Litter Training a Dwarf Rabbit

[Emmie]

Hey guys

 

I’m a complete rabbit noob, so apologies for any dumb questions.

 

I have just gotten a baby dwarf rabbit named Zelda and I would like for her to be able to wander my sitting room when I’m here. I was wondering are there any difference in training dwarfs to normal rabbits? Also, if there are any tips, I’d really appreciate it. I’m a nervous new owner and am constantly worrying about her!

[Helenor]

Hi, I have two dwarf bunnies and as far as I know, there aren’t any differences in litter training. Is there a place for your bunny to stay in for while? Zelda will probably not have that great litter habits until she’s older.

[peppypoo]

Though some dwarfs do tend to be more hyperactive than bigger breeds, there’s no reason to train or treat them differently (other than for things like food quantity, which is weight-dependent). Feline Pine, Yesterday’s News, and Carefresh are all good litter brands – horse stall bedding or wood stove pellets (sans accelerant) are also great for their value if you can get your hands on some. Just fill a litter box with a layer of litter and put it in the corner of the cage…you might have to do some back and forth to figure out where Zelda wants her litter box to be…if she starts doing her business in one corner, just move the box over. Putting litter all over the cage might just confuse her about where exactly she should go. Also, rabbits seem to have a strange association between eating hay and doing their business, so make sure the hay is accessible from the litter box. I know Zelda is still pretty young, but litter habits generally improve after spaying/neutering in rabbits (not to mention substantial health benefits), so she might be a little messy now – be sure to get her spayed when she’s old enough!

Phew, that was all over the place. Hope it helps

[Sarita]

Welcome! I saw your welcome post and she’s simply adorable.

Some suggestions as far as the cage – bigger will be better even for a small rabbit. You will want to take the bedding out and only use a litter box with appropriate litter that Peppy mentioned. The bedding is going to confuse her into thinking she is going to be able to use everything for her litter box as far as the cage.

Put a litter box in the corner and add the hay to encourage her to use this.

[Emmie]

Lol, I’ve noticed how hyper she is. I wasn’t expecting it at all!

 

Your post has been a great help! I didn’t know you could get rabbits neutered. That’s how much of a noob I am

 

I think she’s having some issues getting into and out of her cage because she’s so small too. She also seems to like climbing alot. She was climbing up on my shoulders and jumped off my sofa which worried me a tad because she’s so small. But she seemed fine. Do they ever get tired though?! Haha!

[Lani]

I have a dwarf as well and the only difference I noticed when litter training her as compared to the himalayan I had several years ago is that I was not allowed to pick her corner. Originally I had put her litter box in the corner that I would’ve preferred her to use, which is the tactic I used with the himalayan years ago, but she would’ve have it. She had to pick her own corner, silly girl I have no idea if this difference is due to breed or just because her personality is much more “my way or the highway” than my other rabbit, who was VERY laid back. Also, as others have said, getting your bun spayed/neutered will help tremendously.

By the way, welcome! Your bun is gorgeous!

[Emmie]

Oh excellent! Thanks for that! Yeah, she’s VERY hyper and is quite demanding for attention too. It’s good to know there’s another dwarf owner here! Not feeling so nervous now! She seems to pee in one area of her cage alright, so I’ll try putting a small tray there. Her cage isn’t as big as I’d like.

Yeah, I’m really not sure how old she is tbh. I intend on taking her to my vet when I get paid just to have her checked over and ask for neutering advice.

And thanks for the bunny compliment! She’s absolutely wonderful. Fell in love the moment I saw her!

[MagpieBunnies]

You’ll find plenty of us have dwarf buns. Hemi is 6 months old and his previous owners just used the entire cage as his litter box and after HOURS of scrubbing it clean I put a litter box in with the same bedding (I didn’t switch the bedding until I knew for sure he would take to the litterbox) and I kept some of the soiled bedding and put it in and he started using it almost immediately. I would suggest maybe trying that too. Everytime she goes somewhere other than the litterbox scoop up the poop and put it in the litterbox and mop the pee up with a tissue and put that in there too. And like peppypoo said Hay works wonders helping with their litterbox training!

