A couple of Bunny questions

[bowser]

Hi everyone,

I am totally new to bunnies and have recued a little lop called Nuget, so have a few questions :biggrin:

1 - We are bonding quite well, but he tends to scratch at my legs and nip at my feet (I have to wear boots for protection) its not aggressive but really annoying - is there any way I can stop him from doing this?

2 - We are trying to have Nuget as an inside pet, but put him outside in ahutch with a run, (he will get to run the whole back yard once we have fixed the gap under the gate), during the day. He doesnt go into his run, but rather sits in one spot in his hutch, kinda huddled. Is this normal? Lonely? We will get him a friend once he is fixed.

3 - speaking of fixing.... he is mating with a toy rabbit I gave him, does this mean he is ready to be fixed? We think he is 3 months old, but are not sure.

4 - Now for a really stupid question....we have a litter box for him, with recycled cardboard kitty litter and a bit of straw, we also have another box with lots of staw for him to sleep in;but he doesnt sleep in any. When we first rescued him he found the cats regular kitty litter and laxed out in that, but we were worried about him eating it so have taken it away. What should a bunny sleep in? I want him to be comfy

 

[Steph16]

I can answer a few of the questions.

3. As soon as the testes drop, you can get him fixed. You could always take him to a vet to get checked out. I find a lot of vets want to do an initial exam before fixing them, to make sure that the male bunny is really a male bunny... but I don't know how you would mistake that (they are kinda hard to miss). They also want to make sure that they are healthy before they go into surgery.

Like I brought Jacob into get a check up one time, cause he had an upper respiratory issue and I asked about neutering him, and the vet had told me that she wouldn't touch him in a surgery until he was completely clear of his sniffles for a couple of days.

4. As for sleeping somewhere comfy. I have bought Jacob so many things to make a comfy place for him to sleep, or I design his cage in a way so that he has a place to sleep. But he chooses the totally opposite of what I think is best for him.

I have hardwood floors, so I put a towel down on the floor, in his cage, so he doesn't slip around so much. He decided he hated the towel and dug at the towel until he bunched it up and could lay on the hardwood floor.

I wouldn't worry too much about where he is sleeping, he will find a place and love it. But good job in taking away the kitty litter box... the clay litter can be bad for them.


Bunnies are quite the sassy creatures. They will do the exact opposite of what you want them to do, but when you give them a blueberry they will love you for a second. :bunnyheart

 

[MikeScone]

bowser wrote:

1 - ...scratch at my legs and nip at my feet... - is there any way I can stop him from doing this?

2 - He doesnt go into his run, but rather sits in one spot in his hutch, kinda huddled. Is this normal?

1 - Nipping is normal bunny conversation, but they can be trained out of it. If you let out a loud screech (a short, sharp "eek!") when the bunny nips, he'll understand that he's hurting you. That simulates the "hurt rabbit" sound. He'll probably nip again, but not so hard, and when you eek again, he may either stop or even lick you - at least, that was my experience with both Scone and Natasha. After a few repetitions, he'll learn that the way to get your attention is to kiss, not nip.

As to the scratching or digging, I've never been able to interpret that. Rabbits just do it for reasons of their own. Sometimes it's to get attention, but Natasha used to do it when she was sitting in my lap being petted (usually just before she peed on me). Thankfully, those days are over, but she'll still dig at me occasionally - sometime I can figure it out, more often not. Maybe she just wants me to acknowledge that I know she's there.

2 - That doesn't sound normal, it sounds depressed or frightened. Some rabbits just don't like being out of doors. Scone never did - he was always terrified if I had him outside even for a few moments. Sounds like you've got a full-time house rabbit there, which is probably better anyway (opinions differ, but at least inside he's away from predators and parasites or diseases carried by wild rabbits).

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Seems like Steph and Mike pretty much covered it. Some of our bunnies are very active when they are out and others resemble fur covered potatos.

 

[bowser]

Thank you everyone. Nuget is at my feet nipping and clawing right now (I just let out a squeel and he backed off) I think he is just a REAL attention seeker,thereis a lot of licking too,he will start jumping on my lap soon. Its first thing in the morn so he is quite excited. He tends to calm down after a while.

I think the attention thing might be why he doesnt like being outdoors, seems he always has to be within a few feet of me, thats why I thought maybe a friend will help. Yes he does seem depressed when outside,but if I take him his toy girlfriend he is happy again, until she bores him and then he seems sad again.

Hmmm.....so we should be able to see some testicles? even when he is young? we might have a girl on our hands I havent seen any, I will try and have a better look when he has calmed down:shock:

 

[bowser]

Oh and here is a pic

I'm trying this squeeling thing and it is actually working - just wonder what the neighbours are thinking :wink

 

[MarisaAndToby]

OOOOOOHHHH Too cute. :inlove: