Life With Pumpkin

[Ocipura]

I've had Pumpkin for a full 24 hours now, and my Hubby and I finally decided on her name.

My first day with her was good! I'm so in love! I never expected her to be as sweet and cuddly as she is, from the reading I did on bunnies before I brought her home. She loves to be petted and has not reacted badly to any place I've touched her. She's really quite confident - not very skittish.

Overnight her first night she peed and pooped some in her little litter box, which was encouraging. But she also pooped quite a bit on the plastic shelf where her food bowl is, and she continues to leave piles of poop up there all day, even though she seems to be peeing a good amount of the time in the litter box. I wonder how I can break her habit of pooping as she eats?

I let my cat meet her today while she was in her cage and they sniffed each other. She was quite self-assured, and my cat Tumbles was very nervous and jumpy. He really wanted to sniff her when she was looking the other way, and any time she stuck her head out the front door to sniff him, he was very wary. I think they will become good friends, since my cat can be a bit of a bully, but she seems to be able to stand up for herself. So that will work well..

I've been told she is a standard Rex, so she will get to be probably a pretty good size. My cat is 15lbs, so I would be worried if it were a tiny bunny that he might break her, but as it is I think it will work well.. She is supposedly 4 mos now and I've been told she may double in size.

She is not spayed, I found out... I was hoping she had been fixed at the pet store. (I didn't get her at the pet store - I got her from a friend who got her at the pet store, and my friend ended up not wanting to keep her.) I'm not sure if we will do it or not. I'm thinking it might depend on how "destructive" she is. If she were a boy and might spray urine everywhere, then we definitely would have it done..but with a female, I'm not sure. I'm worried about the cost vs. whether it will be worth it in the end.

I'm tired, and I've already posted pics in my intro thread..so I'm going to go to bed for now, but I'll be sure to post some pics tomorrow. For now here's one I already posted..

 

[Nancy McClelland]

She's a cute bunny. You will need to get her neutered more than likely. Helps moderate their behavior to a great degree.

 

[Ocipura]

I'm a bit stressed out. Life with a bunny is so new to me, and despite all my reading I felt so unprepared when I brought her home. She brings me joy, but she also stresses me out.

1) Water. My friend that originally got her from the pet store had her drinking from a dish of water, and as far as I can tell she doesn't know how to use the water bottle. But the dish of water gets really dirty really quickly. Somehow poop and pee and food and other stuff always end up in there, and I can't be there to change the water every hour. It would be a lot more sanitary for her to drink from the bottle. I read a suggestion online to put peanut butter or honey on the bottle so she will lick it and discover the water. Now that I think about it, I think we did that with my dogs when I was younger, because they had a similar attachment to the water spigot outside, which they had to lick to get water out. I think we used peanut butter for them, so I'm going to try a bit of peanut butter and see if she gets the hang of it.

2) Out-of-Cage time is stressful for me. No room is bunny-proofed yet. The easiest room to do it in is the guest bedroom, which is where I'm currently keeping her cage, but it's hard. I don't know how to keep her from going under the bed, and there are small cardboard boxes under the cot next to the bed which I use for storage, and I don't want her chewing them. I tried using some make-shift barricades today, but she can slip through surprisingly small spaces, so it didn't work. She was pretty much able to go wherever she wanted. I haven't found any messes yet, and she was never out of my sight long enough to destroy anything, but it still worries me.

3) Potty training. This is the biggest one. I'm pretty stressed about it. At first, I thought she was getting the hang of it rather quickly, but then I discovered that she was sitting on that plastic shelf and pooping as she ate. Lots of poop. At first it was JUST poop, but then she was peeing up there, too, and it was a MESS. I did some more reading online and decided I just will have to keep her food next to her litter box probably, instead of the opposite side of the cage.

BUT I also thought the wire bottom of the cage was a problem for potty training because it separates her from her poop and pee. She can pretty much do it wherever and not have to smell or step in it very much. Besides, I keep hearing about "sore hocks" from wire floors. So I decided to take the wire floor out, clean the plastic bottom of the cage... I moved the litter box next to the food and so now the only "bedding" is in the litter box. None on the floor.

So what did she do when she got back in the cage? Pooped and peed on top of her plastic house/cave thing. Then pooped on the plastic cage floor. And the ramp that goes to the shelf. Sigh!

But I guess..what can I do other than keep cleaning up the messes? Her litter box has the absorbant bedding in it and some poops and a paper towel soaked in her pee... eventually she must get the point right??? The other thing I worry about is - how much poop is TOO much poop in her litter box? I was told to pick up her poops and put them in there, but eventually it will get to the point of being too much, right? And besides it seems messy for her to walk all over it... blech.

