Chit Chat - Anyone have a house rabbit?

[Hannah1984]

I have just brought a 10week old male rabbit, called Smudge! He is very very cute and just starting to settle in.

He lives in his own special hutch in the kitchen and we open the door to it when we are home, so he can come out if he wants. He hasnt made any "mess" outside of his hutch apart from the odd poo on the first few days, luckily he hasnt urinated out of his hutch. We have just brought a litter tray which have put in the corner he uses most for urinating in, but he is still using the rest of his cage to wee and poo in. Anyone got any advice to help me so he only goes in his litter tray? I dont mind too much that he goes in his hutch, as I would rather he did it there than on the lounge floor!

Any tips or anything like that will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Tsia]

Hi, I have 2 house rabbits.
Aww thats sweet, I makes me remember the day we got our 1st one, Freddie. He is a year old now.
At the start, he was difficult to train and didnt want to wee or poo where we wanted. After some monitoring, I found out that wherever he had smelt the wee/poo from the last time, he would go in the same place again... so I used that to my advantage.
I put some 'already dirty' sawdust from his living quarters in a litter tray and he started going there. But then he started doing his business in the old places too. So I SCRUBBED out with discinfectant the whole living area and filled up the corners with bowls of food or treats on plates so he couldnt back into them.
He soon learnt. After he reached his version of puberty he started doing it everywhere again. The vet advised to get him neutered and we did which stopped that in an instant.
Now, after moving home, we got a little girl (Pepper) who does the same and we had to start all over again with the litter training.
However, she has just healed after her op at the vets and theyre both ok now.
They now have a spare bedroom to sleep in at night. And we just open the door when we come in. We have gone from sawdust to wood based cat litter as it doesnt go everywhere. (I was sick of hoovering all the time)

 

[Tsia]

... OH.. something else I forgot..
Make sure all the wires and cables are out of your bunnies reach too 'cos their teeth are razor sharp and you wont realise whats happened until you go to use your appliance!
Ive gone through 3 phone chargers and one day, I was in the lounge and there was an almighty loud bang and Freddie went darting upstairs...
After wondering what was going on I saw a slight nibble in the extension lead that my partner had used to mow the lawn, it was still plugged in! I followed Freddie upstairs and found him taking refuge under the spare bed where he usually sleeps. The poor little might was trembling and he had FRIZZY WHISKERS!! (dont laugh) Could have been dead poor little thing.
Ever since that day we make sure everything is out of reach.

 

[marine]

I have a 5yr old rabbit called badger and he lives in a hutch outside he use to just poo and wee in his litter tray but now he uses the opposite corner as well.When he is out in his run he never does any mess but when he comes in the house he leaves droppings around the living room, this has only happened in the last 6 months it's very annoying and i think he is just a typical bloke....thank god rabbit's poo is dry and you can sweep it up.Sorry this has'nt been much help but sometimes i think rabbit's are stupid!!!!!!my rabbit is outside at this moment in his run sitting in the rain, he loves it(his run is half covered over).Good luck!!!

 

[fificharlie]

Rabbits are NOT stupid, they are lovely little animals and make great pets.

I have a house - Guinea pig called Malcome, he is the sweetest thing ever. When he gets all happy he jumps in the air and squeeks really loud! I thought he was in pain, so I took him to the vets and he told me its normal behaviour when they are happy / excited! Bless!

I started with putting newspaper down, as they dont make much mess, and he just went on it straight away! I then put the paper inside a litter tray and he went in the litter tray. Now thats his place for the toilet. They are really intelligent, and I'm sure he will get used to going outside of the hutch in the tray. The comment about putting soiled sawdust in it is a really good idea too!

 

[wondernail]

My aunt had to put her house rabbits outside when they started to dig up her green carpets thinking they were grass!!

 

[Tsia]

Rabbits have a natural instinct to dig and are very inquisitive.
My 2 house rabbits completely plucked my old carpet when we first moved.
I replaced it and they dont seem half as interested since we got them toys and things to toss about.
I was told by a vet that rabbits need to be stimulated all the time and their constant nibbling of everything ensures their digestive tract is kept in motion. He even said that if they didnt have a constant supply of something to nibble they could seriously damage their insides, never mind their constantly growing teeth!!
We got loads of toys, bits and healthy treats for them to keep their interest all the time and they have never touched the carpets since!
They cost me more in toys than my 3 boxers!
(P.S. They all live harmoniously amongst eachother by the way)
xx

 

[Rachel Mary]

Nope, no house rabbits, only 3 house kids.
xxxx

 

[Pixi]

Still training my first house rabbit. Got the toilet thing sorted by putting a bit of sawdust that she had used in her litter tray and she got the idea. Only downside is that rabbits are really clean animals, so when her litter tray is 'slightly used' she'll go elsewhere in her cage.

She's ruined my quilt cover by digging with her claws. Now she's got toys to play with she's ok. I hope she doesn't start on the carpets though. That would certainly cut down the amount of spending I do on nail products if I have to buy new carpets.

Pix

 

[marine]

I put down cat litter pellets the wood type and find it better than newspaper because my rabbit use to take out the paper and rip it up and he'd be left with nothing in his litter tray and paper in his living area.Thinking of banning badger from the house as he's pooing to much, yesterday he was outsde in his run and no mess, brought him in to show my mum and dad and he pooped on the rug so he quickly went back to his hutch.

 

[Hannah1984]

Thanks for responses everyone. Been away from site for a while so had forgotten about this post.

Well Smudge has now been with us for a week and we have had some fun! Only today has he tried to chew the wires so I have quickly hidden them away or covered them up!

The litter training is going well, he still uses some of his hutch to poop and pee in but most of it is in the litter tray.

He has has first check up with the vet tomorrow, hopefully she can give me more idea of his age as only have rough estimate in weeks from shop we brought him from.

His character is certainly starting to come out, will post some pics!


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