Fiver seems stuck upstairs

[maherwoman]

Hey guys...

Any ideas you can throw at me?

Fiver finally went back upstairs after I reopened the top part of his cage last night...took him a few hours to go up. Well, I don't think he's been back down!

Any suggestions? He doesn't seem scared...just...STUCK. I don't quite get it. Could he be afraid to go back down?

I didn't reattach his ramp, because he seemed happy with it not being there...but I think I might need to...

I just want him to be happy......

 

[Bo B Bunny]

He might want the ramp and it might be just as well. Bo seemed to get sore when he had to hop from higher.

Also, he might just be worried you are going to block it off again LOL!

 

[delusional]

I had this problem when I first introduced Bunny to a multi-level cage. He seemed very happy to jump up onto his shelves, but he wouldn't come down! I know because I put his food in in the evening and it was still there in the morning. I found that a step mid-way helped, and he was soon up and down.

I'd try giving him his ramp back, for now, just see if it helps. Maybe because he hasn't been allowed up there for a while he's just lost his confidence in it or something?

 

[ec]

I'd go with the ramp.

When I first got Nibbles, she didn't know how to jump down from chairs, her shelf (or anything else), presumably because she'd never had a chance to learn. She was scared, but she did get over it with time. Am wondering if Fiver might be going though similar issues? (You can try luring him down from some other, lower surface with a treat...)

 

[maherwoman]

Hehe...I think that's how I got Fiver to go up to begin with...I put a little bunch of raisins (about six) on the first level up from the bottom floor...and he found them and then went on upstairs. Then I noticed that he didn't seem to desire coming back down...only problem was, his pellet food was downstairs.

Thankfully, I noticed his hesitancy, and put his water bottle upstairs, and he had one of his litterboxes FULL of hay, so he had food and water.

I added his ramps now...though he has yet to use them. I also put his bigger litterbox upstairs, as well as his pellet food, so if he's feeling pain from going upstairs, he can stay up there as long as he likes. If he's still not down by this afternoon, I'll also put his buddy Sheepy up there (fleecy blankety thing he calls "friend"...bathes him and everything, hehe!), too, so he has his buddy.

Otherwise, I'm also giving him lots of love and encouragement. :biggrin2:

 

[maherwoman]

YAYYY!!! He just came downstairs!!

It was SO CUTE, too, because he came down and dug at Sheepy a bit, like "I missed you SO MUCH!!" It was ADORABLE!!

Then he looked at me for acknowledgement for a job well done...which of course, I was MORE THAN HAPPY to give him!

I'm so proud of my boy...:biggrin2:

 

[undergunfire]

Hey Rosie!


I have been bad and haven't been reading much, but didn't you think Fiver was blind? Could this be why he is having trouble going up and down?

My mom has a blind dog, and when she goes up and down stairs, we have to say "Up, Mildred" or "Down, Mildred"...on each step, so she knows.

 

[maherwoman]

Well, the vet cleared him of being blind...but she said he might have more trouble seeing than other rabbits, and she just wouldn't know. She said he seemed to hop around on their floor just fine (a floor and layout he wasn't familiar with), but who knows?

Apparently there's no DEFINITIVE way to know a bun's sight problem(s) for sure...but I have a feeling he does have SOME difficulty seeing...

So, yeah, that could contribute.

I also had to put grass mats on his ramp, as he got his poor little toe stuck the other day. Don't worry, he's just fine...I've been watching...but there are grass mats on it now.

Poor little guy...he's had the hardest time adjusting...

I think tonight's a cuddle night...

Thanks for asking, Sweetie! :bouquet::hug:

 

[undergunfire]

Awww, give Fiver some cuddles from me, too :biggrin2:!

 

[maherwoman]

I will...:biggrin2: