Meet br'er... is he a mini rex mix?

[brerrabbit]

This is 5 month old Br'er. When I adopted him, they told me he is a rex mix breed and that he is underweight.


He weighs 3lb09oz right now. I'm wondering if hes maybe actually a mini rex mix with english spotted? I haven't any clue about determining breed, so if any1 has any ideas it would be helpful...

Notice his little emoji pattern on his side ? (He has nicer hay than that straw looking stuff btw).

He's made himself at home and is marking territory all over my living room. He loves peeing on my sofa beside me, licking my arm before and after. Is this weird? I keep moving him to his litter box when I see him pee. Any tips and tricks to redirect him and protect my sofa would be appreciated!


He has vet appt next week for his vaccines and I will get some more advice regarding when he can be neutered (adoption centre say he doesnt weigh enough yet).

 

[Blue eyes]

He's adorable. You may want to post some photos in the Rabbitry and Show Room section for breed ID. That is where our experienced Rabbit Show members are more likely to see the pics and answer.

Until he's litter trained, it really isn't recommended to let him free roam. He'll only establish bad habits. Rabbits tend to go potty again wherever they have gone before (any lingering odor will attract them). Too much space is only going to make potty training that much more difficult or even unlikely. It is much easier to train a rabbit to do the right thing than to try to un-train an undesirable action.

For now, you'll need to block access to the couch completely. They like to potty on soft areas (like a couch, blankets, soft rugs, etc.). He needs to be kept from such areas to firmly establish the litter box as his place to go.

That brings us to the litter box itself. Setting it up in such a way that it is enticing for the rabbit is the key. Once it is setup in the right way (check here) then he should be confined to a small area that includes his litter box. If he's hormonal, he may not take to litter training, so be patient. Once he's fixed and once he's give the requisite time after surgery for those hormones to fully dissipate, then he should do much better. When that time comes, it is still recommended to confine him to a smaller area with the litter box.

Once he's consistent with peeing in the litter box 100% of the time (don't worry about the poos), then his roaming area can be expanded in increments. Offering too much space, too soon, can cause setbacks on the training. It really is a process that takes some time. But by following this process of gradual increments, it will still be the quickest way to achieve having a litter-trained, free roaming rabbit.

Here's more on free-roaming:
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/free-roaming-how-to.html

 

[ElfNugget]

Hi
I would like share with you how we went about moving Elf from his cage to fence panel - from one level to two level and then gradually expanding the space of the enclosure and then taking parts it off whilst we are home n getting Elf used to “no fence panel” during the day but at night we put the panels back up. This took over 6 months.
In the end he took over the whole lounge room but strangely my hubby did not complain too much
And now he is free roaming
He has his little area in the bedroom that he shares with my daughter.

 

[ElfNugget]

Sorry I ran out of the time limit to add the photos.

I hope you can see the progression from the cage we got when we first went to adopt him, to a small enclosure… to taking over our lounge room but with patience … from both Elf and our five family members and Ocean, we got a successful free roaming and very hoppy bunny!

P. S you will find after your cute is neutered, litter training will be easier too. But the progression from small to bigger space gradually helps. We also used our kids umbrella sheets (for when we toilet trained kids to sleep on big beds) helps. It is the pink mat you can see

 

[ElfNugget]

This is 5 month old Br'er. When I adopted him, they told me he is a rex mix breed and that he is underweight.
View attachment 63874

He weighs 3lb09oz right now. I'm wondering if hes maybe actually a mini rex mix with english spotted? I haven't any clue about determining breed, so if any1 has any ideas it would be helpful...
View attachment 63875View attachment 63876View attachment 63877
Notice his little emoji pattern on his side ? (He has nicer hay than that straw looking stuff btw).
View attachment 63878
He's made himself at home and is marking territory all over my living room. He loves peeing on my sofa beside me, licking my arm before and after. Is this weird? I keep moving him to his litter box when I see him pee. Any tips and tricks to redirect him and protect my sofa would be appreciated!

