Please help me improve Snicker’s home!

[Heather]

Hi there!

New bun Momma here! Snickers joined us about weeks ago and we are elated to have him in our home!  He was six weeks when we brought him home from the breeder and was already litter trained. 

Please help me improve his habitat!! As you can see we have his original cage (we know too small, it was just a few days) inside a nice size x-pen.  He regularly urinates in the litter box inside the cage.  He poops all over the cage though!  I have the hay above the litter box to encourage more pooping in the litter box.  Do you think I should keep the bedding materials in the cage or remove them to encourage him to poop in the litter box?   I had put a towel in the cage early on but came home to quite few poops in there.

Any other recommendations for him home? My husband build a wooden ramp to the door of the cage so he isn’t having to always hop in and out, it just didn’t make the pictures!

I greatly appreciate all of the wonderful advice and recommendations I have received from this website!

Thank you!

 

[Sirius&Luna]

He looks like he has a wonderful home! Lucky bunny.

Do you want him to use his whole original cage as a litter tray? Or just the tray within the original cage? The bedding all over the cage might be making him confused, so i’d just have bedding in the actual litter tray to start with. (Also I’m not sure if those are wood shavings, but wood shavings can cause bunnies problems, so it’s best to use paper or wood pellets as litter )
If he’s not peeing on the rug I think that’s fine to stay for litter training.

Unfortunately litter training basically involves picking up a lot of poops, and maybe giving him a treat if you see him poop in the tray. Try and pick up stray poops and put them in the tray ASAP, and if you see him pooping out of it then move him to it.

As far as improving his environment – I think it looks pretty good! I wouldn’t say it needs improving, but if you wanted some other ideas for variation in the future, my bunnies often have a couple of these at a time:
-more boxes/a box castle.
-Willow tunnels always go down well with my buns.
-The Ikea mini beds always look super cute, but not sure how much bunnies enjoy them!
-a digging box with shredded paper and pellets or treats hidden in it
-a large apple or other bunny safe wood log
-a mini table with bits of hanging fabric to hide under (you can see some other people’s versions in this forum)

You could also even take the whole lid off the original cage.

[Mer]

Aww he’s such a cute bunny!
The cage looks good ! As you said he poops in the cage ? I would take out the litter in the cage and only have litter in the litter box. Even if that means you have to leave the cage bottom clear for a while.

Sirius&Luna had great recommendations!

I thought maybe if you wanted to give Snickers more space you attach his xpen to the sides of his cage instead of pushing it all the way against the wall.

a cat tunnel , Ikea sells them for around 10 bucks.

A diggy box

Some buns like blankets to dig around it.

Hay or wood safe balls and put fun bunny safe treats in them

Also bunnies like high walls when they go to the bathroom , maybe getting him a bigger litter box will help

[OverthinkingBun]

Hi, what a cute bunny you have! I like the whole “cage attached to x-pen” thing, since it gives the rabbit a safe-feeling room of their own that they can retreat to. I would suggest removing the litter from his cage and just leaving it in the litter box – it makes it easier for them to understand what you want, I think. I started with litter everywhere, too, and my rabbit’s pooping habits improved once I did that. If you have a couple of towels or fleeces or whatever to rotate on the bottom, you won’t have to wash them that often. It’s also kind of silly how much my rabbit likes pushing blankets back and forth across her cage – just doing this often makes her do tiny little binkies with delight.

[Heather]

What wonderful suggestions you all have! Thank you for taking the time to chime in. I’m sure Snickers will appreciate it as much as I do.

I will buy some fleece tonight and get the wood shavings out of the rest of his cage. There are wood pellets in the litter box, but I was moving wood shavings with poop on them into the littler box.

My husband and son will work on the “toys”. They love doing small wood projects together and I think they can tackle some that you recommended.

Thanks again!

[GarfyTheLop]

What a gorgeous rabbit! Is he a rex? His name couldn’t be more perfect!

I would just suggest a fleece blanket because we recently got one for Garf and he looooves it, think it softens the blow when he flops over

[Heather]

Thank you so much!  Yes he is a Rex as far as I know (vet visit on Thursday).

I will pick up some fleece then.

We put a towel in the cage for now and are trying hard to pick up his poops behind him!  What a fun chore!

[DanaNM]

What a cutie, and such cool markings!

Others have had great suggestions already, I will just add to keep an eye on the big rug to make sure he doesn’t chew it. If so, you’ll need to swap it with something safer (fleece, cardboard, grass/hay mats).

My bunnies love shredding phone books and chewing cardboard cat scratchers, which helps quell that energy to chew rugs etc.

His water bowl also looks like it might be easy to tip over, so swapping it with a heavy crock would be safer.

He also might eventually hop on top of his cage, so you might want to make the pen farther away on that side (or taller, or make a roof in that area) so he can’t hop over the pen. I’m sure he will surprise you at some point with his climbing/jumping abilities! If you place some flooring on the top of the cage it would be fun for him to hop up there, and would make the cage even more of a safe haven.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Floppyhoppybunnies]

What a cute and suited name! Looks like a great little bun area I change my buns play things every so often when they look bored with it (or it needs a massive clean out!) A change is as good as a holiday for them. Its easy done with new cardboard boxes or toy swapping.

My rabbits prefer high sides on the litter box – I have cheap plastic packing boxes that I have cut an entry in, this makes it super easy to swap out when it is muck out time but these are too large for your space (I live with disability so I try to make it all as easy as possible, it doesnt look as pretty as your box!). I am still looking for a good, cheap, long term litter myself.

It looks great to me – I do agree with DanaNM here that a water bowl upgrade may be a good idea, especially if he is home alone. My buns have two as I always worry they will knock one over when I am out, but its never actually happened!

[Author]

Messages