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We've just adopted two rabbits - help!

D

duckworthalison

New Kit
Hi
We've just adopted two rabbits - mother and son (2 and 14months). They are inseparable which is fine by us. They have lived indoors for sometime and we are keen to keep it that way. However, we could do with some practical advice.

They are pooping an awful lot - is that normal?
Can they be trained to poop in a litter tray (they do urinate in the litter tray)
They are also using what was supposed to be their bed as a litter tray - so they have two!
We have a dog play pen for them for during the day and until they get used to their environment. Is that acceptable?
How much is too much feeding. They have greens for breakfast and dinner and hay/readigrass during the day, but they seem to want more? Again, is this normal?

Any advice at this early stage is welcome. I haven't had a rabbit since I was a child!

Thanks!
 
Hello an welcome! Rabbits do poop a lot normally, I think I read up to 300 per 24 hrs. :D One of the best way to litter train them is to have a nice big litter tray lined with newspaper and topped up with hay, as rabbits like to chew hay and poop. The underbed storage boxes make a very good litter tray. This encourages them to use it but you may find that they still leave poops around I am afraid. Yes it's quite normal for rabbits to use the "bedroom" as a toilet and sleep elsewhere. Perhaps you could put a smaller litter tray in there to save the hutch?

A puppy pen should be ok to start with, is it an 8-sided one? Are they going to be house rabbits?

You say you feed greens in the morning and evening and hay and Readigrass inbetween. Are you not going to give them pellets as maybe this is what they are used to nd that is why they seem to be looking for more. Rabbits always act as if they are starving. Hay is the most important food with small amounts of veg or forage or herbs and a few pellets. Hope this is of help to you.
 
duckworthalison said:
Hi
We've just adopted two rabbits - mother and son (2 and 14months). They are inseparable which is fine by us. They have lived indoors for sometime and we are keen to keep it that way. However, we could do with some practical advice.

They are pooping an awful lot - is that normal?
Can they be trained to poop in a litter tray (they do urinate in the litter tray)
They are also using what was supposed to be their bed as a litter tray - so they have two!
We have a dog play pen for them for during the day and until they get used to their environment. Is that acceptable?
How much is too much feeding. They have greens for breakfast and dinner and hay/readigrass during the day, but they seem to want more? Again, is this normal?

Any advice at this early stage is welcome. I haven't had a rabbit since I was a child!

Thanks!
Click to expand...


Hi there and welcome to the Forum :wave:

tonibun has give you excellent advice :D

I only add to is to give you the website of our esteemed admin, Tamsin, who created and runs this wonderful forum for us:

http://www.therabbithouse.com

Good luck and please keep us posted :D
 
Thanks so much for this. The volume of poop is a little overwhelming and to be fair to the rabbits (Buttercup and Bailey) they do use their space in their pen for pooping and have been quite good at using their litter tray for urinating. They also used their bed, which is a small dog basket with a cardboard box lid, for pooping in and have urinated on their cosy fleece blanket. I may have caused some confusion in removing the 'lid' as they have also urinated in the box. Do we therefore set up the area in the pen and keep it consistent?

In terms of food, we just want to make sure we are not over feeding or under feeding them. They have lots of hay and readigrass and making sure they have their greens. We don't yet, give them pellets as the RSPCA, where we got the rabbits said it wasn't necessary and they are quite 'chunky' rabbits.

They are a fantastic pair, we have had them since Sunday and are smitten already. We are just really keen to make sure we do the right thing for them. Any other tips you can throw my way, gratefully received.

Yes, I am keen to have them as house rabbits, but I don't want to 'rob' them of the outdoors either. I just don't want them sat in a hutch!


Thanks
 
Thank you! I will take a look. We are really keen to make sure we do the right thing with them as they are really cute and intelligent little things, so any other snippets you may want to throw my way would be very welcome!

I do think you will see me on the forum talking all things rabbit as we get more confident!
 
duckworthalison said:
Thanks so much for this. The volume of poop is a little overwhelming and to be fair to the rabbits (Buttercup and Bailey) they do use their space in their pen for pooping and have been quite good at using their litter tray for urinating. They also used their bed, which is a small dog basket with a cardboard box lid, for pooping in and have urinated on their cosy fleece blanket. I may have caused some confusion in removing the 'lid' as they have also urinated in the box. Do we therefore set up the area in the pen and keep it consistent?

