Miss Beatrix

[Cindy]

Hi there,

I am new to rabbit care and would appreciate any advice! Almost two weeks ago my husband found an abandoned rabbit on the college campus where he teaches. Several students had been trying to cajole her out with food and then lunging and trying to capture her in order to rescue her for who knows how long, she must have been terrified. He was able to gently catch her though she did scream in fear, poor thing. After that she didn’t struggle and nuzzled into his leg on the way home. We pretty immediately decided to adopt her, especially as I was worried for her chances at the humane society. She has been very patient with us as we have been trying our best to be good bunny parents and get the best housing, food, toys etc that we can. I have read five or six books and several articles on house rabbit care, and my husband has made many trips to the pet supply store. We will get her to a vet and spayed as soon as possible, for now my guess is that she is a teenage-adult female New Zeland White. We also have two very friendly cats that she has been getting to know. Her first few days they were in separate rooms, then separated by a cage, and now with the cage open. Her first night with them she did thump once at one of them, more in warning then seeming scared, but since then they have been sniffing each other’s noses and taking naps near each other. She has even been out of her cage with them and not seemed afraid. We have covered the cage door in a towel with a wooden bridge to make the flooring secure. The strange thing us, she left her cage at least once a spday to explore up until about five days ago, and now she won’t leave. We have tried cajoling with healthy treats to no avail. She eats from our hands and allows limited petting, and even a quick brush. She seems happy in her cage, doing shiver jumps and rollinng on her back, making happy little clicking noises. I don’t want to lose her trust by picking her up and forcing her out, but she does need exercise, and she does need to be handled as she needs a rabbit safe flea treatment (found a flea yesterday) and her nails could use a trim. Thank you for any thoughts! Btw, we named her “Beatrix”.

[Cindy]

The pet store where we get both our cat and rabbit food from (the owner has a house rabbit) advised us to take her out, and that if we didn’t she would become cage aggressive. Took her out (she did struggle) and then immediately gave her treats (limited pellets, only as treats). She sniffed around a bit and then hopped back in. May do this every day to help her get used to it. They also advised either a flea comb or bathing her in dawn dish soap for the fleas. since it was only one, will just try the house rabbit society recommendation of just a flea comb. Oh and by the way we do shut her cage up still overnight or when leaving the house, in case that wasn’t clear, thanks again for any advice/thoughts!

[Megabunny]

I would not bathe her in the Dawn. I’ve heard that for dogs but wouldn’t be sure about rabbits. Plus you shouldn’t bathe a rabbit if they don’t really need it.Honestly If you’ve seen one flea that could mean there are many more you don’t see. Fleas only spend about 10% of their time on the animal. I would check everyone for flea dirt (little black specks) and get treating for them immediately. If they get ahead of you it will be #*€! To get rid of them. We are lucky to have these topical treatments and I would use them. Do your cats go out or do you think it is def. the rabbit that brought them in?
Have you switched anything up that would discourage her from coming out? They often don’t like to step out if there isn’t carpet or something with traction just out the door but if I’m reading your note correctly, you’ve addressed that issue.
A little struggle is normal, I would say. If you can get her to come out on her own, that’s best. But if you can get her out without too much struggle and she seems happy and content once she’s out, well, maybe that’s the way to go, though generally people would disagree with that. You haven’t had her too long and maybe it’s been too much too fast. Lots of rabbits are cage aggressive and I don’t know if what they told you at the pet store is true or not. Everyone has their opinions and you have to see what works for you after hearing several ideas.

[LBJ10]

I agree, get some Revolution (never use Frontline!) and treat her with that. The fleas will be gone and you won’t be traumatizing her with a bath. Bunnies should not be bathed unless absolutely necessary.

It could be a bit soon for her to want to come out. We have seen really stubborn cases on here though, so if she seems alright after you have taken her from her cage, then it is probably okay. Sometimes they need a little extra push to make them realize something is good.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Just wanted to welcome you to BB. Beatrix is gorgeous. I love REWs. How lucky she is that you guys found her and adopted her. That’s sweet that your kitty is laying there right in front of her cage.

[Cindy]

Thank you guys very much for your advice! I am grateful for this site, though I am an animal person and feel like I understand my two cats pretty well, bunny behavior can be something of a mystery. So, lured with “treats” (Timothy hay pellets, the only time she gets them, though she does get a bit more than her 1/8 cup at the moment) she is comfortable hanging out in the living room with us, and manages to get in and out of her cage easily. She doesn’t seem at all afraid of our two cats, in fact she has charged each of them on occasion, if anything they are a bit wary of her! She has peed in the living room though, so the next challenge is litter training her. At the moment there is an absorbent towel over the area she has gone the last two times, perhaps we should put a litter box there. The most puzzling behavior of late that I would love advice from you bunny experts about is: last night as we were asleep (her cage is in the bedroom so that we can hear right away if she is scared due to cats etc) she suddenly kicked around in her cage so loudly I thought there had been an earthquake! It happened twice last night, but has never happened before. This morning we woke to find her bedding and a few poops kicked out of her cage and strewn across the bedroom floor, and the inside of her cage looked like a tornado hit it. I am wondering why on earth she did it (no cats seemed to be around) and how to prevent it in the future! If was a terrifying way to wake up and I am not a fan of the mess. Since she is exploring the apartment more, perhaps she is angry at having her cage closed? We had just washed the towel that covers half her cage floor, but she had been sitting in it for 6hrs or so by that time. Though we want her to be as free as possible and keep the cage open whenever home, we do close her in at night or when asleep, as she is not litter trained yet, could chew wires (though she shows zero interest) and though my cats are gentle I don’t want them unsupervised around her. Any thoughts? Thank you!!!

[Cindy]

An update on the litter training, we have put a litter box over the spot she has been peeing in the living room, hoping she would then pee in the box, it has the same bedding in it that she uses as a litter area in her cage. She did not like using it in the cage and kept peeing in front of it, so we took it out. She has done the same thing in front of the same box in the living room, peeing on the towel right next to it. Have put a bit of soiled bedding in the box to encourage her, and it is a nice large corner style rabbit box with a low front entry. Thanks again for any input

[Author]

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