Hello! I have a question and I'm hoping I could get some input on...
Lucky here is my first bunny. Previous to that, I've never been around bunnies, known anyone who had a bunny, or even seen a bunny for sale in a pet store. So, my knowledge on buns all come from multiple bunny books I have bought over the past 7 months since adopting the Luck duck.
The last bun book I just finished yesterday is called Understanding Rabbit Habits. Everything was going along fine until I got to the end and it started talking about abnormal behavior. It talked briefly about illness, and then it moved on to boredom. I don't remember exactly how it was worded, but it said that in some cases of boredom, the rabbit will act apathetic and or lethargic, spending most of it's time just laying about in one spot.
And a red flag went up.... For 7 months, I have though that Lucky is just a laid back bunny.... but now, what if he is only laid back because he is bored? I don't know how bunnies normally act, so I'm not sure exactly how to tell between Lucky being zen vs. Lucky being bored?
Lucky has a cage, but I let him free roam when I am home. He will occasionally climb up on something, knock a trash can over, or play with a toy. He binks, but not that often... some days there are no binks, some days he binks in the morning and binks at night. I watch him closely, but he pretty much can do whatever he wants to in whatever room I am in. He wakes me up in the morning around 6ish (which is when I normally get up and give him pellets anyways). He is active (explores the room but there are no crazy running or binking or anything) until about 9 to 10, then he goes to sleep under the art desk. He pretty much stays there until about 3 or 4, when he has another active stretch of time until about 7, when he will settle down on the couch or in bed with ginger and I. At 8 to 9 he leaves the couch or bed and goes to his "bed" -which is the middle of the floor in my bedroom usually- and tucks himself in for the night. I don't know what all he does when I sleep, but occasionally I hear him or feel him hop up on the bed. When I get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, he can normally by found stretched out or bunny loafing on the floor near by.
Does that sound normal? :/ He spends a LOT of his time relaxing. He does not just lay in one spot though, he moves around from different locations in the room. Sometimes the bed or chair, sometimes his open cage, different spots on the floor....
After reading the book, and being concerned about him being bored, I made him a dig box. It is a big plastic container, with high enough walls that he has to jump over. I filled it with crumpled phonebook pages, with hay and pellets swished around for him to find. I also took 2 small water bottles and turned them in to a treat dispenser when it rolls a certain way and the pellets drop out. He seems to like both, getting in the dig box and playing with the treat dispenser day and night (usually after i've gone to bed and I hear him belly flopping off a shelf in to the dig box and then "foraging" for his food. I've even set out a phonebook or two for him to play with.
He is in good health, and around 7 months old. Even with the dig box, phonebook and treat dispenser, Lucky still lounges around a lot and takes his days and nights pretty easy peasy.
Does he sound like a bored bun to you guys? What else should I do to give him mental stimuli? Taking him outside is not an option because I have a lot of hawks that like my yard. I'm not sure what else to try...
Lucky here is my first bunny. Previous to that, I've never been around bunnies, known anyone who had a bunny, or even seen a bunny for sale in a pet store. So, my knowledge on buns all come from multiple bunny books I have bought over the past 7 months since adopting the Luck duck.
The last bun book I just finished yesterday is called Understanding Rabbit Habits. Everything was going along fine until I got to the end and it started talking about abnormal behavior. It talked briefly about illness, and then it moved on to boredom. I don't remember exactly how it was worded, but it said that in some cases of boredom, the rabbit will act apathetic and or lethargic, spending most of it's time just laying about in one spot.
And a red flag went up.... For 7 months, I have though that Lucky is just a laid back bunny.... but now, what if he is only laid back because he is bored? I don't know how bunnies normally act, so I'm not sure exactly how to tell between Lucky being zen vs. Lucky being bored?
Lucky has a cage, but I let him free roam when I am home. He will occasionally climb up on something, knock a trash can over, or play with a toy. He binks, but not that often... some days there are no binks, some days he binks in the morning and binks at night. I watch him closely, but he pretty much can do whatever he wants to in whatever room I am in. He wakes me up in the morning around 6ish (which is when I normally get up and give him pellets anyways). He is active (explores the room but there are no crazy running or binking or anything) until about 9 to 10, then he goes to sleep under the art desk. He pretty much stays there until about 3 or 4, when he has another active stretch of time until about 7, when he will settle down on the couch or in bed with ginger and I. At 8 to 9 he leaves the couch or bed and goes to his "bed" -which is the middle of the floor in my bedroom usually- and tucks himself in for the night. I don't know what all he does when I sleep, but occasionally I hear him or feel him hop up on the bed. When I get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, he can normally by found stretched out or bunny loafing on the floor near by.
Does that sound normal? :/ He spends a LOT of his time relaxing. He does not just lay in one spot though, he moves around from different locations in the room. Sometimes the bed or chair, sometimes his open cage, different spots on the floor....
After reading the book, and being concerned about him being bored, I made him a dig box. It is a big plastic container, with high enough walls that he has to jump over. I filled it with crumpled phonebook pages, with hay and pellets swished around for him to find. I also took 2 small water bottles and turned them in to a treat dispenser when it rolls a certain way and the pellets drop out. He seems to like both, getting in the dig box and playing with the treat dispenser day and night (usually after i've gone to bed and I hear him belly flopping off a shelf in to the dig box and then "foraging" for his food. I've even set out a phonebook or two for him to play with.
He is in good health, and around 7 months old. Even with the dig box, phonebook and treat dispenser, Lucky still lounges around a lot and takes his days and nights pretty easy peasy.
Does he sound like a bored bun to you guys? What else should I do to give him mental stimuli? Taking him outside is not an option because I have a lot of hawks that like my yard. I'm not sure what else to try...