[lotte]

Hello everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Amy.

She is a dwarf-lop, white with a gray nose and a gray tail. She is but 6 weeks old.

We adopted her/bought her on sunday, so she is new to us and us to her!

We have been calling her a her although we are still not 100% untill we can take her to the vets (2 more weeks untill she can have her first jabs).... I had to try and sex her myself and i didnt really have a clue what i was looking for (apart from the obvious!)

We are in the process of TRYING to house train her!! Man its difficult!! She has been pooing and weeing everywhere...gggrrr! I bought her a litter tray yesterday to put in the corner of her hutch hoping that will work (i know she is still very young and things will aparently get better when shes old enough to be spayed).... any tips on litter training??? I've read that you should put her in her tray when shes weed or about to wee but i'll be danmed if i can tell when shes about to!!!

The other issue is food. She is on the rabbit pellets recomended by pets at home, she also has the hay (timothy hay i believe). I keep wanting to fill her food bowl up when its been empty but my other half believes we should be limiting the amout of pellets we give to force her to eat the hay (i did have a too fat rabbit when i was very young, so maybe he's right) Any one help???

With veggies ive been giving her half a carrot chopped up and some celery. Ive read that we should be feeding greens to our bunnies, but yet ive read that lettace is a no no! What veg is safe and good to feed them?

The family we got her from have handle Amy from the start so she's always been quite happy(ish) to be picked up and cuddle.... even from the first day we had her.... she'd just in your lap for cuddles! But over the last day she has been restless and not wanting to suddle for more than 5 minutes at a time. She has also started to nibble at my clothes (the little cheeky monkey) i've tried tapping her nose and saying "NO" and ive tried putting her back in her hutch/cage/home but she continues to do it constantly!!! How do i stop her????

Im sorry if i've gone on for ages.... but im a little new to the hole house rabbit situation.

Can anyone help..... i do appreciate that Amy is still very young and these things will take time! Thank you to all who have taken the time for me.xxx

 

[Jess]

Hi there! Welcome to PT!
Congrats on getting Amy! Rabbits make amazing pets!


This website should help you with all of your problems... It's basically the bunny care Bible, LOL! http://rabbit.org/


For litter box training, you can't expect them to take to it right away. I mean, would you expect a 6 week old human baby to be potty trained? I think not! Spaying her will help a TON with potty training though, and it can be done once she is 6 months old. Spaying also helps with behavioral problems (which females tend to have a lot of!) and it eliminates the risk of reproductive cancer, which females are VERY prone to.
Once she gets a little older, here is probably the easiest way to litter box train them: Get a large square cat litter box (not those tiny corner ones) and fill it with tons of hay. Don't have litter anywhere else in the cage other that the litter box (Put news paper, blankies, towels, ect in the rest of the cage), and she should get the picture pretty quickly.


As for diet... Unlimited alfalfa based pellets and alfalfa hay until she is about 7 months old. Once she hits 7 months, you can start limiting the pellets.
I would hold off on the veggies until she is at least 12 weeks old. 6 weeks is too young to be starting her on them.
When she is ready for veggies, Romaine and dark leaf lettuces are fine to give them... It is just iceberg that you need to watch out for. My Smudge gets Romaine lettuce, parsley, and a small piece of carrot every day, and sometimes I'll throw in other veggies as well... Depends on what I can find in the fridge, LOL!


Most rabbits HATE being held, and there isn't really anything you can do about it. When she starts digging/nipping at you she wants to be let down.
Even after 7 years, I can't "cuddle" with Smudge without bleeding. He sheds like a mammoth, so I don't really want to hold him for too long anyways! Haha. He tolerates nail trims, but he gets antsy if I try holding him for more than 5 minutes or so. That's just how bunnies are, so don't take it personally.

 

[Purple-Hops]

She is a really cute bunny!! Congrats! As Jess said, bunnies make great little friends if you know what you're in for!! lol Who sold you a bunny at such a young age?!? She should be with her mommy until at least 8 weeks but Amy should be okay, that's just a tidbit. Get her in to the vets for a check up asap to make sure everything's good and have her spayed at 6 months

Litter training is easy (especially if their fixed) since bunnies are naturally prone to pee and poo in one place, you will probably always find poos spread around as it is used to territory reasons but Acacia is almost perfect in new environments and does not leave anything behind! lol I cannot believe how well she contains her poos to her pen- not her interior pen! She poos all over that, Oh, like Jess said - fill the litter pan with hay!

She needs unlimited alfalfa pellets and hay until she is 7 months (as stated above) and no veggies either, her delicate system is still weaning off mommy's milk.

Some bunnies tolerate being held, some don't. Acacia hates it, but my late Akina had her best moments laying on people getting pet, she was a big fat lumbering cat!! lol So it's hard to tell, even being handled since birth does not mean she will love to be handled for the next 12 years! She will need to be able to tolerate subdue in the case of emergency or to get her nails clipped but otherwise most bunnies prefer to be left alone. Just sit next to her and pet her, bunnies love behind their ears rubbed!!

Probably the most important thing you mentioned- NEVER hit a bunny!!! Trust is the best bond you can have with bunny and when you physically hit her she will learn to associate you with it. Maybe that has something to do with her nibbling? One thing to do rather than physically hit is to ignore. Pick her up and place her on the floor then walk away. One thing Akina used to do once I adopted her and she finally got attention was hop in circles around me and she nipped a couple times too. Bunnies in colonies treat this as a rude domination challenge and hop away. A rule of thumb, this goes for ANY species (humans included) Always ignore the behavior you wish to deplete. Even negative behavior will encourage it to happen. Anyway, Bless to you and Amy. I'm sure you will enjoy her company and equally hers you. Keep us updated!

