Inside buns...

[LadyOnslaught]

Right now we have six rabbits inside, 5 are in our bedroom (Riley and her babies) and then Morgan lives in the kitchen since he's an intact male. They bedroom buns have ful access but it's getting really bad now that the babies are getting older. There is poop EVERYWHERE. I feel like I'm walking through a minefield. Somenone is starting to get on the bed and poop.

The babies chewed two small holes through my boots I love and then one of my socks. I was going to make a pen and keep them in there but they've stained the carpet horribly. Willl said it's starting to smell in there. I put them in their cage last night for the first time but the problem is that Riley chews on the coroplast and then I can't sleep. I went into the living room last night (when I left they were just being kinda restless, not chewing on anything). This is a rental and there are stains everywhere. Never mind our Cocker Spaniel who pees and poops every chance he gets. God, he drives me insane. Almost 3 and not housebroken. He'sa rescue and we take him out, he pees and we wait for a poop. No luck. He'll come right inside and do it inside. Every. Time. We've tried everything with him and it doesn't work.

I'm at my wit's end. I don't want a smelly apartment (I can't really smell) and I don't want to be afraid to go into our bedroom (which I am, there is poop everywhere and it's getting nasty). I could start just locking them in their cage I guess. That's where they are now.

I do not want them outside but what are my options with that? I feel like I'm at my wit's end and I'm afraid Will is going to get really mad about all of this soon. I don't know what we're doing with the babies but I can't handle them pooping and peeing everywhere and tearing stuff up. I know some of the peeing problems is since Riley and Morgan aren't spayed and neutured. They will be as soon as I get some money I'm expecting. They wouldn't bother me as bad but right now I hear our Cocker Spaniel whining and he does that all the time. He almost never shuts up when he's in his crate. Can't leave him out, he gets into things. *sigh* I just feel so stressed.

Back to the outdoor thing for a sec...the only place I could put them would be at the top of our stairs but I just worry someone will do something to them. I doubt up there they will but if they were at the bottom of the stairs they would. Of course, I worry about them being cold.

Any ideas on stain removal? I am going to rent a carpet cleaner as soon as I get my money but now I can't and that's frustrating. We don't have hardly any money at the moment.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Mine aren't allowed to run free because they do the poop thing everywhere. They have a designated play area and I have to just keep cleaning it up. There's hay strung around too cause the kids aren't good about feeding it - they pull it out and it's loose and falls to the floor and they leave it.

Yeah, I get a bit overwhelmed sometimes too.......

 

[Flashy]

I have 7 inside and at times as many as ten (if someone gets ill and needs to be inside) and it IS hard work, but once you get into a routine and find what works, then it gets easier.

Do they have an NIC cage or anything like that? Even though they are still intact, have you tried litter training? Have you tried using a penned off area and completely rabbit proofing that area (so not having anything dangerous to them in there, not having anything that they can't have in there, etc)? That has been a godsend to me. Yes, I had to learn to hurdle, but better that than what it was like, I think, lol.

 

[Jess_sully]

I think the babies will continue these bad habits until they're altered and better litter trained. I would severely reduce their areas until they start showing better signs of litterhabits. One of the reasons why they might be going everywhere now is because they don't have to step in it, since they have such large amounts of space. If confined to smaller areas, where they are forced to lay/sit/etc. in their own poop, they will start locating it in one area.
I would also put their hay and food in their litterbox.
I'm sorry I hate mess and smell as well... which is why I'm glad Flynn is so well trained!

 

[LadyOnslaught]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

Mine aren't allowed to run free because they do the poop thing everywhere. They have a designated play area and I have to just keep cleaning it up. There's hay strung around too cause the kids aren't good about feeding it - they pull it out and it's loose and falls to the floor and they leave it.

Yeah, I get a bit overwhelmed sometimes too.......

I guess I'm going to have to stop the free run time now. I hate dealing with the hay, it just gets so messy no matter how I try and keep it picked up. It's such a pain to get off the carpet too.

 

[LadyOnslaught]

Flashy wrote:

I have 7 inside and at times as many as ten (if someone gets ill and needs to be inside) and it IS hard work, but once you get into a routine and find what works, then it gets easier.

