Bunny breed & sofa peeing

[CatieB]

Hey everyone! Sorry I know there are hundreds of posts on what breed bunnies are, but I have read them all and can't work out what my Rory is because of his giant helicopter ears but very long face! He is a rescue so not 100% sure on age, but we/ the rescue centre think 3 months. He weighs 1.2kg (2.6 pounds) and gaining roughly 150g a week.

He is also peeing on the sofa maybe 1 in 5 times he is on it. Other than this he is the most well behaved bunny and just wants cuddles and grooming, if he isn't running and binkying. I'm guessing it's probably territorial and may stop when he is neutered but any tips or tricks in the meantime?

 

[Imbrium]

He is too cute. Will neutering puts a stop to urine spraying and often helps with territorial peeing, if it's only on the couch then neutering may not help. I don't know what it is about soft, cushiony surfaces like couches and beds, but some buns just feel the need to pee on them.

It's something he may grow out of, but in the meantime I recommend blocking access or putting a waterproof cover on the sofa.

If you have him on a sofa or bed and he pees, it may help to put him directly into his cage (if he's free roam with no cage, maybe stick him and his litter box in the bathroom and close the door on him for a little bit). Our Alice used to pee on the bed fairly often when we were cuddling with her. Whenever it happened snuggle time was over and she went directly back to the cage. I feel like that probably had something to do with her eventually outgrowing the habit.

 

[CatieB]

He is too cute. Will neutering puts a stop to urine spraying and often helps with territorial peeing, if it's only on the couch then neutering may not help. I don't know what it is about soft, cushiony surfaces like couches and beds, but some buns just feel the need to pee on them.

It's something he may grow out of, but in the meantime I recommend blocking access or putting a waterproof cover on the sofa.

If you have him on a sofa or bed and he pees, it may help to put him directly into his cage (if he's free roam with no cage, maybe stick him and his litter box in the bathroom and close the door on him for a little bit). Our Alice used to pee on the bed fairly often when we were cuddling with her. Whenever it happened snuggle time was over and she went directly back to the cage. I feel like that probably had something to do with her eventually outgrowing the habit.

That's really helpful thank you! He will be free roam soon but at the moment has a large dog cage so we will make sure he knows play time is over next time!

Great Advice thank you!

 

[Imbrium]

Even when he's free roam, it's not a bad idea to keep the cage as a "home base." First, it's a good place set aside for his main litterbox, hay manger and water bowl. Secondly, if there's ever an emergency where he's scared and you need to find him fast, he may return to base where he feels safe. Just clip or tie the main door open so it won't shut on him accidentally. Once he's free roam, if he pees on the sofa and the incident is caught immediately, just lock him up for like 15 minutes or something. It's not about punishing him, per se, more like forging the association that pee on couch = fun time is over and reinforcing the idea that needing to pee = going to where your litter box is.

 

[Augustus&HazelGrace]

With those giant ears, I would say a Flemish Giant mix. And I say mix because he is underweight at his approx. age to be purebred.

 

[CatieB]

With those giant ears, I would say a Flemish Giant mix. And I say mix because he is underweight at his approx. age to be purebred.

Thanks very much, I did wonder maybe Flemish giant actually, he just seems very very small! But I didn't know if maybe also a lop mix because he has one ear down 90% of the time and definitely not infection (checked twice with vet!) See my issue there is, maybe he is younger than we thought and the pellets in his diet should be a higher percentage, at the moment running about 50% hay, 45% pellets and 5% fresh, we are slowly reducing the pellets. He has just started humping the last couple of days so that gives us a couple more clues to being 3-4 months. Thanks again Ibrium as well!

 

[CatieB]

Even when he's free roam, it's not a bad idea to keep the cage as a "home base." First, it's a good place set aside for his main litterbox, hay manger and water bowl. Secondly, if there's ever an emergency where he's scared and you need to find him fast, he may return to base where he feels safe. Just clip or tie the main door open so it won't shut on him accidentally. Once he's free roam, if he pees on the sofa and the incident is caught immediately, just lock him up for like 15 minutes or something. It's not about punishing him, per se, more like forging the association that pee on couch = fun time is over and reinforcing the idea that needing to pee = going to where your litter box is.

That's great thank you very much! We have started today, so far no pee to do it with though!

 

[Augustus&HazelGrace]

A flemish giant breeder that I know free feeds pellets to his flemmies but also gives unlimited hay. All rabbits need a pile of hay as big as they are every day.

 

[CatieB]

A flemish giant breeder that I know free feeds pellets to his flemmies but also gives unlimited hay. All rabbits need a pile of hay as big as they are every day.

Yeah he gets unlimited hay but doesn't eat that much of it, interesting about the unlimited pellets! Our Bun just doesn't eat the hay if he has pellets!!

 

[Augustus&HazelGrace]

Then he should get fewer pellets because their diet should be 80% hay

 

[CatieB]

Then he should get fewer pellets because their diet should be 80% hay

Cool thank you!

 

[JBun]

He almost looks to me like he might have some belgian hare in him with his head and body looking more sleek. Flemish rabbits heads tend to look a little different, as well as having a larger body. Another possibility might be your wild rabbit there in the UK. They tend to have a similar sleek body and head. I think you'll get a better idea as he grows.

If you think he's only 3-4 months, I would continue to feed a higher pellet amount of an alfalfa based pellet. I fed my baby buns enough to last about 8 hours, then they would eat hay for the next 4 hours before I fed pellets again. So that amount of pellets fed twice a day, provided enough nutrients and protein for growth, but also left them hungry enough they ate a good size pile of hay to keep their digestion moving well.

 

[CatieB]

He almost looks to me like he might have some belgian hare in him with his head and body looking more sleek. Flemish rabbits heads tend to look a little different, as well as having a larger body. Another possibility might be your wild rabbit there in the UK. They tend to have a similar sleek body and head. I think you'll get a better idea as he grows.

If you think he's only 3-4 months, I would continue to feed a higher pellet amount of an alfalfa based pellet. I fed my baby buns enough to last about 8 hours, then they would eat hay for the next 4 hours before I fed pellets again. So that amount of pellets fed twice a day, provided enough nutrients and protein for growth, but also left them hungry enough they ate a good size pile of hay to keep their digestion moving well.

Yikes I hope he isn't wild, I would feel terribly guilty keeping him, although extremely unlikely he would survive as he has no caution at all. Not even slightly skittish and extremely friendly for a bun!

Not a bad shout with the Belgium hare! His front legs seem a little stumpy but that could be the cross!

Thanks for the advice on pellets as well!

 

[JBun]

I've known of others in the UK that have had wild european rabbits as pets through various circumstances. It isn't common but does happen, and there's also the slight possibility of mixed offspring occurring between a wild and domesticated rabbit(UK, Europe). But yeah, not likely especially with him being very friendly, just a possibility based on his general features.

Honestly, it can be really hard to tell with mixes, unless there is a distinct defining characteristic such as floppy ears, very small rabbit, very large rabbit, sleek build, long fur, etc. So it's really all a guess based on the strongest characteristics that you see.

 

[CatieB]

Quick Update!!

Rory is now fully litter trained, no poops or pees on sofa! Thank you everyone for your advice!