First day! Please help with cage setup....

[rdalcanto]

We just got a baby Holland Lop. Verycute and cuddly. When we put him down, he explores the house. I got acage with the metal mesh floor. I want to litter box train him. I put alitter box in a corner with CareFresh and hay. When in the cage, heseems to like to lie in there. I quickly took it out, thinking that ifhe makes it his bed, because it is soft and warm, that he will neveruse it as his bathroom (given how clean natured they are). My plan nowis to see which corner he sleeps in and which he poops in, and then putthe box there after I know. What can I use to make a bed for him, sothat he doesn't make the litter box his bed?

Thanks!
Rick

 

[Kala_Bunga]

Actually tons of rabbits sleep in there litter box, thats a normal thing.
The mesh floor will hurt your babies paws, if he stays on it for to long he will develop sores on his feet,
Samantha

 

[Haley]

yup, its ok if he lays in the litter box. Its actually good that he thinks its cozy

I would put something down on the floor though so he has somewhere elseto rest too. You know those plastic mats with holes in them you can buyfor your sink? Those work great and allow poops to fall through!

If you really want a bed for him, you can buy a little cat bed and takethe stuffing out. You just have to be careful that he doesnt eat thefabric.

Cant wait to see pics of your new guy!

 

[rdalcanto]

Here are some pics!

 

[rdalcanto]

And another!

 

[HoneyPot]

AHH!! I am coming over right now tobunny-nap that little cutie pie!!! Look at his fuzzy feets,man I love Hollands.

CUTE!!!

_________
Nadia

 

[rdalcanto]

Thanks. We love him already!He is so cuddly right now. He will stay on your lap for aslong as you want. Once you put him on the floor, he hopsaround, exploring constantly. If he is this cuddly now, if wekeep holding him a lot, will he stay this way as an adult, or is itjust a baby thing?

Another question - he seems to have no poop control. He haspoop piles in several different parts of the cage. It is likeif he happens to be facing one direction for a while, that is wherethey pile up. When he runs around the house, he leaves littlepoop balls everywhere. It is like he is a PEZ dispenser,dropping one every 30 seconds or something. I don't think heeven knows he's doing it. They are nice and hard, so I don'tthink he hasa GI problem. I pick him up and put himin the litter box, but he hops out, runs around, and drops anotherone.... :sweep



Thanks again,

Rick

 

[spoh]

Hi,

Just pick up the poop and putit in the litter box and when hepees soak it up with a paper toweland throw thatinthe litter box too. He will get it, our little Lucy was about8 weeks when we got her and within a week or so she was great at usingthe litter box. Sometimes there will be poop next to her fooddish because they tend to poop and eat at the same time butIjust sweep it up and put it in the box. Oh, and try puttinghis hay in a spot so that he has to sit in the litter box to eat thehay...eating and pooping go hand in hand. We hang Lucys haybasket at one end of the cage and put he litter box right underit. Lucy has free run of one room for most of the day and shenever poops outside of her cage, we just leave the door open and whenshe needs to go she goes in and does her thing.

Good luck, I know it's harderfor some than others but he is still a baby so give it time.

Joy

 

[karona]

Sooooo cute! Holland have very tought well furcoated feet and the wire should not be a problem for him. My hollandnever did. Some people on the board disagree but thats ok. As for a bedthe litterbox is a fine place to sleep! They all do it. If you want arest spot I recomend just getting an iglu the plastic ones ad putting atowel or blankie bunched up in it. Mine love that.

 

[rdalcanto]

What I like about the wire bottom, is that allthe poop goes through the wires, so he isn't sitting in it, and I cantell easily where he is going.

Spoh, how quickly did your bun learn to use the box when the entireroom was open? Was that at 8 weeks too, or did that takelonger?

 

[Michaela]

Aww he's so cute! I want him!:inlove:I'm sure he'll get the hang of litter training soon.

If you must house your rabbit in a wire bottomed cage then you need toput boards down so he can get off the wire, imagine how painful it isto stand on that all day, especially as he's just a baby his feet aresmaller.

 

[spoh]

rdalcanto wrote:

What I like about the wire bottom, is that all the poop goesthrough the wires, so he isn't sitting in it, and I can tell easilywhere he is going.

Spoh, how quickly did your bun learn to use the box when the entireroom was open? Was that at 8 weeks too, or did that takelonger?

I did like that about the wire bottom too but I new that I wanted tolitter train Lucy and there just wasn't room in that cage for a litterbox so I built the bigger cage. Now the only time she walkson the poop is when she is in the litter box, or she drops a few nextto her food dish while eating but I ususally clean that rightup. The rest of her cage is clean, I think that some peoplethink that buns need bedding like a guinea pig or hamster theydon't. The only place where I have "bedding" is in the litterbox, other than that she has a cat bed and ablanket. Every other day I take the litter pan outand dump it, wipe it out with papertowel and vinegar/water put morebedding in. It takes about 2 minutes.

This is what we did, our house is built so that I can block offdifferent rooms, it's not a open floor plan so when we first startedlitter training her we blocked off the kitchen so if there wereaccidents it wouldn't be on the carpet. I knew from havingher out in the kitchen before which cornershe wouldtendto pee in so that is where weput thebox. If she went on the floorIjustpickedthe poop up and put it in theboxandwiped up the pee with paper towel and putthat in thebox too. It didn't take long,maybe a day or two and she was using the box all the time in thekitchen as well as her cage so we decided that we could trust her onthe carpet. She would have been between 9-11weeks old at thatpoint It wasn't long after we brought her home. Nowher cage is sitting on a carpeted floor and we for the most part justleave the door open during the day, we have been doing this for weeks,she should be about 16 weeks right tomorrow.

Good Luck & Happy Easter

Joy

 

[Echo]

rdalcanto wrote:

What I like about the wire bottom, is that all the poop goesthrough the wires, so he isn't sitting in it, and I can tell easilywhere he is going.

Spoh, how quickly did your bun learn to use the box when the entireroom was open? Was that at 8 weeks too, or did that takelonger?

I think that is kinda a problem though because the rabbit needs to eat his first set of droppings to get all the nutrition..



VERY cute baby by the way

 

[Shawn]

Holland's have massive feet when they are younglol they kind off grow into them and become more in proportion to threst of the body as they get older. Don'tyou think?

Shawn

 

[spoh]

Shawn wrote:

Holland's have massive feet when they are young lol theykind off grow into them and become more in proportion to th rest of thebody as they get older. Don'tyou think?

Shawn

I've been wondering about that, you know how large breed dogshave huge feets

even as puppies does the same go for buns? Lucy still hasvery small feet at 15 weeks, much smaller than I've seen on somebabies....would that mean that she is going to be on the smallerside? It has already been determined that she isn't the minirex that we thought we were getting, she is 15 weeks and is up to 4pounds.

Joy

 

[Shawn]

Im really not sure, i just know that my snowyhad very large feet as a baby and she is very big for her breed nowso... Who knows? You will just have to wait and see



Shawn