Help! Diet and litter training questions

[Katharine]

Hi Everyone,

First time rabbit owner here. So about three weeks ago my boyfriend got me a 1 month old Netherland dwarf for my birthday that I absolutely adore. Since then I’ve done a lot research, but I still have a couple questions.

1. Because she is still so young I’ve been giving her unlimited pellets (ones for baby rabbits) as well as alfalfa hay twice a day and unlimited timothy hay. I’ve noticed that she almost never eats the timothy hay. She will only eat the pellets and the alfalfa. I even bought the “nice” Oxbow timothy hay and she still won’t eat it. I’m worried she is forming bad eating habits. I don’t want her to give trouble eating the timothy hay when she is older. Should I cut back on the pellets or the alfalfa or continue to give her unlimited access for now?

2. She has a cage that I leave open that is inside a fairly large pen in the living room in the apartment. The pen has her food, water, toys and a litter box. While she’s in the pen she uses the litter box perfectly. However whenever I let her out to hop around (only in the small living room) she uses the bathroom everywhere and especially the couch. I don’t think it has to do with hormones since she is still so young. What do I do? She has a good amount of space in the pen, but loves to come out and run around and I want to let her roam freely. But I’m also afraid letting her out is counterproductive to her litter box training. Should I confine her to her pen to try and reinforce further that she only use the bathroom in the litter box and if so how long should I keep her in there?

3. When I do let her out she constantly is chewing on my clothes and tearing holes into them or trying to eat my hair. Will this ever stop or is there a way to discourage this behavior? 

[teddy+toby]

alfalfa hay might interest her whats her name and bunny proof the areas shes aloud in she shouldn’t eat other things beside bunny foods because a big cause of bunny deaths is there stumachs what color is she

[tobyluv]

Alfalfa hay is a lot tastier than timothy hay to most rabbits. Hopefully, as time goes by, you can start decreasing the alfalfa hay and she will learn to like timothy. You can also try orchard grass. Some rabbits prefer that over timothy, since it is sweeter. It is a good grass hay, which is the kind of hay that rabbits, especially adult rabbits, should be eating. Any of the grass hays are good. Young rabbits are supposed to have unlimited pellets, but there is such a thing as overfeeding pellets to them. If the bowl isn’t empty yet, don’t keep adding to it, wait until she has eaten all the pellets, then you can give her another scoop after a short while.

It can be difficult to completely litter train a rabbit that has not been spayed or neutered. That she has perfect litter box habits in her pen is good, but it’s understandable that she doesn’t have those same good habits out of the pen, at her young age. Part of it is probably caused by excitement and it may partly be caused by her claiming places as hers. You may have to keep her off the couch, or any other places that are especially undesirable for her to use the bathroom. You could also place another litter box out in the room.

Rabbits do love to chew, and they can be very destructive. If she chews on your clothes or hair, say no, and move her a little away from you. Have some toys for her to chew on, such as willow balls or rings, or you can give her cardboard rolls from paper towels (try to only use the ones that don’t have glue on them) even stuffing them with hay to entice her. Other safe things for her to chew on are old phone books or cardboard boxes.

[flemishwhite]

Posted By Katharine on 4/07/2016 4:37 PM

Hi Everyone,

1. Because she is still so young I’ve been giving her unlimited pellets (ones for baby rabbits) as well as alfalfa hay twice a day and unlimited timothy hay. I’ve noticed that she almost never eats the timothy hay. She will only eat the pellets and the alfalfa. I even bought the “nice” Oxbow timothy hay and she still won’t eat it. I’m worried she is forming bad eating habits. I don’t want her to give trouble eating the timothy hay when she is older. Should I cut back on the pellets or the alfalfa or continue to give her unlimited access for now?

2. She has a cage that I leave open that is inside a fairly large pen in the living room in the apartment. The pen has her food, water, toys and a litter box. While she’s in the pen she uses the litter box perfectly. However whenever I let her out to hop around (only in the small living room) she uses the bathroom everywhere and especially the couch. I don’t think it has to do with hormones since she is still so young. What do I do? She has a good amount of space in the pen, but loves to come out and run around and I want to let her roam freely. But I’m also afraid letting her out is counterproductive to her litter box training. Should I confine her to her pen to try and reinforce further that she only use the bathroom in the litter box and if so how long should I keep her in there?

3. When I do let her out she constantly is chewing on my clothes and tearing holes into them or trying to eat my hair. Will this ever stop or is there a way to discourage this behavior? 

………………………………………..

All rabbits are somewhat different.  My wife and I have owned a house rabbit (11 1/2 years) and now two 7 months old flemish house rabbits. First of all for feeding.  We provide our rabbits with oat hay (sometimes timothy).  They are fed mostly green leafy vegetables….carrot tops and fennel tops…from the farmers market…also romaine lettuce, cilantro, dandelion leaves, parsely.  Also treats of banana, apple, guava, bing cherries, almonds.  They have pellets to eat all the time…I make sure we buy low calorie pellets..no molasses or other sugars. Our buns have so much food to eat I don’t want them to have high calorie pellets. Feeding rabbits with grocery store/farmers market veggies can get a little expensive, as compared to pellets….but of course they prefer the veggies. 

“When I let her out she uses the bathroom everywhere and especially the couch.  don’t think it has to do with hormones since she is still so young”  My opinion based on experience.  nothing really wrong.  Rabbits want to mark their territory, especially if they have not been neutered.  My previous three female rabbits, before being neutered, were very good with using their litter box for peeing…however each of them when set loose in the house would go through a two month or so period of peeing a tablespoon or so of urine here and there. They were marking the house, even though they did have good litter box behaviors.  About the couch comment…wherever their human caretakers frequent, your rabbit will especially want to mark (pee) on that area!   They love you!   One problem with our previous rabbit, Bunny, was that initially she would jump up on our bed and mark our pillows/blankets ( a tablespoon of urine).  We then had to wash the pillow/blankets..a big job. Fortunately, Bunny only exhibited this behavior for a few months. She spent the last 6 or so years sleeping in our bedroom with us…once again free caged.

“When I do let her out she constantly is chewing on my clothes and tearing holes into them or trying to eat my hair. Will this ever stop or is there a way to discourage this behavior?” 

Rabbit’s teeth are constantly growing.  They have a very strong instinctive urge to chew.  Hay is abrasive and will help wear down their teeth.  As they get older, vet care will be needed to grind down their teeth. Our previous older rabbit was not, in the latter years, damaging from chewing.  She did need dental care.  Our two Flemmish babies, house rabbits…have gone through a phase of damaging chewing.  At 7 months of age, and having been neutered, they now seem to be very calm about chewing behavior.  My wife and I have never had to experience house rabbits that are essentially baby rabbits…especially large baby rabbits..large like 10 pounds! 

 Young rabbits are worse for chewing your clothes and socks.  They will continue, but less, as they get older.  They only chew your clothes because they love you. 

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