[Jovie]

Hello everyone!

I'm new to the forum but i'd like some advice, I just adopted a 2 month old dwarf rabbit, she's the cutest thing ever! I took her to the vet and he told me that i'd have to wait until she was about 6months to get her spayed, I don't plan on getting any other bunnies but I know it helps to do it anyways. I live in a 1bedroom apartment and her cage is in my room. I've had for 3 days and so far i haven't noticed a smell, but my friend who has a rabbit told me she stunk up her room and my brother also attempted having a rabbit and urged me not to keep her because he said rabbits were unloving and a mess to deal with.

Bunni (my rabbit) isn't potty trained yet, but she's a baby still and she's super super tiny, what advice can you give me and is having a bunny in an apartment do able?

thanks in advance!!!

 

[Nibbler]

welcome to the forum , having a bunny in an apartment is definetly do able congrads on your new addition.

 

[Jovie]

I haven't started litter training her yet, but there is a litter box that is inside her cage, i don't really know how to start this, is there any tips you/others could give me? I got her a cage from the pet store, but I know people say it isn't big enough, i plan to attach a play pen so she can have more space and also she likes to run around my living room, will this be good enough?

thanks for the help!

 

[Nibbler]

I haven't started litter training her yet, but there is a litter box that is inside her cage, i don't really know how to start this, is there any tips you/others could give me? I got her a cage from the pet store, but I know people say it isn't big enough, i plan to attach a play pen so she can have more space and also she likes to run around my living room, will this be good enough?

thanks for the help!

Im not to sure how to littre train but these sites might be helpful for your littre training and debating on cage, personally i perfere nic cages, but if u do look around the forum im sure someone has brought up littre training topic but here are the two links that might help
http://www.rabbit.org
http://www.qrabbit.com/housing.html

 

[Purple-Hops]

Hi and congrats on little Bunni!
Litter training is easy! Bunnies are naturally clean and usually catch on pretty quick. They usually pick out a corner to pee in so pick up some spoiled shavings and place them in the litter and place the litter pan in the same corner. She'll eventually get used to going there. Put the hay rack hanging close enough to the litter pan so she sits in it to munch. Bunnies like to eat hay and casually pee and poo at the same time Use different litter in the pee pan as what you use as substrate in the cage. Otherwise she will not know the difference. When you see her in the litter pan (if you're lucky enough to catch her squatting to pee even!) praise her. [I taught Acacia that when I toot, like calling a dog, it means she did good] ***Important to think about though is Bunni is only 2 months old, so even if she gets the litter pan concept now when her teenage angst kicks in she might lose it. After you have her spayed (Which kudo's to you BTW bc you're right it does enhance their lifestyle and years) you might have to re-train her briefly. It took my Acacia only about a month or 2 after her spay to get on the litter again
What do you use for litter? I found Yesterday's News paper pellets were such a contrast to the newspaper of Acacia's old dog kennel that she understood which was better for peeing!! lol
As for smelling, usually rabbits smell if their habitats are dirty. Rabbits exposed to unsanitary conditions or bad shavings which trap odors will smell. Unneutered males and unspayed females will probably have a distinct smell to their urine due to hormones and whatnot. I kept 2 rabbits in a bedroom adjoining mine up until last August and not once did someone complain about smell. My roommate had friends in all the time and did not even know I had rabbits until they seen them hopping in the hall or something! So your friend and brother just probably kept the rabbit in a cage and tossed in food or something. Or didnt clean the cage enough. Bunnies are supremely clean animals (they're prey animals so they have to keep their smell down so predators cannot easily detect them!). The only mess is the buttons which they put around to mark their territory, this goes away with spaying and litter training. Acacia can run around the whole top floor of my new place and my landlord/roommate easily forgets I have her!
I second the NIC option. While standard store cages are too small {and you realise this} keeping one for her bed so she can run in there when she wants while having the apartment for her house is definitely a good idea.
Congrats again! Read up on www.rabbit.org about food and caging and sanitation and grooming etc. . . I do not think you should have a problem with smell, if you do there's something wrong.

