Advice please.

[jiff]

Hi.

We have just had a new arrival in our home in the way of a gorgeous mini lop who we have called Dylan.

I have found that he doesn't always eat all of his soft poo's. When wefirst had him about 10 days ago he always would eat them but of late hesomtimes eats half and drops the rest and then will leave it. He is onthe same food that he was on at the breeder and is still as lively asever come the evening. At night he seems to eat all and produce thenormal pellets. I am concerned that he may not be getting all of hisvitamins that he needs.

He has plenty of Hay in a rack that is attatched to the hutch door andhe has about a good handful of food everyday, He also has a mineralwheel that he licks and chews.

Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated. He is an indoor rabbit and has the full run of our kitchen.

Also can anyone suggest a particlally good or recommended litter in the UK.



Thanks.

Jiff.

 

[Carolyn]

Welcome Jiff & Dylan,

Don't worry if he's not eating all of his cecotropes (soft poop). Theydon't always eat all of it. He's getting the food, hay, and water heneeds, so I wouldn't be alarmed, especially since you are using thefood the breeder used and are conscience of his intakes.

As to the litter, avoid cat clay-based litter because the dust can beupsetting to their respiratory systems when poured into the pan andsome rabbits have eaten it off of their paws if it gets stuck in themand that's problematic to their intestinal system. Recycled newspaperlitters, wood stove pellets (avoiding cedar as it's fumes are toxic tothe rabbit when the urine comes in contact with it) work well. Somepeople claim no bad effects from pine shavings, however, others willclaim that one avoid pine shavings believing that it's smell is toostrong for rabbits as well. It's an argument I'm not going to get into,but I wanted you to have the information because leaving it outwouldn't be right. Personally, I find pellets to be more absorbing thanwood shavings.

-Carolyn

 

[jiff]

Hi Carolyn.

Many many thanks for your swift reply, i was starting to get a bit worried but now i know this is normal then all is cool.

We now have the joys of trying to litter train him, I think fingerscrossed that he has mastered urinating in the litter tray, just got toget the pooping down to a fine art.

Many Thanks.

Jiff+ Dylan

 

[Carolyn]

Hi Jiff,

A few thoughts on Litterbox training.

1) If you can get them to urinate in the box, you're more than 1/2 waythere. Pooping in the box 100% of the time is a bit more of a pipedream. Most rabbits don't have complete success with leaving all oftheir 'cocoa puffs' behind, but luckily they're not hard to scoop upand get rid of.

2) Best to confine the rabbit in one room when starting to litterbox train so that they aren't overwhelmed.

3) Place the litterbox in the area of the room where Dylan likes to go to use as his bathroom.

4) When you see him go in there, praise him with cheers and a treat assoon as he's done. (Don't overtreat your little guy because too manyare bad for his system. I'd save his treat times for training for now.)

5) Don't ever yell at the rabbit if it starts pooping outside of thebox. Aggressiveness will only make your rabbit fear you and will breakall bonds of trust that you work so hard to build. For the first weekor so, just pick up the excess poops and drop it in the litterbox. Therabbit will associate that that's where the poops are supposed to go.

6) When my rabbit would first jump in the box as a baby, I'd say,"G'Boyyyy!! You went in the box!!" and give him a treat when he wasdone. I quickly learned that I had to wait until he was finished doinghis business to praise him, otherwise he'd stop in the middle of it andjump up on the couch for the treat.

7) Corner litterboxes seem to be much more accepted by rabbits than the types without a high back.

8) It's important to catch the rabbit during the act of making amistake while its happening. If you've don't catch the mistakes on thespot, you've missed your opportunity to teach the lesson because therabbit will not understand the connection.

9) Put the rabbit in the cage unless you are able to keep a close eye out while training her.

10) After a while, the rabbit will begin to use the litterbox. At thatpoint, when you say 'get in the box' when you see that little taillift, and if the rabbit doesn't do it, I've found a watergun to bequite effective after giving my little guy a couple of warnings and hespitefully won't listen. One shot of the watergun should get theirattention. I rarely have to use my watergun anymore. My rabbit jumpsright in the box if he sees me reach for it.

11) There are stages of litterbox training, so don't get discouraged.

The people of this forum are absolutely wonderful in supporting andgiving each other things they've tried that has or hasn't worked. Don'tbe a stranger! We look forward to hearing more stories about Dylan.

-Carolyn

 

[Carolyn]

P.S. Litterbox habits usually get easier as arabbit is spayed/neutered. The little ones feel less inclined to needto mark their territory.

