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HELP! My bunny is not peeing in her litter box.

6/24/2020

Litter training baby bunnies is sometimes a matter of patience. Sometimes they get ideas in their head and it makes you wonder what is going on with them. My post Help! My bunny is not peeing in her litter box is a response to one of my customers struggling with a young bunny.

Recently one of my customers wrote to ask:
Mr. Peanut eats his food and seems excited for it in the morning. But overnight if there is anything left or even it it's empty (as we tried last night) he gets right in and pees. He was doing well for a few nights of not peeing outside his litter box but for the last five nights he seems to prefer peeing outside of it rather than in. Just looking for a little advice from an expert!"

So What is a person to do?

I will freely admit that I am not an expert with house training baby bunnies. I've trained young and adult rabbits to a litter box, but I don't claim to know all the answers. Sometimes bunnies do things that are a bit confounding.

For instance, why choose to use the food bin as a place to go pee AFTER having used a litter box? I sometimes don't understand bunnies. My guess is that one night while munching on hay, bunny had the urge to go pee, was lazy and decided to go there. Since he peed there once, it's easy to just go pee there again.

In this particular instance I suggested they move the feeder up higher so it's up off the floor. You'll generally need it to be up at least six inches for this to be effective. But if the feeder is big enough to fit an entire young rabbit that's not going to work.

So I would simply remove the feeder at night.

Any other Advice?

I found this video which I thought was fairly well done. Mute the video and just read the screen as he speaks, I THINK, Spanish? I loved his emphasis on needing patience with young bunnies.

Sometimes you need to outsmart them, or to alter their habitat to make it easier for them to learn.

I thought Celia Haddon had some good advice in her post about why a rabbit might stop using a litter box. I particularly appreciated her thought that sometimes we don't know what caused our bunny to not like their litter box.

BudgetBunny has put together a similar list as well as pointing out a possible solution. (make it impossible for bunny to NOT use their litter box). :)

For some bunnies, litter box habits are vastly improved by neutering them. One suggestion from The Rabbit house.

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Gordan

6/9/2018

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This little guy lives out Mississauga way from what I recall. he's growing up. Gordon has new digs and a new companion.

I just wanted to let you know that Max and Gordan are doing very well !! Gordan is one of the most friendly bunnies I’ve ever known and he’s such a boss man and we love him ! Henry and Gordan get along quite well they will run and chase each other Gordan was chasing Henry (: and gordan will follow us everywhere , we have movie party’s and he will lye on the floor with Henry and they will sleep together (; Gordan is double the size he was when we first got him he’s growing into a big buck ! Overall Gordan doesn’t seem to miss home , we keep max and Gordan in contact! Gordan does not like kale he loves cucumbers, banana . We don’t feed him this food too much as it’s not that good for them , he eats normal , and loved dandelions ! He loves to lye on his side outside in the grass . He’s a very friendly guy. Just thought I would let you know how he is doing (:

Gordan has his first bath a couple days ago , not a big fan of the water but he was getting pretty stinky (: lol ! We got him a different cage one that’s on the ground and has a ramp where we can let him out ! Max is a shy guy he tends to not want to be as held as much but is still a very good girl or boy (: Gordan now knows how to jump onto the couch and hop up the stairs , we gotta keep our eyes on him at all times “lol!” Henry has accepted Gordan into the family and considers him a part of the “pack” he will. Chase squirrels and then come and sit beside Gordan (: Gordans fur is staring to get darker and more striped. He’s looking very good !

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Quick Rabbit Carrier Build

1/21/2017

Sometimes one doesn't have access to an all wire carrier OR you need something that will house a rabbit differently over a few days.

Enter in the Rubbermaid Carrier.

Rubbermaid carrier are fairly easy to do. You need some decent tools.

A sharp knife
Wire cutters
zipties
Rubbermaid container
wire
Drill with two different sizes bits
Jigsaw

Measure out where you want your wire to go. Cut your wire to the appropriate size. Hold it up where you are going to place it and trace around the outside with a dark marker. Measure in about 1.5 cm in from the wire edge, this is where you will cut the opening.

