Are Rabbits Stupid?

[beanebabe]

My rabbits have a chicken coup for a hutch! It has been completely surrounded with perspex to weatherproof it. It has a separate sleeping compartment in the upper section. I have packed it with straw for the cold weather (which they think makes a great toilet) but insist on sitting on a shelf in the open area of the hutch/coup all night (I looked out at 4am the other night and saw them). Do they just sleep where they are happiest or as my OH says they have so many pots/boxes/areas to sit in they are confused! I am thinking of shutting them in the sleeping area tonight but am worried they are avoiding it for reasons I can't fathom! It is too big to be moved into the garage which has no natural light. Calling all bunny experts for advice!

[joggerjayne]

This is just what bunnies do.

Once they have chosen a toilet spot, nothing will change their minds.

It does mean that you can "potty train" them. Once you know there they go to poop, you can put a cat litter tray there, and they will always use it.

And, in a manner curiously like humans, they do quite often choose a nice private place in which to poop.

But they do have good survival instincts. If they were worried about the cold, they would move to the warmest place in the hutch.

[beanebabe]

Thanks Joggerjayne, that is quite reassuring. They are mucky blighters and poop in several different places. They have a litter tray which they use some of the time, they go in the corner that the tray doesn't quite cover and they go in one side of their bedroom area. They soaked the whole sleeping compartment the last time I packed it with straw so I stopped putting so much in. Is there a way of getting them to be tidier? I thought they were generally clean animals! They are both female and have been spayed and generally love each other to bits.

[Panic Button]

Yes, rabbit's are stupid.

As far as I can see they often don't recognize their owners.

[joggerjayne]

Don't know. I'm not that much of an authority.

But if they have decided that their "bedroom" is going to be their toilet, you'll never persuade them otherwise.

I wouldn't try locking them up there, because the smell of rabbit wee will seem very strong to them (remember that they can smell where each other have "sprayed" from quite a long way off.

But also remember they are quite hardy. "Real" rabbits live in frozen holes in the snowy ground, and they are fine.

[garner]

Domestic pet rabbits are different to wild ones and are not as hardy.My daughter moves hers every night at about teatime to the garage and in the morning puts the hutch back outside, she says it's a pain but worth it considering the very cold evenings we are getting....better to be safe than sorry don't you think.g.

[billybunny]

Are your rabbits neutered? as neutered rabbits are better at using their litter boxes than un-neutered rabbits. However, I have two pairs of rabbits and the scent of each other in the garden has messed up their litter training as they are very territorial creatures. Mine will also sit out all night given half the chance but I shut them in when the weather is very cold. Domestic rabbits dont have the strong instinct to burrow as wild rabbits so unless you provide them with shelter they will just sit out under the stars all night!