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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.
› Forum › DIET & CARE › new bunny diary
So we’re on day 3 now. He’s peeing in his litter box but not pooing. He discovered the two other levels of his cage and he’s so happy he won’t even leave the cage if I leave the door open.
Every morning before I go to work I sit next to his cage and eat breakfast. Then every evening when I get home from work I sit next to his cage and eat dinner, then I open the door and let him roam around while I sit on the floor and look non-threatening.
I want to show him I’m not going to hurt him, that I’m going to sit there and not grab at him or anything. Which is really hard because he is the softest ball of fluff ever and I really want to hold him.
I want to do it the right way, have a lasting relationship with my bun.
Am I going about this the right way? Any other suggestions?
I think what you are doing is pretty great!
I got my first bunny about 7 months ago and the one thing i hated the most was that she was sooo scared of me and would run if i tried to pick her up. I had my ups and downs with her because she knew that everytime i would pick her up that meant that she had to go back in her cage . It took quite a while for her to actually get used to me. Now she follows me around and everything! One thing i always did was let her sniff my hand and pet her while she was in her cage. To me it helped her get used to me touching her and she just loves being petted!!
As for the litter box, you will never have 100 percent of his poop in there! I honostly could care less whether marley pooped in her litterbox just as long as she peed! since her poop doesnt smell and its easy to pick up!
Just be patient and dont rush things! if you go too fast it will jsut put you further behind to being close to him.
You are doing really well Distract yourself while you are with your bun and bunny will be nosey and see what you are doing!
To help him poop in his box, try putting the stray poops in the box. Thats what I did. It worked. Also, put lotsa hay in the litter box Muliti tasking buns!!!
I had the same problem when it came to putting captain back in his cage. He wouldn’t lemme pick him up because he. Knew it meant he had to go back up. So I started luring him back in and coaxing him into the cage with treats. It helps if the bun sees his cage as his personal space. Try not to reach in and grab him, or his food bowls. Let him come out on his own, and keep the food and water dishes anchored towards the front so you can just pour it in. Captain will even signal when its ok for me to come in to clean his cage by pushing his igloo and dishes out the ront door so the cage is empty they’ll have you trained in no time!
So far I’ve been herding him back into his cage (not chasing, just kind of annoying him lol) all while saying “PJ go home!” so he knows. I have this little hay box in there, and he gets in that tiny little box and pees on his hay. I can’t figure it out. I may just take the box out and sprinkle hay over all the litter.
Jessi, did you reach in and pet her when she was home for the first few days? His cage is so big he runs to his little hidey hole I made him and won’t come out. So I just end up touching him quickly, which probably comes off like a poke lol. I want to start rewarding him when he goes back into his cage with a dried raisin or cherry, but is he too young for that? Too much for his tiny tummy?
Baaahhhh I’m so excited to have a relationship with my bun like you guys do!
I know captain was old enough to handle treats around 2 months. I know what really helped was lettng my fingers through the cage and letting him sniff and rub on me on his own. Buns like to think they’re the boss.
So like, through the side of the cage? I tried to do that at lunch today and as soon as he felt the air around him stir he ran for it!
He seems so petrified. My instinct is to leave him alone, but then he won’t get used to me.
After work last night he wouldn’t come out of the cage even with the door wide open. I put in ramps so he can get to the second and third levels, and now that those are in he won’t leave the cage. He’s not exploring those levels, he just stays in his litter box or hidey hole
Hmmm, well, hay is sorta like litter and bunnies do tend to waste some.. lol. Its practically normal. I put the hay on one side of the litter box.
Is there anything on the ramps that he can hop up to? My bunny used to have a 2nd story and would never go up the ramp. My grandma saw that and she found a cat scratch carpet thing at the petstore and I tied it onto the ramp. She explored immediately!
Young rabbits can be very shy and won’t tend to not show their full personalities for a few months – year. My bunny was scared of me, wouldn’t let me pet her when I got her at 9 weeks old. Now she stare and stare and stare at me until I go to her and pet her head.
I wouldn’t give him too much room outside of the cage, as he is not litter trained fully. He will become hormonal within a few months or so, and he will have stinky poos >.< .. I'm not 100% on males, as I have a female myself.
He’s getting neutered next month, I wasn’t sure if he was old enough to get neutered now lol, being only 6 weeks.
So you think it will get better with time? Lol it’s only been 4 days so I realize this is brand spanking new.
I just want to make sure I’m doing it right. I’m not endangering my future relationship with my bunny cause I’m a graceless oaf who doesn’t get bunny psychology lol
6 weeks?? O.O He is very very young. He should still be with his mama bun
I’m pretty sure he’s 6 weeks. My math sucks, his birthday was July 21?
