X-pen for bun that sprays?

[Bu20055]

Hey guys!

I’m having another restless night, and as the kind of person who can’t fall asleep if they have something on their mind, here I am.

So I myself do not have a rabbit yet, though there is a bun at a rescue about an hour away that I have fallen in love with (the evil part of me hopes he won’t get adopted so I can adopt him, but it might not be another month until I can adopt). So I have a friend who has an un-neutered bun, about 6 years old I believe, and as you would imagine, he sprays. Now she got this bun from her parents when she was younger, and I know she really cares about him, so if she could go back and change things, I know she would.
So my friend has several issues in terms of her rabbit care, the two major ones being hay and cage size. I think the main cause is money, because her parents think he’s fine with what he has. In terms of hay, I gave her one of those small bags of hay because I had it for my hammy (not for him to eat, but to help with his burrows), but as a helicopter mom and a major worry-wort, I didn’t end up using much cause I didn’t want him getting poked or something. I’m also helping her to find cheaper sources, so for now we’re okay on that issue.

This is where I ask my question

 

Gosh, I’m sorry I’ve started to ramble. Okay so, her bun currently lives in a smallish pet store cage. She can’t free roam him because of the spraying, and she can’t use an x-pen for the same reason. So my question is, are there any ways to spray proof an x-pen, and prevent pee from getting on the walls? What alternatives are there for appropriately sized enclosures for a rabbit that sprays?

Thanks guys!

P.S. the bun I was talking about is adorable! He’s a black and white dwarf bun, mostly black with one white leg and white on half of his neck (same side as the all white leg). His nose is white and he’s got a tiny little white spot above his mouth. His other front paw is white too. I’m totally in love and I really hope I can adopt him. He turns 2 in August, only 4 days after my birthday.

[Louiethebunny]

Good luck with the bun you hope to adopt! Honestly, the best thing to stop a rabbit from spraying is most likely getting him fixed. Fixed rabbits maintain much better litter habits, and also show fewer aggressive and territorial behaviors. Because money and cost is a concern, I understand why that wouldn’t work out. Your friend could try to place a wall covering of some sort? Maybe she could hang a tarp along the walls.

[Bu20055]

Yeah unfortunately getting him fixed isn’t an option for her right now :(. It’s probably too late at this point anyways, (not getting him fixed, but stopping the spraying by getting him fixed) because it’s likely become a habit for him.
Yeah I was thinking about some kind of covering. We probably have something that I could give her too. How would you keep the bun from chewing it? And what would you put on the floor of the pen? Towels? Fleece liners?

Thanks about the rescue bun :). I’m so excited to finally be able to adopt a bun, I’ve been rambling to my family and friends a lot! I’m probably driving them insane!

[Hazel]

As Louie said, the best thing to do would be to get him neutered. Not only to help with the spraying, but to calm him down as well, he sounds pretty hormonal and probably feels a lot of sexual frustration which is stressful and unhealthy for him. He might not be perfect after the neuter since he’s older, or he might be fine, but in any case it should cut down on the spraying considerably. Does she not want to neuter because of finances or is there another reason?

[Bu20055]

I think it’s both finances, and fear of something going wrong because he’s older. I’m not sure if she has a vet either- and I know, vet checks are important.
I think the biggest thing is costs for sure though.

[DanaNM]

Bunnies can be neutered fairly old. 6 is definitely not too old as long as he is healthy otherwise and the vet is experienced. I would really encourage your friend to try to save up and get him neutered. It is very sad for a bunny to be confined just because he has poor litter box habits. Many male bunnies get surrendered at shelters for exactly this reason.

From what you describe it sounds like this rabbit is in a bad situation (grass hay should be 80% of the diet and available 24/7), and rabbits need room to run daily.

She could set up a pen with puppy pee pads on the ground, and hang some washable blankets on the walls. But really the pen should be the home base, but with a larger area to run for at least a few hours a day.

 

 

. . . 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.  

[Bu20055]

Yeah. He does get some time to run around her room everyday, but the run time doesn’t make up for the small cage. She is interested in neutering him, though I’m not sure how far her parents would be willing to travel, as I believe our closest rabbit-savvy vet is an hour or two away. What is the average cost to neuter a rabbit in Canada?