I'm not saying that all poops will get in the box after Dylan is fixed,but in most cases the rabbit's habits improve, in addition to it addingyears to their lives some experts believe, as well as mellowing outtheir personality a bit and becoming a more loving pet. Of course allrabbits are different, but that seems to be the general consensus ofmost experiences.

 

[jiff]

Hi.

Thanks for the advice. I am just waiting for the breeder to give me hisdate of birth then i can work out when he can have his bits done.

As for peeing he seems to use the sleeping bit of his hutch, so i haveput the litter box in the corner he likes and after i cleaned the hutchout today, i looked n again about half hour later to see he had used itand again this evening and he has used it again.

Hopefully he's got the hang of this now. We have worked out that changethe tray frequently and he continues to use it. I think he may be about12- 14 weeks now so a couple of weeks and he can be neutered. I thinkwe will really crack on with the litter box training when that is doneas he is very territorial at the minute. For the time being we keeppicking the pellets up and putting them in the box, but we have to dothis when he is out of the hutch otherwise he gets very annoyed.

Thanks for your advice, no doubt i'll be back soon.



Steve (Jiff)

 

[Carolyn]

Glad to hear the follow-up, Jiff!

Also very happy to hear you won't be a stranger. It's nice to have you among us.

I know that look you get when your rabbit gets mad at you. It's humbling.

-Carolyn

 

[Buck Jones]

Welcome, Jiff!

Regarding Dylan. Are you feeding him more in quantity, or ishe eating more in quantity than he was 10 days ago? Most ofour European friends, such as yourself, are prone to rely more on anatural diet of greens, fruits and vegetables, whereas we, Yanks,prefer rabbit feed pellets. There are merits to either diet,but overfeeding food rich in protein such as alfalfa, clover,and thelike can sometimes result in excess cecotropes.

You might want to consider that and determine if it has any merit regarding your concern about Dylan.

Buck

 

[jiff]

Thanks for all the help guys.

Buck i tend to feed him on a mix which i have heard is about the bestin the uk. It is called Rabbit Royal and is a mix off all.

He has the veg as a treat and gets a couple of bits of say carrot or ahalfcauli leaf a day, however i think you may be right as wehave given him less veg as he seems to be eating all he celotropes sowe'll see.



Any idea's to cure knipping when i am cleaning up his poops? mainy when in the cage. I normally wait till he is out then do it.

Cheers.

 

[Buck Jones]

Less prone to attack if approached from above whencleaning cage, if that is possible. Poor close vision canmake your hand appear as an attacking rival, or monster invading histerritory. Be sure to talk to him nicely whenever you aredoing anything of that nature, so he knows it is you. Givehim time to smell your hand, before you start moving it about in hiscage. Castration often reduces most aggressive behaviors, ifnot eliminating them completely.

Buck

 

[bunty]

Miss Grace boxes and nips when cleaning her cageso I just sneak in and do when not around she also will grunt and boxwhen you touch her pinecone. If i have one that is being aggressive Itry to cover there eyes that seems to soothe them but I just do notstress them and clean up when they are out

 

[Carolyn]

Rabbits will sometimes relate a high scream our"OUCH!" to pain. Some people have had success in stoppingtheir rabbits from biting when they practice this.

As Buck stated, he'll feel less in need to protect his territory afterhe's fixed. Between not knowing you too well yet, beingyoung, and hormones, he's got a lot going on as to why he's doing this.

-Carolyn

 

[Cher]

A quick little side-note on my experience with boxtraining them~I have noticed that when I moved their box to a secludedarea during play time I have a lot less "accidents" (plus a few otherstrategies I have tried, ex-two cages) they seem to enjoy their privacywhen using the loo!

Mah two cents of course, all buns are different.

As far as the soft stool goes, I remove the excess since it can easilyget onto their feet and has a bit o a distinctive, how shall I say?errrr aroma? HAHA cocoa puffs, not mine NO SIR E BOB, not even peppercorns anymore, we are talking a cross between macadamian nuts andalmond M&M's some days.....just odd Alas, I digress-obviouslymy girls do not always eat all of it either-good to know why now

Cher

 

[Buck Jones]

Roger that, on the smell of cecotropes, once"broken" or squashed. I have a brush for each cageand hutch, that is long, and cylindrical, with about 3/4 " diameterlong bristles. I don't know where I ever got them, but if Icould find them again, I'd buy a bunch.

The brush works admirably for cleaning the 1/2" x 1/2" squared, vinylhardware cloth floors of our hutches and cages ofcecotropes and/or "stringers" because it will ream out individualsquares and push the ceotrope/stringer to the ground or tray below.

Buck