New Member: Julie and Baxter! the bunny

[juliew]

Hi, my bunny Baxter! (yes you have to use an exclamation point in his name) are new to the whole pet/owner relationship. Baxter! was found in the wilds of Van Nuys, CA and was half starved. He's been to the Vet and received a pretty clean check up (blood work - fine). Couple of questions - as Baxter! is 9 months old and not neutored should he be? Secondly - whats the best way of litter box training him?

Tried throwing in samples of his urine to his litter box (same box where his food is - as he eats he poo's so thought they go hand - in - hand).

Secondly - I hoping to get him a permanent home in a "crazy bunny" household and willing to get him fixed and adopt him out with all the his various housing units I have bought (he is getting VERY spoiled).. I have a 19 year old cat that is none to happy with the new addition..

Any suggestions and leads for adoption appreciated.

Gotta love bunnies - they are just fascinating.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Hi and welcome to the forum! How awesome of you to take Baxter! in. Any chance you might want to keep him? They seem to be addictive.

As far as neutering, yes you should it helps with behavioral issues. You can have this done anytime by a Rabbit Savvy Vet.

As far as litter training, I would suggest using a food dish for his pellets and a separate litter box for training purposes. Normally, the only "poos" buns eat are their cecals, which they need for nutrition. It's great that you are wiping up any messes and placing them in the pan though.

Here's a link from our Bunny 101 section on litter training as well:

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12213&forum_id=17

You could also start a thread in our Rescue Me section of the forum for getting him adopted. If you could also just go in to "My Account" and add your location to your profile so others will know where you are, that would be great! We also have members that can possibly help with transport when it's needed to get him to his forever home!

Again, welcome to the forum and thanks so much for taking Baxter! in!

Best of Luck!

 

[tonyshuman]

what a fun bunny Baxter! must be!! :biggrin2: grats on saving him from the wild. it's so ridiculous that people think domestics can just be "set free!" :X

as for neutering, if you can see the goolies, they can go. a neuter is usually a pretty noninvasive procedure, and it should REALLY help in litter training. another thing that can help is only putting hay in/near the litterbox, not his other food (not sure from your description how your setup is). they like to eat hay and poo at the same time, like you said. finally, don't really sweat about pooing in the box--neither of my bunnies are super about that. they pee there, and that's all i require!! i don't know how to get them to poo only in the box myself...:?

oh and welcome!

 

[juliew19673]

Hi Baxter's! foster Mom here, thanks so much for the suggestions and yes I would LOVE to keep Bax permanently but have a 1 bdrm loft that I share with my cat Tbone who is 19 years old (had since she was 5 weeks old) and a boyfriend that is now concerned as since we've been together I've rescued a spider (black widow that I was more afraid of and wanted to keep where I could see it but then started feeding it crickets and became rather fascinate with it - her name is Venom) and 2 finches that I found at my office - that have had 3 clutches of babies that were successfully adopted out - but now Baxter! found me and my boyfriend is thinking "they just keep getting bigger - these animals that I rescue".. Funny but true and I know he really wants a dog. I'm not going to give Baxter! to just anyone though and getting more attached to him daily but do wish to get him litter box trained before I pass him along and to have him neutored, so that I know he will have a better chance at a home and hopefully, not repeat what happened to him (I'm assuming). Thanks and any advice for someone that has never had the honor of living with this type of creature is SO appreciated.

 

[FallingStar]

Welcome to RO! :wave:


That's so nice of you to take Baxter! in. So do you kow if your going to keep the little guy?

You've got a full house! :biggrin2:

 

[juliew19673]

Baxter! is wonderful - last night he gave me bunny kisses (this was a first). Hard to think of letting him go - but again, with the right family he would have more freedom in a house and not be cooped up behind baby gates or left out on a patio alone all day.. Love the little guy though.

 

[BratBunny]

Aww so sweet. Welcome to the RO!!