Use The bigger bit to make a hole big enough for the jigsaw blade to fit through. Use a narrow blade.

Go slowly and don't be surprised if you can only do one cut or possibly two, depends on the thickness of your rubbermaid container. Mine were fairly thin, so we made one cut with the jigsaw and cut the rest with a very sharp knife.

Once you have the plastic cut, use a drill bit just big enough for your ziptie to go through and drill all around your marked line for the wire. We marked where we drilled with the ziptie, and drill two holes, one on each side of the dark line (where the wire will be placed).

Put the wire on the INSIDE of the carrier to prevent rabbit from nibbling on the plastic. Then trim the ziptie ends short.

When you are done you will have a carrier that will work as an emergency bunny nesting site in the winter, as a carrier to take to shows or to just transport a rabbit.

In this particular case the carrier cost us $6.oo. We already had all the supplies.

Fit the rabbit to the box. This rubbermaid carrier will fit a rabbit up to 3 lbs, after that you will be looking into larger rubbermaid containers.

You can make them so they open from the side AND the top. If you are confident in your abilities you could wire on two sides. They are stackable if you need to bring in more than one rabbit in the winter.

I made this one to transport a small rabbit that had to sit for a week at a transporters home without having to worry if the carrier didn't come home. BUT with the view in mind of living in southwestern Ontario and occasionally having to bring kindling does in the house during hard cold spells.

This could also be used as a guinea pig or other small animal carrier. Change the size of the wire as needed.

How I Feed Rabbits and Why

5/22/2016

There are as many ways to feed rabbits as there are ways to house them or breeds of bunnies in the world. It's amazing to me at how versatile rabbits are.

It must be mind boggling to the average pet rabbit owner to sort out what is best for their bunny.

Therefore I thought I would tell you what I do with my bunnies in an effort to help you make some wise decisions.

Pellets

This is the basis of my feed regime.
As much as i would prefer to feed my rabbits a completely natural diet I have no room or time for such an endeavor. Figuring out the balance of salt and nutrients along with protein and fibre content is something I simply choose NOT to do, plus most of my bunnies move into pet homes where they will be fed pellets, so it makes the transition easier for them if I simply feed pellets.

What to look for in a pellet? Green colour, just pellets, no grains or colourful bits.

Why no grains?
It's like giving your rabbit main course plus dessert. Rabbits (with the temperament of many toddlers) will say DESSERT!!! I WANT DESSERT!!! and forget about eating their main course.

Why no fluffy colourful bits?
Well frankly who needs extra food colouring, fat, oil, and flour in their diet??? Honestly most rabbits DO NOT need that stuff.

Hay

I am not as driven as some about giving hay. I give it (in the winter every other day and daily during times of stress/change) and in the summer once a week (again daily during times of stress/change).

I only give a good solid handful and it changes depending on the rabbit involved. Some rabbits if I give too much hay won't eat their pellets, and others will eat ALL their hay and their pellets and act like starvation is just around the corner.

My reasoning is this...
1. Rabbits need fibre in their diet and a good quality pellet will provide that needed fibre.
2. Variety is the source of life, health and enjoyment. If I feed hay daily, how can I give other variety? How can my rabbits learn they can survive without hay (for those with a hay allergy who still want to own a bunny)?
3. hay is fed primarily for the enjoyment and stabilizing factor.

The type of hay does matter.. rabbits do best on a horse quality hay.. a grass hay. I buy mine by the bale, one slice last my herd for a day for the most part. Depends on who baled it.

Grains

I talk about the grain mix I use My Grain Mix and My grain mix part two.

I want my rabbits to be as balanced and capable of surviving regardless of how a person chooses to feed their rabbits. For those who feed a more natural diet, grains are an important part of the type of feeding regime. I've purchased rabbits who simply WON'T eat greens. They just say NOPE, never seen it, won't eat it.

