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SaruCharmed

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Joined
Oct 6, 2012
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Location
Stockton, California, USA
On Tuesday earlier this week, I finally got a rabbit after most of a year of desperately wanting one. While I was waiting, I researched everything I could find on rabbits and slowly bought up the things I'd need until I got a job so I would always have money for my rabbit's food. Well now I have a job and a rabbit. :) Her name is Ripley and from what I can tell, she's a castor rex. I'm not entirely sure of the gender yet because she still really doesn't like being picked up even though she's not really afraid of me anymore, so I can't keep her still long enough to properly check. But from what I saw, I think she's a girl.

Anyways, I'm working on litter training her. She keeps wanting to sleep in her litter box and she goes to bathroom in it too but seems to prefer everywhere else. I've tried putting the box where she goes but then she just chooses a new place to go, lol. I plan to use clicker training so I've been trying to associate the click with a treat. She won't always eat things I give her, but she **loves** whole oats. She eats them every time. (Got them from bunnybytes. Great website!) I'm also trying to switch her from pellets to a hay and veggies diet. The first veggie I'm introducing her to is green bell peppers because we already had some. Once her stomach's had time to adjust to that, I will go to the store and pick up a nice leafy green vegetable.

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Welcome to RO! Litter box training can be a challenge. You could try putting her hay rack over the litter box so that when she's eating hay she'll already be in the box to poop and pee. That might help her get more used to using it. It sounds like you really prepared to be a rabbit owner. It's great to see another bun find a loving home.
 
Yes, I sure did. Sometimes I feel like I could've been a little more prepared but I think I'll do fine. There's no substitute for experience. :) And the way her cage is built, I can only put the hay rack in one spot but I did put a pile of hay next to the litter tray. She usually eats from there cause it's easier I guess. I let her out into the playpen for about 2 or 3 hours today (She was binkying all over the place :biggrin:) and I tried to get her into the litter box before she went to the bathroom but I wasn't quick enough. I just put whatever she makes in the litter box and I hope eventually she'll get it.

There's one other thing. She made a lot of cecotropes today that she didn't eat. I don't need to be alarmed, do I?
 
how old is she? if she's pretty young, it's quite normal for them to leave extra cecals lying around. if she's not young, then it could be too rich of a diet/too many pellets... or even just distracted by all the newness. I wouldn't worry - just keep an eye on it for now.
 
I agree to put hay by or even in the litterbox. That can help. Also, getting her spayed (how old is she?) will help with litterbox habits too. Otherwise it's all about keeping up on cleaning the spots that she goes that AREN'T in her litterbox and stay as vigilant as possible to get her to go in the litterbox like putting her poops in there, limit free run time to a small space until she starts using her litterbox more.
Some extra cecals are fine. Agnes leaves some now and again too and when she was young she did it much more. Sometimes they just need time to learn and figure out what is good for them.
Why are you wanting to get her off pellets? Pellets are an important part of their diet. Not THE most important but still needed. You can still introduce veggies in addition to pellets. And obviously hay is needed 24/7.
Welcome to the forum! Your bun is adorable. I have a male mini Rex Archie who is a total clown and he binkys like crazy too! There is lots of information on here about rabbits. Hope to hear more from you!
 
She's still a baby, probably less than a month though the pet store didn't give me an exact age. I've been keeping her in her cage but when she's litter trained I think I'll give her free access to the playpen all day (it attaches to the front of the cage. I don't really want to feed pellets as part of the main diet because of all the things I've read saying they're not very healthy or even necessary. It's possible to feed only a hay and vegetables diet and some people do. I've read several lists about the safe balance of vegetables for bunnies. And if for any reason it doesn't work out very well I can always switch back. I may still feed them as treats too. So far, she seems to ignore the vegetables until all her pellets are gone.
 
If you live in CA, a bunny has to be 8 weeks before it can be sold. So I'd assume he's at least 8 weeks. Veggies shouldn't even be offered until he's a minimum of 12 weeks -- some say to wait longer. The most important thing for a baby is lots of hay, a good amount of pellets (preferably made for juveniles) and water -- nothing more.

I also have heard of pellet-free diets, but I wouldn't even begin to consider it until yours is full grown. For now, he needs to grow and those pellets are recommended.(and veggies are not)

Your bunny's adorable. :inlove:
 
I have also heard of pellet free diets. But I agree with Suzette it should not be started yet.
There are healthier pellets on the market and I believe if fed correctly they aren't "bad" for the bun at all.
If you do a pellet free diet the veggie variety has to be pretty wide range to cover the vitamins and minerals that they need.
12 weeks is the minimum age to start veggies, some even recommend waiting until 6 months. Also a non pellet diet would be a tedious process because each veggie needs to be introduced slowly and one at a time to make sure no adverse reactions. It's way more expensive of a diet and lots of different veggies need to be bought but good for you for wanting the best for your bun.
And I do hope she older than 4 weeks. That would be way too young to be away from momma.
Let us know how things go! Hope to hear more from you! :)
 
:wave: They used to have a bunny show at the fairgrounds once a month--we moved more than 4 years ago so things may have changed. You need to be happy with her using a litter box for urination. Rabbits tend to leave the other little surprises all over for you which is why we have a shop vac. Not all of ours eat the cecals so you don't need to worry about that either. We've had one out of 27 that used her litter box for everything--she was the neatest rabbit ever, but, still the ONLY ONE!
 
