Tasmanian Devil and Ruby!

[whitelop]

Foo's schedule is: 7am wake up, get hay and pets.
I open the door then or around 12pm.
At like 3pm she gets lunch. Then she goes and naps in her fur blanket.
Around 6pm she wakes up completely, and eats the rest of her lunch and follows me around.
Around 11pm, she gets dinner.
Then around 3am, I close her cage door. If I remember to, because a lot of the time I won't remember. lol.

 

[Hyatt101]

Cute Morgan! Jennifer: whatever big fancy word that is describes my bunnies to a tee, haha!

 

[Hyatt101]

Ugh... So, litter training is still not going well, even though I thought it was. Taz is going on the grass mat, and Ruby is going in the cardboard box! UGH! Taz is hopping in her litterbox, but just won't 'go'! Will they both establish a corner in the cage that they go in?

 

[Hyatt101]

Taz and Ruby have been sniffing each other through the bars.. no agression though, thank goodness!

 

[Hyatt101]

Okay, I think i have finally figured out the reason why they won't 'go' in the litterbox.... (dun dun dun) They're CORNER litterboxes! If I had the square ones, my theory is that they would use them, because I had this cardboard box in Ruby's side of the cage, and she used it as a litterbox, and I just used hay, not bedding inside it. Is it because its just more comfy for her? Is this the reason? Have I finally struck gold!!?? :bunny19

 

[JBun]

If it's the small corner boxes then yeah, they might just feel too squished in there to go pee. I would pull the grass mat out and the cardboard box, cause they'll just keep peeing on them, and instead line the floor of their litter boxes with hay over a layer of litter, for now, until you are able to get bigger square ones. A lot of times they'll pee in the box with the hay because they are already in there eating the hay, and it's just easy to go potty at the same time. And it might be that the grass feels more comfy on their feet then the real litter does. Just put a nice layer of grass over the litter in their corner boxes for now, and see if that works. If you do get some square ones, you can just use a cat litter box, or even just a plain plastic bin, that's used for storing things in. By the way, what kind of flooring do you have in their new cage?

Do you still let Taz and Ruby have playtime together?

 

[Hyatt101]

They have tile flooring on their cage. They can sniff each other slightly through the bars, but no, i haven't introduced them again... Should I?
I took away the box and mat, and Ruby is laying in her litterbox contentedly, and I think Taz pooped in the litterbox! Tazzie peed on the tile, so I wiped it up, and put the paper towel that had pee on it in the litterbox, and she hasn't peed outside the litterbox, but then again, I don't know if she's peed since then
Oh my word, Ruby looks like the funniest thing the way she is laying! She's resting her head in the itterbox, it's so cute! I'll snap a picture!
Taz is devoted to that little cave of hers, she jumps on top of it, moves it around, the little goof! I noticed she left a lot of cecotropes (sp?) in the first half hour or so of her being in the new cage. Is that normal?

 

[Hyatt101]

I stupidly tried to make doors on the NIC and clipped a few zipties, but because of how it's connected to the grids that make up the floor (tile is on top of the floor grids) they won't open! Grr

 

[whitelop]

I'm sorry you can't get your doors open. You'll figure it out though.

As for litter boxes, I got smaller kitten sized ones from walmart. They were like $2.50 a box.

 

[Hyatt101]

Thanks Morgan!! Everything worked out with the doors, thankfully!

 

[Hyatt101]

So.... The doors on the NIC cage look good, pics are coming!

What do you guys use for good, store bought rabbit toys? My buns just don't seem like they LOVE toys, but maybe they need something more interesting than cardboard toys? I know about grass mats, caves, etc, but what are some more fun toys that they might like? I just feel like the cardboard doesn't entertain them enough, especially Ruby!

Thanks, and sorry no pictures are here yet, but in a few days I will get my cord! Hopefully my blog will be more exciting then! :biggrin2:

 

[Hyatt101]

Taz and Ruby seem to be litter box trained...? No poos/pee outside the litterbox since I put the pee-soaked paper towel in there and put hay in there... I shouldn't get my hopes up though!

