New bun

[wcarter77]

Hello all, I am 21 year old guy who loves bunnys… soooo to start off I have had a lop in the past and he was a shy and quiety mush but he never liked to play he kept to himself most of the time and i would let him go outside or run around the house because he never made outside the cage or messed with anything like wires etc without teaching him and he sadly passed away after 12 years. 

I recently got a Lionhead Dwarf from my local pet store and had a few questions about her.

I set up a designated area for her to come in and out of her cage as she pleases while i do work on the computer she runs around the room and hops in and out of the cage when she needs water etc. 

Today she was being a little bratty and was messing with the wires under my desk and i pulled her out 3 times and placed her back infront of her cage. after the third time I went to grab her as she was tugging a cord and she freaked out and pee’d on me. I felt bad so i clean her up and placed her back in her cage and now all shes doing is scratching at the side and biting the cage and I feel bad. Im not sure if this is a good or bad way to teach her not to touch something (or pee outside the potty) but i feel bad because she seems really upset.

if anyone has some pointers or tips on what i should to or what kind of toys i can get her to keep her playful and socialiable that would be wonderful!

PS she is 2 and 1/2 months old and she hasnt acted out like this before i have had her for a week.

 

[lozzkate]

 heyy im sorry to hear about your first rabbit it’s always sad to lose a friend

as for your new bunny what i normally do when i let my rabbits out when they were indoors was put up barriers where you don’t want her to go, and make a noise to tell her where you are i make clicking noise with my tounge so my lads won’t freak out when i go to them. the scratching and biting at her cage is just her way of telling you that she wants out, my rabbit benji kept doing that so i talked to him whenever I was near mad i know but it told him i was there and that he wasnt alone if you know what I mean. as for toys i use kitchen roll tubes and stuff hay and veg in them mischief loves to throw the rolls at me and my sister whenever we are with them. any type of cardboard is good for her she can chew and scratch to her hearts content and wont make a mess to any wires you have. also if you have only had her for a week she is just finding out what is around her give her time and she will find something else to play with

hope i helped 

[Eucalyptus]

Unfortunately, you can’t just teach her not to chew your wires. The best thing you can do is buy cord covers and block the area off. Let me get a picture of how the underside of my desk looks ….

So these cord covers are about 3-5$ depending on how long they are. They’re long and you can cut them, so just cover a cord and if you have leftover, cut it off for the next wire. It’s a little annoying to get the wires into the covers (especially the thinner ones … so hard!), but it’s worth it. After that, you can get anything to block it off – you can see we used a large lid to a tupperware bin and then blocked THAT with NIC cubes ziptied together. We’re lucky that Java doesn’t have any interest in this part of our apartment (long story, but he won’t come in this area). The idea is basically to make it difficult for the bun to get to the wires, and then if she happens to still get to them, the covers will hold her off until you can distract her and move her away.

Due to her age, it’s going to be tougher to litter train her. Younger buns have much, much shorter attention spans as well as having a harder time holding it (which is why you literally scared the pee outta her). When she’s older and spayed, it’ll definitely help the training.

There are tons of toy options that you can either buy or make. If she’s a chewer, definitely get lots of sticks and toys made from sticks. The BB shop has wonderful choices like the willow cube or ball or basket. It’s entertaining as well as healthy for wearing their teeth down (and it’s nutritious!). Other toys would be tossing toys – anything that rattles like a baby toy. If you’re creative, you can just make some toys from random things like toilet paper or paper towel rolls. I could get more detailed with ideas if you’re interested. Also, the veggie ball is a great way to feed her salad.

On another note: Have you planned a trip to the vet? A large amount of bunnies obtained from pet stores are not in the best condition. They usually aren’t cared for very well, and actually, are probably much younger than they say. A lot of sellers will take a very, very young (a week or two tops) bunny from its mom and sell it as a small breed – like a Lionhead. This is why we highly recommend not to ever purchase a bunny and to adopt – it highly increases the chances that your bun will be healthy, and it prevents the malicious sellers from profiting. You should really get a check up to make sure she’s nice and healthy. Either way, it’s probably a good idea since she’s a new bun and you want to make sure she’s doing alright.

Hope this helps!

[wcarter77]

Thanks guys yeah ill be sure to take her to get checked out i really appreciate it!

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