We adopted Luna about two weeks ago, and things have been going really well! She loves to cuddle up to us while we pet her, and she always has ample hay to eat. We had some trouble with the litter box at first with her digging in it, but that behavior is mostly gone now. I have a large rabbit cage for her as well as an exercise pen on the outside of her cage. While we are home, we leave her out in the exercise pen so she has room to move around. She's a small rabbit, a dwarf about 4 pounds, and just under a year old.
Recently, I accidentally left the exercise pen open and she got out and wandered around my office, where we keep her. I let her explore while I watched her, and she seemed very interested in having a much more open area. While she was out, she thumped a little bit and slipped a little on the wood floor, but she didn't chew any wires or furniture, and she seemed to enjoy herself overall. However, she also would hop away if I tried to approach her. Eventually, she went back in her cage and I closed the pen. Maybe a half hour later, she started pulling at the pen and dragging it across the floor, like she wanted to get back out. She was digging at the floor and carpet in the pen as well. I've let her out a couple more times and the same thing happens every time I close the pen back up.
I would love to eventually have her as a free-roam rabbit, and I think that she would love that too. However, I think that for now, she needs to build up more trust with us so that she doesn't run away while she's out of her cage. I think she needs more than two weeks to build this trust, and she also still needs time to get used to the apartment. Does this sound reasonable? Do you think she's pulling at her pen because she wants to get out?
In case she was tugging because she's bored, I ordered a couple more toys for her that are supposed to be more stimulating for rabbits. I was hoping that might distract her from pulling at the cage. I just don't want her to hurt herself by tugging too hard at the pen. Any thoughts?
Recently, I accidentally left the exercise pen open and she got out and wandered around my office, where we keep her. I let her explore while I watched her, and she seemed very interested in having a much more open area. While she was out, she thumped a little bit and slipped a little on the wood floor, but she didn't chew any wires or furniture, and she seemed to enjoy herself overall. However, she also would hop away if I tried to approach her. Eventually, she went back in her cage and I closed the pen. Maybe a half hour later, she started pulling at the pen and dragging it across the floor, like she wanted to get back out. She was digging at the floor and carpet in the pen as well. I've let her out a couple more times and the same thing happens every time I close the pen back up.
I would love to eventually have her as a free-roam rabbit, and I think that she would love that too. However, I think that for now, she needs to build up more trust with us so that she doesn't run away while she's out of her cage. I think she needs more than two weeks to build this trust, and she also still needs time to get used to the apartment. Does this sound reasonable? Do you think she's pulling at her pen because she wants to get out?
In case she was tugging because she's bored, I ordered a couple more toys for her that are supposed to be more stimulating for rabbits. I was hoping that might distract her from pulling at the cage. I just don't want her to hurt herself by tugging too hard at the pen. Any thoughts?
but when she was at the shelter, she just had a cage, no pen to run around in. She never did this there, but she also never got the chance to really run around all the time. She does stop after a few minutes, we'll usually go in and play with her and it seems to relax her.
