My new bunny, and cage set-up, help D:

[assen]

So, I just got a new 10 week old netherland dwarf, and im not quite sure how I should set his cage up.

Heres a picture of it right now--> http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/1474/img00010g.jpg

What should I add/remove?

Does he have enough room?

Thanks

 

[Snowballbun]

How big is the cage dimension wise?

 

[assen]

Its about 2.5 feet long, 1.5 feet wide, and 1.5 feet high?

 

[jcottonl02]

From the picture it looks plenty big enough for now, but he is a very young netherland dwarf lol so will be TINY haha. As he grows, he will need a bigger one, in my opinion.

Does he have a large pen to have exercise in?

Jen

 

[assen]

Okay thanks for the advice, does it look like a nice living environment? Missing anything?

And yeah I let him run around in my room, lots of space for him, eventually ill bring him outside, etc.

 

[jcottonl02]

That's good

Yeah it looks lovely. Really homey. What do you use for the flooring- the multicoloured stuff?

What I might suggest is a little cardboard box for him to hide in- just to get away if he wants to feel 'safe' etc.


Jen

 

[crystal]

The only thing I would say that could be changed, based on my limited experience and seeing other people's advice in similar situations...

I think people recommend only having litter in the litter box, and having some blankets/towels/mats on the floor in the rest of the cage. Just gotta make sure your bunny doesn't chew fleece too much.

I guess it would be confusing to a bunny, when they are meant to go to the toilet in one place, but then all the rest of the cage has the same litter stuff all over it. so then maybe they think the whole thing is their toilet? I think that's the idea...

Apart from that it looks good. cute bunny too

 

[~*sAbRiNa*~]

I agree with Crystal, only put litter in the litter box. I also had those training pearls to being with. I slowly switched her over from the pearls to carefresh in her litter box over about 2 weeks. It worked out well because that's about how long it took the bag of pearls to finish up. She is amazing at using the litter box from using those pearls so I hope that it works out as well for you as it did for me.

Also, the hanging treat is good once in a while but not all the time. I let Sabrina have a few bites every couple of days and then take it away. Or I break off pieces. Although bunnies love them they are basically pure sugar! Also, while he is still young you can give him the treats and pets at the same time so that you guys can bond

 

[Yurusumaji]

To replace the hanging treat you could set up a Critter Kabob with wood chews and lava blocks on it. Michiko loves hers and it helps keep her teeth well-trimmed.

 

[jcottonl02]

OH that multicoloured stuff is litter, on the floor? I couldn't work it out.

You don't need litter on the floor and the tray, so you can line it with hay, or safe vet-blankets etc.

Jen

 

[assen]

jcottonl02 wrote:

OH that multicoloured stuff is litter, on the floor? I couldn't work it out.

You don't need litter on the floor and the tray, so you can line it with hay, or safe vet-blankets etc.

Jen

Nonono, the multicoloured stuff is pet bedding not litter lol, I only have litter in the box

 

[crystal]

Sorry! my mistake, it looks very similar in colour to what it's the litter box...

So what is the bedding? is it a blanket type thing? the pattern of it looks like its a lot of individual pieces? hard to make out from the picture...

 

[assen]

Yeah its individual pieces of bedding

 

[crystal]

I don't really have an opinion on that bedding stuff, as I said to you in the PM. I wonder what other people think about this confetti type bedding?

I would personally prefer old towels and blankets I think, reuseable and easy to wash etc. probably better for the environment too (what is that bedding made from?).

 

[jcottonl02]

It is this Carefresh stuff

http://www.petmountain.com/show_product/522450/?utm_source=shoppingdotcom&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=522462

Any advice on it? Apparently it's dust-free, pine and cedar free, non-toxic and colour fast. ETS- AND environmentally friendly


I worry about old towells being chewed and ingested? What about the 'vet-beds'- anyone try those? Or are towells the way to go?



Jen

 

[elrohwen]

Even though it's obvious to you that there is bedding on the floor and litter in the box, your bun can't tell the difference. It all looks like litter to him! I would take out the bedding and use fleece blankets instead so he knows where he should be peeing. Using bedding like that can be confusing because once your bun thinks the whole cage is a litter box, it's hard to train them away from that.

 

[FelipesMommy]

Huh, I have some "bedding" pellet type stuff lining my cage too and litter training is just not happening for us (he's not neutered yet). Do you think switching to cloth would help?

 

[elrohwen]

I think the first step in litter training is to take everything off of the floor of the cage and just put litter in the litter box. If the only absorbant place is the litter box, your bun will figure it out. After a little while you can put fleece blankets down on the cage floor and hopefully your bunny will continue going in the litter box.

Felipesmommy, I think it will help immensely. Right now he just doesn't understand that the litter box is the only place he should be going potty.

 

[jcottonl02]

elrohwen wrote:

Even though it's obvious to you that there is bedding on the floor and litter in the box, your bun can't tell the difference. It all looks like litter to him! I would take out the bedding and use fleece blankets instead so he knows where he should be peeing. Using bedding like that can be confusing because once your bun thinks the whole cage is a litter box, it's hard to train them away from that.

I doubt that the rabbit would use it's whole cage as a litter box, although, granted there's a possiblity it might confuse them a little, because they just don't do that. They choose one, perhaps 2 'spots' in which to use as a toilet, usually corners, and keep them. The litter tray can then be 'moved' to that appropriate corner, to show them the litter tray should be used.
If the bun is using the whole thing as a toilet, that might be a cause for concern, urinary tract wise.

They will probably have the odd 'accident' outside the litter tray, but this can just be soaked up and moved to the litter tray itself, so encourage the bun to use it.

I do agree though that perhaps some safe blankets etc. might be a better solution, if for any other reason that it will save you a LOT of money, and there would probably be a lower risk of the bun ingesting a lot of it (I would think anyway).

Jen

 

[irishbunny]

The Care Fresh stuff is safe, quite a lot of people use it in the US