A question about kits

[Fergi]

So, Fergi is still being quite a pig in her cage,she is still urinating on the floor of her cage and she smears the softpoops around. I clean it twice a day with a mixture of pinesol andwater but I am worried that when the kits start really moving around inthere that they are going to get filthy :shock:What I wasthinking was that I would house them in my son's old play-pen, put asheet of coroplast on the floor of it and they should be fine I wouldthink. My question is how often do I have to return the kits to theirmother and when will they start to wean. Once they start cruisingaround will they still need to be with her all the time? I wouldappreciate any help on this. I looked on the Internet and I only findinfo I already know.

Fergi's mom

 

[lanna21974]

I'm not sure how much help I can be but....do youknow how often Fergi goes in the nest box? Usually they only go inthere to nurse, so that may give you some idea of how often to put themback in with Mommy?

Lanna

 

[Fergi]

That's kind of what I figured Lanna. I guess Iwill just have to do some detective work into when she feeds them I'veonly seen her go into the nest box once and it wasn't to nurse. Iwouldn't even think she feeds them except that they are so healthy andactive already at only eleven days. Hopefully Fergi's loose stools willclear up soon. I am kind of wondering if it is due to her increasedintake of water. She has been drinking it like it was the best thingever. Granted nursing moms need to stay hydrated but I am wondering ifher intestines just can't reabsorb all this extra water. Thanks for thehelp

Fergi's mom

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I am no good with the pigginess or the kithousing but is pinesol ok? I mean, I have heard it can be bad to use itand bleach. Have you tried vinigar to clean hercage? If you let it sort of soak for a few minutes, anyresidue is removed from old urine and such..... she might be trying to"mask" some smell from the birth or the pinesol or something.

I always use white vinegar to clean bo's litterbox, then rinse it well and dry it.... very clean, no urine stains, etc.

 

[Fergi]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

I am no good with the pigginess or the kit housing but ispinesol ok? I mean, I have heard it can be bad to use it andbleach. Have you tried vinigar to clean her cage?If you let it sort of soak for a few minutes, any residue is removedfrom old urine and such..... she might be trying to "mask" some smellfrom the birth or the pinesol or something.

I always use white vinegar to clean bo's litterbox, then rinse it well and dry it.... very clean, no urine stains, etc.

I use vinegar to clean the litterbox but she smears the soft ones andthen they harden and are quite hard to get off even aftersoakingwith the pinesol. I make sure that I rinse the bottomwell with clean water and then dry. I haven't heard that pinesol is tostrong for buns when diluted with water and bleach has been recommendedto me for cleaning water bottles as well as cage bottoms. You are rightthat she might be doing it to mask an odor she doesn't like.

Fergi's mom

 

[Stephanie]

Hmmm....I'm not sure about using strong cleanerslike that. I use a diluted mixture of Simple Green and water for theirlitter box,and rinse it out wellunder runningwater. If I need to clean their cage for big messes, I use awater/vinegar mixture. With harden poops, I wet a papertowel and let itsit on the hard poop for a while and that softens it up.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Never use Lysol or pine cleaners, as the phenols in these cleaners can cause liver and respiratory damage.

That is what I have been told over and over. Some of theHouse Rabbit Society local websites have that on their list of dos anddon'ts.

I would think that rinsing well would eleminate that problem, but I also heard bleach is bad for them too

 

[Fergi]

Thank you so much Bo B Bunny for bringing that tomy attention. Luckly I had only just recently started to use Pinesol. Idon't know how I missed that! There is so much information out thereit's hard to sort through all of it, just gotta do what you think isbest. I guess I will be switching back to dish soap and water daily anddiluted bleach once a week just to be safe. Thanks again

Fergi's mom

 

[Bo B Bunny]

you are welcome..... I just got a lot of info onrespiratory stuff..... Bo had a cronic sneeze/cough for awhile and itdrove me nuts until we found the cause.....

dust from barn hay and dust in ANY alfalfa hay......

He was switched to timothy, oat and orchard grass very early LOL

 

[Fergi]

Until I stumbled upon this site I really had nouseful knowledge of rabbits, just what I learned out of two small bunnybooks and a small amount of Internet info. Thankfully I found thisforum otherwise I would still be using cedar chips for litter andcolorful, unhealthy pellets. I also found a lot of great people and awhole bunch of awesome bunnys to boot!

Fergi's mom

 

[rabbitgirl]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

you are welcome..... I just got a lot of info on respiratorystuff..... Bo had a cronic sneeze/cough for awhile and it drove me nutsuntil we found the cause.....

dust from barn hay and dust in ANY alfalfa hay......

He was switched to timothy, oat and orchard grass very early LOL

YES!!! Another bunny with a dust allergy. I'm not alone!!!!! Where do you get your bedding now?

My Fen has gotten worse in the last year, and it's so hard to narrowdown the exact cause. He gets better in heavy, rainy weather and worsein dry, windy weather during the summer, and when hay goes into the boxin winter, goodbye to clean nose!

Any tips that worked for Bo would be appreciated!

Rose

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Well, he only eats hay, and he's inside, so Idon't use hay or straw for his bedding. I keep his hay veryfresh from the bag and I shake it out before giving it to him.

Bo is a house rabbit so I use a nice clean tshirt or fleece blankie forbedding and then I clean all old hay and stuff out of his cage aboutevery other day.

I also found that pellets hav ea lot of dust. They make sifter dishes that rids the dust from their bowls.

I use a few things for litter. Corn Cob pellets (mind you,some bunnies can get very sick if they eat these, but bo doesn't)carefresh bedding/litter and some smaller pellet sized carefresh likelitter pellets.

I was told that you can give rabbits econesia (not sure if I spelledthat right) for their allergies. You might check that outwith your vet.

 

[rabbitgirl]

Thanks! Fen is outside, so I'm at my wit's end.He gets bad in pollen season. Right now he's doing ok becauseeverything's frozen and the dust in his box has settled (when I put newhay in he gets bad).

I should try a sifter dish--didn't think of that! And I'll ask the vet about that stuff you mentioned.

Rose

 

[Bo B Bunny]

They have a plastic feeder at a lot of the storesthat sifts..... but somewhere I have a link for sifter bowls...... I'lltry to find it and post it. I need to order some for Bo too.

 

[rabbitgirl]

It dawned on me afterwards that Fen's fat littlebulldog face probably wouldn't fit in the standard sifter feeder. So Isifted it before pouring it in his regular dish.

Rose

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Yeah, I am trying hard to find the bowls thathave sifters. I can't seem to find the link so I am going tohave to ask a couple of people ....... I think I know who told me aboutthem.

It's nice to have the bowl/sifter because sometimes bits will break off, but I have been sifting bo's food also.