I strongly desire rabbits who won't do that type of stuff as it's much less worrisome to the new owners.

In winter, every other day, in summer twice a week.

I find feeding grains really helpful in the heat of summer when the rabbits are too hot to really want to eat. They will eat oats if they are used to do so. Just a scoopful in the evening when it's cooler and they will do just fine.

Green Feed - also known as veggies, grasses, fresh food etc

I DO NOT buy greens for my rabbits.
In Ontario it is SO easy to find greens for your rabbits. It's the lawn to put up signs if uses sprays on your lawn, and most places it's rather restricted to businesses only to treat, so its usually not that difficult to find greens or even to grow them in your house/apartment.

I focus on GREEN feed, thinking like a rabbit as best I can.

REMEMBER>>> start slowly. Give their guts time to develop the proper flora needed. Mixing some fresh grass in with some hay to start and gradually increasing how much they get.

In the spring I'll feed dandelions, parsley, young leaves from GREEN leafed maple trees, young thistles, clovers, various grasses etc.

In the summer I'll add produce from my garden (lettuces, kale, swiss chard, turnip and radish greens etc). Along with plantain, prickly lettuce etc from my yard.

In the fall, maple leaves again are a favourite mixed with grasses, bean plants (without any dried beans on the plant), sunflower leaves, pumpkins or squashes I'm not using, etc. I'll pick up corn leaves and silk from vendors. Melon rinds are always a favourite.. water, honeydew, and cantelope.. YUM!

Every day they don't get grains or hay they get a big handful of greens, starting them off VERY slowly in the spring until their gut flora adjusts to having greens again until they are the full course.

What Don't I feed my rabbits?

Very little in the way of sweet food.. carrots, cucumber, apple, strawberries and the like. They will get the husk, tops or rinds, but rarely the fruit itself. Too much sugar is as bad (or worse) for rabbits as it is for people. Keep your rabbits gut healthy.. avoid foods it doesn't need.

I also feed very little in the way of cabbage family plants. Some rabbits will bloat from these plants and since I cannot predict by looking at them which ones might do that, and there are SO MANY other options out there.. feed the safe foods and leave the questionable ones behind.

If you've any questions.. just ask!
I'll do my best to answer them. :)

NightShade's New Home

11/1/2015

and the little lady herself. She looks so big in this picture, but she's really a tiny little girl.

NightShade has unexpectedly been having a hard time adjusting to her new home. I am not sure why as she's been nothing but a sweet girlie here, docile and just a good-natured bunny. I suppose the switch from one place to another has just been overwhelming for her little bunny brain. New sights, sounds and people. New living environment and all that.

It's one of the things I find interesting with rabbits is how they can throw you for a curve at times. I am hopeful that she will settle down quickly enough and no longer be stressed out by her living accommodations.

An update from her people:
And yes she is starting to, she is letting us pet her now and pick her up every so often. She comes when she is called sometimes too. She also knows how to escape from her play pen Lol. We tend to have to put her back a couple times a day. She's a cutie!

Introducing P. Tater

4/3/2015

I was simply delighted the other day to hear from Tater and her people.

This here is P.Tater... she was called Harley Quinn but her folks had a hard time remembering her name and s it got shortened to P.Tater.

Tater lives in a 4 x 4 square. In the basement of her place. She comes upstairs every evening to watch TV with her people. She has treats and has a good lie around. She has doggy friends that she gets along with really well.

She's doing really well and surprise, surprise the fellow of the house really likes her and thinks she has tons of personality. :)

In the words of Tater's people.
"I just wanted you to know we're all pretty happy and I am thinking of you. .... Thanks for the bit of joy you've shared with us. PS. my husband just loves her! He's kind of surprised about it, he said he ca't get over how much personality she has. She really won him over."

Rabbit Wheel

3/14/2015

Normally wheels are not recommended for rabbits as they are simply too small for them. This is bad for their backs.

BUT check out this wheel.

It's big enough for the bunnies using it.

