New bunny owner and lots of questions!

[sunnibunni911]

Ok- we have recently acquired Hop and Yeehaw (per my daughter's naming abilities).
One young Lionhead and one young Mini-Rex purchased through a local breeder selling rabbits at the feed store. I've had every animal under the sun growing up on a farm, but never had much to do with rabbits.

Since they are both small, we are currently keeping them inside most of the day, with a small rabbit wire pen in the backyard for 100% supervised outdoor playtime.

The first cage I bought (storebought) had a pan in the bottom that allowed for fully lining the bottom. However, with two bunnies, a small box hidey hole, food, and water, I found this wouldn't last me long (and no room for a litter box, which is a priority of mine). So I went in search of a bigger cage. The one I purchased had a drawer for easier cleanup, however, once I got home and started arranging, it doesn't really have a drawer to keep all the bedding in around the sides. So I only put bedding in the hidey hole for warmth, left the middle open, and placed the corner style litter box in there (with both new and used litter for smell and attraction purposes). A) Is there any harm in not having them on bedding all the time? B) Will this new setup hopefully encourage litter usage?

Now, moving on, does anyone have an indoor/outdoor bunny? I'd like the possibility of once we move them to a larger outdoor hutch of moving the litter box with them, so if we brought them back in the house some, they could still use it. Also, how far will a bunny travel in a home to use his litter box?

Any other advice is welcome and encouraged, and thanks for helping us welcome our new family members and make them comfortable!!!

 

[Ponyta]

Well, having litter in any other place then the litter box can cause confusion, so I would put a blanket (if they don't chew it) in their hidey box. You have a mini rex, which are prone to sore hocks, so you're going to want a really soft place for him/her to get off the wire/plastic/wood/whatever. Make sure you're not using pine shavings or clumping cat litter. If you can find stove pellets, they're extremely cheap for a 65lb bag.

Also, corner litter boxes are okay for smaller rabbits, but not for a medium/large or two. They like to eat, poop and sleep in the same place, and if they're bonded they're going to want to do those things together. If you decide to upgrade to an NIC cage (hand built cage using storage grids. My rabbits cage is the length and width of a twin size bed.) you'll have room for a litter pan. I put my rabbits litter pan in a plastic bin, lid side up, and cut a large hole in the side. Then I stuck a hay rack inside it. It acts as a hidey box/dig box/hay rack/litter box and carrier. The reason I mention this is because it will minimize hay/litter/poop clean up by keeping it in the bin.

My boy Jack, he'll travel across the apartment to get to his litter box. Lily wont. Which is why I have two. :/

Also, you're going to want to sex your rabbits. You do not want to find out you have a male and female the hard way. With that, you should also be concerned about hormones when they're older because they WILL fight. Think about either separating them or getting them altered.

I hoped that helped some what.

ETA: Since your rabbits are from a pet store, you should take them in for a vet visit. Quite a few end up with upper respiratory infections, and it's just best to make sure nothing is wrong with them before you expose them to your household.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Ponyta summed it up really nicely. Mini rex will need variation in bedding, ideally softer versus rough.

In regards to the indoor outdoor thought, I'm assuming this would be a summertime thing?

From my standpoint, having buns outside means that I have to invest far more time and effort into watching them and caring for them. I see my buns everytime I walk in the livingroom, check in on them, etc. It's more a subconscious monitoring effort.
In contrast, people need to set aside far more time to monitor an outdoor rabbit - some folks don't have that amount of time or committment. There are some fabulous outdoor bunny owners, but it isn't a setup that works well for everyone.

Outdoor rabbits select a corner of their hutches for urination, so it is likely that they would retain their litter training.