help !!!!!

[loosina]

hiya i hope noone minds me posting here (im new) i have two 9 week old rabbits which we’re trying to train etc as house rabbits. theyre so great but we’re struggling to train them and with their chewing

we want them to have as much freedom as poss but theyve chewed both our leather sofas, throws, clothes etc and its getting rather expensive!!

theyre also covering the sofas in hundreds of poops overnight! despite having a litter tray and hutch

any help would be soooooo appreciated!!

thanks!!

[bunnytowne]

they may be marking the couch as their territory.  There may be marking til they are used to their area.  You may just want to keep them off the couch.

As far as chewing. You can try Phoooey it is a petsmart taste horrid but that may not stop them. One of mine stopped and the other kept right on even with the phooey on it.  You can try perfume or menthal.  They dont’ like those smells.  However it does wear off after about a week.

Probably even better is to get an x pen or NIC cubes.  You can make a barrier and enclose them in the xpen or nic cubes as a fence to keep them away from the non chewables.   Then putting appropriate chewables like cardboard boxes,  newspaper some chew sticks which mine hardly use by the way but yours might.  I ordered a willow ball and tunnel from bb and they just love that.

If they are chewing your carpet try to cover it with a diggy and chew box.  Putting a box with an old phonebook in it for them to safely chew and dig on.    Give them an old towel to tear up if they aren’t eating it.

They may outgrow chewing to this extent when they mature. Most rabbits do. But until then I know it is hard.

The wires I put sling tubing on mine.  Radio Shack carries it t sling tubing.  It already has the slit in it.

OH at a hardware store you may be able to buy round cardboard tubes different lengths for them to run through and chew on. That also may help distract them from your important things.

that is great you are keeping them indoors.  Don’t give them too much freedom at first.  Space wise. Do it slowly as they get better. Add a little more space and so on. 

Keep trying don’t give up.  It will be worth your while once they mature.

And spay/neuter too. Females can get preg at 3 months which is way to hard on them and boys can impregnate at 4 mos.  After a neuter the boy can still impregnate the doe for 4-6 weeks. It would be wise to seperate them at these times.

[bunnytowne]

The litter training. Well don’t give them all this space all at once. Give them smaller spaces to play and put a litterbox and some hay in it. And in their cage also.   AS they get successful at the litterbox in small spaces you can expand a little at a time.  You can add more litterboxes as they are able to enjoy the whole living room. 

I see thats what the majority of the problem is.  Too much freedom /space too soon. 

also go to the green bar up top and hit bunny info.   It will help you with the litter training and chewing. There is good information there.

Another website is houserabbitsociety.     We all needed help as first time bunny owners and even experienced people still need help from time to time  So please don’t be shy.

Please feel free to post anytime with any questions thats what this site is here for.  To help each other along. 

I educated myself b4 getting my 1st housebun and believe me I still  didn’t know a whole lot and had to ask questions anyways. We learn as we go.  Even though we read about them we still have questions and need help. 

So welcome here and you can post your piccies too.  We love pics. 

I know you will do just fine with your buns.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Hi loosine welcome to Binky Bunny!   We always love seeing new faces here and you are more than welcome to post anytime!

The thing with rabbits is that if you give them too much room to roam they have really big egos and are prone to marking EVERYTHING and usurping you as top bunny, which can cause more problems later on if you don’t nip it in the bud now.  So, the best thing to do is start small and this will also help with the litter training.  Limit the run space while you litter train.  Here are some excellent tips: https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/LitterboxTraining/tabid/62/Default.aspx

Also the hutch sounds like it might have a wire floor, wire floors can really hurt their tender feet so it is best to cover it with some material like an old towel. 

As for the chewing, it is really important to understand that a rabbit explores through chewing and you’ll need to rabbit-proof any areas in which you hope to have them eventually roam in.  Check out our bunny proofing section here: https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/BunnyProofingYourHome/tabid/61/Default.aspx

Have you sexed the rabbits?  They can start reproducing at this age and should be kept separate until after they are both altered.  Do you plan on altering them?  This will really help with behavior and litter training, not to mention extend the time in which you will have them with you.  Female rabbits have and 80% change of uterine cancer if they are not spayed.

