The Dogmother Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 Mine refused to eat their food in the rablu so the hay rack and food bowl are in the run under an IKEA shower curtain cover. they will drink their water from the bottle in the Rablu though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellekatz Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 Mine eat outside too - Lucy hardly ever seems to go into the eglu except when its really cold and bowls , water and hay are outside ( She is in an adapted chicken one anyway and always uses the nestbox as her toilet) i swear she sleeps outside most of hte time as well - I have never seen her in the eglu yet!! ( Mind you she is 5 and has lived outside all her life!) I have hte summer shade and a shower curtain (ASDA) over hte top so it seems pretty dry underneath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 My rabbits eat and drink outside too. They do have a traditional bottle of water on the wire of the cage but prefer a dog bowl of water down on the run floor alongside another dog bowl for their pellets. I only feed them a small amount of pellets on the vets advice, so it disappears in no time with the 3 of them at it and the rest of the time they munch hay, again outside and have a few fresh veg for their tea. I really wanted a rablu but having read your accounts of the way bunnies use them I will continue to make do with my more traditional hutch and run set up !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 That's interesting Helen Mine have both - they have their original duplex luxury wooden penthouse hutch by the house (mainly for the winter when it is too wet for them on the grass) and the rablu as their summer palace on the lawn. I did have a wooden hutch and run on the grass, but it soon rotted! They love their rablu and it's so easy to keep clean. To be honest, they are topsy turvy about how they use their space in their wooden hutch too - the 'bed' area has their litter tray in it and they like to eat upstairs and use the downstairs for playing or sleeping. No matter how much or what bedding I put in there, they shred it and refuse to sleep in it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Hi Claret, I do take your point about the wet and wood rotting. At the moment I have them on the patio so the wood is up on concrete...I would't be able to put it out on the lawn...for that read mud bath with a young pup and two chooks!! The wooden hutch is quite damp and will need treating soon so perhaps I will treat myself to a rablu in a couple of months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lottie Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Hi, I have 1 dawf lop eared bunny and i also have the very same problem. She also gets really angry when i try to pick her up and in the end she wins and i can't, so she tries to dig a hole in her hutch and and all the beding sticks to her then she goes and shakes it off outside. She`s a little terror. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Has she been spayed? They do tend to get stroppy when they are hormonal Start by sitting down quietly with her and stroking her or brushing her fur, then as she quietens down and gets used to you, you'll be able to pick her up and hold her on your lap. Mine go into a trance when you do that, but they are nervous creatures, so take it slowly and persevere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynda.chatfield Posted February 25, 2007 Author Share Posted February 25, 2007 Lily's a bit like that. We tempt her into the eglu with the pellets and then pick her up then, when we've shut the door. I find she takes a long time to relax, and gets well freaky if her legs are not supported. Occasionally we're able to get her on her back and get her into a trance, but not always, which is a shame as Billy is such a chilled out rabbit. We had her recently spayed, so it'll be interesting to see if it helps. She's very fond of biting my fleece, but no other part of me thankfully. With regard to eating habbits, I left all the pellets out in the run all last week, and they didn't hardly touch it at all, so I left loads of hay in the dog bed just in case they starved. Then I gave up yesterday, and put the pellets back in the eglu, and they munched them all up over night, so I think they're trying to tell me they like eating in their toilet after all! They're still kicking some of the bedding out, so I'm continuing with the very small amount of cat litter, and changing it every couple of days. Lynda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
