More space, less activity?

[bunnydude]

Hello,

Recently Devon and Amber have been given a lot more space. It used to be that they were let out about 3-4 hours per day, and they spent the rest in a sizeable condo cage. We recently bunny-proofed the room with the cage, so they now have free-roam of that room even when we are not there. They also spend the middle of the day (4-6 hours) in a 34 sq. ft. pen in the family room. They are only confined to the cage at night. But they seem to be binkying less and spending most of the time lounging. They used to binky and bunny 500 quite a bit when let out of the cage. Are they less happy, or are they just slowly expending their energy throughout the day? Do those of you with free-range bunnies have experience with this?

 

[naturestee]

I saw this when I moved the buns from their cages to much larger pens. I think they're just doing so much more while they're "locked up." I know Loki is 100% more active now. If I'm around in the middle of the night all I hear is bunny bells jingling, Loki's litter flying out of the box, cardboard being shredded, buns binkying into the pen walls...

Some days they hardly come out of their pens at all. Other days they get hyper and dash around the living room, doing binkies everywhere. I think it really depends on how much "work" they did in their pens while I was gone.

 

[daisy052104]

We've noticed similar behavior with Holly. She's not a free roam bunny butwe got her a bigger cage. She seems to not run and binky like she did in her smaller cage when we'd let her out.

 

[Dittani]

My bunnies have always been free range buns (ie. they have access to the whole house except at nights when they're put in their room), but I have noticed that they binkie less now we've moved to a bigger house. I'm not sure if this has to do with their age or the fact that they wander all over our whole house every day (that's a lot of ground to cover!). They still run around like children that've eaten too much sugar occasionally, but I kinda miss the fact that they used to binkie all the time.

 

[tamsin]

Is the flooring different? Some rabbits are more warry of slippy floors like wood/tile and won't run/binky on them.

 

[Haley]

Same thing with my buns. Basil and Max have my entire bedroom all to themselves. I dont ever really put them in their cage. Ive noticed much less binkying and much more lounging. they're soo lazy lately!

I think in my case, it has more to do with their age. Their 3 and6 now..so I think this is slowing them down.

Also, probably whena rabbit is in his cage all day, he builds up a lot of energy he wants to exaust when hes out. Maybe our free roaming bunnies just expend their energy all throughout the day instead of having spurts of binkies etc.

:runningrabbit:Ireally miss those bunny races though!

-Haley

 

[bunnydude]

tamsin wrote:

Is the flooring different? Some rabbits are more warry of slippy floors like wood/tile and won't run/binky on them.

The cage is linoleum and the pen and bedroom are carpeted, so I don't think its the flooring.

So I get the impression that everyone else experiences this. Maybe I'll start leaving them in the cage an extra hour or two. Having the door open should also help manage the temperature anyway. Thanks everyone!

 

[naturestee]

You could also try moving things around more often. That gets my rabbits going! They have to practice running around, over, and through everything all over again.

 

[bunnydude]

There's an idea. I was also looking at the toy thread you started. I bet some of those would get them moving around.

 

[jordiwes]

Yes, I've noticed this too. What we do when we want to see some activity and antics is rearrange their room, or open up a new room to them. And they are usually most active around midnight as well.

 

[Kweasi]

Triumph is alot less spaz now that I've given her near 24hr access to our bunny-proof living room.

It would seem to me that when given alot of space they'll be more active on average rather than being inert for long periods then totally flipping out for a brief time.

She still acts all crazy, but generally not until late at night. That's when she starts mountaineering all over the furnature.

-Kwe