I know about the hay as well, I’ve actually been teaching her quite a few things about buns and their care but we still have a long ways to go. I got an amazon gift card from my grandparents and I’m looking into buying some hay to ship to her. Honestly once I get a bun and find a good supplier (I’m going to talk to a bunch of farmers down my street about it) I think I’m probably going to give her all the hay she needs, cause it’s really not that expensive from a farm.

I was thinking something along the lines of the blanket and pee pad thing, though I was thinking maybe those painting sheets they put on the desks for kids at school might work. What do you think?

[Louiethebunny]

I’m not sure about Canada, but where I live, neuters at the vet are 200-500 dollars at the high end, but some shelters actually offer great deals, my local shelters has a spay+neuter clinic that only charges $90, so that’s a good option to look for around your friend’s area. Painting sheets might work, but anything made of plastic is pretty unsafe if the rabbit is a chewer.

[Hazel]

6 years is not too old for surgery. Provided the rabbit is healthy and you have an experienced vet, the risk isn’t higher than with a younger rabbit. Especially considering that a neuter is much less invasive than a spay for example. Costs can vary greatly depending on location, I paid less than $100 for my guy’s neuter, and that was at a high end exocitc vet clinic. Many vets will offer a payment plan, maybe that would be an option?

[Bu20055]

I’ve been able to find some spay+neuter clinics for cats and dogs, but I haven’t been able to find any close by (under an hour away) that mention anything about buns. I’ll look around to see about payment plans as well. I believe the vet 2 ish hours away from us (that my closest bun rescue uses) offers payment plans and such, though I’m not sure if they’re too far for her.

About the painting sheets- yeah I though that might be an issue and I had a late night thought to put them on the outside of the pen, but that would pretty much defeat the purpose. 😆

[prince dorian the bun]

For the spraying issue, they make dog blankets that are supposed to be pee proof, you could get something like that to line the bottom of the x-pen. I have seen pet pens with clear barriers, can’t link here, but if you search on amazon for resin pet yard fence you should see some examples (the one called EXPAWLORER Pet Playpen for Puppy – Plastic Indoor Yard Fence Durable and Large Space for Small Animals with 12 pcs Transparent Panels looked pretty big and not a bad price). The rabbit shouldn’t really be able to chew those easily (may need to find a way to block the bottom edge) and looks like you can just wipe down to clean.

Hope the neutering works out! Maybe call the rabbit rescue and ask them if they could recommend anyone? They may be in touch with vets who are willing to do a sliding scale or payment plans. At least worth a try.

Also maybe the spraying can be reduced by giving him more roaming time and toys and such. He may be spraying out of frustration as well as hormones.

[Bu20055]

That pen looks interesting though I think it’s really short. I’ll look around at stuff like that though!
I’ll contact some of the rescues around me when I get the time, that’s a good idea thanks!

[DanaNM]

That’s really nice of you that you are working to help her and improve the rabbit’s situation. 🙂

For finding vets, it helps to search for “exotics” vets. Many vets don’t explicitly mention rabbits, but are advertised as small or exotic animal vets. It is usually much easier to find a vet that does neuters than to do spays. Reaching out to rescues is a great idea. They might also have suggestions for cheaper sources of hay locally. Not sure if she has storage space, but buying hay from places that sell for horses is usually much much cheaper than buying it as it’s sold for small animals.

. . . 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.  

[Bu20055]

Thanks :). I’m really passionate about animals, especially small animals like buns and hammies, so I try to help people out whenever I can.
I’m not sure how much she has the space to store, but she could probably buy flakes instead of by the bale, if space is an issue. I’ll be checking out some feed stores around us soon when I get a bun, so when I find a good source I’ll let her know too.

In terms of vets, I’ve been looking around, but since we live in a really small city, I haven’t been able to find any closer than an hour or two away. Do you think rescues would have a recommendation for a vet closer to us? None of our bun rescues are closer than about an hour away. I’m not sure how far she could travel for a vet, but I feel like her parents would prefer one closer.

[Louiethebunny]

I do agree that rescues probably know of a good vet nearby, it’s probably inconvenient for rescues to travel far to take care of sick rabbits or rabbits that need surgery. It’s definitely worth a quick call. The HRS also has a list of rabbit-saavy vets from different states.

