HELP–MY BUN NEEDS A GOOD HOME!!!!

[JILL RAY]

Where do I find a nice loving home for my drawf rabbit?  The Vet’s office? A website where someone knowledgeable can adopt him?  Right now he’s living on our back porch which is covered and screened in and his condo is in the shade, but it does get hot outside. (Around 88 degrees) I know he’s lonely and wants to come back into the house. He was not using his litter box and I couldn’t keep up with him, our cat, and an 2 year old!

Any advice would be helpful!  He’s a nice boy that need tender loving care!  I included a picture of Tater Tot so you can see how adorable he is! 

[Deleted User]

Oh dear … I am sorry to hear about your situation … Where abouts do you live?

Is there any way you could bring bunny back inside where it is cooler and keep him in his condo (not roaming around the house) until an alternative home has been found for him. Or if that is not an option, make sure he has plenty of cool water to drink, perhaps put a wet towel over his condo and place some frozen bottled water in his condo so he can lie against them.

Dawn

[ubergoober]

Where are you located? Maybe one of us knows of a rescue center or a person willing to foster or adopt.

Just please make sure your bunn is able to cool off out there.

[JILL RAY]

I live in central Florida.  Do you think the heat is too much for him?  I always make sure that he has enough water and I noticed he drinks more often.  I don’t want to hurt him!

I got him from a pet store and the previous owners gave him back to the store and I DON"T want to do that. I’d rather find him a good home!   HELP!

[Gravehearted]

The Florida heat might well lead to heatstroke, especially if he hasn’t been housed outdoors all his life. It can kill a rabbit, and I would recommend keeping him indoors.

Did you get him neutered? Most rabbits do a much better job with litterbox training if they’ve been neutered. It also cuts down on destructiveness, their territorial nature and has health benefits. I have to admit that it’s very disappointing that you’d just simply put him outside because he’s not been properly litterbox trained. Although it takes some effort to work with him – most rabbits get the hang of it and are very good about it.

[MooBunnay]

I agree with Gravehearted, there are several ways to litter train a rabbit, as well as ways to introduce cats and rabbits, and I’m sure we can help on both of these things. It is good that taking a rabbit to a pet store is not an option for you, as these bunnies can end up as snake food or killed when they are not adopted, and are also usually adopted to homes that will dump them. Taking them to a shelter, however, does not guarantee a good home either, some rabbits can be in the shelters for a long time and get very depressed and lonely without companionship. Your rabbit could be an excellent house companion if you are willing to take a little time to train him.
Try taking a look at the “habitat” section of this web page, it is very easy to set up an ex-pen in your house witha litter box with hay, and that would keep the cat separated from your bunny, and also give you a small area in which to litter train your rabbit!

[JILL RAY]

Yes,I agree with everyone here..I think that’s why I posted my problem because I know ti’s not safe or healthy for Tate to be out on the porch. But if I bring him in, .. how do keep my house from smelling like a farm?  That’s my biggest problem!  If I can get that under control then I will keep him!

I will have my husband move him into the house tonight.  I will put him in my dining room until I can find a home for him or a solution to the smell problem.

Thanks so much for the advice…but please don’t leave me because I still need help IF I’m going to keep him.

 

Thanks again,  Brenna

[BunMumTiff]

I can see your issue, its rough I have a 11 month old, two bunnies and a hubby LOL and I just found out that my son might not be allergice to my cats so we might be bringing them back home depending on the situation

I am sure once you get something in place then everything else will fall back into place also. It may seem like alot at one time but once a routinene is set you will be good to go. Just bring him in and maybe have him out for only half the time or so I clean my buns every other day and u dont really smell them at all

Hope you work something out”)

[Hedi]

Hi Bella!

Do you know how old your little dwarf bunny is? Chances are he/she has hit puberty which can make a bun a little crazy to keep up with. Simple spay/neuter can resolve all those ugly issues of enraged hormones, humping, spraying, missing the litterbox, etc. They calm down pretty quickly and turn into the best house pet ever-usually.

Rabbits are rather comedic and love attention and love to show off. If you cant deal with him being out right now running around your house then using an x-pen or even some of the other ideas from this page’s habitat page will all be great ideas. You can also give him more than one litterbox-preferably the large cat litter boxes rather than those corner boxes-many buns dont care for those. Give him toys to play with to keep him occupied-like empty TP tubes, napkin tubes, a small old dishrag for him to ball up and move around, plastic lid from detergent bottle (clean very well otherwise the smell will put the bun off), small stuffed animals. Use your imagination. If the bunny can throw it he probably will and he has no idea its trash. lol Even a box he can chew and dig at!

