I love my rabbits.. but..

[allenstacy74]

I have 2 freeroam rabbit who I love unconditionally but they do my freaking head in, they are ALWAYS right under my feet or in the most inconsiderate places at the wrong time I can’t open a door without nearly running them over, I can’t walk without tripping over them or them running across my feet or climbing up my leg. Now I don’t know if this is normal behaviour for freeroam, I usually just say their name and see what they want, sometimes is attention, sometimes treats but nothing ever really stops them from doing this? They are freeroam in my room (which is pretty spacious) I spend a few hours everyday sitting on the floor playing and having cuddles with him but they just will not let me move around, and it makes ot so difficult to get anything done, like the other day, I was filling their water bowls and Eugene (my 2 year old mini lop) darted straight between my feet and started circling around me and I dropped both bowls (nearly on him) and I could have seriously hurt him?? I love them both and don’t want them to get hurt. I just don’t understand why they do this, and when I say EVERYTIME I stand or walk in the room I mean EVERYTIME

 

[Catlyn]

They love you!

I have learned that this becomes more of an "issue" with buns who get a lot of say in when and where they want to be at, i.e all the partial and full freeroam buns. I say it in quotation marks since it isn't a bad behaviour per se, just a bit inconvenient for us to cohabit with buns with these particular traits.
The degree of "attached" behaviour is also quite directly linked to the buns' true personalities. Just depends on who you get. I had Musti who just knew when to keep clear respectfully but would otherwise honk and throw his love at me, then Lümi that would kiss me to death and seek out my sleeping form but not get in my feet, and currently i have Storm who is completely oblivious to the fact that we can't just safely hop over him instantly or binky our butts away from the chair he jumps into just a split second before we are about to land. Like, he sees me trying to take a seat and then he decides that he has to land on that exact same spot at the exact same time as me.... Iris is more difficult to pin because she's just glued herself to Storm, and she was bonded quite young, so i can no longer tell what is her own personality and what is being his buddy.
Nothing to "fix" the toppling bun problem, just a few tips to make it safer:

1) squat before sitting. It helps avoid accidentally smushing bun under one's bum even if said bun was determined to be right then&there. If I see Storm's beady eyes lookin' like he wants to, i pretend to sit to see if he'll come or let me take my seat before jumping over. If he comes, i can just scoot him over or urge him back down safely. I've dealt with this long enough to just read his body and get a gist.
2) be mindful of bun's pal. Depending on what personalities you end up with, more lookout might be needed. Or less. When Storm was paired with Lümi, he never really got in my way and didn't follow Storm around; i just had to see where the white one was beforehand. Now that Storm is paired with Iris, i have to think Storm x 2 because the girl will follow suit right after. Usually she's kind enough to hop in from another open side, but if they happen to band together to beg for attention, i'll have to watch out for both buns' jumps.
3) zombie shuffle. That's probably what you need the most along with a decent sense of balance. Deemed to be one of the safer ways of walking with unexpected buns. The whole point is to not really lift one's legs and to do small/fast rather than big/high steps. Essentially just scoot or shuffle your feet low on the floor so that buns wouldn't be able to get under your feet nor topple you as easily. If they come too close, the small shuffle steps will just push them out of the way rather than accidentally sending them flying or you toppling over.
4) fixed meal times. Most buns will eagerly await their fresh batch of hay veg and pellets, pestering people endlessly. If they have fixed meal times, their excited shimmying might become just a bit more predictable. Ours' pellet time is 19.00 and i know to expect buns' eager hops around me when the time is near. In the same vein, i know they likely won't bother me after that as they're full and resting.
5) perked up ears. This might not help others as much as it does for me, but i have learned to listen/distinguish my buns hopping to me from afar and nearby. This usefulness depends on the flooring, rabbits' nail length, their size, hopping pattern/speed and more. Lümi was roughly the same size of 3.5-3.6kg as Iris. On the same type of floor, with slow hops, with trimmed nails, Lümi made much more noise than the girl does. Both my frenchies were 5.4-5.6kg and Musti walked louder than Storm does. When i'm aware of buns walking nearby, i can usually hear them hopping to me, so i know when to stare at the floor and switch over to zombie shuffle.