[LoveChaCha]

*waves*

Fellow Nethie mommy here!!!!
You will notice that Dwarfs have a HUGE personality.. and the girls tend to be.. VERY DIVA DEMANDING LIKE I have a diva myself. There isn’t much of a difference. Once she is of age to have her pellets switched from alfalfa to timothy (6 months OR a year old, I can’t remember), the pellet amount will need to be decreased to a tablespoon.. yes, very little because dwarf bunnies and bunnies in general can get chubby very fast. So, unlimited hay is best at all times

Just a reminder, she’ll need to be spayed around 6 months She may exhibit some hormonal behavior: loss of litter habits, possible spraying, lunging, territorial pooping, false pregnancy, BUT. .that is why spaying is so great because it takes away all of that She’ll be a happier girl too.

[Monkeybun]

I have a very little dwarf girl, she’s all of 1.5 pounds fully grown

She’s a handful, thats for sure. makes up for her size in attitude

[MagpieBunnies]

A little off topic, BUT LoveChaCha thanks for mentioning the amount of food for a dwarf bun. Hemi’s a little bit bigger than a Nethie but I have always thought that the food amount chart on his food just was SO much. The amount they say last him probably 3/4 of the day or even all day. Then again he also has constant access to hay and I supplement in celery, bits of leafy romane and as a treat I’ll occasionally put in some carrots. I took out the amount of pellets that seemed to fit the amount of veggies I was giving him but it stilled seemed like a lot of food. So thanks again!

And good luck with litterbox training Zelda, Emmie! Hopefully when you take her to the vet he/she will be able to determine how old she is and when you can get her spayed so her training will be easier.

[Emmie]

Wow, all this advice is so much more than I was hoping for, thank you so very much!

 

Well, she’s been running around my living room for the last two hours and periodically pops into her cage, so I’d say I’m halfway there. There’s no pellets or pee on my carpet, so I’m taking that as a plus. She seems very very intelligent. And the personality is already showing!

[LoveChaCha]

Magpie, is Hemi a dwarf or a Lionhead? My Chacha is 4 pounds.. she is what breeders call ‘false dwarf’ she is a a big bigger than the normal sized Nethies. She wishes she could get more pellets.. but I don’t want a chubby bumba on my hands. My bunny scarfs down all of her breakfast pellets in less than 5 minutes and she gets hay all day until dinner time – greens.

Emmie, here is a list of important questions to ask when looking for a vet. And there is a link to vets in your state. It is not uncommon to drive 30 minutes or more for a vet check up.. rabbit vets are hard to find.

[Emmie]

I don’t think I got your link there?And I live in Ireland. I’m pretty sure my local vet can look after rabbits. I mean, there’s a giant cartoon rabbit on the door!

[MagpieBunnies]

Oh. Well he’s definitely smaller then. I think the vet said he weighed in just over 2.5lbs almost 3?  He’s a tiny guy for as much hay as he eats  

[MagpieBunnies]

Emmie where in Ireland do you live? Some of my cousins just moved back to England from County Clare. I was always so jealous of them when they sent me pictures. They were always so pretty! I have the amazing life of living in Kansas. Woohoo… (note the sarcasm). Nothin here but cows, more cows, and wheat fields. Oh and your occasional town. =)

[MagpieBunnies]

Emmie where in Ireland do you live? Some of my cousins just moved back to England from County Clare. I was always so jealous of them when they sent me pictures. They were always so pretty! I have the amazing life of living in Kansas. Woohoo… (note the sarcasm). Nothin here but cows, more cows, and wheat fields. Oh and your occasional town. =)

[Emmie]

Haha, I live in Dublin actually! But hopefully not for too much longer. I intend on migrating to the states when I finish my degree. My boyfriend actually is from South Carolina!He’s coming to Dublin for the first time in May and he is super excited!

