indianavex
Well-Known Member
Hello forum-goers! I've finally caved and joined a forum because no matter what I did or where I looked, I could never really find the answer to what I was looking for. Rabbits refusing to come out of cages isn't anything new, but the answers I always found involved unbonded baby rabbits with brand new homes and owners. This is a bit different.
I've had my rabbit, Cassie, since mid-July. She appears to be mostly unsocialized, as any hint of a human other than me sends her darting into her hide in her cage to tremble. I've told plenty of people to let her be when she gets like that and only talk to her or offer a hand when she feels safe enough to come back out. Sometimes when I catch her off guard, she'll even duck in. She's a bit easy to spook!
The problem isn't that we aren't bonded, either. Cassie will often lovingly stalk and watch me from her cage. If I offer a hand to pet her, she'll accept readily the majority of the time and if I've given a good enough performance, will lick me back for a couple of minutes before begging for more scratches. She'll often begin the ritual by licking me first. I figure if licking is one of the higher forms of rabbity love, we're not missing on any love in this house. She also comes over to clucks, kisses, and the sound of my voice calling her.
The problem then seems to be her bizarre attachment to her cage. I imagine in the breeding barn she spent most of her time, she hardly left her cage. While she loves being touched by me, petted by me, groomed by me, and talked to by me, she never wants to be out of the cage with me. She may watch me, rattle the cage for me, squeak to get my attention, throw her toys around loudly, but if I go to pull her out, she immediately flees for home. Recently she's been able to get over the initial hurdle of even leaving her cage, and is now willing to jump out, wander within a 3-foot radius of the door, sniff around, tug at my carpet, and within a minute or two will race back to the cage to hide again. I would understand this all perfectly, if she didn't turn around and within the same moment hop right back out to repeat the process again.
As I type this, she's jumped in and out of the cage 3-4 times, wandered over to me, licked my arm as I typed on my laptop, then scampered off again. As of yet, I am not allowed to groom or touch her while she's out of the cage, despite her licking my arms, hands, sides, and the pillow I'm using to prop myself up with. I just want to know what she might be thinking or feeling from more experienced rabbit owners (as she's my first!), as well as a way to ensure her comfort and security enough that she feels comfortable coming out of the cage and interacting with me and her surroundings.
I've had my rabbit, Cassie, since mid-July. She appears to be mostly unsocialized, as any hint of a human other than me sends her darting into her hide in her cage to tremble. I've told plenty of people to let her be when she gets like that and only talk to her or offer a hand when she feels safe enough to come back out. Sometimes when I catch her off guard, she'll even duck in. She's a bit easy to spook!
The problem isn't that we aren't bonded, either. Cassie will often lovingly stalk and watch me from her cage. If I offer a hand to pet her, she'll accept readily the majority of the time and if I've given a good enough performance, will lick me back for a couple of minutes before begging for more scratches. She'll often begin the ritual by licking me first. I figure if licking is one of the higher forms of rabbity love, we're not missing on any love in this house. She also comes over to clucks, kisses, and the sound of my voice calling her.
The problem then seems to be her bizarre attachment to her cage. I imagine in the breeding barn she spent most of her time, she hardly left her cage. While she loves being touched by me, petted by me, groomed by me, and talked to by me, she never wants to be out of the cage with me. She may watch me, rattle the cage for me, squeak to get my attention, throw her toys around loudly, but if I go to pull her out, she immediately flees for home. Recently she's been able to get over the initial hurdle of even leaving her cage, and is now willing to jump out, wander within a 3-foot radius of the door, sniff around, tug at my carpet, and within a minute or two will race back to the cage to hide again. I would understand this all perfectly, if she didn't turn around and within the same moment hop right back out to repeat the process again.
As I type this, she's jumped in and out of the cage 3-4 times, wandered over to me, licked my arm as I typed on my laptop, then scampered off again. As of yet, I am not allowed to groom or touch her while she's out of the cage, despite her licking my arms, hands, sides, and the pillow I'm using to prop myself up with. I just want to know what she might be thinking or feeling from more experienced rabbit owners (as she's my first!), as well as a way to ensure her comfort and security enough that she feels comfortable coming out of the cage and interacting with me and her surroundings.