New House Bunny Owner

Hi there!
Im new to the whole bunny owning thing and I need some help.

I'll be picking up Binx on in the 1st week of Sept and he'll be 8weeks.

Im living in rented property right now, but my landlord has said no smelly animals, and I'm worried that when I'm potty training he'll leave nasty smells so how what would I use to get rid of the smell?

Also he would be living in a cage when I'm not there, but when I'm in the house he'll have full run of my bedroom, but my cage will be in a walk in wardrobe (dont worry its not wha you think its like a small extended room thats been turned into a wardrobe. Will that affect his potty training?

Also do house rabbits still need to go outside? Ive heard they need vitimin D and get it from the sun so would they still need to go outside because my garden isnt rabbit proof so im guessing i would need a lead?

Aaah Im sorry guys I have loadsa questions, I need real people who have real bunnies and not just read it on the internet or in books.

HELP!!

to save the landlords carpet i bought a cheap one to sit over the top, any accidents then wont affect the landlords stuff.. altho we havent had any accidents yet.

bunnies do not smell as long as you keep on top of litter tray cleaning poop still goes everywhere but they are dry little balls easily picked up by hand or with a little vac

litter training can be pretty easy, keep your baby caged until it gets the hang of it and accidents should be rare. the more space you give as a baby the more litter trays you will need to provide, little bladders and all that.

in his cage alvin picked a spot to wee so thats where the litter tray was put and now fully trained i can choose the tray locations

i have used all sorts of litter products and right now i find that the good old newspaper and hay are working just as well as anything else

be prepared for hay alllllllll over the floor and to take loads of pics

That's great advice thats helped me a lot, I read that if you put stray poo in the litter tray that that helps also?

I feel like such a loser because I'm new to the Bunny world but I need lots of advice! And there seems to be a lot of experienced bunny lovers on this forum.

MammaH said:

That's great advice thats helped me a lot, I read that if you put stray poo in the litter tray that that helps also?

I feel like such a loser because I'm new to the Bunny world but I need lots of advice! And there seems to be a lot of experienced bunny lovers on this forum.

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only a year ago i felt the same hun and i still cant do the handling thing very well

you could put newspaper down at first too and the bit that gets peed on then can go in the litter tray just so thats where the smell is... im forever picking up poop and putting it in the tray, i think it gets scattered because alvin is so fluffy it just comes out when he jumps from the tray.. pearl never poops or pees anywhere but the litter trays...

I change my house buns tray twice a day and it never smells Im sure your bun will soon get used to using his tray I find the big underbed plastic storage boxes great, newspaper, shavings and then loads of hay on top. Bunnies like to eat while they poop :lol:

Hi :wave:
How exciting, bet you can’t wait! Firstly, your bun can be trained not to do certain things, so it may seem chaotic and overwhelming at first, but he will respond eventually. When you get him home, let him explore his cage and room on his own. Don't try and interfere, he'll get frightened. Sit on the floor and let him come to you, they are naturally inquisitive!

Not all buns are diggers and chewers, so he may not go for your carpet. If he does, it'll most likely be a corner. You can get over this by either doing as Donna did, and get a cheapie over the top, or putting a carpet tile down, or some spare bathroom tiles, in the corners that he likes. They tend to go for a particular corner. If there are any electric cords in your walk-in wardrobe/bedroom, then these will either need to put up out of harms reach, or covered in plastic tubing. I use the stuff you get curtain poles in, or you can use aquarium tubing, or stuu you can get from Maplins.

If he starts chewing your wood, give him something else to chew, and keep at it, eventually he'll learn. They tent to do some poop outside the box, but usually wee in it. If he wees outside the box, use white vinegar spray to cover the smell, and point him in the direction of the tray.

Keep him in one room until he seems settled, then let him out into each new room gradually, and watch where he's inclined to 'go' and put a litter tray there.

The first few weeks may be a bit stressful to be honest. There's a few tips for helping your bunny along. He need to learn 'NO', and he will. Say it firmly, and reinforce it by clapping, ringing a little bell (which works best for mine) or if it's extreme, some people spray a little water onto their bun, I've never needed to do that myself.

