Trishkk29
New Member
Hello I am a brand new bunny owner and need lots of help!!! I just bought 2 standard rex bunnies about 3 days ago. They are 4-5 weeks old. They are both from the same litter and have already bonded with each other and if they turn out to be of opposite sex, they have one more from the litter that we can trade one in for. My roommate is helping me care for them so if I say "we" in this post that's who I am referring to. So we are using a 29 gallon wide fish tank without the lid (which we were told would be fine) to house my bunnies. Here is my setup:
We lined the bottom of the tank with about 2 inches of aspen betting. We converted a pantry bin (lined with cloth) into their hiding area - it's big enough so both of them can fit in there. They like to snuggle a lot! We have a 32-oz drinking bottle hanging from the top. We also have a small ceramic bowl / plate with their pellets next to their hay (which we just place directly on the bedding). I would like to litter train them eventually (just not sure how to go about it right now). The thing I need the most help with right now is how to use the aspen bedding. I read somewhere online (I do that a lot!) that you could place a towel down at the bottom of their cage. I guess at first we were not using enough bedding and we didn't once think that the glass may be too hard for little feet. So my questions right now are: Should I take out the one bigger hiding area and have two smaller hiding spots - one for each of them? Should I line the bottom on the tank with some towels and then place the 2+ inches of aspen bedding all over it or only on a small part of it so they understand thatâs where they need to âdo their businessâ? I really just want to make them as comfortable as possible. Is there another set up that I should consider? They seem to nibble on the aspen bedding a lot, I am not sure if thatâs normal.
We also decided to build them a little play pen. Itâs in fact 4 ft by 4ft and 1 ft tall. It's big enough so one of us can be in there with them when we want to play with them. In addition to that, we placed indoor/outdoor carpetingunderneath so they can get better footing while they are playing. They are so much happier now (in fact we hate having to put them back in the tank afterward). They pretty much binky all the time while theyâre in there. However, they poop everywhere in there as well. For their play pen though, we decided to just use a small amount of the bedding in a plastic container. We constantly pick up the poop and place in the container and at least one of them is taking the hint (but not all the time). But they wonât pee in there (as far as we can tell), instead the one picked a spot right next to the container and the other one on the other side of the container and has been seen peeing there. I am concerned that we are creating bunny confusion between the play pen and their tank. Also, they keep nibbling on the indoor / outdoor carpeting. I was thinking about getting the woven grassy mats but am not sure whether I should line the play pen with it or where to put the bedding after I get it.
Any advice on any of this that you can give me would be much appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read all of this and also for all the wonderful advice that I know you will come up with.
We lined the bottom of the tank with about 2 inches of aspen betting. We converted a pantry bin (lined with cloth) into their hiding area - it's big enough so both of them can fit in there. They like to snuggle a lot! We have a 32-oz drinking bottle hanging from the top. We also have a small ceramic bowl / plate with their pellets next to their hay (which we just place directly on the bedding). I would like to litter train them eventually (just not sure how to go about it right now). The thing I need the most help with right now is how to use the aspen bedding. I read somewhere online (I do that a lot!) that you could place a towel down at the bottom of their cage. I guess at first we were not using enough bedding and we didn't once think that the glass may be too hard for little feet. So my questions right now are: Should I take out the one bigger hiding area and have two smaller hiding spots - one for each of them? Should I line the bottom on the tank with some towels and then place the 2+ inches of aspen bedding all over it or only on a small part of it so they understand thatâs where they need to âdo their businessâ? I really just want to make them as comfortable as possible. Is there another set up that I should consider? They seem to nibble on the aspen bedding a lot, I am not sure if thatâs normal.
We also decided to build them a little play pen. Itâs in fact 4 ft by 4ft and 1 ft tall. It's big enough so one of us can be in there with them when we want to play with them. In addition to that, we placed indoor/outdoor carpetingunderneath so they can get better footing while they are playing. They are so much happier now (in fact we hate having to put them back in the tank afterward). They pretty much binky all the time while theyâre in there. However, they poop everywhere in there as well. For their play pen though, we decided to just use a small amount of the bedding in a plastic container. We constantly pick up the poop and place in the container and at least one of them is taking the hint (but not all the time). But they wonât pee in there (as far as we can tell), instead the one picked a spot right next to the container and the other one on the other side of the container and has been seen peeing there. I am concerned that we are creating bunny confusion between the play pen and their tank. Also, they keep nibbling on the indoor / outdoor carpeting. I was thinking about getting the woven grassy mats but am not sure whether I should line the play pen with it or where to put the bedding after I get it.
Any advice on any of this that you can give me would be much appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read all of this and also for all the wonderful advice that I know you will come up with.