New Mum to 2 mini lops! Could you help me with litter habits?

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 5sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 5 months ago by tobyluv.

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- 11/10/2016 at 10:02 AM
  sarahthegemini
  Participant
  5584 posts
  Hiya everybody, I’m Sarah and I am a new bunny Mum to two mini lops – Buttercup and Peanut. They are brother and sister and are 3 months old. I have a couple of questions if you lovely people would like to help me
  
  Firstly, they pee almost exclusively in their litter trays aside from an accident here or there (which I’ll get into in a minute) They used to pee all over their hutch as I stupidly used straw all over. I browsed here and discovered that I should really only be using stuff in their litter trays – I use carefresh and straw – once I did that, they stopped peeing everywhere so I am eternally grateful you guys! However, they poop everywhere. They poop in their trays but also wherever they happen to be when they need to go, they just go. When they’re playing, napping, running etc. They poop! What I’m doing so far is picking up the poops and putting them in their trays and changing their trays every few days. I was changing them daily but figured maybe they need the scent to build up to show them that’s where they should poop? Is there anything else I could/should be doing? I’ve only been doing this for a few days so obviously I don’t expect results yet but I’d like to know if I’m on the right track
  
  Second question is in regards to the occasional pee accident – as I previously said, they pee almost exclusively in their trays however the other day little Peanut peed on his nice plush bed. I figured this was because it was super soft and he hadn’t been in it before. Buttercup had two pee accidents that day – one on their play mat and one in their vet carrier (we left it out so they could become accustomed to it but they’ve peed in it previously when they went to the vets so that was understandable) Anyway, since then everything went back to normal until about 10 minutes ago when Peanut peed on me! I was sitting on the floor and he had his front paws on my leg, I felt something warm and then he turned around and continued to pee on the carpet. He has never peed on the carpet before – nor has Buttercup. And they’ve certainly never peed on me before lol. I’m worried now that this is going to be a regular occurrence. Any tips or insight? Sorry for such a huge wall of text but any advice would be much appreciated!
- 11/10/2016 at 12:08 PM
  tobyluv
  Participant
  3312 posts
  Hi and welcome to Binky Bunny. I assume that Buttercup and Peanut are not spayed and neutered. At 3 months of age, they should not be housed together or out together. Otherwise, you are going to end up with a litter of bunnies. They are bonded now since they are young, but their hormones will be kicking in any time now. Besides the fact that you don’t want any litters, you also don’t want any fighting and injuries. They will need to be kept separately until their surgeries, then they can be rebonded a few weeks after the surgeries. They can stay in the same room, but their cages or pens shouldn’t be right next to each other, since rabbits can and have mated through cage bars.
  
  Regarding the litter box training. It can be difficult to fully litter box train a rabbit that hasn’t been spayed or neutered. You should have a lot better luck with that after their surgeries and recuperation. The sudden peeing on you and other places is likely due to their hormones.
- 11/10/2016 at 1:16 PM
  sarahthegemini
  Participant
  5584 posts
  Hiya, thank you for your input. I was told by the vets though that they can be housed together until they reach sexual maturity at 6 months? They’ll both be closer to 5 months come their scheduled surgery date so I’ll phone the vets tomorrow to see if Peanut can be neutered any earlier (I believe males can be done at 4 months?) I don’t have the funds to purchase a second hutch and pen, as well as all the other bits and pieces so getting him fixed sooner is my best option. So far there’s been no funny business going on but I – excuse the pun – watch them like a hawk anyway!
- 11/10/2016 at 2:10 PM
  sarahthegemini
  Participant
  5584 posts
  Just had a thought tobyluv, as I’m unable to separate my bunnies for a significant period of time, I could try and see if Peanut’s testicles have descended. I haven’t noticed them in passing so to speak lol but I could check daily and as soon as I spot them, book an emergency appointment. How does that sound? And any pointers on what bunny testes look like?
- 11/10/2016 at 3:24 PM
  Mikey
  Participant
  3186 posts
  That likely wouldnt work. Rabbits can hide their testicles inside of their bodies whenever they want to. Even while under anesthesia, my Bombur pulled his testicles into his body and my vet had to dig them out. She said its uncommon, but being that Bombur always hid his whenever he had the chance, she was expecting it even while he was unconscious. Semen also stays in the males body for up to 2 months after being neutered, which means he can still cause a litter then. Youll have to find a way to keep them fully apart or youll end up with babies
- 11/10/2016 at 3:49 PM
  tobyluv
  Participant
  3312 posts
  Rabbits reach sexual maturity before they are 6 months old. They definitely should be separated when or even before they reach 12 weeks of age. That vet should not have told you that it’s all right to keep them together until they are 6 months old. To have them together now is very risky.
  
  Maybe you can find a second hand cage or x-pen on Craig’s List, ask friends or co-workers if they might have an old pen or a large carrier or dog crate, or even borrow some money now to pick up a second pen. They really should not be together at this point.
  
  As Mikey said, waiting until you see testicles, if you even can see them, then separating them at the point, would not work. The female could already be pregnant by that point. They can mate very quickly and there is really no way to know if they are mating or not – until you are presented with a litter of babies in a few weeks. Testicles look kind of like pink kidney beans, but they can be very difficult to spot in some rabbits, and trying to spot them is not the way to go.
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