 

[lotte]

Grrrrrrr....
MY BUNNY IS A GIANT POOP MACHINE!!!
Poop poop everywhere..... How can so much poo come out of one tiny rabbit!

Every time a move her litter tray to where she likes to poop, she just finds somewhere else to do it!!!

Roll on 6 months when she's old enough to be spayed!!!

 

[Dragonrain]

Aw she's cute!!

Bunnies are little poop machines! Especially when they are babies and don't have good litter box habits down yet. Oh boy I remember the last rabbit I raised from a baby...he was sooooo messy when he was young. All the rabbits I have now I adopted when they where already adults...I'll probably always adopt adults now. Baby bunnies are cute but I can do without the teenage hormonal mood swings and lack of litter box skills lol.

 

[Sasami]

I feel your pain but just hang in there! Things really improve once the rabbit's been fixed . They just don't have much control at that age.

Aw she's cute!!

Bunnies are little poop machines! Especially when they are babies and don't have good litter box habits down yet. Oh boy I remember the last rabbit I raised from a baby...he was sooooo messy when he was young. All the rabbits I have now I adopted when they where already adults...I'll probably always adopt adults now. Baby bunnies are cute but I can do without the teenage hormonal mood swings and lack of litter box skills lol.

Haha, I'm the same way now. Never again!

 

[Jess]

Same here, LOL. From now on, I will only adopt fixed adults! Baby animals are cute, but they are such high maintenance, expensive little pains! Haha.
Smudge was totally worth it though, of course!

 

[tommycat]

Bunnies are absolutely the cutest animals on earth! But they're so much fun. I knew nothing about them when I had to take him in. (He was my daughter's and they couldn't have pets where they lived) I read stacks of books on bunny care, but I've learned more from the bunny moms on this forum than any of the books! They really know what they're talking about. Yes, my rabbit--Roger--hated to be picked up and held, too, but he was VERY affectionate if you'd sit in the floor with him. Just beware of shirt nibbling... He loved apples more than carrots, so I just gave him a piece of apple every evening. He knew when it was time, cause I'd hear him go running into his cage to wait for it! What a sweetie. They are pretty high-maintenance, but be patient...I think they'll make it worth it for you!

 

[bunz]

Grrrrrrr....
MY BUNNY IS A GIANT POOP MACHINE!!!

In response to bunny poop, I've always enjoyed this image - albeit a little crass, but SO TRUE! (it's a Natalie Dee image, as is my avatar. She's great!)

 

[Purple-Hops]

LOL I'm so tagging that pic to facebook!! lol

 

[Jess]

LMAO! That image is perfect XD

 

[tommycat]

Love it! We always called Roger our "Lean, Mean, Poopin' Machine"!

 

[bunz]

Having not had a bunny prior to Oliver, I was absolutely stunned by the amount of poop that happens! It's so, so much. Such a tiny little thing, but so much poop!

I though you all might like the picture - no one but a bunny owner would find it so amusing.

 

[Purple-Hops]

I posted it to facebook with wonderful rsponse!! lol

 

[lotte]

I thought id give you all an update on my liltte bunny bundle.

Turns out (after our first trip to the vets) that Amy is infact a little boy....oppps! So now Amy is a Jamie!!!

He is now 16 weeks old and, wow, has he changed since that first day!! You'll be glad to know that he is fully litter trained (apart from the occassional stray poop) he sticks to his litter boxes

He has grown so much and also has been changing colour.... you can sometimes notice the change in the space of a day. His little gray nose has spread across his face, his ears are getting darker and the fur on his bum is speckled with gray. It makes him look really scruffy all the time but im a typicle mum and love him for it!!

From being so happy being handle when we first got him, he has really settled in and now hates it. He'll chace you round the room and crave attention but the minute you try picking him up and putting him on your lap.... he's off!! The solution.... sitting/laying on the floor with him - he loves it.

Jamie loves having his nose stroked.... If your stroking him anywhere else he'll push his nose into your hand, it's so cute!!

It always supprises me how much time he spends in his house/cage. During the day we open his cage door and he has the run of the lounge.... but he seems quite happy just to sit in his cage ...... well unless its 9 - 10 o'clock when thats his bonkers hour where he goes mad and jumps around all over the place!!

Unfortunatly we've had to stop him jumping up on to the sofa... he's a bit too rough with it. Biting, scratching and trying to burrow into it, he also still likes to wee on it. Its a shame as it would be nice for him to jump up on the sofa if he wanted to and watch tv with us in the evening, but he can be just so naughty!!

Next stage i suppose is getting him castrated once he's 6months old... i think id be a little nervous about it but its something that needs doing. Only a couple more months to go!

Ive tried taking some more up-to-date pictures for you but unfortunatly trying to get him to sit still is a nightmare!!! You can see the difference, hardly looks like the same bunny!!

 

[Dragonrain]

Aw what a cutie! They do change as they get older. I used to have a grey bunny who would change shades every time he molted. So sometimes he'd be dark grey, and sometimes a really light grey.

He sounds like a happy little guy. That's awesome!

Try not to worry too much about getting him neutered. It's a very routine surgery and as long as your vet is a good bunny vet Jamie should be fine.

 

[Purple-Hops]

Aww, he's so cute!!! And my Acacia changed from a lovely cream white to a khaki chinchilla seal point sort of thing with a lovely white scarf, I like the change!! lol Jamie is so handsome Bless

 

[lotte]

He is a funny bunny!

I was sat on the floor with him this morning so he could climb all over me. but he got annoyed that i was too busy reading my kindle and not fussing him.... started getting in the way and trying to nibble the corner!!! He's a jealous little monkey!