Bruiser's pooping and water..a new bunny owner needs help:)

hey everyone

I am a new owner of a grey dutch dwarf named bruiser. Being a new bunny owner I have a few questions..

first, we didnt get anything for him to poop in like a litter pan or anything so hes going all over his cage....do we leave all that poop there until we clean the cage or could I maybe scoop ot out and plac it in a certain spot to show him....or could I just scoop it out. The cage doesnt need to be cleaned yet, we just got him yesterday.

Second of all, he seems to be drinking ALOT of water and Im wondering if the water bottle is working right...it seems to be working ok to me but he seems to be drinking alot.


and lastly, should I change his food everyday even if he didnt finish the pellets from the previous day. he has some stillin his dish right now...should I change it and give him new ones?

First off your bunny will chose the part of its home to be the loo, now you have had him for a day, go get a litter tray suitable for the hutch/cage and put it where the majority of the droppings are.

Rabbits do drink a lot of water, dont panic too much, just make sure that he/she dont run out of water.

as to the food situation, we refill the bowls when they gets to about 1/3 full.

Best advice I can give you now is read as much on the web that you can get your hands on. there is loads of information on here, the Rabbit rehome site and on our bunnycare site. and if you have any other problems or worrys ASK

Hiya,

Bunnies mark their territory by scattering piles of poop. You'll probably find that he has choosen a particular corner already to wee in. As he settles down in his new home you may find he starts pooping in that corner too. Unneutered rabbits tend to regularly leave scattering of poo around so he may still be a little untidy if he's not neutered. For now I'd leave him to settle in and get him a litter tray to put in the corner then when you clean the rest of the hutch you can leave some dirty litter in his litter tray and he should cotton on. If you remove it now you'll probably just find he replaces in, he's just marking his new home as his

Food - if he's still got dry food in his bowl the next day then your feeding him too much Rabbits diet should be mostly hay, this is very important as it wears down their teeth which continually grow. Along with this you can feed some dry food, a medium sized rabbit will eat about 50g per day, which you can split into two feeds if you want.

He will probably drink more if he's eating dry food rather than food with moisture in it. How much is alot?

Welcome to the forum

Tam

Hi and Welcome!

When I brought Cosmos home he drained his bottle dry twice a day (250ml bottle) which is loads more than my others drink, but after a couple of days he settled down and now he doesn't drink nearly as much so don't worry .

I set up a few small trays around Cosmos' cage until he chose an area to pee in, turns out this was actually a straw mat not the trays :roll: , once I moved the mat into the litter tray (putting the litter tray where the mat had been) he got the idea and a few accidents later (which I mopped up with tissue then put the tissue in his litter tray as a less than subtle hint) and he was fully litter trained in a day (he is a very bright bunny). He still leaves a few around his pen to mark territory as Tamsin said.

Depending on how old the bunny is you need to work out what you are feeding. Here we tend to recommend feeding a good quality hay (try local farm shops or pet shops as P@H's own stuff is often poor quality) as the main source of food. I put it in my rabbits' litter trays/cage area and put some in a box with holes cut in for them to play with and pull out when they are hungry too.

Then plenty of fresh veggies - although if your bunny is not used to them you need to introduce them in small quantities at first and monitor for upset tummies.

Lastly a small amount of complete pellets. Rabbit mixes tend to cause selective feeding and they don't get all the nutrients they need so if he is eating a mix it may be worth slowly changing his food over to a complete pellet (it has to be slow otherwise they can get bad stomachs).

If the rabbit is under 6 months I have always been told to let them have unlimited pellets but many people here think they should still be limited even when young. What were you told?

Caz

Thanks everyone for the advice.

I think I will go and get him a litter tray tonight. He seems to be pooping all over, he is too young to get neutered at the moment, but the majority of it seems to be in his hay lol.

I feel bad cause I want to get hima bigger cage but I cant for a little bit longer I also need to bunny proof my living room before I let him out.