I didn’t want to make another thread, so I’ll ask here. Last night when I was going to bed, I ushered Zelda back into her cage and closed everything up. She spent a good half an hour trying to chew the bars and was making an awful lot of noise trying to get out. I was wondering is this normal? Will she get used to sleeping in her cage at night? Thanks again!

[peppypoo]

Only half hour trying to get out? My bun used to go at it all night! Some people recommend putting the cage in a room where they can’t usually roam, so the bun isn’t locked away from a familiar place – if that makes sense. If nothing else, it should help cut down the night-time noise if it’s bothering you while you sleep. Also, giving them something at night that they can “work on” (I use hay cubes that they can gnaw on) keeps them distracted at night. Ultimately though, the only thing that stopped Peppy from protesting loudly every night was when I got a second bunny. Not sure if you’re up to that yet though!

[MagpieBunnies]

Hemi would do it all night and most of the day actually when he was upset that I wouldn’t let him out.

It’s getting hot here so I’ve put a frozen water bottle wrapped in a hand-towel and half of it lays flat on his cage so he has something soft to lay on and can lean up against something cool. Ever since I’ve only had the bar chewing when he gets really excited that I’m home, I believe he thinks of his cage as a place where he can nap, cool off, eat, and poop now. It’s no longer his “prison”. =)

The hay cubes sound like a really good idea… I’ll have to see if Hemi takes to those as well, he doesn’t really play with his kabob toy and I feel bad because I want him to have something to do while i’m gone.

[Emmie]

This makes sense. I have a small storage room I was thinking of cleaning out and giving to her, but I haven’t done that yet. I’ve got a whole lot of college work to do first! I’ve heard covering her cage at night can help? Any thoughts? Maybe if I put her in her cage and give her a small bit of broccoli to chew on? I’ll have to pick up other things for her to chew on. She does seem to love cardboard toilet rolls at the moment.

Now she was only upset for about half an hour then she settled down, so hopefully she’ll just get used to the idea. I suppose it has technically only been two days!

I intend on getting another rabbit for her alright, in fact I’m regretting not taking the two last dwarfs together, BUT I was concerned as I didn’t know what sex they were. I’m about 80% sure Zelda’s female, I can’t see anything down there that shouldn’t be! But I will confirm with the vet next week.

[peppypoo]

THANK YOU for thinking twice before picking up another bunny! We have way too many people come around here saying something along the lines of “Oh look at the cute little brother and sister I got! They’re so cute and they love each other!” or “I thought I had two bunnies of the same sex and now they have babies! What do I do?” Then, all of us collectively facepalm and try to encourage them to take the appropriate measures to prevent more baby bunnies…but some people don’t listen anyways. Sigh. Baby bunnies are notoriously difficult to sex correctly, so mistakes happen all the time.  Also, getting a second bunny is a process that isn’t going to work unless, among other things, both are spayed or neutered.  

Toilet paper rolls are a big hit at my place too. Covering the cage didn’t work for me, but has for some people.

I hear you on the college work – I’m in school too, and trying as hard as I can to procrastinate and put off work, hence all the posting on this site. Hehe!

[Emmie]

Heh, I love animals and am almost overly-concerned with animal welfare, so I knew that’d not be the best idea!

EXCELLENT PROGRESS ON LITTER TRAINING btw. I know, it’s only been a day, but I did as you guys advised, only put litter in an area of her cage. She’s been out running around my sitting room for about four hours now, no pee or poop anywhere. Then she popped into her cage, had some water, some hay and some food, then went down to the covered part of the cage and had a little pee and poop. Hopefully she’ll keep this up. I am so very excited for her! This was the biggest area of concern that I had, as I’m a complete neat freak.