Do they have an NIC cage or anything like that? Even though they are still intact, have you tried litter training? Have you tried using a penned off area and completely rabbit proofing that area (so not having anything dangerous to them in there, not having anything that they can't have in there, etc)? That has been a godsend to me. Yes, I had to learn to hurdle, but better that than what it was like, I think, lol.

Yes, they have a NIC cage. It's two stories and 4 x 2 grids. No, I haven't really tried litter training. There has been so much going on, I'll admit, I haven't tried. Sometimes they are better about it. Morgan has been pretty good in the kitchen. He pees outside the box sometimes but it's not a huge box (I can't find any bigger though).

I did have a penned off area when Morgan and Riley were together but then moved that pen so Morgan could use it. I need to make another one but I just haven't. It was a pain trying to round the little ones up this morning around 2:30 but kinda funny too. I may move them into the living room (if I can get he cage in there) for a few weeks and work on cleaning out the bedroom.

 

[LadyOnslaught]

Jess_sully wrote:

I think the babies will continue these bad habits until they're altered and better litter trained. I would severely reduce their areas until they start showing better signs of litterhabits. One of the reasons why they might be going everywhere now is because they don't have to step in it, since they have such large amounts of space. If confined to smaller areas, where they are forced to lay/sit/etc. in their own poop, they will start locating it in one area.
I would also put their hay and food in their litterbox.
I'm sorry I hate mess and smell as well... which is why I'm glad Flynn is so well trained!

Thanks . I will start doing that. I just constantly feel like I'm moving with I get home. It drives Will nuts too. When I get home I'm either feeding or watering someone, cleaning something or taking the dogs out. When I get home I just want to sit but I can't and I get extremely overwhelmed and aggitated.

 

[undergunfire]

LadyOnslaught wrote:

I just constantly feel like I'm moving with I get home. It drives Will nuts too. When I get home I'm either feeding or watering someone, cleaning something or taking the dogs out. When I get home I just want to sit but I can't and I get extremely overwhelmed and aggitated.

Same thing, except it doesn't drive Ryan nuts. I also am medicating my 3 rat boys to top off the list of things I do when I get home. I get home at 4 and by the time I am done with everything, it's 7pm before I sit down sometimes.

I think I read you are keeping the babies? If you feel overwhelmed right now, how are you going to feel when the babies need to be put into individual cages, spayed & neutered, then try to bond to reduce cages?

As for the dog, I would look into professional training. Going potty inside the house is not a healthy thing for anyone....especially the humans. I watch "It's Me or the Dog" all the time and they do tests to see where the poop and pee particles end up....and it is quite gross...you could get sick. I don't know if you leave the pup in the kennel all the time, but that is not going to make him stop going to the bathroom inside or getting into trouble. Leaving him in the kennel all the time will actually cause him to misbehave more.

:?


Hopefully you do not take offense to my words, but you definitely need to be the boss over your dog and get him into the right tracks, or it will only get worse. Professional training is expensive, but think of the outcome......a well behaved dog !

 

[Jess_sully]

I would consider rehoming some (if not all) of the babies, if I were you.
The more bunnies you have, naturally, the more work and mess there will be. With different pairs/trios/groups, there will always be more scattered poo and pee because they will smell eachother and think they need to mark their territory more.
Have you ever considered finding the babies homes when they're old enough? I think I would do that, and go back to square one with littertraining Riley and Morgan. Trust me, those two buns CAN be littertrained. With only two, they might even (practically) train themselves.
Oh, also, PETSMART has pretty reasonably priced dog-obedience classes, in all different levels.

 

[Luv-bunniz]

LadyOnslaught wrote:

The babies chewed two small holes through my boots I love and then one of my socks.

Don't let them get to anything they shouldn't have. Its not terribly difficult, just needs alot of storage.

I was going to make a pen and keep them in there but they've stained the carpet horribly.

Get some off-cuts of linoleum and attach them together, roll it up and lay it down at play time and use a play pen around it. Wipe clean with 50/50 vinegar-water solution, roll up and put under a bed or in a closet/wadrobe.

Will said it's starting to smell in there.

This can be sorted with a few simple steps - I have found the worst thing for keeping in smells are fabrics ie. beds, blankets and obviously, carpet. Use bicarbonate of soda/baking soda under bedding, powerful cleaners and clean up any mess daily. Try get a small hand-held vacuum for picking up poops in the cage (if you use coroplast floors/linoleum or fleece/blankets).

