Too big a house??

[maherwoman]

Hey guys...I have a question...

So, the night before last, my husband and I expanded on Flower'scage. We expanded by one panel both the lefthand side and thetop of the cage. So, she now has a cage that is four panelslong, three panels high, and the same depth of two panels. Wealso added an additional level up, and put her food things there(because we quickly discovered in making it higher that I could nolonger reach the level the food had been on).

So, she's now been brave enough to explore all levels of the cage, butI keep getting the vibe from her that she's lonely in that big ol'house. Is this possible? She still has Mr. Piggy(her stuffed animal friend), but I wonder if she feels all lonely withall that space. Is there anything I can do (like spreadingher toys out more on each level, or giving her a second stuffy friend)to make her feel more comfortable? Or am I just picking up onher not yet being used to having a larger home?

Either way, I find her most of the time laying down on the bottomfloor, and only going up top to eat. Whereas before, shespend most of her time on the top level laying down. She justlooks unhappy, and I can't figure out why. I thought she'd bejumping for joy (literally), and I instead find what appears to be theopposite.

To give you an idea of her size...when she lays down she almostcompletely covers two panels in length, and about 3/4 of one panel'swidth.

Did I expand too much?

(We didn't expand on Maisie's cage because (a) it's just right for hersize, and (b) we thought she would be VERY uncomfortable feeling theneed to guard all that space. She seems quite content withher amount of space, whereas I was noticing that Flower was gettingquite antsy and frustrated with hers, which was why we decided toexpand.)

What do I do? I really want my girl to be happy, and I'm sopuzzled by her reaction! Did I do somethingwrong??

 

[fender32]

I'd say it would be best if you keep an eye onher behavior for the next few days and if you really feel bad about herbeing lonely, you might get her a companion.

Or you could try providing more entertainment. Just a though. :nod

 

[maherwoman]

Haha...I would absolutely have jumpedon getting her a companion, believe me, if it weren't for thefact that I promised my husband that I wouldn't get another bun and thefact that she's not yet spayed.

Once she's spayed, though, I did mention to him that if we're stillencountering her being quite lonely, and if bonding her and Maisie (whois also not yet spayed) didn't wind up being successful, I would beseriously asking him to consider getting her a bunny friend.

Thanks for your idea, though!!

One good thing, though, is that I spread her things throughout her cagemore (three toys/playthings per level) so that her things were morespread out, and she's responded quite nicely. She's beenlaying where she used to, on the previously-top level, and after I puta few of her toys there (a chew-toy, her Chewb tunnel, and the box shefits in and loves to rip up), she flopped down and has noticabllyrelaxed. Seems she was nervous from all the openness andspace, and now that I've filled that a little, she feels more at home.

What a cutie!

I will continue to keep an eye on her, though, to be sure she's comfortable.

Thanks!

Rosie*