So Jack and Rucy will eventually have more free time and extra play space, but I knew I may have to battle some old habits from the ongoing poop wars they had with Bailey. We cleaned everything very well with vinegar/water, and bought new rugs so they didn’t smell like Bailey and so I am hoping that there will only be some establishing territorial poops, but no morepoop wars. So far that seems to be the case.
I have had to retrain Rucy and Jack to use the litterbox ONLY in their pen. They used to have one near Bailey’s pen because they insisted on using an area there as a latrine. So last week, they were confined more, and I would closely supervise their free time out, and it only took three days to get them to only use the litterbox their pen. I was suprised it happened that fast. I figured such ingrained habits would take a couple of weeks. But I even caught Rucy correcting herself. She went to corner that she would usually go outside of the pen, and before I could even reach for the water bottle, she stopped, did that quick shake of a head (the bunny body language for “uh uh, nope, or don’t like it) and ran into her pen and into the litterbox. She’s such a smart cookie!
They also have more play space that you can see on the webcams (when they are playing there – usually in the evenings). All the time I spent on Bailey’s routine is now being spent on making Jack & Rucy’s playtime out fun. I figure a great way to honor her is to make sure Jack and Rucy have a wonderful time with the extra space and time that used to Bailey’s. It still can be hard but when I see Jack and Rucy doing binkies in the extra space, it makes me feel happy.
They may eventually be mostly free range, but right now during the retraining process, they are allowed out only when I can be around to supervise, and they usually lounge in their hidey house in the afternoon, but if you want to see them active, you can check them out in the evenings when I am rearranging their play stuff and they are exploring.
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