1 Step forward? 2 Steps back?

[ravishing]

Background Information

Meet Penny:

I just recently purchased her from a busy family who had a grouchy cat and a baby. She's been under my care for a week now. In that time we've become the best of friends.

Based on the suggestions from others on the forum I've come to find out she is a holland lop and that she is about 12-14 weeks old.

Situation #1

Today she learned how to jump onto my bed and how to jump off. Now she's been using my bed as her litter bowl!! I don't mind that she jumps onto my bed but I definitely don't want her to ruin my sheets!

- How do I scold her for doing this so she knows I am not impressed and that she should stop?

- She has a littler bowl in her cage and while she does use it.. she doesn't use it every time. I'd say she uses it 20% of the day.

- When should I start to litter train her? Is there an age?

- Are there any litter training tips?

I'm so over whelmed! I feel flattered she jumps on the bed to see me but she can't pee on there! Today all her pee's occurred on my bed!



Situation #2

Penny has been chewing on my carpet and pulling up pieces of fluff and eating them! Whenever she does this I clap my hands very loudly and say "no". Sometimes she stops while other times she grabs one more bite and runs off. And it doesn't serve as a preventative measure =(

- What can I do to stop her?

- I gave her a giant phone book, a straw tunnel, a straw ball, toilet rolls of all sizes, toilet rolls with holes punched in them, plastic cat balls with bells in them, dangling toys, and fake carrots to chew on.

Situation #3

Penny leads me to believe she is happy with me and that we have bonded because she binkies often, shows me her belly, lets me pet her for up to 20 minutes straight to the point where she starts to keep her eyes closed, kisses me, crawls up to my face and sniffs me, and snuggles up beside me... but I'm worried because she doesn't play with any of her toys! She will for about 3 seconds.. at most 60 seconds maybe 5x a day and from there she just likes to explore and sniff.

- Is this normal?

- Am I getting her the wrong toys?

- Do they play with toys the way dogs and cats do?



All information and tips are greatly appreciated <3 Thank you!

This is what she was doing while I typed this up

 

[SweetSassy]

I don't see anything your doing wrong really. I would start litter box training her now though. Using a cat box is best and I use Yesturdays News for litter. You may have to give her a smaller area to roam til she learns to use the litter box. Soak up any pee with a paper towel and put it in the litter box and put all her poo in the box too. you may want to put some hay in the litter box cause they like to eat where they go potty. lol.

My rabbits pee on the bed too. It's common actually. I don't know how to stop it except to not let her on the bed or cover your bed with something when she's out.

When you scold her, saying "NO' is good and clapping your hands. Like I said...sounds like your doing alot right. Rabbits like to eat carpet...etc. You just have to watch them. Good Luck.

PS) she is adorable!! I love when bunnies lay like that :biggrin:

 

[Tweetiepy]

Mine won't play with toys either. I just discovered the my "baby" likes to chew appletree branches - mostly they'll lay in their cage or when they're out they'll run around. My older bunny likes his hidey box with paper inside to binky & flop - but otherwise, they don't play with anything.

For the litter: I agree with the above - smaller area at first until they get the hang of the box - I put a grate on top of my litter (Runestonez litter) so they can lay in the box without laying in the yuck below (and it keeps their feeties nice & bright) - Mine were surprisingly easy to train for the litter - I guess I was lucky but the baby still leaves occasional poops (territorial ones and he's not yet fixed)

That is the cutest bunny! - I love those holland lops - I wanted one but got two lionheads instead...

 

[elrohwen]

She is soooo precious! I just love hollands. I agree with the others - you're doing a lot right.

For litter training, definitely start now. There's not much "training" that goes into it, just setting things up so that she can succeed. She may be too young to get it (though plenty of young rabbits get it right away) or just need some time. Puberty also wrecks litter habits and though she's too young to be going through puberty as a female (if she's actually 12-14 weeks), there's a chance she's a he in which case it's right on time. Either way, spaying will help when she's old enough because it will get rid of most of her desire to mark territory (which is what she's basically doing on your bed). Not much you can do other than keep her off, or put something down while she's up there. In her cage, make sure the bottom of the cage floor is clean (no absorbent materials, not even newspaper or cardboard) so that the only absorbent area is the litter box itself. Put some hay in there with an appropriate litter (I like Yesterday's News or wood stove pellets). Keeping her confined to the cage for a few days (or at least for most of the day) will help as she should figure out where she needs to go to the bathroom.

For the carpet, that's common. She may grow out of it, but for now there's not much you can do other than distract her, block off the area, or maybe use a water spray to deter her. The water spray doesn't work on all bunnies, and can scare some, but it can be effective when it's something like carpet that you can't just block off (unless she's doing it in one particular spot).

Many bunnies don't play with toys, and those that do don't play with them like dogs and cats. Most bunnies love exploring, digging, or chewing. I find houses made out of boxes (with holes cut in them) to be great for all of these things. My two love boxes, phonebooks, or anything else they can destroy (even though they're not particularly destructive) far more than small toys meant to be chewed or thrown. I think this is typical.