Hope that something here might be of help to you.

 

[allenstacy74]

They love you!

I have learned that this becomes more of an "issue" with buns who get a lot of say in when and where they want to be at, i.e all the partial and full freeroam buns. I say it in quotation marks since it isn't a bad behaviour per se, just a bit inconvenient for us to cohabit with buns with these particular traits.
The degree of "attached" behaviour is also quite directly linked to the buns' true personalities. Just depends on who you get. I had Musti who just knew when to keep clear respectfully but would otherwise honk and throw his love at me, then Lümi that would kiss me to death and seek out my sleeping form but not get in my feet, and currently i have Storm who is completely oblivious to the fact that we can't just safely hop over him instantly or binky our butts away from the chair he jumps into just a split second before we are about to land. Like, he sees me trying to take a seat and then he decides that he has to land on that exact same spot at the exact same time as me.... Iris is more difficult to pin because she's just glued herself to Storm, and she was bonded quite young, so i can no longer tell what is her own personality and what is being his buddy.
Nothing to "fix" the toppling bun problem, just a few tips to make it safer:

1) squat before sitting. It helps avoid accidentally smushing bun under one's bum even if said bun was determined to be right then&there. If I see Storm's beady eyes lookin' like he wants to, i pretend to sit to see if he'll come or let me take my seat before jumping over. If he comes, i can just scoot him over or urge him back down safely. I've dealt with this long enough to just read his body and get a gist.
2) be mindful of bun's pal. Depending on what personalities you end up with, more lookout might be needed. Or less. When Storm was paired with Lümi, he never really got in my way and didn't follow Storm around; i just had to see where the white one was beforehand. Now that Storm is paired with Iris, i have to think Storm x 2 because the girl will follow suit right after. Usually she's kind enough to hop in from another open side, but if they happen to band together to beg for attention, i'll have to watch out for both buns' jumps.
3) zombie shuffle. That's probably what you need the most along with a decent sense of balance. Deemed to be one of the safer ways of walking with unexpected buns. The whole point is to not really lift one's legs and to do small/fast rather than big/high steps. Essentially just scoot or shuffle your feet low on the floor so that buns wouldn't be able to get under your feet nor topple you as easily. If they come too close, the small shuffle steps will just push them out of the way rather than accidentally sending them flying or you toppling over.
4) fixed meal times. Most buns will eagerly await their fresh batch of hay veg and pellets, pestering people endlessly. If they have fixed meal times, their excited shimmying might become just a bit more predictable. Ours' pellet time is 19.00 and i know to expect buns' eager hops around me when the time is near. In the same vein, i know they likely won't bother me after that as they're full and resting.
5) perked up ears. This might not help others as much as it does for me, but i have learned to listen/distinguish my buns hopping to me from afar and nearby. This usefulness depends on the flooring, rabbits' nail length, their size, hopping pattern/speed and more. Lümi was roughly the same size of 3.5-3.6kg as Iris. On the same type of floor, with slow hops, with trimmed nails, Lümi made much more noise than the girl does. Both my frenchies were 5.4-5.6kg and Musti walked louder than Storm does. When i'm aware of buns walking nearby, i can usually hear them hopping to me, so i know when to stare at the floor and switch over to zombie shuffle.

Hope that something here might be of help to you.

I’m glad to know they love me, but I still value their safety more.. it is mainly Eugene when I got him he was the last one of the litter and had been alone for quite a few months, so when I got him it was like he glued himself to me, he went everywhere and did everything with me.. but I didn’t have enough time to give him all the love o wanted so I got Cora. She is an angel, never seen such a well behaved rabbit like her, although.. even though they are bonded Eugene still seems to favour me over her, but she LOVESSS him, so when I stand up Eugene sprints after me and she sprints after him! it is one big train of stumbling and tripping etc, Cora does join in on running around me but she knows when enough is enough.. Eugene however, will not stop until I’ve sat down or left the room, he’s my baby, so I don’t mind, it just worries me, and they are completely freeroam, I have a cage but it’s simply for food, water, litter box and their blanket or cooling mat depending on weather, I took the door off of the cage so I can’t even put them in there if I wanted to! I suppose I should just embrace the love and work around Eugene's tender love and care

