First house bunny! Please help?

[LittleSailorCash]

Hello!

I’m the owner of a solid black male New Zealand/Cali cross breed named Lil’ Sailor. (I stole his name for my user because I’m not creative enough. I’m sure he’s cool with it, though.) and he’s almost 8 weeks old. I’ve kept him in house since I’ve had him, I’ve got a big cage for him for now until I can bunny proof my place.

So far I’ve done a pretty darn decent job of keeping him fed, healthy and clean. Including his cage. But one thing I can’t stand is the odor. The ammonia odor. It’s very difficult. Yesterday I bought a container to use as a litter box (which does him just fine.) placed some Tim hay in there and for the main bedding in his cage I put in that paper bedding (plain, un scented)…he took to it pretty well, other than some spots he still pees in. I can’t move the box there to make him think to use it more so I’m not sure what to do….that’s where help comes in..

I have anti odor spray (safe for animals, made for animal cages, etc.) But it’s not doing the trick. I know that the smell will go once he learns his box but it needs to be fixed right now. So that’s “Hey can you help me?” Number one.

Number two, his behavior. He’ll get very hyper, and I understand that. He’s a baby and he’ll settle down once a bout a year. But is there anything that can help?
Can you all reccomend any good bunny toys that he can run and roll around with? And some more information?

Also, he tends to toss his food bowl around. And tug on things. Which I know is normal but he’s a brat when he wants to be!

He IS going to be neutered at the appropriate age. I have worked my butt off trying to keep up with the odor and it’s tirig me out to the point some days I just want to give up. (I am not, relax!)

The main issue is the odor. It really is an issue.

I love my little guy and want to keep him happy and healthy. Which worries me so. I am NEW TO THIS. I’ve been drifting on internet videos and blog posts.

Ironically it’s Easter…no this was not a spontaneous buy. I’m not one of those people, I’ve wanted a bun for a looonnnggh time. So far he’s very connected to me and sits on my shoulder! I’m very very careful with him and in return he doesn’t , you know, “perish.”

I’m sorry if this post is a bit spotty I’m very…exhausted.

Anyway, my name’s LittleSailorCash.
Happy Easter and thank you for reading!

[kurottabun]

You can train him to use his litter box by soaking up his pee in paper towels and putting it in the box. Clean the old pee spots with vinegar to remove the scent so he won’t think that those are the places to do his business.

Instead of hay for litter, try using wood pellets (not shavings) instead. I’m using pellets myself and it helps tremendously in absorbing both the pee and odour. It’s also easy to change as you can just scoop up the parts that are used and replace accordingly (the pellets will expand once wet). Make sure the type of wood is safe for buns though, and make sure he doesn’t eat them.

[Deleted User]

Making him pee in a litter box won’t make the odor go away. Usually when pee stinks it can be due to hormones. And yes, hormones can start early in some bunnies. My Bombur’s hormones started at 7 weeks and he was neutered at 4 months.

If you want him to pee in the litter box, get rid of the bedding on the floor of the cage. That will teach him to go where ever because it’s soft and bunnies inherently love to pee on soft things. If you want to litter train him, Kurota gave you good advice. Put a litter box in the corner he pees most, it’s usually also good to have it next to the hay as they usually poop while eating. If he does have accidents wipe them up with a paper towel and put the poop in the box. If you see him peeing outside the box, you can move him toward the box to really cement the teaching.

Also, once his hormones do kick in he will probably lose his litter habits anyways, and will be having a lot of territorial poops. You can’t really litter train this out of him and it won’t truly get better until he’s neutered.

[ThorBunny]

Good advice on litter training and cleaning! Seconding the advice to use wood stove pellets – honestly they absorb so much urine and smell! With my bun you can hardly smell a thing (although she is spayed).

If you are in the US you can buy them for $5 a 40lb bag at Tractor supply, Agway, and some large hardware stores like Lowes (especially in the winter)

[LittleSailorCash]

Wow you folks are so nice! Thank you so much for your help! Is there a spacific brand of those pellets anyone can recommend?

I will try to leave his cage empty and such. It’s all a work in progress and that’s alright.

I’m definately getting him snipped ASAP! LOL.

[Author]

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