Escaping Bunny

[Goliath]

Leave it to me to bring home the most intelligent rabbit I've ever dealth with:biggrin2:

Goliath knows her strenth. She escapes her penby a "move and lift" technique.

I think I know how to "block" her escape. I'd like to put bricks on the outside of the pen for an inexpensive border. Are these toxic to rabbits?

 

[Pipp]

LOL! At eight weeks? Yikes! LOL!

Bricks are fine. Not sure that will work, but not toxic or anything.

Is this an exercise pen, no floor or roof?

You might also be able to put a ring of cube shelving panels around it, but you may need weight on the top. (You don't want her lifting it and dropping it on herself, that's scary).

Pics would be great.


sas :bunnydance:

 

[Goliath]

Yes, it's an exercise pen, no floor, no roof. It's on low-pile carpet, berber style. I found the x-pen idea online and followed their instructions. I hate the cages found at the pet stores around here. There's nothing that I've found that I feel is big enough and my research says wire bottoms are really bad for the hocks of flemish giants.

Once I figured out how she was doing it, the thought of her dropping it onto herself scared me as well. I'm hoping she won't be able to lift it if she can't move it forward. I can always put brick on the inside of the cage as well since it's not toxic. Knowing her, she'd turn them intotoys

I'm also going to try to find the cubes used to make guinea pig cages and make a roof. That'll give me the option of weighing the pen down. It's 48" high and I thought it was too heavy for her, but apparently I was wrong. First lesson in bunnykeeping: Never underestimate the intelligence of a rabbit

I've been trying to figure out how to upload photos here. That'll be my next search

Thank you so much for your help!

Let's see if this works. Here's one of the pics of her home:

That went well. Let's try for two more:bunnydance:

 

[Goliath]

So on very close inspection, I'm fairly certain she's climbing out. Eek! I also realized I got the 36" high cage, not the 48" I thought I'd gotten. It seems pretty high sitting on "bunny" level

Do they make tops for the Midwest exercise pens? If not, what is the quickest, least expensive, and safest way to make a roof for her cage?

I hated to do this, but she's in a small cage 30" x 18" for the night since I'm unable to supervise her, so I really want to fix her cage tomorrow.

 

[Pipp]

LOL! My Flemmie just hops out of his pen. Goliath would probably feel better with a top over at least half the pen, anyway. They're very sensitive to attacks from the air. Failing that I'd always recommend that bunny slaves make a box of some kind available to their rabbits so they can feel secure. In your case, just make sure the box is against the wall and not the sides so you're not making it even easier for her to hop on the box and then out of the pen!

The box (or a 'bunny fort' made from multiple boxes) will also help keep her entertained so she's not as set on leaving the enclosure. I've found that a couple of boxes linked together with entrances and exits with an old phone book inside for shredding is the most entertaining thing ever.

You can buy x-pen covers, or just get a piece of corroplast to put over the top. If she's not lifting the sides, the weight won't matter so much. She won't try jumping if there's a ceiling. I've got a light oak sheet of plywood over mine.

Good luck!


sas :clover:

 

[Goliath]

It's funny you should mention the box, Sas. That's been on my list of things to do, but this is her second time escaping since we brought her home two weeks ago.

She's keeping me hopping (pun intended).

I have plenty of boxes. I'll put those on top of her pen and make her a few dens as well. I think I'll also hang some sheets along the back of the cage to give her a "dark, safe" feeling.

Plus, the sooner I get her staying in her cage, the sooner I can add a "playground" in my bedroom and I want to add another "playground" outside. She will definitely not be a bored bunny, for sure

Thank you so much! She's my first bun since I was a little girl (many, many years ago). I want her to have the best life possible.

 

[Sox]

I've got one of those playpens. At 7 weeks Sox managed to squeeze in between the bars. Doesn't look big enough but believe me, they can narrow themselves down to squeeze through small area. I went to Bunnings and got those plastic chook wires and that was the end of the escape adventure ...... UNTIL .... she figured out where the opening and the latch to the gate was that I regular used, grabbed the bar with her teeth, shook the whole cage and it moved a bit, the gap to the gate got wider and she squeezed herself out!!! After I sorted out that problem, she had another idea. I give her heaps of boxes to play with and she decided she could climb on the tall boxes to see if she would reach the top of the cage to escape!!! Only thing is I beat her to her smart thinking, I had turned the tall box the other way up so she hopped onto the tall box and fell inside the box .... she never tried it again. On occasions though I have seen her looking at the distance of the boxes to the cage, probably thinking if she could jump!

Rabbits are smarter than we give them credit, they can be timid but can also be moody and cheeky and like to play games.

 

[AquaticRex]

what kind of rabbit is yours? O.O that is one smart bun!!