or an extra quilt, that might turn the trick. I was actually thinking earlier whether I could find a sheet of plywood large enough to cover the X-pen, but that would be awkward to move around on trips and a large sheet would be a better solution.

It appears that the best time to do this would be right before I go to bed, as Fernando has been doing most of his jailbreaks when I’ve been in bed or otherwise inattentive. You can never tell me that that fluffy little white long-eared scamp hasn’t by now built a well-developed sense of when I’m not paying attention so he can do something naughty!  In fact, he was actually trying to get out via the old gap between the X-pen grid and the condo (as I recounted in The Lounge) last night when he thought I wasn’t paying attention, only I’d sealed that way off by fastening the pen so that there no longer was a gap.

[anilec]

I had a problem with Lola jumping out of her pen as well, and she was just jumping the 3 and a half feet right from the ground over the fence! I fixed it with a bed sheet pulled over the top and fixed on all the corners with clamps. Easy to move on and off and cheap! make sure that the sheet doesn’t droop to much in the middle of else Fernando may be tempted to grab the dangling cloth and pull it away

[joea64]

Posted By anilec on 11/15/2017 12:40 PM

I had a problem with Lola jumping out of her pen as well, and she was just jumping the 3 and a half feet right from the ground over the fence! I fixed it with a bed sheet pulled over the top and fixed on all the corners with clamps. Easy to move on and off and cheap! make sure that the sheet doesn’t droop to much in the middle of else Fernando may be tempted to grab the dangling cloth and pull it away

It so happens that I have a number of binder clips on hand (which I actually originally got to help fasten the buns’ condo doors more securely) that will serve this purpose admirably – I’d actually been wondering how best to do that.  You know, I suspect that Fernando did in fact jump over 42 inches over the X-pen fence that last time last night – he’s a young (10 months), very athletic and limber bunny.

[joea64]

Found a spare bedsheet and have some binder clips of different sizes to hand, so let’s see what putting a “ceiling” over the x-pen can do to settle my little furry white Olympic-high-jumper-in-training down.

 

UPDATE: Got the bedsheet up and in place, and not before time either; Fernando was really, really acting up tonight. He literally jumped nearly four feet all the way from the floor to the hay storage bin stacked next to the condo, and off he went – as soon as I’d corral him back in, he’d jump again a minute or so later. And then Panda decided to run out of the x-pen at one point when I had it open trying to lure Fernando back in.

 

Fun times. I have to confess that by the end of this nonsense, I was actually starting to get angry. I was snapping “No!” to both buns, but mostly Fernando, in a loud, sharp tone, thumping my foot repeatedly, and at one point I even got down to the floor and turned my back on him. Once I finally got them herded back in – I had to latch Fernando back into the condo to clap a stopper over his capers – I lost no more time in putting the bedsheet up. As recommended, I stretched it as tight as I could and fastened it in place with binder clips.

 

The effects were purely remarkable. Fernando, when allowed to come back out, was plainly perplexed to find his previously open skies closed over. He started digging at the point where the X-pen is latched to the condo, trying to find a way out, but without success. Panda joined her son for a few moments, though I think she was more interested in foraging for the scattered hay there. After about ten minutes of poking around the X-pen trying to find a way out, Fernando more or less gave up and has been behaving himself since then. I was worried he might sulk or hold a grudge, but within half an hour he was binkying around Panda and then bunny-rugging alongside her, so there’s that. Right now, Fernando is sniffing around the aforementioned area again, but I think he’s waiting for their evening sage leaves. Better go get them then.

UPDATE 2: Things were so hectic last evening that I goofed on describing Fernando’s great jump. He actually sprang some 2 3/4 feet from a standing start on the floor to the roof of the condo, then to the hay storage bins. He’s a very strong, athletic and limber bun, but he’s not Superbunny.

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