Earmites in Rabbits

1/20/2015

Earmites in Rabbits... crusty sore ears in rabbits. NOT fun for rabbit, not fun for the human handling unhappy rabbit. What does one do to treat?

There are a variety of things you can do.

1. Oil in the ear. I have successfully used oil in the ear for rabbits to get rid of mites. I've used it every other day for two weeks and bang.. no mites.

2. Ivermectin.. NOT for pregnant or nursing animals so exercise caution here. Also be careful on dosage amounts and DO NOT give to rabbits who will be used for food for at least six months. Paste ingestible or cattle type injectable.

3. Diatomaceous earth.. FOOD GRADE. Sprinkle on animal regularly.

4. Here is one person's method of curing it. NOTE: tea tree oil is TOXIC to rabbits so you need to make sure they don't ingest it.

5. You could get a specific mite treatment for your local veterinarian. things like revolution, advantage etc.

6. Try using VetRX brand Rabbit Remedy. Some folks swear by it.

Coat Colour Patterns

1/11/2015

My goal in this post is to introduce you to some basic coat colour patterns.

The two main coat patters you will come across in rabbits are solid and broken.

This rabbit (Magic) is a solid black holland lop boy. As you can see he is all one solid colour. This coat pattern is called solid. This other rabbit is a solid chocolate polish named Mittens. I don't breed a lot of solid rabbits except in polish. I like the broken and harlequin colours along with a smattering of agouti the best in my rabbits.

Georgia (broken black polish) and Acorn (broken chestnut holland lop) are two examples of broken. Broken means white with another recognized colour. It is different than vienna marked or harlequin. It's a distinct colour patterning.. can be heavier or light (such as a booted broken, or a very light broken called a charlie).

Here we have two examples of the harlequin colour. Harry (black magpie) and holland lop baby pet (black japanese) show off the main colour variation of this colour pattern. Magpie is white with black, blue, lilac or chocolate) Japanese is red with black, blue, lilac or chocolate). Harlequin is a confusing colour because it is also a breed of rabbit. Harry is a harlequin breed rabbit which comes in the harlequin patterning. They are to have a split face, opposite colouring on their feet and banding along the opposing sides. it's a fascinating type to breed for. This is one of my favourite colour patterns.

Agouti... I think Mousewhisker is a chocolate agouti. Silver was a blue chinchilla. I would LOVE to have a bunch of chinchilla coloured rabbits in my barn. But breeding chinchilla gives alot of chestnut... and chestnut I'm not real keen on..it's like having a bunch of cottontails running about (and I have enough of those in my yard as well). :) Agouti is a specific colour patterns that has rings in the fur. white, black, and other colour. The other colour defines what TYPE of agouti it is.

Shaded rabbits. PinPin is a black tort, IvyPool is a Siamese Sable. Shaded rabbits have darker color on the feet, ears, tail, and head. These areas fade to a lighter shade on the rest of the body. Shadeds include: Sable Points, Siamese Sables, Seal, Smoke Pearls and Tortoise (Tort for short).

Rabbits with the tan gene come in two varieties... silver marten or otter. This pattern is recognized with ear lacing, a triangle behind the head, lacing around the eyes, and in the crease of the nose. It is either a silver colour or a tan colour.

The vienna gene. The blue eyed white factor. These are some kits off a doe rescued who appeared to either be an oddly marked broken or with the odd marking of a vienna marked rabbit. They show very much that she was a vienna marked rabbit. Vienna marks can be a snip down the face, a white paw on a solid rabbit, a broken rabbits whose spots are "off" from the normal broken pattern, blue eyes, dutch markings with no dutch in the background. It can cause havoc for a long time in a line of rabbits. One can breed with it or try to remove it from one's herd. It can be frustrating to work with. The kit i nthe middle is a normal blue-eyed white rabbit. All three are vienna marked, making them vienna gene carriers.