What are you studying in school? I have a pretty big exam coming up and I’ve been trying to study, but the bunny distraction is too much! Actually, that’s how I got her. My mam bought her for me as a present for doing so well in college and because I’m majorly stressed about a project! Was a pretty awesome gift I have to say. I’ve wanted a little bunny ever since I was told by an old landlord that I couldn’t have one! That was five years ago now! Owning your own place defo has it’s perks!

[Sarita]

I’m pretty much a neat freak too but I know that my rabbits aren’t going to cooperate much of the time – especially my older ones which is really all of them. I clean and vacuum their area in the morning when I get up and when I get home from work. It’s truly a never ending job because you always may have to deal with stray poops and the hay is a bit messy.

[Emmie]

Oh I know what you mean! I don’t mind the cleaning at all to be honest, I’ve got a touch of OCD so the hoovering is second nature to me by this point. And completely worth it.

I’ve noticed she likes to sit under my chair when I’m at the computer. Or behind it. Like at the moment:

It’s just too cute.

[LoveChaCha]

She is relaxed My bunny does that the majority of the time.. she is a lazy 1 year old..

[Elrohwen]

Bunny feet!!

Mine sleep the entire day away. Bunnies are so lazy!

[Elrohwen]

Hannah is horrible about chewing on the cage and pushing it around when she’s in too small of a space (at least according to her). Anytime they’ve been kept in a 4×4 doggy playpen, she’s so annoying. Once they’re back in their standard pen (4×8) she never chews on bars or pushes things around. Your bun might settle down when she gets a bigger area and doesn’t feel closed up.

[Emmie]

Yeah, I’m hoping as much! She’s prolly still getting used to being somewhere new.

I put a towel down beside her food and she ended up using it to pee on and chew on, so I’ve moved it into her house, hoping she’ll use the litter area instead.

But the excellent news is that she will not poop anywhere in the sitting room and only goes when she’s in her cage and eating.

[peppypoo]

I’m glad you’ve been able to make progress with her litter habits! It’s natural to them…just got to work it out between you and the bun, which sometimes takes a while.

I’m working toward being a doctor in a few years, medical school etc. My boyfriend is a computer science student and gaming geek, so I’m quite familiar with the culture .

[Emmie]

Oh?! I’m a computing student myself! Studying to be a games programmer! Yeah, it does seem like bunnies and nerds go hand in hand. Man, I bet Zelda would look adorable with a pair of glasses on! Haha!

I was chatting to my best friend today who is amazing with animals. Zelda followed her around the apartment chewing on her converse all evening. When she made this odd noise, Zelda came running up to her and kept following her! Was adorable. If I do decide to get another rabbit I’d have to name him Link. It just makes sense!

She also seems to have picked a corner behind her cage that she likes sleeping in. Just so adorable!

[peppypoo]

LOL! I told my boyfriend earlier that somebody “on the bunny forum” had a bunny named Zelda, and he told me “she should get another bunny and name it Link!” Looks like you’re one step ahead there .

Love the pic of the bunny feet up there btw!

[Emmie]

Hahaha, it’s the next logical step, right?! Or if I get another female, I’ll call her Princess Peach. So I’ll have two princess on my hands! Heh!

[Allie2620]

I just got a Dwarf today, so I’m also joining the newbie club I bought a corner litter box, but have to still buy some litter…I let her hop around the living room/dining room area in my apartment and she dropped some pellets, but at least she didn’t pee anywhere. She did start gnawing at the cage when I finally closed it up for the night (she had been hopping in and out of her cage when she wanted water or food) – it helped when I clapped my hands once, but I’m not sure how long that maneuver will last, and I just threw a hand towel over the area she was chewing. Sadly, my apartment isn’t big and I’m keeping her out of my room (total bunny death trap in there), so I don’t have the option of a separate room for her cage (save for the laundry room, but it’s not really accessible to the rest of the apartment that I’d like her to roam in).

