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General Help and Advice

RexBrandy

New Kit
Hi Everyone,

Many thanks firstly for letting me join the forum.

Secondly, I hope this doesn't sound as if I am a complete Novice as far as animals are concerned as I have grown up with many animals such as Rats, German Shepherd Dogs, Cats, Rats, Hamsters, Budgies and more......

We have a White German Shepherd who is a year and 5mths old and a Cat (Bengal x Ragdoll) - Whom Brandy our new found member just seems to adore! (Or take no notice off, not sure which?) The Cat is brilliant with him.

I am 38 Years Old and Married with a 9 Year Old Girl and she wanted a Rex Rabbit for her Birthday. We picked him up last weekend. He's a beautiful mottled boy and Loves to have a cuddle (When you can get hold of him) and snuggles under your chin.

However, he has a 2 tier hutch on the balcony and we let him in when my daughter to comes home from school for cuddles and to run around! He poops an awful lot and has also weed everywhere, including on my wife 3 times. He is about 12 weeks old.

Anyway, he has spent from Saturday until today in the top half of his hutch and never ventured to the bottom half. The only reason for this is we got a cat litter tray and I heard that putting sawdust and some of his droppings in it would entice him to use it....... He is in it all the time now and as of 20:35hrs this evening he is still in the bottom half of his Hutch and I'm just a tad concerned he might get cold and not go to the top half where he has a warm water bottle with his straw and his food and water bottle for drinking out of?

I've put him back into the top half of his hutch and has ventured back down there again. I'm glad he is using the litter tray.

Another thing is I talk to him all the time so he gets to know us and have brought him out a few times for his cuddles, but he does half scratch you to pieces when you try getting him out or putting him back in his hutch or even just picking him up from the floor (that's if you can catch the little mite!)

Any help/advice would be truly much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Andy
 
Hi all,

Just checked on him now and as of 21:30pm he isn't in the bottom half of his run and in his bed! Phew; great news! Well pleased! That's one/two hurdles out of the way! A very happy bunny!!! ;)
 
Welcome to the Forum and the world of rabbits
I'm not quite sure what you are asking, but I will try and comment on some of your queries
I think rabbits are better at being litter training after they have been neutered. They usually enjoy munching on hay whilst in the litter tray, we have some loose in there, but others have a hay rack above the litter tray.
Generally rabbits are not keen to be picked up and will fight and scratch.
Does he have a run as well as the hutch? Rabbits NEED a large area to live in
During the winter, it is better not to keep bringing an outdoors rabbit inside as they can have issues with the change of temperature.
It is also better to keep two rabbits as they are company for each other
I am by no means am expert, hopefully someone with more knowledge will be along soon
 
Hello and welcome to the Forum :wave: Rabbits like to sit in a litter tray munching hay, this also encourages them to do their toilet in there. They will sometimes also sleep in it and as long as it is kept clean should cause no problems. He is very nervous hence he is scratching you. When you pick him up hold him close to you firmly and he will feel safer. It takes time.
 
Hi and welcome. :wave: I moved your thread into Rabbit Chat for you.

As long as he has the option of retreating off upstairs to the warm if he wants to, I wouldn't worry about him choosing to spend all night in the run - my two often do this, even on the coldest of nights.

Rabbits are prey animals so it's quite natural for them to scrabble about a bit when you try to pick them up. If you have a look at the Behaviour and Bonding sticky here you'll find some links to old threads with advice about how to bond with a new bunny. There's also some advice here about the best way to handle rabbits; they tend to struggle much less when they feel secure (although some still put up a good fight unfortunately! :roll::lol::lol:). It helps to work on it though, as you'll need to handle your bunny for health checks, vet visits, nail trimming etc. http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/care/handling.asp

Please do feel free to ask as many questions as you like, or you can check out the stickies in the Rabbit Care sections, which cover a lot of the most common queries.
 
Hi everyone,

Thanks ever so much for all the replies and the Warm Welcome. Glad to be a part of this forum.

I will have a look at the other links and will post any findings. Also, we have just noticed that he goes into his litter tray and has started eating his droppings. Is this normal? I will also make sure to put some straw in his tray.
 
Rabbits do two types of poops - the round ones which seem to drop out their bottoms randomly as they are hopping around :lol: - and soft, smelly, squishy ones - looks like a bunch of grapes - they do eat these ones and it's very important that they do as they contain lots of vitamins and minerals and all kinds of stuff that is needed for a healthy bunny gut. The soft squishy ones are called Cecotropes. If you find your bunny is not eating them - it usually means they are being fed too many pellets and veggies and that is easily fixed by cutting back.
 
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