Yeah, they said around 8 weeks. So she's at least that old. I bought the pellets they were feeding the rabbits at the pet store. It was Kaytee brand. And I was slowly introducing the vegetables one at a time. She's still eating pellets too. Why is it that young rabbits shouldn't eat veggies? They haven't caused any problems for her so far. I do remember reading that before, but honestly I forgot about it and when I was talking to the vet on the phone he didn't bring it up when I mentioned switching to a veggie diet and I had previously mentioned the age.

@Larry Yeah, even if she only peed in her litter box it'd be a step up. I don't mind picking up regular poops that much because they're not that messy. But I do eventually want her to only go in a litter box that way I can take her places like to a friends house every once in a while maybe and she won't make a mess. Maybe I should buy another litter box? Then she might sleep in one and use the other as a toilet.
 
you might try putting a grid in the litter box to discourage sleeping in it. about a third of the way down the page in this thread are instructions on how to make one - http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=53690&forum_id=93

I love the grid since it also prevents them from standing in their own waste and from digging in the litter (and other stuff).

if you have bedding in the cage (though it looks like you don't), getting rid of that can help encourage use of the litter box as well.

if she's 8 weeks, give it a little time and just keep encouraging her to use the box - as she gets older, she'll have more of an attention span for litter box training. getting her spayed when she's old enough helps as well.
 
Actually, there's bedding in the tray that goes in the bottom. It falls through the holes. Works really well too. I rarely see poops that stay on the top. Maybe I should leave bedding out of there though. It wouldn't be that hard to clean. It's stainless plastic and I have white vinegar. It might make it even easier to clean out if I didn't have to sift through all the bedding.

I was thinking of putting a wire insert in there. I know a nearby breeder (Barbi Brown, you may have heard of her) sells them but I'm not sure if she has the right size.
 
the part she stands on is just plastic though? with the bedding underneath? that should be fine :)

when mine had a store-bought cage, I used carefresh in it and they always peed in their litter box but made a second pee corner right beside it. if she's not able to stand in the bedding, then it shouldn't be confusing for her (which was my problem with using bedding in the cage).

I wonder if she doesn't like to sleep in the litter box because it feels more solid vs the floor with holes in it... a grid in the litter box and something solid on top of one portion of the floor (for her to sleep on) might solve things.
 
SaruCharmed wrote:
Why is it that young rabbits shouldn't eat veggies? toilet.


Their digestive tracts aren't developed enough. IF one of the veggies doesn't agree with her (for example Agnes just can't tolerate spinach even in small amounts like it is recommended) the chances of them not recovering from an adverse reaction are higher. It scary and sad to say, but death from runny stool or stasis can literally happen overnight!! So it's just always advised to wait til 12 weeks or 6 months to give that tract time to grow.
As far as two litterboxes, you could try that. She might still decide to sleep and use the one :p
Honestly I would give it some time AND are you planning on spaying her? That is when the litterbox skills really flourish. I remember these little obstacles when Agnes was a baby and sometimes there is just very few things you can do when they are babies like that to improve litterbox skills. It just takes time and maturing and a spay.
 
I've had pretty good success getting unspayed females to almost always pee in the litter boxes (like 95% of the time)... though I can't say I'm not looking forward to that becoming 100% - I always fuss at them and glare around the pen going "who peed??" when I'm cleaning a puddle off the tarp. they get maybe 70-80% of the poops in the boxes too, though that still leaves quite a few strays. nine more days to go!
 
Yes, I'll spay her (or neuter if she turns out to be a boy, lol - she won't stay still long enough for me to properly check, I barely got a peek) when she becomes old enough. Anyways, she doesn't seem to care where she goes. And she sleeps in the litterbox even if there's a bunch of poo or pee in there. Maybe a wire insert and/or another litter box will help. Or maybe I should just wait and see what happens.
 
I swear by the grids - even if it doesn't stop her from sleeping in there (which I suspect it would), it would at least stop her from sleeping in poop/pee
 
Yes, I'll spay her (or neuter if she turns out to be a boy, lol - she won't stay still long enough for me to properly check, I barely got a peek) when she becomes old enough.

^^^^hahaha, there's plenty of those stories on here. "He" goes to the vet and comes home a "she" or vice versa. The good thing is Ripley will work for either one :)

I have a mini Rex Archie and he is truly hysterical. He is quite the character and his binkys are fantastic! Rexes are adorable and fun buns. I'm sure you'll have so much fun with Ripley.
 
agnesthelion wrote:
SaruCharmed wrote:
Why is it that young rabbits shouldn't eat veggies? toilet.
Their digestive tracts aren't developed enough. IF one of the veggies doesn't agree with her (for example Agnes just can't tolerate spinach even in small amounts like it is recommended) the chances of them not recovering from an adverse reaction are higher. It scary and sad to say, but death from runny stool or stasis can literally happen overnight!! So it's just always advised to wait til 12 weeks or 6 months to give that tract time to grow.
:yeahthat: And we here have seen on this forum that same scenario far too often. Like someone else said, there's no need to rush it. The potential for serious harm to come from it just isn't worth the risk. And there's no benefit to feeding veggies too young either.
 

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