I put them in their cage last night for the first time but the problem is that Riley chews on the coroplast and then I can't sleep. I went into the living room last night (when I left they were just being kinda restless, not chewing on anything).

Use coroplast/linoleum on the OUTSIDE of the grids. Give them willow sticks to chew on, they are silent. And if they don't chew on them then they will use hay to chew on.

This is a rental and there are stains everywhere.

Keep them off carpets. No matter what.

Never mind our Cocker Spaniel who pees and poops every chance he gets. God, he drives me insane. Almost 3 and not housebroken. He'sa rescue and we take him out, he pees and we wait for a poop. No luck. He'll come right inside and do it inside. Every. Time. We've tried everything with him and it doesn't work.

Strange but have you tried behaviourist's and holistic methods? There *is* a reason he is doing it not because "he just wants to".

I'm at my wit's end. I don't want a smelly apartment (I can't really smell) and I don't want to be afraid to go into our bedroom (which I am, there is poop everywhere and it's getting nasty). I could start just locking them in their cage I guess. That's where they are now.

Do it then, but with a 2x4 cage they will need at least 2-3 hours play time in a pen roughly twice that size (or maybe that's my opinion *rolls eyes* ).

I do not want them outside but what are my options with that?

Hutch and pen, shed or a playhouse lol.


I feel like I'm at my wit's end and I'm afraid Will is going to get really mad about all of this soon. I don't know what we're doing with the babies but I can't handle them pooping and peeing everywhere and tearing stuff up.

Again, don't let them on carpets or near stuff you don't want them to chew.



I know some of the peeing problems is since Riley and Morgan aren't spayed and neutured. They will be as soon as I get some money I'm expecting.

All good, but then again part of the problem could be that the babies not being neutered. So if they arnt rehomed then you may still have the problem.

They wouldn't bother me as bad but right now I hear our Cocker Spaniel whining and he does that all the time. He almost never shuts up when he's in his crate. Can't leave him out, he gets into things.

Cocker Spaniels were bred as a "groupie" dog (ie. not pack but a small group of 2-5 dogs and keep in mind this was from when lands were hunter far and wide). Naturally wanting attention.


Any ideas on stain removal?

Neat white vinegar, pour some on, put some baking soda/ bicardonate of soda on it, let it fiz up, leave it for about 3 minutes and wipe off, sprinkle over some more bicarb/baking soda and once dried vacuum up. Done/

 

[LadyOnslaught]

undergunfire wrote:

LadyOnslaught wrote:

I just constantly feel like I'm moving with I get home. It drives Will nuts too. When I get home I'm either feeding or watering someone, cleaning something or taking the dogs out. When I get home I just want to sit but I can't and I get extremely overwhelmed and aggitated.

Same thing, except it doesn't drive Ryan nuts. I also am medicating my 3 rat boys to top off the list of things I do when I get home. I get home at 4 and by the time I am done with everything, it's 7pm before I sit down sometimes.

I think I read you are keeping the babies? If you feel overwhelmed right now, how are you going to feel when the babies need to be put into individual cages, spayed & neutered, then try to bond to reduce cages?

As for the dog, I would look into professional training. Going potty inside the house is not a healthy thing for anyone....especially the humans. I watch "It's Me or the Dog" all the time and they do tests to see where the poop and pee particles end up....and it is quite gross...you could get sick. I don't know if you leave the pup in the kennel all the time, but that is not going to make him stop going to the bathroom inside or getting into trouble. Leaving him in the kennel all the time will actually cause him to misbehave more.

:?


Hopefully you do not take offense to my words, but you definitely need to be the boss over your dog and get him into the right tracks, or it will only get worse. Professional training is expensive, but think of the outcome......a well behaved dog !

We haven't talked about the babies yet so I don't know. Around this area I imagine it would be hard to place them and of course I want them to have good homes. I do not know if that is possible in this area. It might be, I don't know.