As far as outside goes, if he’s little, you may be able to put make him used to a harness, but a lot of buns don’t like them. There’s a couple of alternatives:
Put his cage out there and let him be outside, but safe inside, we did this when we first had him before we bunnyproofed the balcony


Or get a cheapie small hutch, doesn’t have to be big, he’s not living in it, more of a summer house! And put him in that. Mine loves being outside, but again, buns are not the same!
We have a balcony, it's bunnyproof, but we syill got a little hutch for him


Theres a few tips on my site below. Good luck, and we need pics on arrival!!

donnamt said:

only a year ago i felt the same hun and i still cant do the handling thing very well

you could put newspaper down at first too and the bit that gets peed on then can go in the litter tray just so thats where the smell is... im forever picking up poop and putting it in the tray, i think it gets scattered because alvin is so fluffy it just comes out when he jumps from the tray.. pearl never poops or pees anywhere but the litter trays...

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Oh its great to know that I'm not the only one.. I see it as you know when people have their first baby and are worried about if they are going to make great parents. I'd have to say that I was a young mum since I'm only 20years old and this is my first bun! And its the first home I've been in without my parents! Its so scary ha, but I've always wanted a bunny but parents always said no but I thought I'm out on my own and I want a fluffy companion and I thought a cat or a dog would be too much to handle for me for my 1st ever pet, but obviously I'm going to treasure my new bun and do anything for him whatever it takes!

Thanks on the advice for loo training it helps immensely

JayUK said:

Hi :wave:
How exciting, bet you can’t wait! Firstly, your bun can be trained not to do certain things, so it may seem chaotic and overwhelming at first, but he will respond eventually. When you get him home, let him explore his cage and room on his own. Don't try and interfere, he'll get frightened. Sit on the floor and let him come to you, they are naturally inquisitive!....

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Jay all your advice is brilliant I couldn't thank you enough for helping me out! My garden isn't all that bunny proof and there are lots of unkown plants around so I'd be a tad worried about him eating something that he shouldnt. But ill see maybe about a run or something like that, just a small one but like you said it depends on the bun.
He'd generally be in my room and walk in wardrobe (which will be where i'll keep him until he's ready).

Also where would I get a reasonably priced indoor cage, being a student money is slightly budgeted and ive checked ebay, but mojority are pickup only and I have no means of transport. Are there any websites that you could point me in the direction of?

JayUK said:

He need to learn 'NO', and he will. Say it firmly, and reinforce it by clapping, ringing a little bell (which works best for mine) or if it's extreme, some people spray a little water onto their bun, I've never needed to do that myself.

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did have to chuckle at this..... the more i say no the more demonic alvin gets and if i dare to spray water , he waits till i think its over and gets the wallpaper in an attack of revenge :lol::lol::lol::lol:


MammaH i think rabbits are the most facinating and amazing pets to have, if your not too house proud and dont mind stuff getting chewed (ie table legs :lol or living on constant poop watch just incase they are ill.. you and your new bunny(or bunnies) will be very very very very happy together.. oh yeah and RU addiction soon follows rabbit ownership :lol::lol::lol::lol:

MammaH said:

Also where would I get a reasonably priced indoor cage, being a student money is slightly budgeted and ive checked ebay, but mojority are pickup only and I have no means of transport. Are there any websites that you could point me in the direction of?

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how about a puppy pen



mine is made of two of the 32.99 ones from pets at home and the grid cubes from b&q

Jay, I've just had a look at your website and I was wondering where to get the clear plastic cover for the extension cord where the plugs go in?

Your website is amazing it helps so much Bertie is an absolute cutey!!

donnamt said:

did have to chuckle at this..... the more i say no the more demonic alvin gets and if i dare to spray water , he waits till i think its over and gets the wallpaper in an attack of revenge :lol::lol::lol::lol:

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:lol::lol::lol:there's always one :lol:
I did once spray Bertie, while I was spraying the plants, and he binkyed... :? :lol:

MammaH, the clear plasic stuff is the packagin from a couple of curtain rails we got at B & Q. It was purely coincidence that when we needed to bun proof the room, we got some new curtain polls, and they come in this quite thick and fairly rigid plastic suare tubing, which you can cut with a Stanley knife to length.

The other thing we use on one long strip is the proper white plastic flex casing that clips together. You can get this from B & Q or wickes etc.

How long is he going to be left in his cage each day? This and the size of your bun are factors to consider for how big it needs to be. We started off with this huge double storey thing (you'll have seen it on the site), then when we were able to let him have the room, we downsized to a Nero 3, and now he doesn't have a cage at all, so bear that in mind too. Eventually he'll probably have run of your wardrobe room

ETA: you'll see some other housing ideas on this thread

:wave: Hi there. You won't regret having a house bun for one moment they are so entertaining.

