This summer it has been a year ago since Toffee, Poppy’s previous partner, died. His final few months, Poppy found herself being his carer and having more of a sedentary lifestyle due to his ailments and blindness. I assumed once she was paired with a younger, able bodied bunny she would be the bunny she should be for her age.  She turned 5 this year which is not old in my bunny shed.  However, she remained quite sedentary and had little interest in investigating things, it was as though she thought she had to be a carer for Apollo, her new partner, not that he minded, he loves being groomed by her and looked after.

Poppy’s new partner brought with him a new pen for her. This meant she had access to an outdoor pen and could come and go as she pleased but initially Poppy would stay inside while Apollo went out.  Eventually, after some encouragement she did start to venture out but not for long. Even when she had access for a free play outside she would just sit in her pen or come out, have a look round and then go back inside. I thought maybe seeing Apollo enjoying his free play she would want to join him but even watching him didn’t bring her outside. Poppy was familiar with having free plays and was used to playing free around the outdoor pens so I was unsure why she wasn’t happy to come out and stay out.

Eventually, Poppy did start to venture out a little more but would often not stay out more than 5-10 minutes. When she returned to her pen she would often go back inside her indoor pen. It was sad to see as she was missing out on a lot of interesting things to investigate and lots of fresh air. Apollo on the other hand couldn’t get enough of having free plays.

Poppy no where to be seen as he enjoyed his playtime. However, after lots of encouragement Poppy did start to spend a little more time outside of her pen but I noticed she preferred Apollo to be around, if he disappeared she would go back inside. This made me think it could have been a confidence issue.

Poppy knew Apollo was nearby and obviously she could see me and I think that gave her some confidence. As summer was drawing to an end, I think the penny dropped with Poppy and she started to realise she can be her own bunny and do what she wanted to do. By the time the bunnies’ went in for winter she was happy to spend a lot of time outside and enjoy her free plays. She hasn’t yet worked out how to get onto the back garden even though she has seen Apollo jump on the wall and she could easily make that jump. I just hope that when summer comes around again she hasn’t forgotten what playing out is all about and has kept her confidence.

Here is Poppy enjoying herself at last.