[MissMariah03]

Hi everyone,
Im new to this forum and Im also a new bunny owner. I just adopted a 7 week old holland lop doe whos a broken chin. Shes very cute!
Any information on how to look after her would be great. Dont get me wrong, I do know how to care for a bunny but you guys being the experts can maybe give me more information!
What types of veggies can I give to her? I was told nothing in the cabbage family and to wait untill shes 6 months to give her other types of veggies.
How do I litter train her? Shes going everywhere in the cage!
How much handling should she have?
Thanks

 

[Iloverabbits]

Vongratulations on your new addition! Firstly, what's her name?

I would say she should be handled as much as possible whilst she is young. Now is the time to get her used to it.

With regards to food - rabbits have very delicate digestive systems that are upset easily. Fresh, or any new diet, should be introduced slowly and gradually. I advise not to feed lettuce, iceberg in particular. Cabbage is fine but in small quantities and the darker leaves. They just cause the rabbit to have wind, as they do in humans. My two buns love spring greens and are fed in abundance. They also enjoy cauliflour, carrots (of course), celery, green peppers. But as I said, it must be introduced slowly. What have the people you got her from recommended you feed her? My breeder recommended a pellet full of nutrients and suitable for young lops.

Training - i got a cat litter tray and and put some saw dust (or you can use a wood based cat litter) in the bottom. Put some of her droppings in it. She will begin to use it and when you change the litter put a little of the old stuff in the clean tray so they can smell it and know this is where they toilet. Beware though, as they mature, the notion of 'potty training' may lapse, and probably will continue to do so until the bun is spayed - its a hormone thing.

Hope this helps. I have recommended it before but i wouldnt be without 'Living with a Houserabbit" by ***** and Flack. It has answered so many of my questions and a year after having got my first bun im still referring to it.

Good luck, let us know how you get on. Would love to see some pictures if you can.

 

[kathydip]

The House Rabbit Society is another great website to visit. You can use feline pine as a litter. That is what I have. I place timothy hay in the pan to get them into it. I was also told no veggies until about 6 months old. The House Rabbit Society also has a list of acceptable veggies when she is ready. I took the lists I found on the internet combined them and then took it to the vets for his opinion. I was surprise to find that my vet said spinach was okay to give them. I would not give them only spinach. With Tabby I gave her 2 to 3 types of veggies a day. Babies should have an alfalfa based pellet. I forget the amount of fiber it should have but my vet approved Oxbow brand 15/23 (I think that is the numbers). Once they are about a year you change to timothy based pellets. An y changes should be made very slowly as not to upset their bellies.
She will need things to chew on. My babies like those sticks that they sell with holes for the holder. Ophelia likes the blocks that look like baby blocks. They also like tissue paper wadded up into a ball and empty toilet paper rolls. Someone else (sorry I forget who) recommeded that you make cuts in the roll and flower out the cardboard to make it more interesting.
Let us know if you have any other questions.

 

[MissMariah03]

Bunnies

Hi,
Thanks for replying everyone Her name is Star. She is eating pellets, the ones that the breeder gave to me. I have slowly started mixing in the pellets that I bought for her - they are made by Hagen.

Regarding the litter box training, in her cage I am using aspen shavings so I also put aspen shavings in her litter box. She chooses to poo mostly everywhere in her cage, but only one spot for pee. I tried picking up all her droppings and putting them into her litter box but when I got home this evening her droppings were everywhere once again, the pee was in a different spot and she was sleeping in her litter box... She did look very cute in her litter box though What am I doing wrong? I really want to litter train her so she can be free range. She also peed on my bed today...What do you mean her potty training may lapse as she matures?

And yes I am handling her as much as I can. I want her to like to be held, which I think she already does.

Thanks, and any help would be great! Sorry about my long post.

 

[MeggieQC]

I agree with Kathydip. I have been a mom to 2 bunnies for 3yrs now and I sometime still use www.rabbit.org It's a great site.
Read all the faqs and everything you want to know, if you have any questions that is not answered there or you can't find, post it on the board and we will be more than happy to respond. There is so many thing you need to know it would take me 5 hours to write all that down. Oh and if you want some websites to buy some goodies/toys/food let me know, im a freak I know

Oh hold on here is a thread that might answer some of your question, it;s not really detailed but better than nothing:

http://www.paw-talk.net/forums/showthread.php?t=33450

Please keep us posted and take some pics to share them with us

and THANK YOU for ADOPTING ,

 

[MissMariah03]

Litter box

Ok so I was on some of the sites but one of my questions has still not been answered.