Re: the dog. He gets out. Maybe not as much as he should (hubby isn't great about it) but when I'm home I let him out. Honestly, I think a lot of it is him (the dog). He has some behavioral problems too from being a rescue that the rescue didn't tell us about. I did some basic obedience with him. He needs more exercise too but right now I don't have it in me to do it. Last week I just about called the rescue and said take him back but I wonder what would happen to him. He's pretty tempremental and will snap although he's not as bad as he was. I do not know what happned to him before we got him. We have been watching Cesar Millan and implementing his techniques and it has gotten better...just not fixed yet.

I do not take offense to your words either . We did make a mistake when getting our dog I think becuase the rescue couldn't tell us anything about him. He got home and had all kinds of problems but I'm afraid to return him as I'm afraid of what type of home he would end up in. Granted, I do love him of course. We've had him about 1 1/2 years now.

 

[LadyOnslaught]

Jess_sully wrote:

I would consider rehoming some (if not all) of the babies, if I were you.
The more bunnies you have, naturally, the more work and mess there will be. With different pairs/trios/groups, there will always be more scattered poo and pee because they will smell eachother and think they need to mark their territory more.
Have you ever considered finding the babies homes when they're old enough? I think I would do that, and go back to square one with littertraining Riley and Morgan. Trust me, those two buns CAN be littertrained. With only two, they might even (practically) train themselves.
Oh, also, PETSMART has pretty reasonably priced dog-obedience classes, in all different levels.

The babies - I do not know where I would rehome them too. The problem is the area and finding them a good home. I do not know if it's possible. People keep saying to take them to the pet store but I'm afraid of doing that since you never know what will happen. I don't think this is a very 'rabbit friendly' place. You don't really see rabbits advertised except the ones that had babies and are like $5 or something or the Easter bunnies at that time.

We don't have a Petsmart near us. We did do some of a basic obedience but so much is in the home. I can teach him to sit, lay down, heel etc. It's the other issues that are a problem.

 

[Flashy]

If you did decide to rehome them, I help rehome buns for the RSPCA and have a load of stuff that I would be happy to share with you if you thought it would help. Also, doing a home check on anyone who wants a bun would give you a better idea of how good a home would be.

In terms of having them outside, I don't know what the climate is like where you are. The more north you go, the colder it gets and that is not appropriate for buns, and the further south you go its too hot for them outside, so you would need to make sure of climate being ok before even considering whether outside is an option. If you needed help with what you needed for outside accomm again, feel free to give me a yell because I assess outside stuff all the time

 

[LadyOnslaught]

Don't let them get to anything they shouldn't have. Its not terribly difficult, just needs alot of storage.

I know the boots are my fault, I'm just upset at myself.
Get some off-cuts of linoleum and attach them together, roll it up and lay it down at play time and use a play pen around it. Wipe clean with 50/50 vinegar-water solution, roll up and put under a bed or in a closet/wadrobe.
Once I have the money I will have to try that. That sounds like a good idea.


This can be sorted with a few simple steps - I have found the worst thing for keeping in smells are fabrics ie. beds, blankets and obviously, carpet. Use bicarbonate of soda/baking soda under bedding, powerful cleaners and clean up any mess daily. Try get a small hand-held vacuum for picking up poops in the cage (if you use coroplast floors/linoleum or fleece/blankets).

I've been trying to vacuum daily. I didn't get to last night because I got home late but I'm going to do it everywhere tonight and they are in their cage so hopefully it will not be too bad.

Use coroplast/linoleum on the OUTSIDE of the grids. Give them willow sticks to chew on, they are silent. And if they don't chew on them then they will use hay to chew on.

I will have to see about getting some more coroplast. I don't have any extra right now. Right now it's inside so I will have to replace it. I have little wood chew sticks but when I order some more food I will get them something else.

Strange but have you tried behaviourist's and holistic methods? There *is* a reason he is doing it not because "he just wants to".

I doubt we have anything like that around here. We may, I've just never seen anything advertised. We don't have a lot of pet related activities or anything. It's a rural small area.

Do it then, but with a 2x4 cage they will need at least 2-3 hours play time in a pen roughly twice that size (or maybe that's my opinion *rolls eyes*

Hehe. I will have to start doing that. I know the answer is really simple.

Neat white vinegar, pour some on, put some baking soda/ bicardonate of soda on it, let it fiz up, leave it for about 3 minutes and wipe off, sprinkle over some more bicarb/baking soda and once dried vacuum up. Done/

So just plain white vinegar and then just plain baking soda? I can do that. Thanks!