 

[Jovie]

Thank you for the advice! I actually bought her litter from the pet store! it's like these little white balls, it was suppose to be for rabbits and I have read some people saying that they use newspaper, I'm gonna try that once i get her a litter box for outside her cage. I've only had her for a few days and so far the only thing she's been doing is digging in her food bowl, lol.. she throws her food all over the place.

She's super adorable and I wanna make sure she's well taken care of, I took her to the vet and he told me she was in good health and that i'd need to wait 6months to get her spayed it's gonna cost me like $190.. soo, that's better than the $400 this other place wanted

 

[Purple-Hops]

It's wonderful that you're getting her spayed even though she's the only bunny! Very responsible of you. On the House Rabbit Society they have a section of questions to ask vets to see how rabit savvy they are. I personally never asked all of them to my vet but because bunnies are way different than cats and dogs you need to make a couple precautionaries. !! Also, 190$ is way better than paying 400$ but just do a quick check on them.
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/vet.html
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/spay-neuter.html#good-questions

Good luck!!

 

[Jovie]

okay, soooo.. is it normal for an 8 week old bunny to go pee/poop all the time? i put her in the tub this afternoon and as she was running around in it there was poop and pee, it seems like every few minutes she's going to the bathroom, I don't see how she's gonna learn to go in one place with her doing that.

 

[Jennicat]

It's normal for all rabbits to pee and poo pretty much all the time.

She's a baby, think of her like a puppy at this point -- dogs eventually develop more bladder control, but when they're little they have tiny bladders. You have to keep remembering that she is a baby!

 

[Dragonrain]

Yeah that's normal. Baby bunnies are really messy, and until they get older and usually spayed/neutered and litter box trained, it's normal for them to go to the bathroom all over the place. You wouldn't expect a puppy or even a baby human to know the proper place to use the bathroom, it's the same with baby bunnies.

 

[Jovie]

okay, so.. I've pretty much been feeding her as much as she wants since babies are suppose to be fed as much as they want, she eats pellets and timothy hay, but I'm noticing that she's getting kinda fat and she's been sticking her ears straight up, which is kinda weird... is this bad? also.... when she runs in her cage or even around the house she like jumps up weird and it looks like a spasm?.. it's kinda creeping me out, is this normal?

 

[Jennicat]

That's not bad, and it's normal for baby rabbits to be kind of "roly poly". They're babies. Like puppies with chunky little bellies.

Ears up is fine.

The jumping is called binkying. It's because she's happy!

I'd recommend sitting down and reading rabbit.org!

 

[Purple-Hops]

Yes. read up on www.rabbit.org for a bit. Binkying- go to youtube and search it!! It's the best thing ever, that's them showing how excited they are
Why did it concern you about her ears? If she is supposed to be a lop (all you mentioned was a dwarf) then even still some lops have partial or full control of their ears. It's all good

 

[Jovie]

Hello everyone, so far.. my bunni seems like a completely happy bunny, she likes to run and play and she eats well and everything, but I've been reading all these things that say that rabbits dont live well alone, this concerns me, I dont think I can accommodate two rabbits, but i dont want my rabbit to be unhappy, what do you guys think?

 

[Jess]

Hi, congrats on your new baby!
It's better for them to live with other buns, but having a single bunny is do-able too if you can't accommodate a second rabbit. You just have to give them a little extra love and toys to keep them entertained!
Even if you can't adopt another bunny now, you could always consider adopting one in the future. They can be bonded at any age, so it's not like you have to do it when they are young.

 

[Jennicat]

In fact, it's really better NOT to get two young rabbits, because you'll end up having to separate them to spay and neuter or they'll usually start fighting (and they won't always rebond).

 

[Purple-Hops]

The decision is yours. Even when I had 2 they had to live separately and have caused injuries to one another.
Acacia lives alone now and while I know how much she would love to have a buddy, it's just simply not within my means right now. You would have to consider how ready you are for the extra vet expenses for spaying/neutering and the cost of check ups or emergencies.

 

[Jovie]

@Purple_Hops, why is that they caused injuries to each other? because they didn't get along? was there a reason they were bonded? or were they bonded?

 

[Jess]

Yup, if I'm remebering right her buns hated eachother. Just like people, some rabbits just do NOT get along.

 

[Jovie]

oh, I guess it's a good thing I made sure they'd get along before adopting another bunny.