Oy... Snotty little guy...

Well, Skittles has been getting progressively more and more time out of his cage, but there are a couple of issues I have to address...

First, I know he's still very young, but it seems that the more time he gets out of his cage, the more he poos in his bunny hut. He still poos in the though, and I don't expect perfection. However, it isn't like he "announces" when he's going to go, so how do I reinforce his using the litterbox? So far, he hasn't used any other part of my bedroom as his bathroom.

He's very good about being calm while picked up, but whenever he is going to be let back onto the ground, he thrashes and kicks and contorts so badly I'm afraid he'll drop! I've only had to pick him up and put him down maybe four times so far, but what do you guys do when your buns exhibit this behavior? Just let them grow out of it?

He likes to chew. He likes to chew a lot. And that's okay, but he especially likes to chew beneath my bed. I have boarded off the back area of my bed with cardboard where there is a gap which would let him hide for as long as he would want. So, I need to know how fast a bun his size can chew through a piece of carboard? :? He has plenty of toys, so that isn't the problem... But he just wants to know what is on the other side. He doesn't bother any of the OTHER cardboard.

Last one: He seems to shy away from my hand a lot when I offer to pet him. Today is the first day he'd let me pet his head for more than 20 seconds. This might be because I have had to get him to stop chewing on my shoes by running my hand slowly under my cabinet. :? What else can I do? Now, he's taken to chewing under my bed, and I really don't want him to set up another "potty" for himself down there. But I don't want him to be scared of my hand. I try using a firm voice and saying, "No," but he turns, looks at me, and goes back to chewing! :? :roll: :?

Thanks for your help, guys. I know I have a lot of questions, but I truly deeply appreciate all the advice I've gotten.

Ok, I have a couple of pics to illustrate my point about the "Under the bed" thing.


This one's a little hard to see, but that's a shoe and a plastic brush I put in front of the cardboard to keep Skittles away from it. As you can see, he just jumped on top of it to chew. :lol:


Again, Skittles on top of my shoe.


Skittles nect to my shoe, chewing on the cardboard.


Skittles getting ticked off by the flash and leaving his favorite chewing-spot! :lol: :lol: :lol:


I love this little guy. He's so adventurous, and really starting to warm up to me. He even jumped in my lap today to investigate the cookmie I was eating! :lol: I just need some advice, because I don't want him chewing on something that'll make him sick. :?

Carboard is not going to stop him, it can be chewed very quickly :lol: You need somthing much stronger.It needs to be blocked off completly with someting, perhaps plastic boxes with things in like your shoes? tall enough to come to the top of the bed and enough to line up along the length?so theres no way under there. You could give him things like carboard tubes to chew, apple twigs if you know anyone with a tree, or any fruit tree. As for him struggling when you want to put him down its quite common. Just be carefull not to let him go till his almost on the floor. The more hes handled the better.Hes at the age when its important to pick him up a lot to get him used to being handled. val

Thanks a bunch, val! I'll try... something... cardboard would have been great, because I have an especially small space under my bed, but I'll have to think of something else... Also, he has a LOT of stuff to chew on, he just chooses to chew where he isn't supposed to. :roll: And when I tell him, "no," he goes at it even more fervently! :roll: :lol: :roll:

Any thoughts on the potty-training?

3 of mine scrabble when I put them down - however I started holding them still and not letting them go til they are calm and then they sit there and I stroke them and then they hop off! I obviously dont restrain them too hard but just enough to stop them running off straight away Kami was the worst but has improved quite a bit.

As to shying away from your hand when you go to pet him: are you approaching him from the front and above in the same way you'd pet a dog? my o/h is always doing this to Jack, then Jack will shy away...

Rabbits see out to the sides, they have a blind spot to the front, so if you stroke them head on they get a surprise!! Approaching from above is likely to provoke the same reaction as the rabbit might think it's under attack.

Try approaching from the side, talking to him, give him gentle nose rubs or his cheeks or behind his ears, those are my rabbits favourite places to be stroked

oh, and you could try spraying him with water from a plant spray as well as saying "no" when you tell him off... that worked when I was training Jack, but I did have to dry him after as he has very long hair

Skittles is gorgeous, he looks really cheeky!

Ah, thanks! I forgot about the blind-spot. I've tried having my hand near the ground, moving slowly toward him. Tonight, we had the longest petting session ever, 20 minutes. :lol: He's such a sweety.

I could probably use a water bottle. He doesn't listen AT ALL when I say, "no." In fact, I think he gets a kick out of ticking me off. :lol: :roll: :lol:

BTW, What exactly does "cheeky" mean? Is it generally the same as snotty, strong-willed, etc?

Thanks again, guys.

hi

cheeky means cute and naughty

Benny would accept no boundaries - he knew there was another world, full of carrots, behind the radiator on my bedroom wall :roll:
He was impeccably litter trained though.

Tia on the other hand is happy to run and binky on the carpet (well yes a bit of pee too - and lots of currants :roll: ) never chewed anything yet, which is why Benny is now outside bounding around, and Tia is queen of the house - You have to accomodate their needs as they won't change to please us boring humans :lol:

I've never had a baby bunny, so there's never been a problem with picking my lot up - they are all too big for me to dare try!

For the most part, I can accomodate Skittles... Except when he tries to eat my shoes and my landlord's carpet! :shock: :lol: :shock:

He's being SO good about his litterbox! I can't believe it! :shock: I thought young buns were supposed to be hard to litter train, but when Skittles is out for more than 45-60 minutes, he'll need to use the potty... So, he hops into his cage, poos, and hops back out! :shock: He's done this three times, and not a single poo on my rug!

Evo, my bunny was great about his litter tray from the beginning too! Just luck, I guess.

You can get plastic storage boxes on wheels to go under the bed. Would these fit under yours, or is the gap too big / small?

it's too small... :roll: But since I changed the cardboard, he seems to have lost interest... snotty little guy. :lol: