New bunny owner

[geekgirl101]

Hi, I'm a new bunny owner. I adopted a pair of lop-eared does 2 nights ago. So far they seem pretty happy rabbits, binkieing (if that's the way to spell it) up and down the hallway and dashing through the shop-bought tunnel and the long cardboard tunnel I've made for them. They love their little food home I made for them too. I'm trying to potty train them as they like to leave their poopies all over the floor, although I've noticed they've been using their cardboard dig box as peepee central.

I'm planning on heading out to town tomorrow while they're timing out in their cage and checking out the prices of some spring-loaded baby gates so we can block off some areas we don't want them to go while it's not rabbit safe, so far only the hallway is rabbit safe and we're keeping eagle eyes on them when they enter the living room as it's a big temptation for little teeth to go after all the cables.

 

[Wabbitdad12]

I would like to welcome you to Rabbits Online, my name is Dave and I am a moderator on the forum. So if I can be of any help please let me know. This is a terrific website for rabbits and their slaves, not only is it very active but also friendly. I am so glad you’re here and I know you will enjoy it.

Many bunnies’ recommend their slaves to this site so we may learn of others methods to keeping our furry masters happy.

If you everhave a sick bunny, please post in The Infirmary and include your rabbit's age, breed and health history as well diet and output details leading up to the problem.

Here are somelinks I thought you might find interesting:

*For reference the Library section

*To brag or tell everyone about the antics of your bunny or just to talk about your day here is where to start a Bunny Blog, you can also look back at it later and remember when you had a life before your bunny.

*Now all the bunny’s like talk to each other when we mere slaves aren’t around in the Bunny Chat is the spot to be.

*The House Rabbit Society has a lot of good information on what veggies are safe for bunny’s, etc.

*Here is a link to learn what your furry master is trying to say to you How to Understand Your Bunny's Language

*Rabbits Online also has regional forums , this a good way to find a vet in your area that has experience with rabbits and to find out from other nearby of good sources of rabbit supplies.

The Let Your Hare Down section is for anything non-bunny related.

Here is a link tothat will help you and your bunny to connect, How to Bond with Your Bunny.

Now every forum has rules and ours can be found with this link Rabbits Online Forum Rules. This gives guidelines on what is acceptable, what is not and how we hope everyone will treat each other.

Everyone on this forum loves to see pictures of each other’s bunnies. So if you would like to post a picture this link will help you do that, Upload Photo's to Photo Gallery. Then in the post, you click on the "G" in the tool bar to insert your photo. Many people also use Photobucket. You just copy the img file and paste it into the post.

Don’t hesitate to ask questions and I am glad you have joined rabbits online; I look forward to seeing you around.

 

[geekgirl101]

Oh excellent, thank you! I'll be sure to read those.

 

[geekgirl101]

Actually, I could use some advice on how to get the bunnies in/out of their cage without scaring and stressing them too much or having them wander into areas that are currently not bunny proof. Their cage is on a slightly high surface in a room that's not yet safe for them to roam around, so I've been picking them up and putting them down in the hallway next door and vice versa at night time. They absolutely HATE being handled right now, they're reluctant to be touched by hands but they'll happily give hands a sniff and a nudge during the rest of the time. One of them is quite a struggler when it comes to picking her up for bedtime, even when I'm stood up straight she's insistent on getting free if it means I'm gonna drop her on the floor (which I tackle to avoid doing in fear of her hurting herself, but she's done fine work of leaving claw marks across my chest in her attempts to break free.)

 

[Nancy McClelland]

You have to get them used to being handled--being held is another thing. Still, they have to be picked up and held for trivial little things like nail trims, gland cleaning, and to move from the hutch to hallway. Repetition and patience are key and make sure you always have a good grip so they can't squirm and get hurt. We have a litter box full of shredded newspaper and it's in a box with a top--cutouts at both ends allow access and it's what we use to herd them into when it's time to go up. Makes it so much easier. As long as our use their litter box for peeing, we don't care about the poops--why someone who should be sainted invented the "shop vac".

 

[geekgirl101]

I can't tell if they're peeing in the right places yet, we have a straw welcome mat built into the carpet by the front door which they've taken a liking to doing most of their poopies on (and boy can they sh*t for England!), so we've moved their litter box into that area. There are some dark spots on the welcome mat which I can't tell they've urinated on it since those edges sometimes get damp from the atmosphere. It's one reason I've decided to try and buy a baby gate to block that area off so not only do they not use it as a toilet or dig it up but then we can get in and out of the house without fearing of a rabbit dashing out. I have noticed though urine saturated newspaper in what should be their dig box and lots of poopies in that too. Wasn't supposed to be a toilet... ah well, rabbits will be rabbits.

Actually I'm wondering if I'm confusing them with their litter box. I put in a layer of sawdust and a thick layer of hay on top and a number of their poopies and a bit of urine-soaked sawdust, however it's the same sawdust on the floor of their cage and the same hay that's in their hay feeder and what I put in their little cardboard rabbit chapel. This morning I find they picked in their cage yet another corner to do their toilet and when they're out in the hallway I sometimes see them chewing the hay in their litter box but not very often. Should I use a different material for their litter box so they can differentiate it between normal cage ground and toilet area?

 

[geekgirl101]

ok it does seem that they are using the welcome mat as a piddle toilet, and then after they hop into the litter box to munch more hay. Perhaps I'm giving them too much freedom and need to go through the litter training regime.