Here is some more information for you on spaying and neutering:

https://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=54&forumid=2&tpage=1&view=topic&postid=22168#22239 

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/spay-neuter.html

 

[Beka27]

welcome here!

Scarlet Rose and BunnyTowne covered everything perfectly. if you need any more help, feel free to ask!

also, we love bunny pics, so if you have any you’d like to share…

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Hi and Welcome! Sounds like your questions have been answered so far! Let us know how it goes and feel free to ask more!

Ditto Beka, we’d love to see pics

[jerseygirl]

I ditto the others too. At 9 weeks it’s probably too much space too soon. Even after they’re litter trained and you start to increase their space, they can do territorial pooping but it’s not ‘out of control’. Welcome here!

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

Hello and welcome. Everyone else is giving you great advice… Never be afraid to ask a question here! We’re a nice bunch

[loosina]

thanks everyone so much for your replies..

im sensing i need to reduce the space we have given to the bunnies but im really not sure how to go about that without spending lots more money on a special pen?

ive been out today to buy some spray to deter them from chewing the sofa and treats to encourage them to use the litter

also a willow ball and cattot patch toy to keep them entertained!!

thanks

ps how do i put pictures on here?

 

[Beka27]

in short, yes, you’re going to need to invest some money in housing for them. even if they do eventually become free-range (which might take a year or more before the behavior is where you want it), they will always need a “homebase”. an xpen is very versatile.

keep in mind that at 9 weeks, their hormones have not even kicked in. at this point their behavior is baby bunny behavior, messy… but normal for that age… the bad destruction stuff is still to come when they reach sexual maturity (boys: 3-4 months, girls: 4-8 months). what sex are they?

bunnies are not inexpensive to keep or care for. vet care is more expensive than for dogs or cats, food is more expensive (it’s important for their health that they get hay AND fresh veggies everyday, you cannot give dry food only.) are you prepared for the cost of spaying or neutering them when the time comes?

[bunnytowne]

When I first got my buns I didn’t have an xpen either.  After about 3 months I got one.  It helped a lot.  Thats the thing about bunnies.  To get bunny proofed and set up it does cost $.  Once you are there though everything gets really good and you enjoy them a lot more.

I was kind of like you when it came to the xpen. HOW much?/   Well definitely needed one so I got one.

Hey maybe look on craigslist for one in your area might not be so much $

[Beka27]

you can also purchase NIC grids (wire shelving cubes) and use the squares and zipties (plastic cable ties) to make a fence. that can have a smiliar effect for less money. it won’t be as sturdy, but it’s an option. i have xpens, but i also have a NIC grid fence that i can pull out if i need to block an area temporarily… it will be getting some use come xmas, i circle my xmas tree with it to keep bunnies away from the tree and presents…

in this pic the fence is blocking off the living room furniture while still allowing the buns some space to play…

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

To add pictures, you’ll need an account like photobucket (it’s free and easy) photobucket.com

Then when you add reply click on the picture icon and copy and paste the direct link from the photo in the account It’s actually not too hard to do, let us know if you have a hard time!!

[loosina]

thanks everyone for the replies

we are going to rearrange their living conditions this afternoon ( havent done sooner as i landed in hospital tuesday night!)

we’re really loving the boys but totally exasperated with their chewing and pooping literally everywhere

if we give them a smaller area can someone clarify how we then go about training them?

how do we encourage them just to go in the litter tray exactly?

we really want to do our best for them.. and i liken their behaviour to my 2 year old theyre just exploring and folllowing their instincts rather than doing anything naughty

will call the vet later and get them booked in for their operations as well as their injections as well

thanks for all the advice

[loosina]

i think ive managed to upload two pictures!! (not sure!) one of flopsy and one of peter and flopsy together!!

[loosina]

[loosina]

PETER!!!!

[Beka27]

oh my word! they are precious!!!

here is the BinkyBunny litterbox page. it gives step by step instructions…

binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/LitterboxTraining/tabid/62/Default.aspx

House Rabbit Society FAQ on littertraining…

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/litter.html

 

 

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