Thanks to the rabbit vs. turtle legend, rabbits are pretty much well-known for their fast movement and restless nature. Most of us adopt this wild animal and keep it in our home just to enjoy the lively playfulness of this creature.
However, at times, even this playful animal can act weird and keep it quiet. One of the most concerting things that a pet rabbit does is it sits still in the corner of the house and does nothing.
Pet owners go crazy like, ‘why is my rabbit staying in one place??’ Well, there are plenty of reasons why your furry friend decides to sit still. It can be afraid, or trying to save itself, or it is feeling territorial, or it can be just sick and tired.
So, what exactly is going on with the bunny? Let’s find out.
Reasons Why Your Rabbit Is Staying in One Place
Although there are plenty of reasons for a rabbit to sit in one place, we are going to mention 5 major reasons. These are the common causes of a house rabbit to sit still and not move at all.
1. The Bunny is feeling Shy
Unlike what is widely believed, bunnies are shy animals. They do like to keep themselves separate from the crowd and live a peaceful life. If you see your pet trying to stay calm and still at one corner of the house, try to find people around it. Infrequent cases, bunnies don’t feel at home when there are guests around.
So, if some guests in the house, they tend to keep themselves separated and standstill. Don’t try to take them out of their comfort zone and make them uncomfortable. Unlike popular belief, they don’t quite like getting cuddled at all.
Solution: In this case, you need to let the bunny get accustomed to the guests around. Don’t force it to break out from its own territory. Slowly try to interact with it and see if it makes a move.
2. The Environment is New
When you get a new rabbit home, it is pretty common that it won’t get pretty familiar with the environment overnight. This is truer if you have got a single bunny without any companion. It’s never going to love the place the moment you bring it home. For this reason, you will see that the bunny is trying to hide from the vision of people.
You will see that the rabbit is trying to squeeze itself into a corner of its hut, and it won’t move. Perhaps, it will give you a blank stare that will also make you a little bit worried. But it’s nothing to get upset about. This is pretty normal for new bunnies, especially if you are keeping them in a little hut.
Solution: First of all, keep it in a smaller house and slowly introduce the entire house to him. Show every room, one by one, and it will eventually try to get out of its closet.
3. It May Be Eating
You can take the beast out of the jungle, but not the jungle out of the beast. Yes, rabbits are not meant to be domesticated by human beings. This is pretty much the truth you need to understand. That’s why pet rabbits do have some traits of wild rabbits. Eating quietly and calmly is one of them. If you notice your rabbit is giving a cold gaze and not moving for a while, it must be eating something.
Rabbits eat weed, vegetables, flowers, clover, etc. They do like to eat in a peaceful manner without any rush. They take a lot of time to have their food, and during the feast, it doesn’t move and looks out for any predator that may snatch the food from it or eat itself. That’s what wild blood makes it believe.
Solution: The solution is simple. If you notice food residue around it, it’s definitely eating. Give it some time to finish eating, and it will start playing around again.
4. It is Scared
This is another trait that the house bunnies have inherited from their wild forefathers. If they sense and danger of predators around, they simply get scared and adopt a defending position. If your pet is trying to wrap itself around in the corner of its hutch, it has probably noticed a dog or any other large animal that it hasn’t been familiar with.
That’s why its basic instinct makes it feel scared and inspires it to take a defensive position. This is why it gets into the corner and doesn’t even make the slightest movement. It thinks if it moves, the predator will detect its position and attack. This is a pure defense system.
Solution: Try to scare away any such big animals around and keep yourself walking around the rabbit. It will be convinced that nothing’s wrong anymore.
5. The Bunny is Sick
The final reason can be the bunny is simply sick. If it’s in pain because of its sickness, the bunny will retrieve and try to stick to a corner of the hutch. Try feeding it green leaves and see if it eats. If it refuses, you need to contact the vet.
On the other hand, you can look for some symptoms like loss of fur, dripping saliva, face swelling, less breathing, etc. If any of the symptoms of rabbit sickness are detected, you can confirm that the bunny is actually sick.
Solution: The solution is to take it to the vet as early as possible. Never delay the treatment.
Final Words
It’s our natural instinct that we get worried if our pets are not behaving as they should. However, it’s not always a point of concern. Sometimes, it’s the nature of the animal to take a rest and be calm and quiet for a long time.
In some rare cases, this inactivity is sparked by a sense of danger, shyness, or even sickness. Try to figure out the issues that lead the bunny to stay inactive. Correct pointing out will definitely lead to a better solution.
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