View attachment 63879
He has vet appt next week for his vaccines and I will get some more advice regarding when he can be neutered (adoption centre say he doesnt weigh enough yet).

Love the hay ball you have for your boy! He is a cute bunny

 

[brerrabbit]

He's adorable. You may want to post some photos in the Rabbitry and Show Room section for breed ID. That is where our experienced Rabbit Show members are more likely to see the pics and answer.

Until he's litter trained, it really isn't recommended to let him free roam. He'll only establish bad habits. Rabbits tend to go potty again wherever they have gone before (any lingering odor will attract them). Too much space is only going to make potty training that much more difficult or even unlikely. It is much easier to train a rabbit to do the right thing than to try to un-train an undesirable action.

For now, you'll need to block access to the couch completely. They like to potty on soft areas (like a couch, blankets, soft rugs, etc.). He needs to be kept from such areas to firmly establish the litter box as his place to go.

That brings us to the litter box itself. Setting it up in such a way that it is enticing for the rabbit is the key. Once it is setup in the right way (check here) then he should be confined to a small area that includes his litter box. If he's hormonal, he may not take to litter training, so be patient. Once he's fixed and once he's give the requisite time after surgery for those hormones to fully dissipate, then he should do much better. When that time comes, it is still recommended to confine him to a smaller area with the litter box.

Once he's consistent with peeing in the litter box 100% of the time (don't worry about the poos), then his roaming area can be expanded in increments. Offering too much space, too soon, can cause setbacks on the training. It really is a process that takes some time. But by following this process of gradual increments, it will still be the quickest way to achieve having a litter-trained, free roaming rabbit.

Here's more on free-roaming:
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/free-roaming-how-to.html

Thanks so much for your helpful advice. That's such a shame tho - he is like a little lap rabbit already.
I guess I can put up with the mess till he is neutered and see if it calms down a little, it's not like I have to answer to anyone when the sofa is ruined . Is it true litter training might not even happen if a rabbit isnt fixed?

Tbh he is sticking to the same 3 patches on the sofa, so today I've just been:
Moving him to the litter tray,
Mopping up with kitchen roll,
Cleaning with dr Beckman pets upholstery cleaner,
Putting a puppy pad on the affected area to catch the next mess.
I keep moving the soiled pads to under the litter tray.

It may not get him litter trained for now but its helping a little and maybe if I reassess the situation once he is neutered. I can think about a new sofa then, would that help?

Thanks a lot for the useful links too, I've found them really informative and I really appreciate that. I've no doubt the sensible thing would be to follow your advice.

I just really want him on the sofa with me the way he jumps up n chills with me melts my heart.

 

[brerrabbit]

Sorry I ran out of the time limit to add the photos.

I hope you can see the progression from the cage we got when we first went to adopt him, to a small enclosure… to taking over our lounge room but with patience … from both Elf and our five family members and Ocean, we got a successful free roaming and very hoppy bunny!

P. S you will find after your cute is neutered, litter training will be easier too. But the progression from small to bigger space gradually helps. We also used our kids umbrella sheets (for when we toilet trained kids to sleep on big beds) helps. It is the pink mat you can see

Your bunny is SO cute and so is your lovely budgie

Thanks for sharing, that looks like a great example and the end result looks lovely and homely for your bunny too. His little bed is adorable!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Very cute, but not a Rex--they have only the short under-fur and their whiskers are way shorter. Looks like our boy Finn--he was supposed to be part Havana/Mini Rex and had the same coloring and was of smaller stature--they could have been siblings

 

[brerrabbit]

Very cute, but not a Rex--they have only the short under-fur and their whiskers are way shorter. Looks like our boy Finn--he was supposed to be part Havana/Mini Rex and had the same coloring and was of smaller stature--they could have been siblings

Thank you for this info. Crazy now I know less after learning more I wonder what he is... ancestry.com for bunnies would be great lol

 

[JBun]

Could be a rex mix, without the plush rex coat. But there's no way to know when it comes to mixes, unless they have very clear breed identifying traits(eg. rex coat), you see the rabbits parents, and/or completely trust the breeder giving you the information.