yramnot
Active Member
Seems I've had a lot of questions about my bunnies as of late... Well, here's another one. My rabbits have free run of my room at present (used to have run of the whole house), and I've taken to caging them at night at my father's request.
Their cage is rather small. It's just big enough for a bed, a litter box, and a bowl of food. Each night when they're to be caged, I put some sort of treat inside (fresh hay, oats, carrots, what-have-you), and both of them go in without protest. Shortly after I close the door and the novelty of the treat wears off, Peter begins to throw a fit.
The first night, he spent half an hour frantically trying to break down the door and rip the blanket through the bars. The second night, he only fought for about ten minutes, but when I uncovered the cage the next morningt, the bed had poop all over the inside. Last night, he once again fought for fifteen or twenty minutes. When I uncovered them this morning, Peter had soiled both the bed and the blanket covering the cage with urine. Instead of sleeping in Peter's waste, Jack had fashioned his own bed by spreading hay over the top of the litter box.
Jack has not been a problem in this process. He has never fought the confinement, and happily goes to sleep for the majority of the night. Why is Peter acting the way he is? Is he claustrophobic? Will providing a larger cage remedy the situation?
Their cage is rather small. It's just big enough for a bed, a litter box, and a bowl of food. Each night when they're to be caged, I put some sort of treat inside (fresh hay, oats, carrots, what-have-you), and both of them go in without protest. Shortly after I close the door and the novelty of the treat wears off, Peter begins to throw a fit.
The first night, he spent half an hour frantically trying to break down the door and rip the blanket through the bars. The second night, he only fought for about ten minutes, but when I uncovered the cage the next morningt, the bed had poop all over the inside. Last night, he once again fought for fifteen or twenty minutes. When I uncovered them this morning, Peter had soiled both the bed and the blanket covering the cage with urine. Instead of sleeping in Peter's waste, Jack had fashioned his own bed by spreading hay over the top of the litter box.
Jack has not been a problem in this process. He has never fought the confinement, and happily goes to sleep for the majority of the night. Why is Peter acting the way he is? Is he claustrophobic? Will providing a larger cage remedy the situation?