When I got him the lady told me to give him unlimited pellets.

How old is he at the moment?

Tam

I am not really quite sure....The lady said he wasnt mature yet though...

Hiya and Welcome

Sounds like your having fun with your new bunster but sounds like your little bunny is getting loads of love and TLC

Might we worth checking with your Vet once your little bunny has settled in - they can then check age etc for you so you'll know when you can neuter (this will help with the poops being dropped and general territory marking) - also they will be able to help you regarding vaccination information to protect your bunny from the nasty Myxi and VHD Virus.

Hope this helps - enjoy your bunster.

Thanks for the advice guys! Bruiser is really starting to warm up to me. He doesnt stop and freeze when I walok near the cage and when I let him out tonight he was bouncing around and standing up on his back legs. He then proceeded to grab the empty toilet paper roll and toss it into the air lol.

About the poops....They seem to be collecting very quickly...and although he does seem to go in one area there is ALOT of them. I just out him in there yesterday and I was told to clean the cage one a week but I just dont want him sitting in there with all those poops...but at the same time I cant change the bedding and stuff every day...Itll cost me a fortune lol...what do I for my lil bruiser??

Once you have him litter tray trainned you can change that a couple of times a week and the rest of the hutch will need doing less frequently

Don't forget to give him lots of toys to play with, he'll need some in his cage too. Bunnies need things to keep them occupied as you have seen they are very playful!

Tam

Have you found a good rabbit vet yet?

When my first rabbit got ill I took him along to my then local vet and didn't realise that very little training is given re rabbits unless they choose to specialise. As I now realise it is always betst to have found a good vet before you actually need a good vet !

Had he been given his first set of jabs? If not it is best to have him done soon as we will be comming into spring (wishful thinking maybe ) when myxi and VHD are more prevalent.

Ohh and toys as Tamsin said are brilliant - it is wonderful to see them playing - there are loads of threads about toys and what we got our buns for christmas (there is a search facility at the top of this page). I must admit at Christmas I spoilt mine and they have so many toys they have little room to move - only kidding ! But it does stop them "playing" with my furniture and other no-go items! Most can just be home made as you have found out - my buns actually play more with my DIY efforts than with the expensive ones :roll: !

He sounds like he is settling in well already !

Caz

I am currently looking for a vet. And I am afraid Ill need to invest in a bigger cage within the nest 2-3 weeks. Hes a fast lil critter though when you are trying to get him back into his cage...

And Bruiser decided to leave me a present....while on my shoulder he decided to poop on my neck.....what a nice gift! :|...lol.

Im gonna hafta search through here on some toy ideas.

The Rabbit Welfare Association keeps a list of good vets but I think you have to be a member to see it otherwise if you want to post your rough area we may be able to help.

Another idea that has been suggested in the past is to contact your local rabbit rescues and ask them which vets they use - as you can be certain the vet will have seen loads of rabbits !

Ahh what a lovely pressie from Bruiser! I remember going down the stairs in the middle of the night to get a glass of water - I left the light off so as not to disturb the rabbits and walked through the hall past their area under the stairs to the kitchen. The feel of several currants underfoot were they had apparently had a little party was enough to make me use slippers from then on!!

Just wait till he matures and starts to spray - then their love for you is expressed in how much urine they can cover you with - ugh :lol: !

Caz

ewwww lol.


I bought something to put in the cage in which they can poop in. I placed several poos inside it with the litter and still a no....And for some reason he seems to be going ALOT today...more so than yesterday...I did give him his first veggie todsay so maybe thats it....

I just dont know how I am ever gonna litter train him.

May be he's still marking his territory! I got a bunny who had never used a litter tray before Christmas and it took her a few weeks before she got the right idea! She still poops all over her cage but all her wee now goes in the tray!

Maybe, but there just isnt like ten poops in the cage there is TONS and I dont want him sleepin in them but i cleaned the cage yesterday....