 

[JBun]

I think the cecotropes might just be from her being distracted by her new cage. I'm glad she likes her little hay cave. They sound happy in their new home I was just wondering if you had let them play together. It's really up to you if you want to do it. Just be ready to split them up if it looks like there might be a fight. I have a 4 mo. old boy and 10 week old boy together and they are best buddies. The older boy is starting to get his hormones in. He doesn't really bug the baby but I may need to separate them soon. They are so happy snuggling and grooming with each other that I don't want to separate them until I have to.

That's very hopeful on the litterbox training. Let's hope it sticks, right I have several different toys I try. Some of my bunnies like toys better then others. One of my rabbits loves this hanging chew toy. It's a chain with a bell on the end and a bunch of wooden blocks on it for him to chew on. It's funny, he'll play with it by sticking his nose under it and tossing it over his back. He does this over and over again, but he doesn't chew on it. All of my other rabbits don't play with theirs but they like to chew the blocks. I have some hard plastic wiffle balls, but my buns don't seem as interested in those. I make willow rings and my buns love to chew those up. I bought some willow balls and they like those too, but it's kind of expensive when it just gets chewed up in one day. Hard dried pine cones are a good chew toy that my rabbits like too. When they are better litter box trained, you can start giving them cardboard dig boxes to dig in and chew up, and fleece blankets to dig on and snuggle in, but you don't want to give those to them yet until their litter box habits have improved.

 

[whitelop]

Foo loves tp rolls. Sometimes i get her willow balls, but they get pricey like Jenny said. She also has hard plastic rings, that are baby toys that she likes. They're attached to her cage side and top. She rattles them to get my attention.

 

[Hyatt101]

That's cute Morgan!

I think I will keep introducing them, but they're sniffing each other through the bars, and they seem fine!

As for the litterboxes, both buns are doing well! There was only pee in the litterbox, and just a few stray poops outside the litterbox. The rest was all in there! :biggrin2

Last night, Ruby dead-bunny flopped in her litterbox! It was so cute! my mom called me in, and she was like, "Christina... come here... I think... something's wrong with Ruby!" Now, my mom is tolerant of the buns, but she doesn't know a thing about them! So, I went in, and Ruby was dead bunny flopped in her litterbox! I told my mom what it was and why they do it, and she didn't really get it, but oh well! She was the same way when I told her about cecotropes!

 

[Hyatt101]

Ahh! Does anyone else not like this new software? No offense, but i can't find anything!

 

[JBun]

Yeah, I'm totally lost too.

Lol, that is so funny about Ruby and your mom's reaction. That's why you have all of us. We all love to hear about each others rabbits and totally understand the funny and cute things they do

 

[whitelop]

The first time I saw Foo DBF I flipped out! I ran over to her cage and pretty much screamed at her because she looked totally dead! hahaha. So I can see where your mom was coming from. But that is such a great thing that she is already flopping out like that! She seems like a really easy going bun who is really comfortable already! It looks like you got yourself a great little bun!

 

[Hyatt101]

Thanks I really love her!

Also: can anyone tell me how to make it so that when replies are posted to threads I follow, it goes to my email? It used to do that, but now with this software, it doesn't.


Now I'll do a little update:
So, their NIC cage now has doors, thank goodness! And they've started to not use their litterboxes to poop again! :X I haven't seen any pee on the floor of the cage, but Ruby is pooping near her litterbox, and Taz is just everywhere! I guess it'll take some time!

Do any of you guys have ramps in your NIC? Right now, I don't, and my buns are so small, they can't jump up to the next level. If you had ramps, how did you attach them to the level and floor of the cage?

 

[whitelop]

I don't have a NIC cage, so I can't help you with that one.
But I can help with the litter box issues. Since they're aren't spayed yet, they aren't 100% poop in the litter box yet. They probably won't be until you get them spayed. You could sweep up their poops and put them in the box, so they get a better idea of what needs to happen in the box, but they probably won't always poop in there.
Even Foo, who is nearly perfect with her pee box habits, she will still poop outside her box in her cage and when she is out. She is better now, but she still poops outside the box. Its just something that happens with rabbits, and something to get used to. hahaha. They poop like a million times a day and would have to sit in their litter box all day long to get every single one in there!