[DanaNM]

You might have already seen these, but here are two useful BB threads to help with finding a vet:

https://binkybunny.com/forums/topic/how-to-find-a-vet-for-rabbits/

https://binkybunny.com/forums/topic/rabbit-savvy-vets-us-based-and-world-lists/

. . . 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.  

[Hazel]

You can find compressed bales at feed stores. They don’t take up too much room, I keep mine in a plastic storage box.

[Moonlightbunny66]

I know I’m a little late and I don’t think you’re supposed to comment on older posts? Idk but this is on the front page of this forum. I have an idea of putting a plastic shower curtain or tarp on the inside of each side of the cage, tucking in the bottom to stick out of the outside of the bottom of the x-pen. So the walls are all plastic and no pee should be able to escape. You could also do this on the bottom and make sure the edges are all tucked under the bottom of the x pen sticking outside. Put memory foam mats or something squishy underneath so it’s not too hard and slippery. Make sure there’s no wrinkles in the bottom that the bunny can grab to chew on. You could even put something heavy on the outside of each corner to hold it in place. As the others said, it depends if he’s a chewer. The other idea I have is making him his own walls in the x pen or a diy cage that are washable. I hope this helps.

[Bu20055]

Gosh, I’ve gotten carried away these past several days and haven’t been checking the forum.

Dana- Thanks! I’ve seen those posts before but I’ve completely forgotten about it.

 

Hazel- Yeah. I might have found a source of hay but I’m still waiting for the seller to get back to me. If it doesn’t work out I’ll check out some of the feed stores near me. If it does I’ll be able to get two nice big bales- one for me and my future bunny and one for my friend.

Moonlight- yeah I’ve thought of something like the tarp but I think he might be a chewer. I’ll check with her to see if it’s and option. For the diy pen what materials do you think would work?

[Moonlightbunny66]

@Bu20055 I’m thinking a safe untreated wood for the walls.  Then linoleum flooring to put on the walls? Depends on if he chews that but then you can wipe it off. If you have any ideas of things you could stick to it to make it waterproof that would be good. For flooring, you could use a plastic tarp/shower curtain with foam mats or memory foam mats, with a blanket on top so he has something soft in the meantime before he’s neutered. I don’t have experience with diy pens but you could help your friend do some research on the best materials. Then come up with the best safe plan to water/spray proof it. I’m testing stuff out for my buns when I pick them up in a few days. Since I think they need some help with their litter box habits. Right now I’ve got plastic shower curtains on top of memory foam bath mats from the dollar store (so they have something squishy on their feet). They’re absorbent but I haven’t seen a bun pee on it yet so I’ll see how it works. There’s also cage liners which are meant to soak up pee (more expensive tho). I don’t know if they’ll chew the plastic shower curtains, cause I haven’t met them yet. Someone told me I could also tape down the corners of the shower curtains outside of the pen to keep it flat, so I’ll be trying that out soon. Hope you can take something from this! Maybe someone else here can offer better diy ideas lol.

[Moonlightbunny66]

(I meant wipe off any spray)

[Bu20055]

@Moonlightbunny66 That’s a good idea. She could probably make a basic pen out of plywood even since the inside he’d have access to would be covered in the waterproof flooring.

Do you think one of those waterproof mattress protectors could work for the floor? The part that wraps around the bed could wrap around the outside of the pen. She could even maybe put towels/ fleece on top to give him some extra softness.

[Moonlightbunny66]

@Bu20055 Yeah, that could work as long as it is really waterproof. I don’t have experience with those covers but yeah. Fleece on top is nice. I think you would just need something to put on the walls to make it waterproof so the wood doesn’t get wet. I wouldn’t normally suggest just making just a wood box because the bunny can’t see out of it. I guess you could probably use plexi glass or something similar with a wood frame instead. Just still need to make sure the wood isn’t going to soak up the spray. And that the bunny gets air, probably should not have a top and just make it tall enough he can’t jump out. Or clip some mesh/fabric tule to the top as a “ceiling”. And drill holes near the top of the wall where spraying can’t reach?

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