You used to be able to get cable tidy tubes from Ikea but as I haven't been for a while I don't know if they still do.

Just want to wish you good luck. When we first had house buns people thought we were mad but there are so many people doing it now and so much stuff out there eg., play tubes, toys etc that its much easier 2nd time around.

We use a dog play pen to extend the area ours have when we're not around. They only get the freedom of the house when we're in.

Will you be getting a partner for yours once you and bunny are settled? We did for our little girl and she is a different bun now. Its like having 2 mischievous kids around the place!:lol:

Just a thought, are you registered with yahoo freecycle? You could put an appeal on there for stuff, you'll get it for nothing all you have to do is collect it from the person who wants to give it away. Its a great site for giving stuff away that has little value to someone who may find it useful.

Sorry I ramble on a bit.

JayUK said:

:lol::lol::lol:there's always one :lol:
I did once spray Bertie, while I was spraying the plants, and he binkyed... :? :lol:

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im going to have to ask, but what does binkyed mean:?

well i'll start my course again at the end of sept and im in uni tues, thurs and fri morns but not all day, so he would only be in his cage for no longer than 5/6hours and then obviously when I'm in he'd have full run of my bedroom and possibly downstairs.... which leads me to another newbie question, wha a bunnies like with leather? we have a leather suit (least i think it is..)
And how do u clip bun nails? just with normal clippers??

LuceMarbles said:

You used to be able to get cable tidy tubes from Ikea but as I haven't been for a while I don't know if they still do.

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Thanks I'll go and have a look, I don't have loads of cables, its just one extension cord and then 2 more

No I'm not but thanks for the info! My only problem is I don't have a car ha, but my housemate does so hopefully the people won't be too far out :roll:

Hi all, just got an email from my breeder, Binx is well he's in full health and is the right size for a 5week kit.. He did have a sore bum when I went to see him but that's all fine now.

I've also been bunny shopping today, I've bought a treat ball, a holder for veges, rabbit treats and some lino to put in the corners to prevent accidents.

I also saw a cage in p@h that was £26.99 I think, it looked quite a good size, itsthe one that is risen up off the ground, does anyone know which one i mean..

would that be an oki size to start off with?

Hi MammaH, glad to hear he's OK. A binky is a little jump for joy that buns do, sometmes they twist too.you'll soon see one, but there's a vid here :lol:

The size of your cage should be as big as you possibly can have it, esp. if he's going to be in it for 5-6 hours a day, which is quite a long time for a bun. He needs to be able to stand up in it and also have 4-5 times his body length to run around in. If you're going out in the morning, he'll still be active, its only the afternoons when he's asleep.
Do you know what breed he is, cos his adult size needs to be considered for his cage too.
If you get one of those cages on a stand, it may limit you if you want to give him more freedom in the future, i don't know, I've not had one, maybe someone else can help with that.

Sorry to throw more questions at you, but housing is important. This room sounds as if it'd be a great bun place for him to be able to be free in. Maybe this is something you could work towards? If he's alone for that long though he may be bored...and you'll probably end up getting another

JayUK said:

Sorry to throw more questions at you, but housing is important. This room sounds as if it'd be a great bun place for him to be able to be free in. Maybe this is something you could work towards? If he's alone for that long though he may be bored...and you'll probably end up getting another

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Ah well I'll see about a puppy cage then, something that is relatively big for him. I don't want to cramp him up and I have 2 9am lectures so he would have a couple of hours run about before I head off for uni. but I should get home at about 1ish.
My walk in wardobe is an odd shape, its like an L shape, theres a rail for clothes and storage shelves but then round the corner theres space where most of my rig bags and boxes, but they can be moved.
He's a mini lop, but I don't know how many different breeds there are of mini lops, I'll have to ask the breeder, all her adult bunnies looked like 'your average sized' buns i'd say about 8inches long?

Every bit of information everyone gives me has been a massive help, if people could still give me information and stuff you'd be still helping me out big time!

Just Bought A Puppy Cage

ive just bought a puppy crate of ebay, its 21" in length, 14" wide and 16" height for £20 of eBay.

Is that a decent size people?

picture of the puppy cage

Is this a decent sized cage for a new bun?