About litter box training - I have removed all her dropping and put them in her litter box. I have put the litter box where she was urintaing. Will this help? She has been sleeping in her litter box now. I have been told to put her hay in her litter box? Will that help her to understand to urinate in the litter box and not the cage? How much shavings/hay should be in the box?

Thanks.

 

[MeggieQC]

got this off rabbit.org:
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/litter.html

other site:
http://www.geocities.com/aecarrotpatch/litter.html

Be patient, it can take a while to train them, depending on the bunny. Mine took a while, and it got worse when I got a second one.

The most important is that you need to confine her to a small place until she learns how to use the litterbox and then slowly increase the space she is allowed. If she starts doing it everywhere, go back to leaving her in a small place etc...

Good luck

 

[MissMariah03]

Hi again,
So would you say its ok to have her hopping around out of the cage in a small space as long as her litter box is there?

Also, she ate a piece of cat food... Is that ok or should I take her to a vet?

Thanks.

 

[MeggieQC]

Putting the droppings in the litterbox helps, and putting the litterbox where she pees will help as well.

It's ok if she sleep in the litterbox as long as the litter is not soaked with urine. My bunnies spend a lot of time just sitting in the litterbox, while they have the run of my bedroom

Putting hay in the litterbox will help a lot. That's when I see a big difference with my bunnies cause my boyfriend keeps putting it in their dish and when he does that, there is poop around the dish. Also bunnies mostly poop WHILE they eat so if the hay is in the litterbox they'll hop in there, start eating and then "eliminate" in there, but there will still be poop outside the litterbox, until they are trained. My bunnies learned pretty quick where to urinate, but the poo is another story.

I, have two bunnies and I put about euhhh 2inches(im very bad with the american system of measurement) of litter, but I use carefresh and it tends to be "fluffy", so it's not the same as the shavings. Just use your instinct, if you put just a little bit, you will have to change the litter more often. Same goes with the hay, I usually put a small pile at one of the end of the litterbox so they don't poop and pee on it. The carefresh works great for me, it absorbs and don't smell, but some people don't like it.

I don't know if her cage is big, but maybe starts training her in there and once she gets it give her more space. How big is her cage thought?? But you also should give her some exercise time when she can run and do binkies and stuff

She ate a piece of cat food!!! It's not very good for them. Just keep a close eye on her to see if she acts weird, if she does bring her to the vet. Bunnies hide their weaknesses or diseases very well since they are prey animals, so the predator doesn't see it.

I don't know if you read it, but spaying your bunny will help a lot with litter training and behavior. She might be spayed thought since you've adopted her!!?!!!

Good luck
Don't be shy to ask if you have any other questions

 

[Iloverabbits]

Hi,
Thanks for replying everyone Her name is Star. She is eating pellets, the ones that the breeder gave to me. I have slowly started mixing in the pellets that I bought for her - they are made by Hagen.

Regarding the litter box training, in her cage I am using aspen shavings so I also put aspen shavings in her litter box. She chooses to poo mostly everywhere in her cage, but only one spot for pee. I tried picking up all her droppings and putting them into her litter box but when I got home this evening her droppings were everywhere once again, the pee was in a different spot and she was sleeping in her litter box... She did look very cute in her litter box though What am I doing wrong? I really want to litter train her so she can be free range. She also peed on my bed today...What do you mean her potty training may lapse as she matures?

And yes I am handling her as much as I can. I want her to like to be held, which I think she already does.

Thanks, and any help would be great! Sorry about my long post.

I had both my rabbits from 8 weeks old and as soon as they hit 4months, maturation age, they both started spraying outside they're box. It a territorial thing and although they will still they're litter box, you will find patches around the house. Or i did anyway.

I would keep her off the bed and other soft furnishings until she is trained. They are warm soft places and they will wee on these.

 

[MissMariah03]

Litter training

I have been moving the litter box where she pees, but everytime I move the box she chooses to go in a different corner!!! Any suggestions there??? Her droppings are coming along nicey. As you guys suggested I put her hay in her litter box so most of her droppings end up in there. The ones that dont end up in the box, I put in there.

Regarding the cat food, she seems to be ok. How would I know if something was wrong? I know they have pretty sensitive GI tracts.

