Hey all,
So I’ve not posted on here in a while, but I’ve been lurking and finding lots of great advice as I’ve needed it! However, I’ve got a couple of things I was hoping that some of you bunny gurus could advise me on.
So the back story: I adopted Fifi from a friend at 18 months old, just over a year ago, after she’d spent almost a year being ‘looked after’ by various people and kept in her too-small cage nearly at all times. I had next to no experience with bunnies, but from researching lots on here she settled in really well at mine and she’s a happy, bossy little madam now who has taken over my front room and is spoilt rotten – just as she should be .
So my questions are:
1. Claw trimming
Due to her going for a long time without being handled, she’s almost completely impossible to handle – she assumes she’s going to be murdered as soon as there’s a hint she’ll be picked up. I know it’s her prey animal instinct but still, she should know I won’t kill her ha. So this posed a problem with her claws – after some effort and trapping her in the kitchen where she can’t escape (she won’t walk on tiles) I can just about trim her front claws. These are still too long really because I’ve read that the quick needs to recede over a few fortnightly trims. I trim her front claws by kneeling behind her, and lifting her front gently with my left hand holding her paws and supporting her chest, then trimming with right. If she’s in the right mood, she’ll submit and wait until it’s done before flicking her back paws at me in disgust. However, I’ve absolutely no idea how to even attempt her back claws. Any attempt at a bunny burrito has failed miserably, and I darent put her up on a table as she’ll probably dive off it. She also freaked out at the vet handling her when I took her for a check up.
2. Bunny mess
I got her one of those little rosewood boredom breaker tents that attach to the tunnel, and she adores it – she spends pretty much her whole daytime in there snoozing. However, she also poos an insane amount in there. Honestly, it’s like a poonami every couple of days. She uses her litter tray to wee, but seems to poo all over the tent – where she sleeps! Is that normal? I thought they didn’t really poo where the slept – I thought it was mainly as they ate and in the tray. It could be cetatropes (spelling?) but I’ve not noticed them anywhere else and her diet is pretty good I think – lots and lots of hay and allen and page natural rabbit feed. She only gets small amounts of veggies as an occasional treat as she very sensitive to them.
3. I’m thinking of going on a weeks holiday with the family driving down to Devon – she’s been invited along too! But, I’m wondering if she would be happier staying at home for a week with only someone popping in to feed her, or if she’d be ok with the 6+ hour car journey and then the fuss and attention all week? I’m sure she’d love it once there, but I’m not sure how stressed she would be in the car – I’ve only ever taken her on very short journeys before.
Thanks for reading my excessively long post and I look forward to any advice