first time owner of a baby bunny

[Molly G VT]

I am a first time house rabbit owner, and my new bunny is a 3 1/2 month old Mini Lop named Leila. She is adorable and sweet and very curious, and in the week i’ve had her she’s warmed up to me a whole lot, doesn’t mind being picked up (most of the time), and will sit there to be pet for long periods of time. She doesn’t get skiddish when I walk by, and she lies around in what I’ve read is a very relaxed position (back legs out behind her), and she’s very curious about me and what I’m doing all the time.

So she is great and I love her a lot, but this is all new to me so I’m trying to learn things as fast as I can, and I’m wondering if people can help me answer some questions

Topic #1:

litter box – I got her one of those corner litter boxes that attach right to the cage and are shaped like a chubby triangle. the first time I put it in there she slept in it and pooped and peed in the bed i made her. She would also fling the litter pellets out of the box and make a mess.  so I switched them around in the cage and she switched moved right with them, still sleeping in the litter box and peeing and pooping on her bed. I decided I was moving too fast, took the litter box out all together, gave her a few days to pick a corner to use as her bathroom, then put the litter box back in that corner with the metal grate that came with it that I didn’t put in there the first time because it didn’t look comfortable. I was exstatic to see poop in the litter box the next morning, but not so exstatic when I realized wasn’t peeing in the litter box, but right next to it

so – how can I get to her pee in the litter box, not next to it? I tried putting a piece of pee soaked paper towel in the litter box, but it didn’t change anything. is the litter box too small maybe? she sits right on it, i don’t think its too small.

also – is she litter box trained then? she doesn’t pee outside her cage in the good sized space I’ve given her to move around (not too big, not overwhelming for her I don’t think, she explores every corner of it), or poop out there either. but in the period I had taken her litter box out of her cage I had her up on my bed and she peed there, and I’m nervous she’ll do it again. how long until I can trust that she won’t pee on my bed or anywhere else? I know spaying her will effect her potty training greatly, but thats not for another few months or so

 

Topic #2

I think she might have a runny nose. a few days after I got her her eyes got a little leaky and her nose did too. i’ve been picking the crusties out from around of her eyes (she’s so good about just sitting there and letting me do it), and they seem to have stopped running so much, but her nose still seems a little runny – not very runny, just wetter than it used to when I first got her. does that happen with growing up or should I be concerned? It doesn’t seem to be bothering her, though she did have a bit of sneezing fit for a few minutes yesterday, but thats the only one she’s had

so – should I be worried and bring her to the vet? will it go away on its own like a human runny nose? is there anything I can do about it here?

 

Topic #3

Sometimes when i’m holding her or petting her her heart will start to race and her breathing will be very fast, but she doesn’t act like she’s scared or try to get away, she just sits there calmly still.

so – is that normal? what are bunny’s heart rates and breathing patterns like normally? do they vary?

 

thank you so much!

– Molly and Leila

 

 

[Adalaide]

Freya was a month old when she came home. She’s a mini lop too, aren’t they the best? Anyway, I got her one of those corner litter boxes, a nice big one. She was not impressed. I thought we’d never get her litter trained. Finally we went to Wal-Mart and picked up one of the cheapo $2 cat litter boxes which seemed huge for her then. I brought it home with a new litter, we use Carefresh now and popped it in the corner she was obsessed with peeing in. Magically by the next morning she seemed to be litter trained overnight! I don’t suppose everyone will have it that easy, but I think she just wasn’t comfortable with the little corner box. I also put a tiny crock with pellets in the corner of her box for a little while. Lots of people use a little hay in the box on top of the litter all of the time. That didn’t work for us, but the pellets did. Eventually I took the pellets out of her box and now she uses it without having to be bribed with food. She still gets poos scattered around a bit but it’s not a lot. More than anything I notice that she usually gets one or two stuck to a foot when she’s getting out. Sometimes she’ll still grab her box and yank it out of her corner and pee where it was, but overall we’ve had success and we’re happy. She NEVER goes at all out of her condo anymore.

I don’t really know much about the sneezing. Is there a lot of dust in her litter or hay or pellets? I know that could cause it, but other then that you’ll need someone who knows more than me to get to that one.

I used to worry about Freya and her heart racing and her breathing too fast. It took me weeks to realize that she always breathes too fast, so I can only assume that her heart probably races (at least by human standards) most of the time too. I was sure when she had her first checkup the vet would notice and do something, but the vet said she seemed fine.

[Molly G VT]

thanks you!

few more questions – do bunnys like to be warmer or colder? my room is pretty warm, and Leila doesn’t seem uncomfortable, but I’m just wondering.

 

also, how old should Leila be to start trusting her out and about in my room? do they start chewing at a certain age? she doesn’t chew much at all, but will she start to?