He’s about 8 weeks old now then. Had me worried! Bunnies shouldn’t leave their mama’s til around 8 weeks old.
Oh lol, I’m sorry I think I’ve been saying 6 weeks, since 6 weeks til now. I forgot to add a week as I went.
I was freaked out for a second, like oh no he was taken from his mama til too early and now something is going to be wrong!
I got Monkey at 7.5 weeks, so your little bun should be fine
Can we get pictures? Pretty please? We really loves pictures and Monkeybun will poke you if you don’t
I like how I grew with my bunny. I needed her as much as she needed me. She bosses me around. *NUDGE THE HUMAN!* Even though she could just go around me instead
I’m at work again! I’ll post more when I get off at 5:30.
He’s so petrified of me!
Oh is this a good time to start cutting down on pellets? And increasing the hay? I have him on Oxbow 15/23
Well he’s still petrified of me. But he eats, climbs his levels, poos in his box now (yes!) and he’s doing great.
I brushed his fur the other day and now he’s all shiny and soft.
Hi! From what I understand bunnies should have access to unlimited pellets until 7 months to a year old. I’ve seen variations, some say 7 months and some say a year, but your bunny is still very young so he’s definitely in the unlimited pellet bracket.
I interpreted unlimited as meaning that any time they’re done with the pellets they’ve been given, you need to top them up
Oh thank you, that helped a lot. I was all worried I was giving him too many and he’d get fat and I’d be a terrible bunny owner.
Good, he’ll be glad to know he can eat to his hearts content
Posted By Otti on 09/19/2010 11:47 AM
Hi! From what I understand bunnies should have access to unlimited pellets until 7 months to a year old. I’ve seen variations, some say 7 months and some say a year, but your bunny is still very young so he’s definitely in the unlimited pellet bracket.
I interpreted unlimited as meaning that any time they’re done with the pellets they’ve been given, you need to top them up
Hi Alina, he’s going to be growing (in terms of general size, not getting fat) very rapidly in the next few months, so he needs all the healthy nutrition he can get
Wonderful. That makes me feel better. I’m excited to start with greens, but not til 12 weeks too. Even the smell of cilantro makes me sick so I’ll have to do other greens lol
Wonderful. That makes me feel better. I’m excited to start with greens, but not til 12 weeks too. Even the smell of cilantro makes me sick so I’ll have to do other greens lol
Yeah I hate cilantro too but I can tolerate the smell okay. No idea how my rabbit can love it so much lol Parsley or romaine are good ones to start with. Just start them one by one when you do, and with tiny portions at first and gradually more slowly. Tiny portions as in literally one leaf of parsley the first day or something like that. Monitor his droppings to make sure he’s not being negatively affected.
BWAHAHA, well, I DETEST cilantro, but I do it anyway.
I started giving Chacha greens after I started lowering her pellet intake. She had non interest before, not even in greens. But she decided to be a good girl and try it… and now she loves her greens. But not carrots lol.
Be sure to feed lil boy small pieces at a time so his belly gets used to the greens. Like one green one week, a new one with the previous weeks one also….
Posted By Alina on 09/16/2010 10:04 AM
I have this little hay box in there, and he gets in that tiny little box and pees on his hay. I can’t figure it out. I may just take the box out and sprinkle hay over all the litter.
That’s a good step. It’s a number 1 way of aiding in litter training, hay in the litter box. You can add a suspended rack above the litterbox also if you want. Even then, rabbits are notorious for getting in their hay racks. lol
Do you have his cage down on the floor? Maybe a ramp or low box next to the cage door might get him confident in coming out on his own. In the beginning, you sort of have to sit back and wait until they feel secure enough to venture out. It’ll happen.
House Rabbit Society is a great resource (along with BinkyBunny.com ) for bunny ownership. Lots of good articles to check out.
http://www.rabbit.org/journal/4-3/new-home.html
Lol the smell of cilantro is so awful it makes me throw up. I might be able to make my boyfriend do it for me.
When you say one green a week, how often do you offer it?
Posted By Brittany on 09/20/2010 05:40 PM
BWAHAHA, well, I DETEST cilantro, but I do it anyway.I started giving Chacha greens after I started lowering her pellet intake. She had non interest before, not even in greens. But she decided to be a good girl and try it… and now she loves her greens. But not carrots lol.
Be sure to feed lil boy small pieces at a time so his belly gets used to the greens. Like one green one week, a new one with the previous weeks one also….