Her cage is pretty big. I did get it from a pet store but its the bigger type ones. Its made by living world and its a collapsible one. I was going to build her a cage using storage cubes (I still might) but intill shes litter trained I think its best to stick with a cage with a bottom.

 

[Sasami]

Congrats on the new bunny!

You said you were using aspen shavings as bedding and also used them in the litterbox? That might be why she's confused. Since you are using aspen shavings for litter but have them everywhere else she probably thinks the cage is one huge litterbox . Either stop using aspen shavings as bedding (you can put a towel down if you think she'd want something soft the lie on) or get a different litter (maybe a pelleted litter like Yesterday's News?). Otherwise it will be hard for her to understand the difference between the bedding and litter. My bunnies used to always push the bedding away anyways...they prefered to lie on the plastic. So I don't use anything for the bottom of the cage except a towel or something (if they want one).

You also mentioned that she keeps picking a different corner to go to the bathroom. I would block the other corners with objects so she'll pretty much have to use the litterbox. You can put the litterbox in one corner, the food dish in another, a box or other hiding place in another, and a large toy or second litterbox in the last corner. Once she's trained you can move the objects back and take away the second litterbox if you were using one.

If she still won't use the litterbox there is one way of training them that almost always works. Buy three more litterboxes and place one in each corner. You can use different types of litters in each box to see what she prefers and pay attention to which ones she tends to use more. After a few days take away the one she doesn't really use and put her food dish there instead. If she relapses you can put the litterbox back and try removing a different one. Once she's using three litterboxes for about a week remove another (the one she isn't using as much) and if possible put an object such as a hiding house there. Let her use two litterboxes for about a week and then remove the hay from the one she doesn't use as much. This means that the only one with hay is the one she prefers...also put any stray droppings in this litterbox. Once you think she's ready you can take away the second litterbox.

I hope that wasn't too confusing :lol:. Oh, and you can use all of the extra litterboxes for out of the cage once she's free-range. So it isn't a huge waste of money, haha.

Rememeber to get her spayed when she's old enough otherwise she'll probably start leaving droppings everywhere again.

Hope this helps! It's always worked for me .

 

[MissMariah03]

Litter training and travelling

Wow, that is a very infomative post! I am defentally going to get some more litter boxes. I have 2 at the moment so Ill get one more and then put her food dish in the other.

Does anyone use straw for their litter boxes? I can see why shes confused! What does everyone use? I was looking at the carefresh bedding for the litter box but Im afraid she may try to eat it. So im thinking straw?? Any thoughts on that??

I will most defentally have her spayed. She can be spayed at 6 months??

Also, what are your thoughts on travelling with the bunny? I am away at school and I go home every weekend (or most weekends) and she has to come with me. Thoughts???


Thanks.

 

[MissMariah03]

Anyone?

Anyone??

 

[MissMariah03]

Is anyone going to comment on what I have asked?

 

[MeggieQC]

Ok
I don't have much experience with traveling with bunnies, I plan to move 20 hrs away next year with my bunnies and my cat. I can't really help you on that. I know that when I was trying to bond my bunnies I use to ride them in the car, they were really scared so that made them bonds. Maybe your bunny will get use to the traveling. I have no idea

How far will you be traveling???

I don't know about straw, I use carefresh and at first I was afraid they would eat it, but they don't. It depends on the person really. Just give it a try and see how you like it.

Oh they also have these "corner" littlebox. They have the shape of a triangle and fits perfectly in a corner, I really like them

 

[MeggieQC]

I found this, hopefully it helps
http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/rwf/articles/travelling.htm
http://www.fuzzy-rabbit.com/travel.htm

 

[MissMariah03]

Travelling and potty training

Hi again,
Thanks for replying. We will be travelling for about a hour on fridays and a hour on sundays - most weekends. The websites say bunnies hate travelling... Maybe she will get used to it? I put her in a card board box that has straw in the bottom and a blanket too. Its not that big so she can feel secure... Does anyone have any thoughts on this???

I am going to try the carefresh in the litter box. Im so concernced she will eat it... You said your bunnies dont eat it. Does anyone else have any success with carefresh? What else do people use in there litter boxes??

Thanks.

 

[MeggieQC]

Bunnies Do hate travelling and are scared of it (well most of them) but i guess your bunny will have to get used to it unless you have any other options

 

[MeggieQC]

http://www.paw-talk.net/forums/showthread.php?t=28137&highlight=carefresh