bunny and plastic?

[Pancake]

Ok, so, first of all pancake ate a piece of tape (from the walls that are taped up, Inclosure) and he eats the paper from his phone book I gave him.  And another thing is I was wondering, could I put trash bags on top of the carpet he’s on so it’s easier to clean up the poos? (he poops EVERYWHERE!!! even when I clean it up and put it in his litter box!!!!)  HE’S DRIVING ME NUTS!!!!!!!!! Another thing is that he keeps getting out of his inclosure!!!(I’m going to try to get him a new inclosure.) (though you probly can’t hel p me with that problem)   HELP!!!

[babybunsmum]

my bun has eaten weird things that i didn’t know i had to bunny-proof too.  i think the important thing is to for sure watch pancake closely to check that his poops keep coming & are normal, and that he’s eating & drinking as usual.  that’ll be the way to be sure the tape is causing trouble inside him. 

i would be concerned that plastic bags are too easy to rip & chew.  i recommend investing in a painters canvas drop cloth from somewhere like home depot.  you can get different sizes to suit.  then if you spread it down under his area you can sweep poops up & spot clean if neccessary AND you can take it away & wash it regularly to keep it clean.  i have a broom that came with a long-handled pan that i leave out to sweep up after bun whenever needed.

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[babybunsmum]

another thing you could do that may be cheaper than a drop cloth… goto a flooring store & look for remnant pieces of vinyl flooring.  you could find a size that suits & throw it down over the carpet under pancakes area.  i think you can get these for pretty cheap & they’d be really easy to clean

[Pancake]

yeah, But I think I’m ok for now like this.

[Gravehearted]

hi Pancake,

He’s not neutered yet right?  I’d get on that as soon as he’s old enough! Trash bags could be very dangerous and I would not recommend them.

If he’s having such a tough time with litter box training, then limit his roaming territory and add more litterboxes.  Once he’s improved greatly, you slowly start to increase his roaming capabilities.

With his enclosure, i’m not sure what it’s made out of – but we use clips like the below that you can pick up at more hardware stores.

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[cerise]

Ok, here are a couple of suggestions to keep him from pooping / peeing everywhere:
1. Try sticking his litter box into a BIGGER litter box (like the kind they make for large dogs), AND put his food and water dish ALSO in the same BIG box. When a rabbit eats, they almost immediately start pooping, because the eating process is what triggers their digestive systems.
2. Keep his hay near his litter box as well — if it fits, put it inside the giant litter box.
3. Use either painter cloth or a tarp under the big box. Towels will also work (use cheap, thin towels that aren’t very plush and layer them, so that in case he eats the fibers, they aren’t very long and won’t block his digestive system.)
4. Make sure he has a ‘hiding spot’ (a cardboard box with doors, an upside down wicker basket with a door cut out, etc.) near his food, so that if he gets scared, he can hide. Rabbits will pee not only to mark territory, but when they are afraid. The more chances you give him to feel ‘safe’ near his food, the more he will pee/poop there.

[cerise]

To make an enclosure, have you tried making one out of the (relatively) cheap Neat Idea Cubes (NIC) / Great Idea Cubes / Great Cubes (available at Costco, Target, Walmart, etc. in the USA)? They are fairly cheap and they are very effective to enclose a rabbit and make a hutch or condo out of. You can use rope, cable ties (zip ties) to make a hinged door and then use the clipse that gravehearted showed to close the door.

Don’t let your bunny eat plastic bags, however, (or even get near them, they will shred them and eat them), because they can easily cause a blocked intestine (and a lot of pain / problems for your bunny.)

[cerise]

Here are images of our bunny’s litter setup to help give you an idea.  Notice that she has also pooped in her hay box (normal behaviour) — but she doesn’t pee there.  Also, a bunny WILL mark their food bowl with a poop pellet or two, and poop pellets will often fly out of their litter boxes when they jump out, so having a larger box surround the litter box is a good thing for catching flying poo.

We’ve used a high-backed corner style litter box because female rabbits spray higher than male rabbits (although, a higher backed litter box can be good for males too!)  We secured it to the larger litter box with binder clips, then removed the inside metal tabs.  (To clean the boxes, we insert the metal tabs and unclip the two boxes apart.)

Her food dish sits snugly in the larger box and encourages her to eat and pee/poop at the same time — in the right spot.

I’ve also included a picture of her portable hiding spot.  We put it in ‘her room’ at night to let her know it’s time to sleep and then bring it out into the living room in the morning so that she knows it’s play time.  Bunnies LOVE routines.  LOL  It has chew blocks secured by cable ties (tie wraps) and a towel over the top to make it ‘secure’ for her.  Also, the soft floor is a ferret hammock that has been clipped to the underside grid so that she can dig in it to her heart’s content and it won’t budge.  We gave her an extra cushion to toss around or squish up against (or dig in!)

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[Deleted User]

i have a question ..I am a new bunny owner…and the previous owner did not tell me much…is it ok to let beepers (bunnies name) to chew cardboard? he seems to love it..and he seeks it out..I don’t want to get him sick…and I also have a bit of a problem with him pooing place where he should not…I have one of those corner litter boxes and it seems too small for him..when he gets in it..he fills up half of it…is that too small for himm..if i get a new one for him…will he use it? thanks for any help…

[Scarlet_Rose]

Hi janymae! I’m not sure if your litterbox is too small. How big is your rabbit? If ydo ou get a new litterbox, he will use it but to help that, place some of the old litter with pee & poo in it inside the new one to help him realize that is the new place to go. Carboard is safe for a bunny to chew and rip, so long as they aren’t ingesting it. If they do eat it, it could cause a blockage. Is your guy neutered? How much space does he have to run in? If given too much space at once, they can get very carried away with the pooing everywhere to mark and claim territory, and if he is not neutered, it makes the problem even worse. How old is your guy?

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