I'm just stressed out about it all, and I feel very ...overwhelmed. And kind of alone, since my husband is in Iraq. I keep reading that potty training bunnies is so easy, though...

Sorry to rant, but that's what blogs are for, right?

 

[Ocipura]

Here's a pic... Also, two videos:

Pumpkin has decided she likes to rest in her litter box. I think it's GROSS. But I can't get her out.

[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/I5tfyEF0Ua0&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]
[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/-DBcT4unXqc&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

 

[Ocipura]

Some parts are going well... Others.. not so well. I think since Pumpkin enjoys laying down and resting in her litter box, she has started soiling the shelf where her food is. The last two mornings I have had to clean up a big, nasty mess from that shelf of soft night-poops and urine mixed with hay and stuff that involved practically taking the whole cage apart so I could take the shelf outside and hose it down, plus wiping everything down to get the smell off and kind of disinfect.

I wish I knew whether I was doing something wrong or whether this is just part of the process or whether her cage is just organized poorly or whether the cage is just too small. But surely the cage can't be too small because it was pretty much the biggest, most expensive cage at the pet store, and she's not a BIG rabbit....

I can tell she's happy, though, so that's encouraging. At least I'm not making her miserable, but I'm just stressed about the potty training and the cage...

Also, I keep trying different things to do with the hay, different places to keep it. I want it to be near her litter box, since she likes to munch and poop at the same time, but if I keep it loose on the shelf, she pees and then I have to waste the hay, since we're still working on potty training.

I tried making a pouch out of a rag which I attached to the outside of the cage with clips, but she doesn't seem able to pull through as much hay as she wants. Last night I tried putting a big handful actually in the corner of her litter box, but she managed to scatter it with one swift movement all across the cage floor

 

[MiniLopHop]

Pumpkin is marking her territory. Getting her spayed will drastically reduce her need to do that. Uterine cancer is also extremely high in rabbits, so it is best for that reason too. From the behavior changes in my girls, I can tell you it is 100% worth the money I spent.

Some rabbits just like sleeping in the litter box. It is particularly soothing when they are first getting comfortable somewhere because it has a strong smell of their own territory. How they can feel their urine smell is soothing, I don't know, but they do. I have grates in my boxes so they aren't laying directly on the litter when they do that.

Give it some time. It takes a couple weeks for a bunny to really settle in and start to bond with their people.

 

[Ocipura]

Thanks, Brandy. That's encouraging to hear because I'm really getting overwhelmed with the amount of ...mess... I'm having to clean up

 

[Wabbitdad12]

Each bunny has a unique personality and some are great mess makers. Pumpkin is a beautiful bun.

 

[Ocipura]

So, I've read female buns should be spayed around 6 months. We've got a couple months to go, in that case. But in the mean time, potty time is going much better as I had the (God-given?) inspiration to move her litter box to the opposite corner! Ta-da! No more huge messes! In fact, since I moved it yesterday morning, she has not once peed on that shelf where she's not supposed to. I am sooooo encouraged.

In other news... biting? Yesterday I had some floor time with her for the first time, laying down. Not very comfortable for me as we have tile floors, but I wanted to get on her level. She seemed to enjoy it and was very happy to hop all around me and sniff and nibble my clothes. But then ...

She would hop up to where my hands were in front of me, and I'd hold still for her, and she would nudge me. I want to try and pet her, but before I can do anything, she nips my finger! I do what comes naturally - I go OUCH!! and she just looks at me like What???

So, I'm not too happy about that behavior, and I don't know why she's doing that. If she wants petting, she should know I'd be only too happy to oblige. But I'm not going to pet her if she "asks" by biting my fingers. That's not okay with me!

Other than that, things are going wonderfully!

Pumpkin bein sweet:
[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/fjoYSh6dHm0&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

Pumpkin gets some love:
[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/5mQXCcDGk2E&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

 

[MiniLopHop]

Pumpkin nipping in some ways is a positive sign, that she feels you are a bunn in her warren. However, she has to learn that the furrless "buns" need a nudge and not a nip. Saying ouch is a good first step. I also put my hand over their heads (don't push hard, just a light contact) for a couple seconds and say NO. It works well to let them know it is not acceptable. Rabbits are usually fast learners, but as you found out with the litter box, they can be very stubborn!

Glad to hear the bonding is coming along. There's nothing better than bunny love