So that in a nutshell are the basic colour patterns that you will run into. There are others since breeding one rabbit to another can lead to some interesting genetics being shown Like tricolour rabbits with tan ear lacing. Orange rabbits with smutty noses from having a shaded in the background. You can have steels (which look a lot like an agouti but with a gold or sliver tip to the hair shaft).

Hopefully you found this helpful.
Tell me if you would please, what colour rabbit do you have?

Rabbits and Companions

10/31/2014

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Other than how to feed rabbits, one of the most divisive conversations is that of how to keep rabbits... alone, in pairs, in colonies or a mixture of all the above.

People have their preferred methods and their own experiences to raising rabbits and all these things affect how one raises their rabbits.

One camp is predominately house rabbit related.
Rabbits need a rabbit partner or they will be lonely. These are the folks who say when getting a rabbit you have to get two.

The other camp says "keep rabbits by themselves or they will fight".
These are predominately breeders.

There are others who raise rabbits in colonies as well but we won't be talking about those folks today. Colony raisins has it's own particular issues and I don't want to get into those issues in this post. :)

Frequently folks are told that two rabbits are better than one, unfortunately when people are told that, they aren't told that baby rabbits being together is different than adult rabbits being together.

YES.. Two rabbits that get along together are FUN to watch together. They are. I've seen it, I like what I see. BUT I've also seen the flip side when rabbits DO NOT get along well together.

When people buy two bunnies together I always warn them that the bunnies MAY need to be separated when they mature and what signs to watch for. The key to keeping more than one rabbit together is SPACE. Keeping two rabbits in a cage that is large for them as babies is a whole lot different than keeping two adult rabbits in the same space.

I've rescued way too many rabbit couple and found one that is thin, or has multiple scratch marks on it's back and nip marks on the lower half to wonder about the safety of keeping two rabbits confined in your standard "large plastic" bottom cage. Keep them in that cage if you must, but then put a divider in the cage to protect the submissive rabbit from the dominant one.

The real key to keeping two rabbits happy together is give them LOTS of space and with the space give lots of hidey holes and jumping up onto areas. Give bunnies places to go and areas of their own to hang out in. That's the real key to keeping more than one rabbit living happily in a household.

Within breeder circles there is even controversy about how to keep rabbits in indvidual cages. From the size of the cage to the location. Where they should be joining cages or completely separate. There are reasons for everything and I"m not here to argue them.

Are those of us who house animals individually cruel and heartless not allowing rabbits to freely interact as they would in the wild?

The biggest reason to keep rabbits in individual cages comes down to this: Safety. People want to keep their rabbits safe and since "couples" are known to break down which does raise the strong potential that one of the rabbits could be seriously injured, most folks who cage their rabbit individually do so to prevent those types of injuries.

Like seriously.. if you know that something or someone you valued was going to live in a potentially dangerous situation, that was ENTIRELY preventable...wouldn't you want to see them living as safely as possible? (for sure you would!).

So it is for most breeders and pet owners who have seen rabbits injured because they just want to be on their own (the rabbit that is).

Rabbits do live in colonies in the wild (Europe that is) and in places in North America where folks have let enough of them go so the rabbits populate an area. But one thing you will notice about rabbit colonies... they happen naturally in the WILD. In the wild where they can move to safer pastures if a rabbit dislikes them enough to drive them out. WE cannot safely replicate that in indoor housing. We can't du to the nature of buildings have walls.

So those who house rabbits individually "put up walls" between rabbits to keep them safe.

But also to
1. monitor health
2. maintain good litter records
3. maintain pedigree records
4. figure out which rabbits have the strongest immune systems

I hope I've given some food for thought.
If you have questions, fire away. :)

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HELP! My bunny is not peeing in her litter box.

So What is a person to do?

Any other Advice?

Gordan

Quick Rabbit Carrier Build

How I Feed Rabbits and Why

What Don't I feed my rabbits?

NightShade's New Home

Introducing P. Tater

Rabbit Wheel

Earmites in Rabbits

Coat Colour Patterns

Rabbits and Companions

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