Confused about my bunny

[anawelch]

I got my holland lop back in early june. his cage is my spare bedroom and Ive kept his cage door open since I got him. I never close it. he's never come out of his cage on his own. he's not shy towards me so I don't understand why he wont come out. I've tried everything. I wonder if its cuz he used to be a show rabbit before I got him but I'm not sure :/

 

[Blue eyes]

Hmmm Is it a room that you are in often? Are you only in there when wanting to interact with him? Is it possible that he does go out when no one is around and runs back in at the first sound of someone approaching? If it is a very quiet room with little activity, perhaps he'd become more curious if he were in a room where there is daily activity.

Or, what is the flooring in there? Is it slippery that he may not feel comfortable walking on it?

Just a couple brainstorming thoughts....

 

[anawelch]

It's my spare bedroom but I go in there every morning to make sure everythings okay then when I come home I go and check on him again. Then after dinner I usually do my hw in there for an hour or two. Then I check on him again before I go to bed. His cage is metal so whenever he moves it makes a loud noise (Im working on litter training him so I can take the metal mesh floor out but he's kinda stubborn) so I would hear him if he got out and I would definently hear him if he ran back in. The floor is carpet and he's been outside cage before without issue but I have to take him out myself. When I take him out myself he hops around for a couple minutes and then he goes back in. I feel bad hes cooped up all day but he doesn't wanna come out for some reason.

 

[Nelsons_Mom]

Hmmm...I wonder if It's the cage that's the problem. I know I'd be scared if every time I tried to go out a big loud noise happened, I'd be less inclined to go out.

 

[anawelch]

That could be it actually..maybe when I take his mesh bottom out he'll come out on his own.

 

[ldoerr]

You should build what a lot of us on here use as a cage. It is called a NIC cage or a C&C cage.

. This is one of the ones that I built. I have changed it up a bit since I have had it. There are sooooo many variations on these. The possibilities are endless.

 

[missyscove]

I recently moved and in the process Timmy was downgraded from a 6x2x2 NIC cage to a smaller pet store style cage but I wanted him to be able to free roam whenever I was home and awake. I created a series of steps out of some storage containers and I first made sure he knew how to get back into the cage. Then I worked on enticing him to come out on his own with treats and his veggies. Now he's an old pro at it.

Could you post a photo of your setup? How often do you physically remove him from the cage? Is there a big jump? The loud noise could scare him but by now I'd think he'd be used to it.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Bribery and time has worked well for us.

 

[Imbrium]

NIC/C&C cages are definitely a great way to go - here's mine (it's a bit messy, I need to clean out the first floor tonight):

mine have an attached run since their room is the living room (which is open to most of the house)

 

[anawelch]

My camera is being hokey so this is the closest I could find to his cage. His is red and it's alittle longer than this one. The bottom tray/wire mesh and front cage door are the same though. Also the ramp is gone because he just knocks it over. And when I clean out his cage the whole bottom comes out so I slowly slide the bottom out and he'll jump off and then just sit underneath the frame, that's pretty much the only time he's out of his cage because picking him up out of his cage can be really difficult.

http://www.petco.com/product/117684/WARE-Living-Room-Rabbit-Home.aspx#description-tab

 

[CosmosMomma]

That doesn't look like it would be comfortable for his little feet. I definitely agree with everyone else, build a NIC cage for him and he'll be much happier.

 

[whitelop]

Maybe it hurts his feet when he tries to jump out of it. Then the loud noise happens to he's like gun shy about jumping out of it.
I would take the metal mesh out and just deal with the poop and pee being on the bottom until you get him litter trained.
Or if you can't take out the metal mesh part of it, get something to cover it. Like a piece of card board, that would be easy to throw away and it would save his little feet. A lot of us use fleece blankets to line the bottom of our cages, so you could put a blanket on the bottom over the wire and just take it out and wash it when its dirty.
Hope that helps.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Some bunnies just prefer their hutch. Bambi will jump up on a 30 inch high table and go back in her hutch if we leave the door open when she's out to exercise.

 

[anawelch]

Guinness does the same thing. He runs back in as soon as possible. I found a solution to the loud noises the bottom of his cage makes. I made this pillowcase for a fashion design class and i made it too big so I wrapped it around the wire bottom and now hes got a nice soft floor

 

[JBun]

I had a rabbit that was an older show rabbit before I got her, and she hated coming out of her cage. I guess that's where she felt the safest and most comfortable cause that's what she was used to. You could do what someone else suggested and try treats to encourage him to come out.