Confused Beginner Beginning to Lose the Plot!

[tbpierrot]

Hi all.

I've been the proud owner of a lovely young rabbit for a few weeks now, almost a month I think - he's an excellent little companion and has been great fun to have around, long may it continue. I knew from day one that he would need to be litter trained, but also that it would take time - him being about 8 weeks old when he moved in. I know I am being completely premature in my freak out, and it's far too early to expect anything of him, but I just don't know what to do at this point. He has a small cage, and for both space and finance I really can't expand his home area just now, although eventually I plan to turn most of his room (the spare room) into a large hutch, that's a long term goal. |

His area seems mostly okay for him, he never seems agitated in there but I assume that is in large part because he has been happily spending his evenings out and about around the living room with me, charging around, headbutting me and generally being an overconfident little monster and burning all the energy he builds up stuck in his cage all the time I'm at work. At first, he would poop a lot and occasionally have small wees if out and about for too long - I don't mind the pooping, it's easy to clean up, the weeing less so. Over time, the pooping lessened slightly and the peeing became more frequent, and I got into good habits about keeping an eye on him and running him to his cage or litter tray when about to pee, and cleaning up in front of him the moment he goes. A couple of weeks ago I bought him a litter tray and have tried various litters, and found one (catsan, god knows if it's safe but haven't read anything to say otherwise and it works unlike anything else) which he seems to understand pretty well... As long as the tray is in his cage. I bring it out with him but outside the cage he just will not use it. He's still pooping all over the bedding in the cage but that's not a concern right now, he can take his time figuring that one out.

To cut a long story short - my landlord is going to get seriously upset if the smell of rabbit wee starts to get any more noticeable than it is. My own patience is being worn thin by his new insistence on finding the softest furnishings - cushions, duvets and clothes - to pee on, and his increasing habit of running to pee on them STRAIGHT AWAY on being brought out, literally the first thing he does out of his cage. He only seems to do a handful of wees when in his cage, more than I've read they do (but that's understandable for a baby), so I guess the constant weeing in the living and bed rooms must be a territorial or fear thing? I just can't confine him to his cage, it's far too small for him to spend his whole time in, and the slight reduction I have made in his outside time has already upset him and led to a hell of a lot of scratches from a bunny who will not catch easily if he hasn't had enough time out and about to burn all his energy. Every piece of advice I see says to confine him to his home until he understands the litter tray, and I guess I'm going to have to - but if anyone has any advice on how to give him play time without ruining the house while he learns his litter training that would be amazing.

 

[happybun]

Remove all soft furnishings?
Weeing on things is often a sign of ownership - when he's confident of you, he'll wee on you, too - "This is my human!" [it becomes 'cute' if you see it that way. also cute is how they don't want to be cuddled until they get to the vets, when you turn into the most beloved and snuggled bunny-parent in the world. under my chin, bun? of course you can hide under my chin. what a softy you are. why aren't you like this at home? :lol:]
Also, when given soft things, like fleeces, cushions or those lovely pet beds, the first thing my four do, on every occasion, is soak them with urine so that I can't bear to wash them and have to throw them away. So landlord or no, I'd be moving the soft furnishings pronto.

 

[Tamsin]

Aww, they are cute little trouble makers aren't they. I imagine part of the problem is he's a young lad and his hormones are just kicking in and rabbits mark their territory with poop and wee. I expect you'll find that if you have him neutered his litter training will get a lot better, plus the slight smell that boys have improves too.

For litter you want paper or wood based non clumping cat litter. It's nice and absorbent but safe to eat.

I'd suggest some puppy panels to extend his space without giving him free access.

soft furnishing can be a trigger point so removing what you can may help. Also adding extra trays so he can spread his scent without making a mess

More tip here: http://www.therabbithouse.com/behaviour/problem-litter-training.asp

 

[tbpierrot]

Yup definitely agree on the soft furnishings, will do what I can to make the sofa safe, unfortunately when he was first brought out into the living room he started off confined to the (large, it's a caravan) sofa, and has only recently figured out that the floor is in fact safe to jump down to! The rug in the living room has been something I've been meaning to chuck ever since I moved in, it was a mess to start with and he isn't helping! I'll redecorate the living room and replace all the ugly old stuff anyway, so guess I'll just leave all that for a year or so until he's trustworthy! As for the duvets... I'll just have to make it clear to the girlfriend that no, he can't come and cuddle with us in bed, and I'll have to stop bringing the duvet out to the living room when I stick a film or game on - or just keep those times separate from bunny time!

In the short term, my plan is to keep him almost entirely confined to his cage most of the time for the next couple of days, keeping working on encouraging good litter habits in there, and use what spare time I have to build him some kind of simple play pen for the living room - ideally one that can be expanded over time into something more sophisticated and to give him more room. That should allow him to be with me for the evenings and have some space to roam, while still being in a limited area with his litter tray, and being allowed short time out to cuddle and play and have *brief" exploration time. I can then slowly expand the area (as long as litter habits are being established in the play area), and eventually start to open it up for him to be allowed to move between the pen and the rest of the living room, for short periods of time at first, and for longer periods if and when he starts to keep his bladder business to the pen (although I'll give him more litter trays around the place of course). Does that sound like a reasonable plan or is there anything there that could cause a problem?

 

[Tamsin]

Have a look at puppy pens: http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...door-Housing&p=4899621&viewfull=1#post4899621

 

[tbpierrot]

Excellent thread, lots of useful stuff there even just at a quick scroll through, thanks Tamsin! Unfortunately that's my days off this week done, back to work in the morning (ugh, in 6 hours, why the hell am I still awake?) and even if I could get to a place that may stock those kind of items before next week, I'm kind of broke right now. Besides, the lack of floor space here means that the best option probably is to try to put something together that can cover some of the floor and some of the sofa, and there's no reason that I can't hammer together something that can at least work in the short term, there's always wood and cardboard and wire/mesh around here. Longer term I'll ideally use tricks like the dog cages and puppy pens (or DIY it again if this project goes well) to make a much larger area for him to fill most of his room, and could possibly slowly expand that out to allow him some of the corridor as well and eventually some of my room - but not the bed!) I really want him to be as free range as is safely possible, it's a small home and increasingly bunny proof and he adores exploring - I'm more than willing to give it as long as he needs to learn to be free range while keeping control of his functions and not causing damage to himself or the house, but I'm just having to resign myself to understanding that I'd rushed things with him up to now and need to backtrack a bit. Thanks again for the help, is good to talk it through and helps me think more clearly about it all.