New Bunny Mom/ eight week old Holland lop

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Erika Malady

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Aug 26, 2019
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Location
Norwalk, Ca
I am a new bunny mom to an eight week old Holland Lop and I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on if it’s OK that the bunny is in our living room or would it be better in a spare bedroom? ( it is just my 10-year-old daughter and I in our home.)

He is very cuddly and loves to be with us, although this is just the third day. We did not leave him alone on the first day. What is everyone else’s thoughts?

I know he’s very young to litter train but I am trying already with not even a hint of success, any advice and that would also be appreciated. I’ve watched countless hours and read countless articles, but a lot of things seem to be geared toward’s grown rabbits

Thank you in advance
 
Giving him an enclosed area in one of the rooms with his litter/ hay will help enc toilet habits. Once he figures things out, you can increase the roam time and leave the litter area open for him. However, expect relapse in habits as his hormones kick in around 12 weeks. Once altered, things will improve. Just been through all of this. Got our Holland Lop at 7wks last September.
 
Giving him an enclosed area in one of the rooms with his litter/ hay will help enc toilet habits. Once he figures things out, you can increase the roam time and leave the litter area open for him. However, expect relapse in habits as his hormones kick in around 12 weeks. Once altered, things will improve. Just been through all of this. Got our Holland Lop at 7wks last September.
Thank you! He is in an enclosure in the living room. He is not using the litter box at all no matter where I move it. He also makes a horrid mess overnight. (He’s a cuddle bug and loves to be with us). Do you have yours in living room or more secluded? I’m just so overwhelmed haha
 
Thank you! He is in an enclosure in the living room. He is not using the litter box at all no matter where I move it. He also makes a horrid mess overnight. (He’s a cuddle bug and loves to be with us). Do you have yours in living room or more secluded? I’m just so overwhelmed haha
We started in the living room then moved him to the study( hubby not so thrilled about this) I will upload a picture. Silly question, do you you hay right next to or part of the litter box?
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This is how we started out in the living room. He would be in the enclosure unless we were watching him and put back if he peed or started pooping for awhile. Initially I had the rug covered with puppy pads and as he got better I would take them away. I would use this spray on anything he soiled with urine or soft poo
 

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We started in the living room then moved him to the study( hubby not so thrilled about this) I will upload a picture. Silly question, do you you hay right next to or part of the litter box?
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I have it inside the litter box. Because he peas and poops everywhere I’ve put doggie pads all over the enclosure With towels underneath and a flooring also underneath that on top of my hardwood
 
This is how we started out in the living room. He would be in the enclosure unless we were watching him and put back if he peed or started pooping for awhile. Initially I had the rug covered with puppy pads and as he got better I would take them away. I would use this spray on anything he soiled with urine or soft poo
This is how we started out in the living room. He would be in the enclosure unless we were watching him and put back if he peed or started pooping for awhile. Initially I had the rug covered with puppy pads and as he got better I would take them away. I would use this spray on anything he soiled with urine or soft poo
 

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He will catch on! I have an old vinyl table cloth under my rug. Mostly the last few months we just shut the door to the study at bedtime. He thinks that room is his! If he is out in the living area, we call out bedtime Charlie and shake the bag of his favorite treats. He will usually run back to his room for them. He really settled down the most after his neuter. He stopped trying g to pee on the rugs by our entry says after having them blocked off for awhile. We still occasionally battle over the couch. He wants to be up there and make it his by peeing on it. We cover it if not watching closely. The attempts have slowed to about 1 every few weeks.
 
Just keep putting him back when he uses your house as the litter. I read A LOT of material on rabbits and litter training the 2 weeks we waited for him to be old enough. Most said too much space/ freedom when they are small and training would make it difficult so keep with what you've got and monitor his free time.
 
Thank you so much!!! Do you think he’s going to be OK living in the living room in his enclosure since that’s where we are the most?

Also, every morning his enclosure looks like this. (Uploading pic)

I’m cleaning it out like new every AM (which is not something I can all the time do bc of work) How often do I change everything out?
 

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Unfortunately I did daily cleanup and made my son, the one who talked me into the rabbit, help. As long as there was no urine, I would sweep up or vaccum the poos. Is the urine in the box, can't see in the picture. It did take time. I work full time plus but hot rabbit when my youngest was a senior in HS.
We only moved the rabbit because of the Christmas tree and then he seemed to like the new spot so much, we left him there. He also loves the laundry room. Mine is not affected by noise. Could care less about the vaccum, nevermind people noise. I actually think he judges me on how I clean his place.
I bet in a month or so, it will get better.
Do you have a rabbit shelter near you for more advice/ support?
I forgot...now that Charlie is a grown up bun, I do his litter/ fill hay rack every third day. I use pine pellet horse bedding. He likes it, its cheap, and smells good. I got the hay rack thing on ETSY. But pinterest has tons of ideas. I do use a per hand vac daily in his room for the "dust bunnies " so much hair for a small bun .
 
Unfortunately I did daily cleanup and made my son, the one who talked me into the rabbit, help. As long as there was no urine, I would sweep up or vaccum the poos. Is the urine in the box, can't see in the picture. It did take time. I work full time plus but hot rabbit when my youngest was a senior in HS.
We only moved the rabbit because of the Christmas tree and then he seemed to like the new spot so much, we left him there. He also loves the laundry room. Mine is not affected by noise. Could care less about the vaccum, nevermind people noise. I actually think he judges me on how I clean his place.
I bet in a month or so, it will get better.
Do you have a rabbit shelter near you for more advice/ support?
I forgot...now that Charlie is a grown up bun, I do his litter/ fill hay rack every third day. I use pine pellet horse bedding. He likes it, its cheap, and smells good. I got the hay rack thing on ETSY. But pinterest has tons of ideas. I do use a per hand vac daily in his room for the "dust bunnies " so much hair for a small bun .
Thank you so much!!!! I do, I spent a couple hours there on Sunday! Haha. We’ve only had him since Saturday, my daughter is 10 and is helping, but ‍♀️
He is not even interested in using the litter box. Not once yet.
 
Best Christmas present ever from my husband. Helps make bunny cleaning easier
 

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Ohhh. He is very new. Right now I expect he is trying to claim the area as his by decorating it with poo. I bet as time goes by there will be less as he is more comfortable. Even now, when I clean Charlie's place. He has to go in and drop a couple to mark his area. These are territorial poos. Amazing how much comes out of them.
It really should get better but make take a couple weeks. At least till hormones hit.
Do.you have a vet in mind? They will neuter after 4mos, spay I think a little older.
 
I'm sure they told you this, but make sure to put some of his poo in the box and if he urinates on paper, some of that too to help him get the hint.
 
I'm sure they told you this, but make sure to put some of his poo in the box and if he urinates on paper, some of that too to help him get the hint.
I’ve been doing putting them in the litter box, the woman I bought him from was a breeder, she really give me a lot of misinformation, like she showed me a cage to keep him in, then I did a bunch of research over a couple weeks on the Internet and learn that he needs to be in an enclosure and potentially free roam when he is litter trained. I would’ve bought from a rescue if I knew better. She says she will take care of everything in four months when he’s ready to be neutered & get shots.

Thanks for all your advice, it’s a lot harder than I imagined! But want to make it work!
 

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