Bored bunny

[kate8293]

I have an 8 month old Rex named Diggory. He's very friendly and adventurous!

I'm worried he might be bored though, but I'm not sure what to do. He has a cage and then I have an x-pen that I put up so he can be out and run around. It's a pretty big space and I usually leave him just in his pen with the cage door open so he can do whatever he likes for most of the day. He's started chewing on a particular area of the fence though and even when I'm down in the floor playing with him and he's running around, he'll stop and start to chew on that part. He has plenty of wood and hay and cardboard to chew on and he has toys and blocks to move around.

Is he chewing on it because he's bored?
How do you play with your bunnies? Is there something particular I can do to get him running and get his energy out? It seems like even if he's running around and binkying, he'll stop and then seem bored again.

I'm just worried! He seems happy, but I don't want him to be bored! Any tips help! Thank you!

:happyrabbit:

 

[Blue eyes]

I have found with my bunnies that they like changes with their amusement. They have cardboard boxes with doorways cut out. That will keep them amused for a few days. But then I'll need to take it away or add a tunnel or place a towel to hang over the entrance -- anything that mixes things up a bit.

I take things away for a few days or weeks and then re-introduce them. I re-arrange boxes, tunnels and toys.

That said, bunnies do like to lounge too. Mine go in spurts.

You could even try expanding the x-pen by getting a 2nd pen to attach (or just a few extra panels). OR, not sure how your set-up is, but sometimes an existing wall can serve as part of the x-pen enclosure which creates an even larger area.

But, yeah, mixing things up a bit can make things more interesting.

 

[kate8293]

Alright, I will try having a cardboard box. And mixing stuff up. I think maybe I need to get him some new toys for Christmas. haha

Yeah, right now I have the pen attached to two separate walls so its around a corner and makes the enclosure a lot bigger. He usually just gets to run around my room too, but I'm at my parents house for the holidays so I have to have the pen up. But he seems to chew on the wire even if he's been running free in my room for a long time.

 

[kate8293]

Update: I tried to take him into the living room so he could run around more and he was too scared and would just hop back to my room. So I gave up and now he's just hopping around where his x-pen normally is even though the fence isn't up. Weird bunny. I guess he just wants to be free even if its just in the same small area he's normally in.

 

[Blue eyes]

Aww. He's not weird. I'm not surprised at his behavior. New areas can be scary. They like to be near what is familiar. He'll likely venture out soon enough, especially if he has easy access back to his usual area. Having the pen attached to separate walls, I'm sure, makes a nice size area.

Wires are always an irresistible temptation for any bunny I've had. Here are some ideas for different ways to use boxes, towels, etc...

 

[Imbrium]

My bunnies like to do exactly two things to amuse themselves:
1) loaf
2) destroy stuff

I guess he just wants to be free even if its just in the same small area he's normally in.

Nala's like that. At my house, she had a 120+ square foot area to run around in, lots of toys and boxes, a huge condo and a Gazzles to play with... but she always thought she needed out of that pen. Ditto when we went outdoors and I set up 3-4 x-pens together to make a HUGE run. She always thinks it's better on the other side of the pen, even if she can see that it's the same .