Found 2 stray bunnies at a very busy city intersection!!

[Cricketke]

I have had a silver fox rabbit, Ginny, for about a year and a half. She has been really good using litter box, but always been moody. Always prefers men to women. Then while picking up my granddaughter from her mother, we saw a white bunny running loose in a very busy city intersection. My son jumped out and chased the bunny back in to the apartment complex gate we just left. I turned and came back and 6 of us (4 in the car and 2 from apt complex) chased and caught not just one but 2 bunnies. They were very dehydrated and malnourished. One guy said he had been watching them for over a week.

That being said, I took them home and kept them in an airline crate over night and next day. My Ginny was not thrilled with them at first. Then we moved them to the larger enclosure, Ginny's cage. Ginny would ram the fence and cage, I'm sure she was upset they were in there. Slowly they started to acclimate to each other. We then decided to have supervised visitation with the 3 of them. Cookies (B&W) was much more adventurous and wanted to be friends with Ginny. Ginny seemed to enjoy them and quit trying to attack them. Now they are all 3 free roam.

My problem is that the two new ones will not use litter box. I don't mind a few droppings, but literally a dust pan full 3 times a day. And lots of urine. I've been cleaning with vinegar to try and discourage it. What should I do to get the other 2 to use the litter box? Should I put them back in the crate or cage until they start using it? Cookies and Ginny seem to have bonded well, but now Cream feels isolated and scared. Very rarely does she meet up with Ginny as in this photo.

I am really appalled that someone would let 2 rabbits go outside in the middle of a city. People can be stupid!!!! Also any guesses on how old this pair is? Cookies is B & W, Cream is all white.

 

[Remy The Rabbit]

Hmm, yeah that sounds like an issue, you shouldn't have to be cleaning that much poop. What I would do is seperate Cream and Cookies from Ginny for a few days or until you get them litter trained (however long that may take)

1. Try to confine Cream and Cookies to one room, and give them a decent amount of space but not too much, just for the time being

2. Put the litterbox in with them. Make sure there is lots of hay in the litterbox, or in a hayfeeder above the litterbox. Don't give them any hay besides the hay in the litterbox, although be sure to give them more if they eat it all

3. Whenever they poop, pick up the droppings and put them in the box. If they pee, clean it with a paper towel and put the paper towel in the litterbox

They should catch on eventually. Once they figure it out, move them back with Ginny. If Cream is feeling scared/isolated or maybe even left out, you could put Cream and Ginny in a smaller area for a bit and give them a chance to bond together, then put them back with Cookies. I'm not an expert on bonding, but as long as Ginny and Cream aren't aggressive towards each other, you should be fine, make sure to supervise though.

I agree, it's awful to leave domestic rabbits to roam the city, they have a high chance of being killed and it's not fair to them.

With all the being said, I'm not an expert and I'm sure others will have great answers as well! Good luck!

Here's a link to a video about litter training incase you need it -


Take care and best wishes ~
Remy The Rabbit

 

[Remy The Rabbit]

Oh, and guesses for age would be 2-5 years, they don't look very young but they're not very old either. Have a great day!

 

[Blue eyes]

Now that all 3 seem to be bonded, I'd highly discourage you from separating them again. That risks them not bonding again. Just would not be a good idea at this point now that they are all getting along.

One of the photos you have shows the cage with a partial view of an ex-pen. Is there a way you could enclose that area but with a little more floor space? I think it would be a good idea to confine the three together but not in too small of a space. If they had that cage area with the litter box and maybe another ...oh...maybe 12-16 sq ft, then that would allow them space to move around but confine them a bit for now.

Once confined, then the litter training might be able to catch on. It will also help in the meantime with limiting the area that you'll need to clean up. Hopefully that confinement will get them the opportunity to understand the litterbox.

I'd also suggest putting hay directly in the litterbox to encourage them to go in there. A hay rack could also go above the litterbox -- anything that forces them into the litterbox in order to access the hay.

 

[Remy The Rabbit]

Okay, guess I was wrong, just go with @Blue eyes on this one