Also, how much food should I be giving her? She’s about 7 weeks old at this point. I have pellets (Kay-tee brand, meant for “juvenile rabbits”) and hay in there already, but I didn’t really know how many pellets to put in her bowl. I’d appreciate any suggestions any of you may have!

[LoveChaCha]

Hi Allie

She should get unlimited alfalfa pellets at this point.

[peppypoo]

Welcome, Allie! There’s a “BUNNY INFO” link on the green menu at the top of the page…if you click around, there a lot of information about diet for appropriate ages. Also, http://rabbit.org/ has plenty of great information for new bunny parents. Of course, we’re here to help too!

[Emmie]

Posted By Allie2620 on 04/13/2011 09:45 PM
I just got a Dwarf today, so I’m also joining the newbie club I bought a corner litter box, but have to still buy some litter…I let her hop around the living room/dining room area in my apartment and she dropped some pellets, but at least she didn’t pee anywhere. She did start gnawing at the cage when I finally closed it up for the night (she had been hopping in and out of her cage when she wanted water or food) – it helped when I clapped my hands once, but I’m not sure how long that maneuver will last, and I just threw a hand towel over the area she was chewing. Sadly, my apartment isn’t big and I’m keeping her out of my room (total bunny death trap in there), so I don’t have the option of a separate room for her cage (save for the laundry room, but it’s not really accessible to the rest of the apartment that I’d like her to roam in).

Also, how much food should I be giving her? She’s about 7 weeks old at this point. I have pellets (Kay-tee brand, meant for “juvenile rabbits”) and hay in there already, but I didn’t really know how many pellets to put in her bowl. I’d appreciate any suggestions any of you may have!

 

That is great to here! These guys have been a goldmine for advice so far for me. Zelda is the same, she gets very upset when I put her back in her cage, but she is becoming accustomed to it. I put her in with a piece of broccoli and she was perfectly happy… for a while. Then she was upset, but settled down much quicker than yesterday. She’ll get used to it!

[Elrohwen]

Posted By peppypoo on 04/13/2011 03:08 PM
LOL! I told my boyfriend earlier that somebody “on the bunny forum” had a bunny named Zelda, and he told me “she should get another bunny and name it Link!” Looks like you’re one step ahead there .

Love the pic of the bunny feet up there btw!

 

DH said the exact same thing! Haha

[Sarita]

Welcome Allie – I would suggest that you start your own topic – you’ll probably get more answers that way to your particular question :~)

[Allie2620]

thanks guys for your helpful suggestions! she’s currently running around spazzing (maybe this is binkying?), and occasionally coming over to sniff my feet. It’s kinda adorable.

[Emmie]

Posted By Allie2620 on 04/14/2011 07:37 AM
thanks guys for your helpful suggestions! she’s currently running around spazzing (maybe this is binkying?), and occasionally coming over to sniff my feet. It’s kinda adorable.

I know! Zelda’s the exact same, it is the cutest thing in the world!

[Emmie]

Just to add to the topic. We seem to have this sorted minus pooping on me and my sofa when she climbs up. She doesn’t pee on me though. I can’t catch her and I’ve no idea when she’s going to do it. Any tips on getting her to stop?

[Monkeybun]

get her spayed when she gets older and it should

[Emmie]

Posted By Monkeybun on 04/16/2011 07:47 PM
get her spayed when she gets older and it should

 

Do they use their poops to mark their territory too? No doubts the young girl will be getting spayed alright! It’s not a major issue by any means, I can just pick the poop up pretty easily and put it in her litter tray.

[Monkeybun]

yep, they use poopt oo.

…just ask monkey. she keeps having a one-sided poop war with smudge in their pen

[Emmie]

Hahahaha! Really? That put quite the image in my head!
Well, I thought we were having a good day today until late in the evening she bounded up to the sofa and to the boxes she likes sitting on and pooped a little mountain! I didn’t even see her do it!!

[Author]

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