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BelleBlanche

BelleBlanche

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Joined
Apr 20, 2020
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Location
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Hey, I have a question for one of you. I am sorry to bother but I do not know how to ask. I picked up two male friends bunnies today and I prepared the whole living room and made a lot of hiding houses. They were very fast to investigate and one of them already sniffles me. However, I now read online that the first few days you should not let them out and put them in a cage. It just doesn't feel good to that. Did I make a mistake and put them now in a cage or just let them be for a few days. I actually want the cage in my basement because they have already a lot of places to sit and lay. But if it is too much I don't want to stress them out. they were very active all moring eating already hay. At this moment they are behind a chair just laying one awake the other one asleep.
 
Welcome :)

The reason for keeping them in a rather small space is so they learn that this is their safe base, their own turf, their warren. Where their food and water is, their hidy house, and it's easier to get them used to the litterbox there. If you give them the whole room right away there's the chance that they decide where it's right to poop and pee, and quite likely that aren't the places you had in mind.
When they have settled in let them venture out on common ground.

Depending on what setup they were in previously, with two bucks (age? neutered?) I would use a pen if the cage is too small.

The question about age and neutered is that two males is the most difficult combination. You might be heading for interesting times if they are still kits.
 
Hey,

Thank you for responding! They (Romulus & Reemus) were in a way too small of a cage previously. They are together since they are born and are now 5 months of age. They are not neutered (yet). But I am planning on it but since I have them since 11 this morning this has not happened yet. The thing is because I have made the mistake already and they are doing fine I am a bit hesitant now to change it. I feel like they know where their place is because of the water bowls, hay placement etc.
I want a pen instead of a cage! However, I will look out for now for the pooping and peeing and where it happens.
And about the interesting times! oh oh, I hope neutering them will help!
I think btw they are Holland Lop rabbits don´t know if that helps.

Thank you :)
 
Hi. You don't have to feel guilty, it's your house and you are rule maker there, they had a few hours for play, fine, now you can show them their place and give them say one week to understand that that is their safe place, their homebase, where their hay, food, water and toilet are - their home. After one or two weeks you can expand their space by adding an x-pen to it, then after a few weeks when they learn rules you can expand again.

I see a little problem there, as they are 5 months old now and this is age when rabbits are entering their teenage phase, it is quite often that if they are both boys they can start discussing their dominance, because it is normal for rabbits, and often they can fight for it. Unfortunately it happens very often that two brothers brought from a petshop start humping, chasing each other and it ends up in a vicious fight when they can even kill each other. It is extremely rare that two unfixed males can bond. Also, if you are going to neuter them, even if you will do it tomorrow, they will still be hormonal for about 2 months.

Maybe your rabbits are extremely laid back and they can tolerate each other for a few more weeks, but you need to watch for signs, if they are trying to hump each other or circling it would be best to separate them until they are neutered plus 2 months after that, then you can do research on bonding watch some bonding videos and - good luck! As one of our members said about bonding recently - wear thick gloves, don't try to separate them with your bare hands!
 
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wear tick gloves, don't try to separate them with your bare hands!
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You won't find gloves or have any time to put them on if they really start a fight, you could keep a broom there, or, well, they are rabbits, not dobermanns, there isn't much they can do band aid and an antiseptic wouldn't fix ;).
 
Since the cage is too small I improvised a playpen around the cage probably won't stop them but worth trying. I found out where they were doing their business. They were doing it in the cage! Probably because they are used to that! So that is a good position to start from! I called the vet and in the Netherlands, they wait until they are 6 months old or when they really start fighting. So I made an appointment for 2 of June and I hope they will keep piece until then and otherwise, I will separate them. I'll go to the pet store tomorrow and hope they have a playpen in storage! I am having so much fun and love them already!
 
BelleBlanche said:
Since the cage is too small I improvised a playpen around the cage probably won't stop them but worth trying. I found out where they were doing their business. They were doing it in the cage! Probably because they are used to that! So that is a good position to start from! I called the vet and in the Netherlands, they wait until they are 6 months old or when they really start fighting. So I made an appointment for 2 of June and I hope they will keep piece until then and otherwise, I will separate them. I'll go to the pet store tomorrow and hope they have a playpen in storage! I am having so much fun and love them already!
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Can you post a few photo of the cage and their area? do they have a litter box or what they have for bedding in there?
 
Yes ofcourse! All the tips are welcome :) Be kind haha if I am doing it all wrong i have the best intentions! Jeah so they go in the litterbox. But they are just hanging in the room
 

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No you're doing good and toilet is good size just I would remove wood pellets from the cage except of their toilet, because it's a bit confusing they can understand that all cage is their toilet.

Also for the first few days or weeks, depending on how smart they are, you should keep their floor clean and if they pee/poo outside their toilet you put that in there and if they pee you wipe it with paper towel and put under their litter in their toilet. Any pee spots you wipe with vite vinegar 5% to remove smell of urine, because they tend to pee where they smell it. so only toilet should smell like toilet, everywhere else you remove smell and keep it hard floor as they tend to pee on soft
 
Haaha i did that just a few moments before the photo because i googled it to make sure I did it okay and it confused me. Ill take it away again. The thing about the poo and the pee I heard that already! So i am going to that if necessary!

Does their need to be a bed in the cage aswell next to the toilet? I think the cage is too small so I just put it next to the cage and they already found places to lay but I can put the bed next to the toilet if that is better.
 
BelleBlanche said:
Haaha i did that just a few moments before the photo because i googled it to make sure I did it okay and it confused me. Ill take it away again. The thing about the poo and the pee I heard that already! So i am going to that if necessary!

Does their need to be a bed in the cage aswell next to the toilet? I think the cage is too small so I just put it next to the cage and they already found places to lay but I can put the bed next to the toilet if that is better.
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No they will lay in their toilet, there's no room for another bed. You did everything good, you can also move wood pellets a bit on one side (closer to the end of the cage on the right) and put some hay on the left side, but it's fine if you leave it as it is now as well.
 
BelleBlanche said:
Hahahaha that makes a lot more sense... I already thought how is this useful for rabbits.
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Yeah it's just everything is very new and confusing for you but you will learn eventually :)
I'd place it on the right side of the cage, I also use water bottles to save space and I place water bottle over the toilet box as well, just in case it is leaking or generally they can pee where they drink. If you don't want to use bottle or think they are uncomfortable with it, there are some bowls you can fix them to the bars I would also place over toilet. So you could remove bowls from the cage and they will have more room then.
 
Last question: for tonight do they need to be in the cage? Or just let them be like now i have bunny proofed the room so it is not dangerous if they would sit somewhere else. Also to get them in the cage is not easy since they are not fully comfortable with me yet.
 
I would set up a water bowl so if the bottle ends up getting clogged they can always have some water from the bowl
 
BelleBlanche said:
Last question: for tonight do they need to be in the cage? Or just let them be like now i have bunny proofed the room so it is not dangerous if they would sit somewhere else. Also to get them in the cage is not easy since they are not fully comfortable with me yet.
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It's easier than you think, you just fill their bowl with food and put into their cage, they should get in really quickly :)

Please ask more questions you will have more definitely we are happy to help, feel free to ask there's always somebody online any time day or night :)
 
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