We will do our best to get you thru this. It will be rough because you basically have to "babies" to care for. But at least one will make no noise (rather than a small grunt or growl) and you can put him in an area for him to play.

I will also tell you if you have carpet in your dining room the best way to get out pee stains is to buy the oxyclean powder, mix with HOT water and pour over the pee stain. Allow to sit a few minutes then soak up-good as new!

[Hedi]

Brenna-

This link http://www.floridarabbit.org/ has a list of all the House Rabbit Societies in Florida. You can also search for a vet from this page when you are ready to fix your rabbit.

[daisy]

My husband said my bunny could not smell or we had to get rid of it. I have had her for five weeks and no problems so far. This is what I did. I used a large dog crate as a home until my husband could build me one out of cubes. We just finished it last night so Daisy is in her new home today. But they will usually pick one corner to urinate in. Put the ltiter box in this corner. I was initially putting shavings in it and it wasn’t working. I wen to petsmart in the msall animal section and they have these small pellets that supposedly attract the animals. It worked for her. I put some hay in the litterbox to to encourage this behavior. She started using the litterbox to pee in without fail. I have now changed her litter to shavings or this other kind that is really soft and is called carefresh, she uses it without fail to pee in, which was my concern, if she does pee somewhere else I bought cage cleaner and this is what I used on other parts of her cage. I limited her to certain areas until she learned to use the litterbox. In 2 weeks I stopped using the pellets and changed. She is trained now for peeing. Pooping is another story she usually does it around the litterbox or close by but she is only 10 weeks old so I don’t expect too much. Someon told me to put treats in teh litterbox. I also clean her cage totaly once a week and this takes about 20 mins. I spot clean it everyday and that takes about 15 mins and thats if I have to change the litterbox this is also when I clean her water bottles and food dishes as well. I don’t know if this willhelp but I hope so.

[ubergoober]

I have a dwarf as well and havent noticed any smell issues. Miffy wasnt trained when we got her but literally it took a couple days for her to get it. I just bought a large corner litter box and filled it with straw pellets…put her food dish and her hay in there and voila…she only pees in there now. Plus its cleaned out twice a week and her whole cage is cleaned out once a week.

[MooBunnay]

Hello again!

Another good way to minimize mess and smell is to use a covered cat box.  I like the booda domes that have a little ramp.  This way, any smell stays inside, and also it keeps the hay in the box!  You may have to put her in the igloo a couple times so she understands thats where her hay is, but once she does, it will be very easy to clean.  I’d recommend carefresh for a litter, thats what I use.  Most of the time I even just use a lining of newspaper and change it every other day, but some members have had problems with the newspaper not absorbing all of the odor, so carefresh would be a good idea!  Do you have any more questions about how to keep a house rabbit?

[Deleted User]

I use white vinegar to clean littertrays, pens and also spot clean … its cheap, non-toxic to bunny and great for using on the carpet (if you get it early). In the event that I don’t, I sprinkle an amount of bi-carb soda on the carpet area, leave overnight and vaccum off the next day … always comes out. I have even used bi-carb on spilt red wine and it came off, but had to repeat twice.

I do hope you keep Tate. I know its difficult with a young child, hubby and being a mum is a real ordeal sometimes. I just wonder how us Mums do it all. And you know why we can cos we are the BEST! LOL.

Please post here … we are all here to help and assist you. NO matter how small/big an issue you have, let us know.

Dawn
xx

[Gravehearted]

you got lots of great advice – also – one thing is that neutered bunnies generally have much less smelly pee. since it really has a lot of health and behavioral benefits (like improved litterboxing) I hope you’ll consider getting him neutered. we’re all happy to help you with any questions or help you find a bunny vet in your area

[JILL RAY]

I want to THANK everyone who has posted and yes, I agree, I have received great advice. Everyone is so kind on this forum.  I wanted everyone to know that I have an appointment with a vet today around 4:30. I want to see about Tate’s health and the cost of neutering him.

My bug man came today and was spraying outside so I let Tate in the house. I have another liter box that I filled up and put in his favorite spot and he already pooped in a whole different spot!

This decision is so hard…I have a cat to take care of,  a betta fish whose tank I have to clean every weekend, plus my kids ….it;s hard to keep up with everything!  My husband and I have two businesses that we are running and time is short….    But I will post  tonight about Tate’s health and I will go from there.

 

THANKS AGAIN!  The suppot here is wonderful!  You guys have helped me so much! 

Talk to you tonight!

Brenna

[ubergoober]

One thing about the poops…no matter how well a bunn is trained they probably WILL poop everywhere and anywhere.  Its a territory thing.  Especially if they are moved to a new location they need to make their mark so that everyone knows "this is MY house".  lol  Peeing is the big concern because its messier and smelly. 

