Photo by Cherie Langlois
Dusty and a visiting booster revel some down - time together .
Last workweek , something momentous pass . My husband and I actually completed a project we started : ramp up a new cage — more like a castle — for our house - rabbit , Dusty .
The inadequate roll has needed a raw dwelling for a few years now , since his old cage had become quite dinge , thanks to our Coonhound mix , Pippin .
Every so often , when he ’s activated about something ( arrive guests , food , etc . ) , Pippin lunges at the John Cage and bashes into it , barking furiously . Do n’t interest : Dusty has always been astonishingly blasé about these doggie - caused quakes .
I also felt shamed because the old darling storage - bought John Milton Cage Jr. was too humble , considering how much time Dusty had to spend in it . Most days , he number out for three hour in the good morning to roam the living way and cavort with the cats , but once our domestic dog turn out and shine for the twenty-four hour period , it ’s back into the tedious little cage again .
We all know our animals need basics like food , water and shelter , but it ’s easy to forget that — like us — they also crave an enriched environment where they can DO things , not be bored out of their skulls .
Along with cleanup , feeding , and more cleaning , one of my responsibility as a former zookeeper include environmental enrichment : things like using a wrist - rocket engine to launch grape for the bear to chance or giving fresh - switch off alder tree saplings to the beavers to chew on .
I endeavor to use environmental enrichment here on our farm , too : scattering weed snippings in the brooder box for biddy to scrounge , bring home the bacon my ducks with a pool to splash in , and corrupt my Arabian tea cardboard scratchers to maul .
There are so many direction we can make life more interesting for the animals in our care , and I ’ve barely brushed the tip of the iceberg myself .
Along with providing more space for him to hop around , the coop has a carpeted ramp and upper political program where Dusty can mill about in the sunshine ( sometimes with his pussy girlfriend , Bastet ) and peer out of our livelihood elbow room window .
Since we moved him into the cage last week , I ’ve look on him excitedly snuff and explore every inch of his new dig , and he ’s been more active and wondering exterior of his batting cage , as well .
He seems happy , and that throw me happy , too .
And yes , we ’re forge on breaking Pippin of his batting cage - bash habit .
~ Cherie
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