new cage

[mamie4]

ok so as I said in my introduction, I found someone that was giving away 2 rabbits in each their own cage as they are male and female. Anyhow the female was in a dog cage and the male in a small one floor normal guinea pig cage. I bought a bigger cage for him with 2 shelves he doesn't seem to know what to do about it. Now I know this may sound stupid but do they know they can jump?

 

[aurora369]

Yes, they can jump, but some just prefer to stay on one level. Or if he's never had a cage with a shelf, he may not know what to do with it. You can give him some time to get used to his cage, it may just take him some time to fully explore and get used to his cage.

Also, if the floor is too slippy, he may not be comfortable jumping up on the shelf.

Of my four rabbits, only two of them ever really go up on their second shelf. My other two are perfectly content to stay on the bottom floor.

-Dawn

 

[elrohwen]

My cage has a shelf and it took my bun at least a few weeks to figure out how to use it. I helped him out by putting a blanket up there so it seemed less slippery. After a while he was able to do it without the blanket.

Some buns just don't like to jump much (like mine) so it will take them a lot longer to discover that they can jump up on a shelf or something.

 

[funnybunnymummy]

Bunnies are also wary of "new" things. Gus took acouple weeksto get used to the levels in his NIC cage, but now he hops up and down off them all the time. Putting some non-slip flooring (either a blanket, towel, or carpet) should encourage him to use the levels.

Also,try putting him up on the shelf to give him the idea that he CAN go up there.But make sure, after you put him up there, that you stick around in case he needs help down! (This happened to Gus. He got himself up on the shelf, but then was too scared to hop back down! He was sitting up there thumping until we came and rescued him. Silly rabbit! )

Hope that helps!

Rue

 

[snap]

It's probably just cuz he's never seen such a thing before. Give him time to get used to it and he may or may not start using it.

Of course he could just prefer staying on the floor.