A couple questions

[Skybunny11]

So Ive been gone for 3 months on a big vacation. I came home and my rabbit had an accidental litter. Now they are 2 and a half months old and I decided to keep one, the rest found homes though. Twinkie is my black and white french angora and mini rex mix. I decided just in case of him getting out with one of my does I would keep him inside, my pet bunny :biggrin2:Yesterday he moved into his inside cage from the shed. Already I can tell this lil' mutt is gonna be one of my best rabbits. Now, I have a feeling he is alergic to pellet, he has the sniffles and coughs. BUT now my other two bunnies Ace and Sky (Sky is aces son) have an allergy to it, so they get veggies and fruit there main meal (but they always have pellet handy a little bit won't hurt them). Now Twinkie is also Aces son, I think he has the same allergy. Yesterday I gave him an apple and his sniffles are already clearing up a bit. Now, he lives in my room and so far he has had little times out, such as like 10-30 minutes per time out and Im in the room with him.

I want him to know that when he is tired, hungry, or needs to go to the bathroom his cage is what that is for, he doesn't go into his cage volunterily but he doesn't use the bathroom in my room (yet) unless he is in his cage with the door closed. I am going to start litter box training tomorrow. Here are my questions...

-Any tips on litter box training?

-Will he eventually figure out that food/water...ect. is in his cage?

-He doesn't like coming out of my room because of the slippery hard wood throughout the rest of the house, if he ever goes on the wood to actually walk around/run around would that mess up his legs in any way?



Thankyou

 

[HerbyBear]

Well from reading about other people's litter training stories and personal experience, it can either be really easy or quite difficult (some rabbits are so stubborn, lol). What I did was find his favorite spot to go to the bath room and placed the litter box there. Filled it with "litter" and added hay to a corner of the litter box as well. Rabbits like to eat and "go" at the same time. I would suggest not putting a bedding down in the rest of the cage as well because that can confuse them. Then when you catch your bunny in the act of pooping or peeing outside if his litter box, pick it up or soak it up and put it in his/her litter box and bring it to their attention. Then repeat "Poop here, "insert name"" multiple times, in a firm voice. The bunny should get the concept. Also, I would suggest putting additional litter boxes outside of his cage (basically wherever else he is permitted) so that it encourages good potty behavior.

I would assume that he would figure out where the food and water is. Try showing him where it is at multiple times. Also, don't ever force him in or out of his cage. That is his home and you want him to be able to feel that way. When you want him to come out, open the door and wait for him to come out on his own. And when you want him to go in, guide him in with a slight nudge (never place him in on your own). This may give him more incentive to proceed into his cage on his own more often to do things such as eat, drink, and potty.

As per the wood floor, I know that injures are possible but usually rare. Although they slip and slide sometimes, rabbits are smart. There is this plastic type tiling in my boyfriend's kitchen which my bunny will try and run on and will end up slipping and stuff but quickly remembers the carpeted living room has 100X more traction. So far, he is fine. He just looks silly. Although I am not saying that it's impossible, just not likely I don't think. If your bun doesn't like the wood because he doesn't feed safe and secure on it, then don't make him go on it

Sorry for the lengthy response, but I hope that helped! Good luck :nod

 

[funnybunnymummy]

Some rabbits react to some pellets because they're dustier than others. You could try him on a different pellet and see if his sneezing and coughing clears up.

Since he's just been moved into the house, I'd keep him primarily in his cage (with his food, water and litter box) for 5-7 days until he's consistently using his litter box. By then, he'll FOR SURE know where his food and water is!

There's a TON moreinfo about litter training in the library:

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

The hardwood floors shouldn't hurt him. We've got lino floors and Gus has had some spectacular wipe-outs on them and I've never noticed any issues. They learn how to hop on slippery floors soon enough. If you're worried, you could always see about putting some runners in the halls or whatever.

Hope that helps!

Rue

 

[Tweetiepy]

Do the bunnies scratch the floors? Peaches has jumped down from my cedar steps in the backyard and I can see claw marks - would the floors mark up too?

 

[Skybunny11]

Herby- Thanks for the info, I usually don't make him come out, he wants to come out all the time, but Ive tried gently coaxing him in, with food even, and he won't budge, he hates the cage. Well he doesn't hate it but he prefers to be running free. I am going to the petstore today and I will get his litter box, some litter, and Im also picking him up some soy pellet to see how that works. I fed him apples yesterday and he stopped sneazing so today he got some veggies, enough to last him through the day.

Funnybunnymummy- Its hard to keep him primarily in his cage, I open the door to feed him and he shoots out thinking its play time. He leaps about, so I just let him run about while Im doing my morning animal chores (fish, mouse, other rabbits...ect.) and then I place him back in his cage.

Also one more question, how often should I clean out his cage? I clean out my other rabbits cages every 5 days, but there cages are slightly bigger then his and most of them live in a shed. I was thinking every 2 or three days for him. His cage isn't small but its smaller then my showers and breeders.