New Rabbit Owner :)

Hello everyone! My Fiance and son had been wanting a pet Rabbit for some time. We decided against buying from a Pet store, due to obvious reasons. Before deciding to look at our local SPCA, an online ad caught my attention. Bunny had been up for sale for almost a year on and off. She was already spayed and such, so we decided to go check her out. Turns out she was a rescue as a young bunny 2 Provinces over from us. Their uncle was a Vet and brought her over and gave her to his niece. She had another Rabbit that she obviously loved very much. But with going back to school, she didn't have time for two. We felt so bad for this little Rabbit, all alone outside in her hutch that we brought her home with us. We brushed and groomed her until clumps of hair stopped coming out. We trimmed her extremely long nails that were giving her problems walking. My 5 year old son also gave her a new name, Cupcake. We have Cupcake's home inside by the front window, so she can look out doors. She didn't eat much the first day, but definitely let us know when she had ate all her food and wanted more! She was a very nervous bunny when we brought her home, but she is slowly coming out of her shell. She is such a sweet little Rabbit who just wants to be loved. We have bought her an outdoor pen, but haven't had a chance to use it yet due to the rain we have had. I'm excited to see how she reacts being outside. Only problem we have had is litter training her. We have her in a cage that has a bottom try, but when she backs into a corner, her urine runs down the leg and onto the floor. We invested in a corner litter pan, but we aren't sure how to encourage her to use it (Any ideas or tips are much appreciated). She will be 2 years old in August, so I'm not too sure on if she is too old to train by now or not.

This is a picture of her (From the ad we got her from). I'm not sure as to what breed of Rabbit she is (Not that it matters, as we love her all the same regardless!), though she is a big girl (Not sure how much she weighs).

Very cute. Spike would get in his pan and stay so close to the edge his urine stream would hit the floor. Solved it by putting it in a cardboard box and cutting a small entrance in the middle.

I have you tried putting a hay rack over her litre pan this worked for my Ivy and now no more poops and pees everywhere, btw cupcake is so adorable your right defs a big bunny breed I am thinking Rex or something but I'm not positive of that, love the name and thank you for rescuing a animal in need.
Oh also welcome to the forum.

Nancy, do you have any pictures of how you placed the box? It sounds like a really interesting solution.

I rearranged her cage today. Food bowl in one corner, hay bin in another, litter pan in the third corner, and a little stuffed toy a dear friend of ours gave her (She loves it! Cupcake will snuggle close to it at times). She was quite upset with me and keeps trying to move the hay bin out of her favorite corner with no luck. Before rearranging her cage, she had peed on the floor again over night. Since then, I have noticed that we haven't had any accidents and she made it into her litter pan for the first time. Yay, success!

Our good friend who bought her her little stuffed toy also suggested putting an old towel of blanket in with her. So we pulled out a towel for her and layed it in her cage. At first, she wanted nothing to do with it and avoided the side of the tank that it lay across. Now, if anyone goes near it, she grunts and groans, sometimes lunging to press her weight against it so it doesn't leave her cage. We will shake it out at least once a day for her, as she may get pieces of hay or the odd poop on it. I'm almost scared to wash it, as I'd hate to see how depressed she gets over it missing for a couple hours. My Fiance at times will play a bit of a game with her and it, while she makes these interesting poping/clicking noises with the odd grunt. I'm not sure if it's out of displeasure yet or just happy noises (Still trying to learn how to distinguish good from bad sounds from her). Though it is quite cute watching her toss her head under her towel and cover herself up with it or rearrange it so she can lay on top of it. She plays with it frequently.

Cupcake is a lovely bun. Congratulations on your first bunny! What a lucky girl Cupcake is that you took her in - I am sure she will enjoy having a family to live with rather than being left alone and, so it seems, neglected (to some degree). I'm sure she's more comfortable with her nails trimmed and her fur brushed. She's a beautiful girl and deserves to feel that way as well!

I'm sure you and your family will begin to understand her behavior and vocalizations as time goes on. How sweet that she has a stuffed animal and a towel that she can cuddle with. And, hopefully, she'll get litter training down soon - it sounds like progress is already being made. That's wonderful news!

I hope you come to enjoy this site as much as I have. It's incredibly informative and filled with people who all have a common purpose - to love rabbits and care for them the best way possible. There seems to be a great group here and I am thrilled to be a part of it. And, I'm glad you are as well. I look forward to seeing you and Cupcake around!