[Jenna, Chubs & Comet]

Bunnies are fairly comfortable in the same temperatures we are, and slightly cooler. Too warm isn’t good for them, since they are little fur balls But as long as you are fairly comfortable, she is okay too!

You can let her out as soon you’d like but I would bunny proof anything that might harm her (cords) or keep them out of her reach all together. Also, if there’s anything you don’t want chewed that is within her reach, I’d move that too. It’s my understanding (although I got my guys when they were past the teenager stage) that 4-7 months can be a little rougher regarding behavior like chewing and digging and marking. Much of that will calm down once you get her spayed (which I would do as soon as it’s safe for a female bunny). Some bunnies are chewers though and will continue to chew through out their lives. Even if she isn’t, I still would protect cords and things so she could never accidently hurt herself!

Congrats on your new friend and pictures are a must here!

[Monkeybun]

my Monkey uses a regular cat box, she loves it. The 4 corners are great, bunnies don’t pee over the wrong side! I use the carefresh as well, Monkey refuses to use anything else. She likes the softness on her little bunny bum I guess Put some hay in the box too, bunnies like to eat hay and go at the same time.

I’d say let her out any time you feel you’ve bunnyproofed enough. make sure she has lots of toys of her own to chew on so she doesn’t get bored and chew on your stuff. Cover the cords, make sure theres no books or remotes laying around that you don’t want nibbled on, and supervise her running around for the first bit. Might want to get another litter box for the larger area, until she is litter trained. more than one box never hurts

[KatnipCrzy]

It would be a good idea to take her to the vet to get an exam to make sure she does not have a respiratory infection or other condition.  It would also be a good idea to take a fresh poo sample with to be checked for intestinal parasites.  Coccidia is pretty common in rabbits and if caught early and treated the bunny will have no complications- but it can be fatal if the symptoms become full blown.  And that way  you will be establishing a relationship with a vet before it is time for the spay/neuter.

What do you have your cage lined with?  Could she be mistaking the cage “liner” for litter- this can commonly happen if the cage is lined with newspaper or another litter type material.

[jerseygirl]

Welcome Molly! Leila sounds to be a sweet little girl!

re Topic 1: Perhaps try taking out her bed for a short time and anything absorbant you may have on the cage floor. They seem to like laying on the bare floor or in litter boxes anyway! Certainly a larger litter box may help – pop some hay in one end, litter at the other.
It’s quite common for bunnies to pee on beds and sofas. You probably have to prevent her being up there until you can trust her more – or else put somethihng over your bed to protect it. She’s doing really well though if she doesn’t toilet outside her cage otherwise!

re Topic 2: It could be hay dust or bedding/litter irritating her or exacerbating an already present condition. Maybe get her checked out by the vet.

[Kiley Rose]

My Marlee just uses her corner litterbox as a bed (and hay feeding area), but as soon as I bought her a $2 square litterbox from walmart she pretty much uses that without fail. It’s kind of nice to have the both though, that way she’s not always sleeping in her mess.

[Molly G VT]

one more question – do baby bunnies need a ton of rest / down time like human babies do? because I feel like Leila, at 10 weeks now, lays around a lot. is that normal?

[jerseygirl]

She should be pretty active. I’m not certain about ones as young as she but rabbits under a year generally are pretty energetic. You might notice she’s active at certain times of the day then sleeps more so through out the day. If you feel she’s laying about ALL the time and appears lethargic then get her seen by a vet, especially given she’s displaying some respiratory symptoms. Keep us updated.

[Elrohwen]

Welcome to BB! I think the others gave you great answers to your questions, but I wanted to answer your last question about activity level. I have a Holland Lop who has always been very laid back. I was a bit nervous too that he wasn’t racing around like crazy as a young bun, but I think that’s just him. He’ll have more active moments at certain times of the day, but overall he’s just a laid back little guy. I’ve heard this trait is common with the lops, so I wouldn’t worry about her activity level too much once you get a clean bill of health from the vet.

[Adalaide]

Freya is pretty laid back I guess. She spend a lot of time napping under the couch and taking baths in her back corner. I notice though that she’s a total spaz a few times a day. I guess she just burns off all her energy in 5 minute spurts. She’ll run circles around the living room until she hits a wall or something then go hide for a while. I do notice though that while I’m sleeping she’ll get a fair amount of “work” done in getting the bottom of her condo covered in phone book pages. I guess I just don’t always notice her being active.

[MarkBun]

She could see the bedding as the proper piddle place now. Some rabbits like softer stuff to use as a bathroom. I would remove the bedding and put a bit of paper towel soaked with her urine into her litter box so she knows thats where it goes.

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