Cage Anxiety?

[Bunny_Cane]

Hey all!

Jaina seems to have some anxiety with being in her cage for extended periods of time. She's pretty much always has the ability to go in and out of it as long as I'm home. The only time I keep her in there are when I go to work/class or when I go to bed.

When I wake up in the morning, I wake up to the sound of her chewing the bars of her cage because she wants to come out. I'm not sure if cage anxiety is the right term for it, but thats the closest thing i can think of. I know that before I got Jaina, she was stuck in her cage (which was smaller than the one I have for her) for 3 days without being let out to stretch her legs. Maybe she's scared of that happening again?

Anyways, I'd like to know if y'all had any ideas how I could help her out with this. Its not possible for me to keep her out all the time because she's quite the little trouble maker, and I can't get her a bigger cage yet because of financial and space issues.

Thanks!

 

[BlazeBunnies]

She could be scared...

Maybe attach a secure day cage type thing to her cage so she can run in and out, make sure you put a shade cloth or something to cover it so nothing can get to her!

With the above idea she can fell as tho she is running freely

 

[Bunny_Cane]

Her cage is in my room right now, and where its located I don't have the space for anything like that :/

I considered that, but I don't think it would work out :/

 

[BlazeBunnies]

It worked for my bun who was really really scared of smaller spaces

 

[stevesmum]

Maybe since she is a little troublemaker (and probably loves every minute of it) she just really really wants to come out and is letting you know it. Maybe she knows you are waking up and is asking to be let out, or if you had a routine of letting her out at a certain time she is sticking to that. Is there lots for her to do and or chew in her enclosure? Making sure she is kept busy might help for when you can't let her out. But really, she sees you and assumes it's time to come out and play! I don't think it's necessarily a fear thing, but does she have a little hidey house in her cage?
My advice would be to create a routine that works for you both. Maybe when you wake up, let her out for a run for a while, then put her away with a treat. Stick to a routine every day and she will probably get accustomed quickly, but may still bite the bars of the cage when she sees you. She can't very well say "hey! Good morning! Let me out!" My rabbits do the same when they see me and I don't open the door quickly enough.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

It is unlikely that her chewing on the bars is related to fear or anxiety. Rabbits like and prefer small spaces. They're prey animals and are most comfortable when they're not "out in the open."

Usually rabbits just chew to wear their teeth down, which grow constantly. I have a few that like to chew the bars of their cage or the side of their food dish rather than toys I give them.

As mentioned in the post above me, the best thing to do is stick to a routine. She will quickly figure out when it's outside time and when it's inside time. Sometimes rabbits do make noise just to get your attention, but I think generally speaking, she's just doing what rabbits do.

 

[Bunny_Cane]

I feel better about it now. I was just worried that she would start to develop an aversion to her cage or something because she started doing this, and because she was stuck in it for 3 days before I adopted her.

I'm not very good at having a strict routine for myself, but I could try to keep her on one at least (tho if she's in her cage and sees I'm still up (even just watching tv in bed), she chews at the bars endlessly. Its only when she's convinced that I'm asleep that she stops.

She also does this at the puppy gate I have set up at the door of my room, regardless of if I'm in my room our out of it!

I would just let her have free run of my room, but she's one of those rabbits that NEEDS to get spayed. She won't stop marking her territory, no matter how much I thump at her (including peeing on my bed 3 times this weekend.) And since I can't 100% bunny-proof my bedroom (because of my computer), I don't feel safe leaving her alone. She's only chewed one wire that must've fallen from where I put it (funny story, it was my alarm clock and I was late to work because of it... I brought the severed wire to work with me as proof!!), but she hasn't gone for any others.

Thanks for the answers! I'm new to being a bunny mommy, and my friend who has one has an angel of a bunny. She's never had half of these issues that I've had come up

 

[missyscove]

I once had a rabbit, Timmy, who I fed every morning at 5:45 before I went to school who didn't like the concept of sleeping in on the weekend. If I didn't feed him by 6 am, he'd dig out his litterbox. Since then I learned that, especially if you're sharing a room with your rabbit, they should not associate you waking up with them getting things. I developed a routine with my rabbits when I shared a room where I would wake up and go to the bathroom and brush my teeth and such and then let them out of their cage after I'd already been up. They didn't get breakfast until they went back into their cage and I went to school in the morning. That helped them associate their cage with breakfast time and now when I open the container I keep their pellets in, they run back into their cage. You can also train her by dropping a few pellets or a treat in her cage, saying something like "go home" and shooing her back into her cage. Eventually she'll figure out she gets a treat for going back to her cage. You can follow a similar routine at bedtime. My rabbits would get fresh hay in their hay rack and a bedtime treat.
Spaying her may help but some rabbits always like to pee on soft things so I personally have a no bunnies on the bed rule.