In terms of food, we just want to make sure we are not over feeding or under feeding them. They have lots of hay and readigrass and making sure they have their greens. We don't yet, give them pellets as the RSPCA, where we got the rabbits said it wasn't necessary and they are quite 'chunky' rabbits.

They are a fantastic pair, we have had them since Sunday and are smitten already. We are just really keen to make sure we do the right thing for them. Any other tips you can throw my way, gratefully received.

Yes, I am keen to have them as house rabbits, but I don't want to 'rob' them of the outdoors either. I just don't want them sat in a hutch!


Thanks
Click to expand...


Are they both neutered? Sorry if you've already said :D
 
Thank you. Yes, they are both neutered. They came from the RSPCA and have been with them for 12 months. They are inseparable mother and son and lovely with it, so am really pleased they are as that would just be wrong! I am sure I will be posting some very inane questions in the coming weeks. We just want to do the best for them both as they are so lovely.
 
duckworthalison said:
Thank you. Yes, they are both neutered. They came from the RSPCA and have been with them for 12 months. They are inseparable mother and son and lovely with it, so am really pleased they are as that would just be wrong! I am sure I will be posting some very inane questions in the coming weeks. We just want to do the best for them both as they are so lovely.
Click to expand...


I don't think there *are* any inane questions :D

Regarding pooping and weeing on cosy blankets - that's pretty normal. Take them away and wash them thoroughly for the moment, and try and remove all the smell from the basket etc. In time you may find they don't associate their bed with a toilet :)

(I mean wash the beds and bedding, and not the rabbits :lol:)
 
Welcome to the forum.

They should be on an egg cup of Science Selective or Burgess Pellets in the morning, unlimited Hay then some greens / fruit. I would limit the Readigrass and it is quite bad for them in high doses.

With regards to the litter training, pick up all their poop and put it in their litter tray, and if you can any soiled urine aswell. They will smell the scent and start to use it, it takes awhile but it does work :)
 
Thanks Gemma. Will give it a go. They have a pet pen (dogs) and have access to the rest of the house when we are around. They have settled in really well which is encouraging I am just overwhelmed with the volume of poop! Also, do you think we may have made a mistake in moving their 'bed'. When they first arrived we set it up for them (its a small dog basket) with paper in the bottom and a cardboard box over the top as a place to hide. They pooped and wee'd in there and wasn't sure that was normal. I believe they can poop in their bed, but was surprised by the wee.

Thanks for the tip on the readigrass as well, that's helpful.

Determined to get the hang of this!
 
Even if you were to only give them 1/2 an eggcup full of pellets at least they would be getting nutrients they may not get from hay or veg. How old are they? Don't worry, you will not become an experienced bunny owner overnight - there is so much to know about them.
 
I too was surprised at the amount of poo one bun can produce! It's good that they are pooing well though it sounds like they are making themselves at home :) no, you don't really want them weeing in the area where they sleep but they shouldn't once they are used to the littertray. Some rabbits love to wee on fleece so take that away and just leave the hide as is. It's good to give them places to hide away in case they get scared but indoor bunnies don't need things to keep them warm as their fur coats will do that. Mine are outdoor and ignore all the cosy places I create and just lie out in the cold!
 
Hi :wave: Welcome to the forum :)

Good luck with your new bunnies, you will find lots of useful advice here. Has anyone asked for pictures yet? ;) x
 
Hi & welcome

I echo all the great advise everyone has given :love:

So wonderful that you are researching :thumb:

Of course, we do need pics of them though :lol:

If you take a look on the housing section on here you will see some great ideas for indoor set ups :thumb:
 
Thanks for the advice. That's helpful. Interestingly, I did take the blanket way, gave it a good wash and it seems to have worked. I also bought them another for their pen which they like. The weeing seems to have calmed down and I may be just getting used to it, but they seem to be using the litter tray more and more for their poops too, so the message may be getting through. I also bought them a much larger tray so they can sit in it together if they wish.

Thanks for clarifying that I wasn't to wash the rabbits - made me laugh!
 
Thanks Tonibun. We will look into it. They seem to be settling in really well to the extent we now let them out of their pen to freely hop around the house if they wish. All wires have been covered or moved away. They have well and truly become part of the family!
 
Wow thanks everyone for the welcome to the site and great advice. I am sure our confidence with them will build as we get more used to each other, but the way they seem to follow me around the house would appear they have already settled in! I will work out how to post a pic or two shortly. However, they were with the RSPCA for 12 months as they are 'just ordinary brown rabbits'. Not for us though, full of character and cute!
 
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