squirrelsrule&bunniestoo
07-08-2009, 05:29 AM
My flyers that I got in April are finally ready to go free :wahoo (they are Tiffany's 2 sisters and a friend I got from the wildlife center). They have been in the outside cage for a little over a month, they are wild, fast, great climbers, eating on their own, nocturnal, all that. I do have a question though: is it normal for them to avoid the ground? My last flyers were not comfortable running around on the ground, but would go down to pick up nuts, etc. These guys won't go down, even to eat their yogurt, which is their favorite!
I think their fear of the ground may be because they have shared their cage with cottontails up until this past Sunday. Bunnies can be very mean to anything that comes into their "territory". I often put bunnies and songbirds in the same cage and have seen them run at and try to bite birds that are sitting on the ground. So, I am not sure if they had a bad encounter with the bunnies in the cage and that is their issue, or if they are afraid of the ground, or if it is just that they haven't discovered the food down there since I put their food dish up on the shelf like normal (so maybe they think I haven't given them yogurt :dono ).
So, do you think I should go ahead and release them and they don't need to go on the ground, or will learn to go on the ground when looking for food, or do you think I need to keep them until they are eating off the floor of the cage?
Every morning I see them running all over the shelf, climbing the sticks, jumping and gliding. They are very quick and wild. I would hate to release them and them not find food because they are afraid of the ground though. I don't know what to do.
I think their fear of the ground may be because they have shared their cage with cottontails up until this past Sunday. Bunnies can be very mean to anything that comes into their "territory". I often put bunnies and songbirds in the same cage and have seen them run at and try to bite birds that are sitting on the ground. So, I am not sure if they had a bad encounter with the bunnies in the cage and that is their issue, or if they are afraid of the ground, or if it is just that they haven't discovered the food down there since I put their food dish up on the shelf like normal (so maybe they think I haven't given them yogurt :dono ).
So, do you think I should go ahead and release them and they don't need to go on the ground, or will learn to go on the ground when looking for food, or do you think I need to keep them until they are eating off the floor of the cage?
Every morning I see them running all over the shelf, climbing the sticks, jumping and gliding. They are very quick and wild. I would hate to release them and them not find food because they are afraid of the ground though. I don't know what to do.