It is on the floor. His first few days he was all over the house, sniffing, sleeping under the bird’s cage, things like that. But then I made ramps so he could access both other levels of his cage. Since I did that he doesn’t leave his cage at all
Posted By jerseygirl on 09/20/2010 06:30 PM
Posted By Alina on 09/16/2010 10:04 AM
I have this little hay box in there, and he gets in that tiny little box and pees on his hay. I can’t figure it out. I may just take the box out and sprinkle hay over all the litter.That’s a good step. It’s a number 1 way of aiding in litter training, hay in the litter box. You can add a suspended rack above the litterbox also if you want. Even then, rabbits are notorious for getting in their hay racks. lol
Do you have his cage down on the floor? Maybe a ramp or low box next to the cage door might get him confident in coming out on his own. In the beginning, you sort of have to sit back and wait until they feel secure enough to venture out. It’ll happen.
House Rabbit Society is a great resource (along with BinkyBunny.com ) for bunny ownership. Lots of good articles to check out.
Oh wow nevermind. I open the cage door and he comes right out. Nevermind!
YAAAY! He took a raisin from my hand this morning! I was cleaning up his third level, and he came up to see what I was up (seeing if I had put a treat there for him. Then later, I let him out of his cage while I got ready. When it was time for me to go I herded him back into his cage, and then reached in with a raisin. He smelled it, took it, and ate it right there. He’s getting used to me! Hurray!
Rabbits can take time to warm up to their new humans. We’re kind of big. But with raisin bribes, you have discovered the fast track method.
Don’t get discouraged though if he snubs ya here and there. If a bunny just hangs out near you and ignores you, that actually is a compliment. Means he is gaining trust. Bunnies that ignore each other are typically offering a body language that says “I’m not a threat to you, are you a threat? ” and if the other bunny is ignoring, then the response is “No, I’m not a threat either right now” This helps them feel a bit more comfortable to take the next step to approach each other.
So the best thing you can do is when he’s out and about is just hang out on the floor nearby and let him approach you. If he runs away when you reach out to him, then just don’t reach out for the first couple of times, just let him explore you. Then get those “bribes” ready for when he does return again, and you want to try and pet him. To prevent from giving too many treats and causing tummy upsets, I recommend cutting up his favorite treat into little bits. So if it’s raisin, try and cut that up (I know it can get a little messy, but then I’d stick those little pieces in a little piece of paper towel or a little plastic baggy for quick easy access when you have to pull out the bribe card at a moment’s notice.
That’s a great idea, I was actually wondering about how many raisins is okay. I’ll start cutting them up.
He is doing the ignoring thing! He runs around the living room and does binkies without giving me a second thought. So should I “ignore” him? I sit next to his cage for breakfast and dinner so he gets used to my presence
Not too many raisins. Like 1-2. I’m not sure, as my bunny doesn’t like raisins
Too much can cause a bun to become fat. I’ve been just feeding my bunny a lil bit of pellets as a treat. i know how much she loves those.
Posted By Alina on 09/16/2010 04:20 PM
He’s getting neutered next month, I wasn’t sure if he was old enough to get neutered now lol, being only 6 weeks.
So you think it will get better with time? Lol it’s only been 4 days so I realize this is brand spanking new.
I just want to make sure I’m doing it right. I’m not endangering my future relationship with my bunny cause I’m a graceless oaf who doesn’t get bunny psychology lol
I read through all the posts to see if anyone had commented on this yet…and I was surprised nobody had. I was under the impression that a bunny should be at least 5 months before being altered. I researched it a little bit quickly….I found males are old enough between 3-5 months old; females between 4-6 months. Looks like it’s about time for my Oliver to go in too
Nugget, you are correct
I got my bunny spayed at 6 months.
Males are little bit earlier and they become little naughty butts with stinky poos ><
Nugget- thanks for catching that. I had only focused on current behavior and missed the neutering comment. Males can be neutered when their testicles drop— which is typically around 3 months – 4 months. Most vets prefer to wait longer for females.
Alina — so was there a reason he was already scheduled to get neutered before 12 weeks or were the plans just loosely in motion?
Sounds like you are doing a good job just letting him getting used to you. I also think that “ignoring” him is a good thing when he’s out doing binkies (means he’s feeling safe and happy already). Just let him approach you, but if he just never seems to come near you then, you can always use the bribe card and he will begin to associate coming to you with something really good. He’s also a young bunny and they are harder to snuggle with for long as they just want to go, go, go at that age. So I would also allow him to tire himself out first, when he is out and about, before approaching him. They are so darn cute though that I know how difficult that is!
Keep us updated.
It was a loose plan, I know it’s an important thing to do so I wanted to make sure I had it done at the right time.
He’s at like 8 weeks now, so I’ll wait. It actually coincides nicely with the bonus I’m getting!
He’s realized that if I reach my hand in and he comes to me I’ll give him a sliver of raisin. Now I just need to work in doing that outside the cage.
You guys are such a great help, I really appreciate it
› Forum › DIET & CARE › new bunny diary