 

[user 34902]

I have 2 freeroam rabbit who I love unconditionally but they do my freaking head in, they are ALWAYS right under my feet or in the most inconsiderate places at the wrong time I can’t open a door without nearly running them over, I can’t walk without tripping over them or them running across my feet or climbing up my leg. Now I don’t know if this is normal behaviour for freeroam, I usually just say their name and see what they want, sometimes is attention, sometimes treats but nothing ever really stops them from doing this? They are freeroam in my room (which is pretty spacious) I spend a few hours everyday sitting on the floor playing and having cuddles with him but they just will not let me move around, and it makes ot so difficult to get anything done, like the other day, I was filling their water bowls and Eugene (my 2 year old mini lop) darted straight between my feet and started circling around me and I dropped both bowls (nearly on him) and I could have seriously hurt him?? I love them both and don’t want them to get hurt. I just don’t understand why they do this, and when I say EVERYTIME I stand or walk in the room I mean EVERYTIME

After getting stuck in between your feet a few times they might stay out of the way. Mine do anyway. They make sure they give me enough time to get from one side of the room to the other. Unless I have got food in my hand for them.

 

[user 34902]

They need some time in their hutch.

 

[allenstacy74]

After getting stuck in between your feet a few times they might stay out of the way. Mine do anyway. They make sure they give me enough time to get from one side of the room to the other. Unless I have got food in my hand for them.

See I do have a cage for them but I’m not comfortable in keeping them in there, they’re free to go in or leave at anytime. My rabbits have absolutely no regard to me walking lol.. no really been able to stop them so I just shuffle across the room so I don’t trip over them etc

 

[user 34902]

My two pet rabbits are out of their hutch most of the time. Just recently they have been going in there at night and I let them back out in the morning.
I think because they are out and about most of the time they do actually like it in there if they are getting on my nerves and I need a bit of space.
I've taken this picture specially for you.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

The only way too keep a rabbit away from your feet is to put them up. They are way too nosy and when in the bunny room, we do the "rabbit shuffle", walking around without lifting your feet to take a step--more like sliding along the floor.

 

[allenstacy74]

My two pet rabbits are out of their hutch most of the time. Just recently they have been going in there at night and I let them back out in the morning.
I think because they are out and about most of the time they do actually like it in there if they are getting on my nerves and I need a bit of space.
I've taken this picture specially for you.

Ahh right okay, I’ll give it a trial run to see how they do, lovely bunnies you have aswell, super cute

 

[allenstacy74]

The only way too keep a rabbit away from your feet is to put them up. They are way too nosy and when in the bunny room, we do the "rabbit shuffle", walking around without lifting your feet to take a step--more like sliding along the floor.

Yes, I’ve adapted to the “rabbit shuffle” they still run around me constantly but no more tripping is great

 

[user 34902]

My situation has changed. They are out of the cage 24hrs a day. If they have hay and nuggets and leaves they like it in their cage, sometimes with a blanket over the hutch for darkness but if they are only eating hay they don't like it in there so much.

 

[allenstacy74]

My situation has changed. They are out of the cage 24hrs a day. If they have hay and nuggets and leaves they like it in their cage, sometimes with a blanket over the hutch for darkness but if they are only eating hay they don't like it in there so much.

I tried mine in the cage but the were so noisy (rattling the bars etc) overnight, so I’ve gone back to keeping them out with access to the cage if they want- even though they have a large dog kennel rather then a “cage” they still prefer running around the room, I just shuffle across the room rather then taking full steps to avoid tripping over them

 

[user 34902]

I tried mine in the cage but the were so noisy (rattling the bars etc) overnight, so I’ve gone back to keeping them out with access to the cage if they want- even though they have a large dog kennel rather then a “cage” they still prefer running around the room, I just shuffle across the room rather then taking full steps to avoid tripping over them

It's 11.35pm now in the uk.
They have gone back in the cage for the night as I need to clean up. They rattled about for a bit then settled down. Goodnight.