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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 13sd replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 7 months ago by Russell.

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- 09/19/2013 at 8:34 PM
  Russell
  Participant
  10 posts
  My teenage daughter decided she had to have a rabbit. We have a rabbit about 5 months old. I have fallen in love with her. This is a good thing because more and more of her care is falling to me.
  
  I’m glad I found this forum. Right away I can tell she needs more room. I let her out when I’m around. She has the run of the living room for a few hours when I’m home. Trying to get her back into the cage becomes a contest. We have to chase her and catch her to put her back. Are we doing damage to the relationship? She’s very sweet but doesn’t like going back into her cage.
  
  Any advice will be appreciated.
- 09/19/2013 at 8:44 PM
  Mandyyy
  Participant
  376 posts
  Chasing her can scare her off if she is a new girl. I would suggest letting her out and then giving her a plate of veggies and she’ll hop back in on her own. Works for my guy. He goes in the cage when he wants but NEVER fails when it is fresh veggie time.
- 09/19/2013 at 8:45 PM
  bunbunlovers
  Participant
  74 posts
  I agree with Mandyy, food always does the trick.
- 09/19/2013 at 11:44 PM
  mia
  Participant
  520 posts
  Food only works if your bun is food motivated and/or not opinionated/emotional.
  How big is the cage? Is it inviting – toys, treats, etc?
- 09/20/2013 at 12:14 AM
  bpash89
  Participant
  307 posts
  Food is generally a pretty good motivator. Setting a routine does wonders for bunnies too. Have set time that she gets a treat and put back into her cage. Be consistent and she will (hopefully) get better about cooperating. If she isn’t motivated by food then perhaps clicker training?
- 09/20/2013 at 5:13 AM
  Russell
  Participant
  10 posts
  She doesn’t appear to be greatly food motivated. Her cage is not a welcoming place. I need to do a lot of work there. We got her when she was about three months old so we have had two months to do everything wrong.
  
  I would like to litter train her because she leaves pellets behind the couch but I can’t just pick her up when she is out and put her on her box. I can see we are going to have to change everything about how we care for her.
- 09/20/2013 at 7:54 AM
  Hazel
  Participant
  2587 posts
  Welcome!
  I’m glad that you didn’t decide to get rid of the rabbit after your daughter lost interest. Many people in your situation opt to dump the bun somewhere, so thank you for keeping her and trying to improve her life.
  
  5 months old makes her a teenager, so her hormones are most likely starting to run wild. Litter training won’t really be possible until you have her spayed. That should cut down on territorial marking and other undesirable behaviors. Once that’s done and she has more appropriate housing, you can start litter training her by first keeping her contained to a small area. Once she gets the hang of her litter box you can gradually increase the amount of space available to her. That way she will slowly learn to go back to her litter box as she gets more space over time. Put stray poops in the box, if she pees, use a papertowel to soak it up and put that in the litter box as well to show her where it’s supposed to go.
  Also, rabbits love to go while they eat, so placing her hay and food into the box will encourage her to use it more.
- 09/20/2013 at 8:11 AM
  Russell
  Participant
  10 posts
  At what age should I have her spayed?
- 09/20/2013 at 8:38 AM
  Tessie
  Participant
  1231 posts
  As Hazel said, now she’s five months she can be spayed.
- 09/20/2013 at 10:17 AM
  Russell
  Participant
  10 posts
  Thank you all. She has her pre-op physical Early next month and I’m drawing up plans for a bunny Taj Mahal!
- 09/20/2013 at 11:46 AM
  AnnaW
  Participant
  569 posts
  Thats great news, glad you have taken her under your wing and joined the forum to find out about correct bun care x
- 09/21/2013 at 9:40 AM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  Welcome here! Kudos to you for stepping up to care for this sweet baby girl!
- 09/22/2013 at 5:34 PM
  LittlePuffyTail
  Moderator
  18092 posts
  Just want to welcome you to BB. I agree that she should be spayed. This usually helps with litter habits.
  
  A lot of bunny owners realize they are doing things wrong soon after getting a bunny. I’m one of them so don’t feel bad.
- 09/22/2013 at 8:42 PM
  Russell
  Participant
  10 posts
  Her new house is finished. Three levels, a lot more room and she seems to like it. She’s busy messing it up and making it hers. Her big brother Buster (a huge boxer) started to walk in as soon as I had moved it into place. She goes into his crate to visit him and I guess he wanted to return the favor.
  
  Thanks to all! This is a great place to find out what I don’t know about bunnies.
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