Is there anywhere like a hallway where you can let him have a run here and there.  Just put up some baby gates.  I have a 6 year old, 18 month old,a husband and a huge dog and I just prefer that noone bugs the living daylights out of eachother so I do it that way.  Miffy gets her daily playtime out in the hall and is housed in a cage in our family room when she’s not out.  She’s not bothered by the kids or animals at all and she doesnt smell either since I started using the straw pellets as litter in her box. 

I know it can be hard juggling everything.  Fitting something new into a routine isnt always easy. 

[MooBunnay]

The territorial pooping that ubergoober is talking about is also a temporary issue. After a couple days this territorial pooping should stop. If the bunny has chosen one place to poop other than his box, then either move his box to that new “chosen” place or put a second box in that place. After a day or two of the territorial issue, the bunny should be pooping in his box, expecially if there is hay in the box. Once that territorial pooping has stopped – really the amount of clean up time should not be long at all – just enough to dump a box and re fill it!
How did you end up getting Tater Tot?

[Hedi]

After your bun is fixed everything will fall in place. He will calm down, the spraying will calm down, etc.

Rabbits are amazing house pets-my husband says they have "way more" personality than a cat. If you can try and give your bun a chance. He may just surprise you and steal your heart.

[BinkyBunny]

Welcome both Daisy and Brenna!

Brenna: Everyone has given wonderful advice. I just have a couple of things to add. Spaying and neutering can really help, but just know it can take about a month for the hormones to die down. Also, you still may have to go through a training process. Check out the littertraining section on this site.

For bunnies that love to pee in the corner that the litterbox isn’t in, even if you move it to the corner he last peed in, then get a few boxes, and cut back when you start to see one being used more than the other. Make sure to put stray poos back in the box, and any pee you clean up with a paper towel elsewhere, put part of the pee soaked paper towel in the box. This will help your bunny understand where to go.

Rabbits that are going through their smelly territorial stage (starting usually around 3 months) are the worst. And this does not represent what a spayed/nuetered bunny will be like (in most cases – there are exceptions)

IF, you really can no longer offer your bunny a decent home because you are just too miserable and tired, then the best way I think to find a home is to take the time to find a good person who will care for your bunny. Never advertise your bunny for free (as some people who want snake food will take advantage of that)
Rescue groups usually only take in bunnies that are going to be euthanized (from overcrowding etc in shelters) But rescue groups can many times give you tips on finding a good home.

I have been impressed by just a few ads Craigslist, when people talk about their bunny’s personality, and how much they love them and that there would be a screening process to make sure their bunny was going to a good home. They may take a bit longer to adopt out their bunny, but in the end it is more likely that the rabbit will go to a loving home, not just someone who will later give the rabbit to the shelter or be neglectful. (so it’s important to be honest about the litterbox troubles you are having, and explain that you haven’t had him neutered nor the time to deal with it so they can see that could be the problem) That way, you know the person who is adopting is adopting with full knowledge that neutering and training will still need to be done.

[x liddo bunny x]

i have to agree, after the spaying i didnt really need to do much for ,my buns to use the litterbox, they naturally and slowly started to use it more and more i find strays here and there but not many at all. and usually it is near their cage. they onbly have one litterbox in the entire house and they use it well as long as it stays in the same place. they use it when in their cage so they ended up using it when out as well. their food is also always in their cage so after they are done exploring the house they head there to do their business. however i have to say that this began a couple months after the spaying but i think the little period of stress is all worth it in the end. and at first i was panicing after they were pooing everywhere for a while after. calmed down for about 2 weeks now. they now got the run of the living room. =) and will soon be moved to my room as soon as my brother and i clean it and bunny proof it or else they will eat all his college papers. lol

[Anita Stark]

Just wanted to chime in with my 2 cents worth about the smell and the litter habits.  Sable was always pretty good about using his litter box until he hit puberty and started marking territory around the living room.  At that time his pee also started to smell stronger.

Once he was neutered he went back to his good litter habits and we haven’t had any problem with odor.  I still call him "Stinker" but it’s only out of habit.

Vinegar does work great for cleanup.  For litter we use a combination of a layer of Mewsprint (store brand Yesterday’s News from PetValu) which has baking soda in it and a layer of Carefresh on top for softness.  While he occasionally leaves a poop outside the litterbox but still inside his pen he is very reliable with going to the box to pee.

 

 

[poopy]

Once you get him neutered, he could be pretty close to immaculate. My Medusa free roam my room where there’s carpet, and she is IMMACULATE. I have a covered litterbox so that nothing can be kicked out. She always goes in it! Once rabbits are neutered, they can be just like dogs and cats living inside the house and using the potty.

[Author]

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