A two for one question

[LeFuzz]

A couple of weeks ago, my husband convinced me that we needed to take a foster bun in. He had been at the shelter for more than 4 months, so he was becoming depressed (the shelter is a beautiful one and they are well taken care of but it's not the same as being a house bun). So here are the issues-

*He is a little chub-tastic. He is a food hound, thief, and regular piggybun. He is eating Sherwood, vegs, and hay. Buns in my house don't eat many pellets, but he is also a lazy bun. Any ideas for exercise to burn those bunny calories?

*He is peeing and poo'ing all over my house. Which, btw, I totally don't approve of. In his x-pen, he ONLY uses the litterbox. Outside of it, the world is his litterbox. No bueno. I expected him to mark a bit with his new environment, but two weeks later is starting to annoy me.

In all other ways he seems to be adjusting well with dead bunny flops, binkies, and throwing all manners of things.

 

[PaGal]

I play chase with Thumper when he is in a playful moo d. It started when he was young by me chasing him while tickling his bum. I made sure that he was enjoying himself and not running from being scared. I can chase him back and forth across the room a few times but then he starts running in small circles which makes me dizzy so one day I ran from him and he chased me. I can run across the room several times. When he gets tired and lies down I stop.

I would start by limiting his free roam to one room only and seeing how he does with the litter box. If he only went in the litter box other than a few stray poops in the room then I would try allowing him to free roam in two rooms, etc. If he did well with one room but started pooping and peeing with more than one room then I would try putting out another litter box. Is he neutered?

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

For exercise, if he is not one to run around on his own, then you may need to help him out a bit. Set up some toys that he can run around and play with, tunnels are quite good for this. Try to get him to go through the tunnel and move around. Getting him out as often as you can does help. You can also try putting his pellets, water and hay in different parts of the cage so he has to move to get to them. If he is a pellet hound, you could try putting some hay in a box (one that he can get into easily) and sprinkling the pellets in with the hay. He will then have to forage to get the pellets and won't be able to just sit and eat.
Severally limiting the pellets is a must for chunky buns. He probably does not need more than 1/4 cup per day, but may need even less than that depending on how big his is compared to how big he should be.

Are you letting him out somewhere else other than near his cage/pen? Usually, if the run area is when the cage is, rabbits will go use the litter box in the cage as they tend to view the run area as part of their territory. If the run is somewhere else, they might not think they they should use the litter box and will want to mark the area as their own. If he is not neutered, then using the litter box outside his cage is a pretty low priority for him.

 

[mochajoe]

I would suggest confining him to a cage or a very small area and allow him time to use the litter box consistently and regularly. Once this has been established....then let him out for increasingly longer periods of time. I am guessing that he has never been in a "free" situation and needs to build up to it gradually! As for the exercise...good luck with that one! Some bunnies are just lazy....we had one. He would hop around for a little while and then he would flop on the floor like he owned the place.

 

[LeFuzz]

I play chase with Thumper when he is in a playful moo d. It started when he was young by me chasing him while tickling his bum. I made sure that he was enjoying himself and not running from being scared. I can chase him back and forth across the room a few times but then he starts running in small circles which makes me dizzy so one day I ran from him and he chased me. I can run across the room several times. When he gets tired and lies down I stop.

I would start by limiting his free roam to one room only and seeing how he does with the litter box. If he only went in the litter box other than a few stray poops in the room then I would try allowing him to free roam in two rooms, etc. If he did well with one room but started pooping and peeing with more than one room then I would try putting out another litter box. Is he neutered?

I have chased him a little bit, and if you tickle his bunny butt he will do a half binky and take off, so I do that whenever I'm in reach of that puffy tush. But for the most part he is happy to sleep and flop and eat.

Right now he is only allowed in the living room. He is pooing next to the outside of his pen and behind the couch (which is open in the room, not near a wall) and peeing as well in both places. He is neutered, all our shelters neuter buns before they are available for adoption.

I did put another box behind the couch. I hope he's still just adjusting. Four months is a long time to be in a shelter.

For exercise, if he is not one to run around on his own, then you may need to help him out a bit. Set up some toys that he can run around and play with, tunnels are quite good for this. Try to get him to go through the tunnel and move around. Getting him out as often as you can does help. You can also try putting his pellets, water and hay in different parts of the cage so he has to move to get to them. If he is a pellet hound, you could try putting some hay in a box (one that he can get into easily) and sprinkling the pellets in with the hay. He will then have to forage to get the pellets and won't be able to just sit and eat.
Severally limiting the pellets is a must for chunky buns. He probably does not need more than 1/4 cup per day, but may need even less than that depending on how big his is compared to how big he should be.

Are you letting him out somewhere else other than near his cage/pen? Usually, if the run area is when the cage is, rabbits will go use the litter box in the cage as they tend to view the run area as part of their territory. If the run is somewhere else, they might not think they they should use the litter box and will want to mark the area as their own. If he is not neutered, then using the litter box outside his cage is a pretty low priority for him.

I should make the little monkey forage for his pellets, as it is, he tends to throw them. He broke one of my heaviest crocks already. He is not too fat, but definitely chubby and not at his best weight. I have a cottontail cottage and cardboard maze, but usually he just flops in the cottage until he thinks I have food.

He can't really see his pen from behind the couch so maybe he thinks it's a different area? I was thinking of moving my living room around, so maybe this would be a good reason to actually do it. Doing that would also give him more binky room and he has started to REALLY enjoy chasing my mouser cat (who is the worlds worst mouser. Garfield level bad, for real.)

I would suggest confining him to a cage or a very small area and allow him time to use the litter box consistently and regularly. Once this has been established....then let him out for increasingly longer periods of time. I am guessing that he has never been in a "free" situation and needs to build up to it gradually! As for the exercise...good luck with that one! Some bunnies are just lazy....we had one. He would hop around for a little while and then he would flop on the floor like he owned the place.

He probably does feel he owns the place. Which is fine, I can't imagine being in a shelter cage for months. He has free roam of the living room (only the living room) for most of the day when we are home. If not, in his pen for safety's sake. He has zero accidents in his pen. And he only goes in two areas generally in the living room, right behind my couch and right next to his pen.