Thanks for your help and advice. I appreciate it. Really, I know the answer is simple but I'm just really stressed. I'm getting some life insurance money from my dad where he died and it's been about a 6 month process (dealing with a dispute). We're really close but right now we're broke and I'm stressing over money but I see the light at the end of the tunnel but we're just not there yet. It's been a rough year and I'm trying to deal with that too.

 

[Elf Mommy]

I don't have any words of wisdom, I just wanted to commiserate! I only have one dog and one rabbit, but there are days when it just seems completely overwhelming!

you are not alone!

 

[LadyOnslaught]

Flashy wrote:

If you did decide to rehome them, I help rehome buns for the RSPCA and have a load of stuff that I would be happy to share with you if you thought it would help. Also, doing a home check on anyone who wants a bun would give you a better idea of how good a home would be.

In terms of having them outside, I don't know what the climate is like where you are. The more north you go, the colder it gets and that is not appropriate for buns, and the further south you go its too hot for them outside, so you would need to make sure of climate being ok before even considering whether outside is an option. If you needed help with what you needed for outside accomm again, feel free to give me a yell because I assess outside stuff all the time

I would appreciate the info. I will let you know. In this area we have our animal shelter and a rescue that handles dogs and cats. That's it. I imagine most people get their rabbits from a pet store and most have the idea of leaving them in a hutch outside. I think it gets cold here but then again I'm sure up north it's worse. We're right near Kentucky and Ohio.

 

[LadyOnslaught]

Elf Mommy wrote:

I don't have any words of wisdom, I just wanted to commiserate! I only have one dog and one rabbit, but there are days when it just seems completely overwhelming!

you are not alone!

Thanks . I know it will be ok, just that and other things make it so stressful.

 

[RexyRex]

I second the plain white vinegar and baking soda trick, it works like a charm! Way better that even the Carpet Doctor can do. Once you can, I would suggest that you buy a shop vac. They are so much better at picking up poops and hay than a regular vacuum cleaner.

Good luck to you :hug:

 

[LadyOnslaught]

RexyRex wrote:

I second the plain white vinegar and baking soda trick, it works like a charm! Way better that even the Carpet Doctor can do. Once you can, I would suggest that you buy a shop vac. They are so much better at picking up poops and hay than a regular vacuum cleaner.

Good luck to you :hug:

Thanks . I had thought about that. When I have the money I will probably do that as that sounds like such a better idea.

 

[Flashy]

LadyOnslaught wrote:

Flashy wrote:

If you did decide to rehome them, I help rehome buns for the RSPCA and have a load of stuff that I would be happy to share with you if you thought it would help. Also, doing a home check on anyone who wants a bun would give you a better idea of how good a home would be.

In terms of having them outside, I don't know what the climate is like where you are. The more north you go, the colder it gets and that is not appropriate for buns, and the further south you go its too hot for them outside, so you would need to make sure of climate being ok before even considering whether outside is an option. If you needed help with what you needed for outside accomm again, feel free to give me a yell because I assess outside stuff all the time

I would appreciate the info. I will let you know. In this area we have our animal shelter and a rescue that handles dogs and cats. That's it. I imagine most people get their rabbits from a pet store and most have the idea of leaving them in a hutch outside. I think it gets cold here but then again I'm sure up north it's worse. We're right near Kentucky and Ohio.

I'm from the UK so have nooooooooooooooooooooooooo idea about the US other than very basic info. Maybe someone else from aorund your area might be able to tell you if the climate is safe for outside buns.

If you did want to rehome them, then feel free to e-mail me on [email protected] and I'll do my best to help Maybe you could just look into it, but not make any commitments or decisions just yet?

When one of mine had a litter of 7 I felt completely overwhelmed, especially when I had to separate them all and then wait until they were fixable and then rebond them back together, but the more organised I got, the easier it became.

Instead of looking at the whole picture and seeing it as unmanageable, break it down. Take each different issue on a different piece of paper and then jot down different ways to tackel and solve the problem.

If someone put an elehpant infront of you and told you to eat it, you would probably freak out, but if you were to take it bite by bite it would become manageable and you would get there in the end.

Owning rabbits is hard, but we will do what we can to help Take it slowly, and deal with each little issue as a separate issue, and don't try to tackle it all at once.