New Member, needing help!

[x0xbunbun]

Hello everyone! My name is Leeah and I have a little bun names cuddles.

I don't like to keep him in a cage. So what I do instead is I keep hislitter box food/water in the bathroom, and keep him in there if I'm nothome. Otherwise I try to let him run around and play with the kitties(of whom he LOVES, and they love him. One actually will sit and meowoutside the bathroom door if cuddles is in there).

We got him from a petstore in town. When we brought him home, he waspretty calm. You could pet him but from the very beginning he didn'treally want to be picked up. Which we were ok with and assumed wasbecause we got him from a pet store.

At first, he was really good about running around the apartment. Onlytook him a couple of days to realize where his "litter box" was andwhat to do in there. Although he had a little trouble but I found if Isat his food bowl inside the box (I just use a normal cat litter box)it cut back on about 98% of the problems he was having. But then itjust got out of control, and he just completely disregarded thelitterbox all together.

So, I've been trying to keep him in the bathroom more, and we bring himout for a few hours every night, and he plays with the kitties and thekitties always go into the bathroom to play with him. But he STILLjust... doesn't ever seem to LEARN the whole litterbox thing, exceptfor when he's kept in the bathroom? And even then, if I try to let himout for a few days to see how he does it's like starting over fromSCRATCH.

Another issue is he can be pretty anti-social with my boyfriend& I. Not with the cats, though! He freaking wrestles with themand chases them up and over any and everything!

Do you guys have any pointers as to how to get him completely litterbox trained, as well as get him to be more social? We never corner himand pick him up and make him let us hold him, we're always gentle andslow.

Any help would be great!

 

[Michaela]

Hi and Welcome.:hello That's an adorable bunny you have.

Do you know how old he is? When rabbits go through their "teenage"stage (when the are reaching sexual maturity) they tend to be terribleat using litter trays. A lot of the time, people have young bunniesthat are perfectly trained, then the reach this stage, and it's allgone! Hopefully when he's through it, he will know what he's doing.

Michaela and the girls:brownbunny:brownbunny:brownbunny

 

[x0xbunbun]

*sigh* oh! well that's VERY good to know becausehe's about that age. We got him, in July from the pet store, and hecouldnt have been too old. They didn't know if he was a boy or girlyet, ha ha. So maybe 6 or 7 months old? He used to be so sweet? I'dshake the treat bag and he'd come running and charge me to sit on mylap and eat treats. Now he's... too good or something, ha ha. Must bethose teenage years, right!? Thanks for the reply!

 

[Snuggys Mom]

Sounds like the "terrible teens" to me, too. He's probably just marking territory.

Neutering usually helps.

He sure is a cutie.

 

[aurora369]

Sounds totally like the teen age years!!

So many hormones rampaging through his (or her) little body can beconfusing. Often they feel the need to mark everything, hencethe decline in litter box usage.

You should try to find a rabbit savvy vet in your area, and talk tothem about getting your bunny spayed or neutered. This willhelp to curb the teen age years, won't make it disapear, but willlesson the severity. Plus it has many health benifits.

We have a listing of rabbit savvy vets here on the board, you can poke around and see if one is listed near you:
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_forum.php?id=9

Also, try to clean up any markings or accidents you bunny is havingwith vinegar. It will neutralize the smell, and should helpto re-train your bun.

--Dawn

 

[Michaela]

x0xbunbun wrote:

*sigh* oh! well that's VERY good to know because he's aboutthat age. We got him, in July from the pet store, and he couldnt havebeen too old. They didn't know if he was a boy or girl yet, ha ha. Somaybe 6 or 7 months old? He used to be so sweet? I'd shake the treatbag and he'd come running and charge me to sit on my lap and eattreats. Now he's... too good or something, ha ha. Must be those teenageyears, right!? Thanks for the reply!

Aww, he will be sweet again, my rabbit Berri was so cross and viciousat that age, but now she's as sweet as can be (well...most of thetime!)

Michaela and the girls:brownbunny:brownbunny:brownbunny

 

[missyscove]

You should probably get him neutered.I've heard that helps. Also, perhaps he needs more than onelitterbox for when he's out and about.

 

[maherwoman]

Hello! Welcome to the forum!

I wanted to add one more thing, just in case you didn't have this asknowledge already...be sure that you're not using clay cat litter withyour bun...as this can be quite fatal to have around, both for thedust, and if he ingests any of it, it can cause GI Stasis (blockage inthe GI system), which is quite fatal.

Anyway, like I said, it's worth mentioning, just in case you didn't know already.

I think everyone else gave you GREAT advice, though!

See ya around!

Rosie*