My new friend Mushu

[GIANTmushu]

 I picked her up on 9/15 and the breeder says she’s 3 months old, so I’m going with her birthday as 6/15/13 

I’ve been around plenty of pets in my life, but never had one myself until now! This past week has been a huuuuuge learning curve because I decided to get her on a total whim. I wasn’t 100% on getting a bunny then and there at the breeder because I figured I’d shop around and see a few different breeds but when I stuck my hand out to play with the flemish giant babies in their hutch, she was the first bunny to come up and rub against my hand so I couldn’t help but take her home with me  I didn’t know anything about bunnies and didn’t have a cage built but for the most part I think I’m up to speed, thank god for the internet.

 

Here are some pix!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And after a couple days of introducing, mushu is now bullet’s buddy!  (my housemates pup) 

 

I’ve only had her for now for a week and I’m still very new to this but very excited to have a bun! Just the other day she did her first 500/binky around my room 

[Roberta]

Awesome, she is beautiful and you have such a great set up already.

[jerseygirl]

Beautiful bunny and dog!!

Welcome here : ). Hope you’re finding plenty of useful info on the site.

I was the same with my first rabbit. Got her spontaneously, knew barely anything and had no equipment. I had to scramble. Hit the Internet and library and we muddled thru.

Seeing Mushu stretched out in 2nd photo, she’s obviously a pretty content bun.

[CheriB603]

Yay!! Love the Flemmies!
Welcome!!!!

[GIANTmushu]

I'd like some help with potty training her and some feedback on my current method. I know she's a little young, but I figured I might as well try to start. Inside her cage, she seems to be good. The flooring is just layers of supple water resistant shelf liner and I've never seen a puddle so I can only assume she's going inside her 2 corner trays. When she's outside her cage and roaming my room is a whole different story though, she will have a combination of little sprays and all out pees.

Whenever I open the door to her home I let her come out of her own accord and roam around my room. I'll watch her like a hawk, letting her poop all over the place (which she does EVERYWHERE, every few-several steps she'll drop a pellet or two) but the moment she pees I'll clap my hands real loud which gets her attention and sometimes makes her stop peeing, then I'll pick her up and set her down in front of her cage door. She's very gentle and doesn't mind being handled for a few seconds. Then I'll herd her into her cage, shut the door, soak a paper towel in the spot she peed and wrap any fresh droppings in it and I'll put that in the litter box inside her cage in hopes that she'll sniff it out and hop in and understand that's the spot she should pee. I don't want to physically place her inside her little box that's in her cage because I don't want her to feel like her home is a place of punishment.

 

[If I catch her in the act and pick her up and set her into a tray outside her cage, I won't have enough time to soak up her pee and place it in one of the out-of-cage litter boxes before she jumps out, so I don't think this is a viable method of trying to train her.]

I'll leave her 30-45 minutes in there until I open the cage door to let her try again.

I'm pretty patient with her in terms of pooping all over the place since I think she's getting used to my room, but the peeing really erks me. It's a giant PITA to keep doing laundry when she jumps on my bed and pees there… I also hate that my room smells of vinegar 24/7… The spot she generally likes to take an all-out pee is under anywhere that has a top, desks/tables but the rest of the room seems to be free range for marking. I've placed a litter box, as well as droppings and a freshly soaked paper towel of her urine under the tables/desks but she seems to always pee around them, never in it. (I'm thinking get a larger tray?)

Any input/advice would be appreciated, as I'm a first time and new bunny father and no small detail is too small for me to overlook.

[jerseygirl]

A lot if this is age related and she’s certainly marking territory. I think most of what you’re doing is good. Especially providing litterboxes both in her house and out. Going bigger with the boxes is worth a try and make them enticing. i.e. pop hay and health treats in there.

I think one of the biggest things you can do is limit how much space she is allowed access to for the time being. This is where exercise pens are really useful. I would trial allowing her to roam in a more limited and defined area.. Then slowly increase the space if her habits improve. Perhaps something large enough that you can be in the space also to interact.
Rewarding her when she does use the box of her own accord is worthwhile. Rewarding can be as simple as nose pets or whatever she enjoys.

Territorial marking can start to abate in its own but when they hit puberty it can also get worse. Desexing often helps.

[justwildbeat]

I’d definitely try to find a bigger litter box. You can also use storage containers/organizing boxes since you’ve got a Flemmie and they’re only going to get bigger lol. As Jersey suggested, limit her free roam area. If you have leftover NIC cube panels you can turn them into a makeshift xpen using zip ties.

[NewBunnyOwner123]

Also when she comes of age you should definitely look into getting her spayed. That helps ALOT with litter training and aggressive behaviors.

[AnnaW]

Awww Mushu is lovely, and I love the name you can try to find a bigger litter box and make it enjoyable for her to be in with treats, hay etc but my female lop was a peeing beast until I got her spayed when she was old enough Infact, she would mostly sleep in her tray and pee everywhere else! So spaying when she is of age is definitely a good bet, Belle is now spayed and very well litter trained

[Author]

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