I think I may have made them a bit nervous with my first condo cleaning

[joea64]

I had to do the weekly cleaning today for the first time since Panda and Fernando came home, so I went in to retrieve the litterbox, clean it out (and retrieve as much good hay as I could), and clean out the stray hay and poops just now. That went well, I cleaned the litterbox with white vinegar, laid down new litter and hay and put it back in, and swept out the week’s trash (and gave the buns new cardboard hay-rolls). I’m afraid I may have spooked them a little bit, though, with all the bustle and fuss and they were scampering to get out of the way; they’re huddled up in one of the upper-deck hidey boxes at the moment.

Maybe I should have set up their X-pen and let them out first, though I had to roll out the condo and turn it sideways to best be able to get at the lower deck; I guess I should do that next time, though neither Panda or Fernando exhibited any significantly territorial behavior, they were just made a little nervous by the whole thing. I gave them a banana treat which does appear to have soothed their jangled feelings somewhat. I hate to scare them in any way but they do need to have a clean home and especially a clean litterbox. What would be a better way for me to handle the weekly necessaries going forward?

EDIT: I may have been overreacting (again ). I just took at P&F in their hideybox and they’re cuddled up together peacefully, to all appearances having a nice afternoon nap. That being said, tips to keep the buns happy next time I clean house will be very much appreciated! As far as rolling the condo around goes, I think they’re in fact starting to get accustomed to it – Fernando stood his ground during the operation though Panda headed for the safety of the hidey boxes.  Also, how do rabbits generally react to the smell of white vinegar? I wiped out the litterbox thoroughly after spritzing it and wiping out the remaining dirty stuff, but I think some of the smell may still be there.

[spunkysmokey]

If you want you can spot clean there litter box every day or so so they become use to you around it. Taking them out and putting them in there play pen is a good idea as well, you can kill two birds with one stone and you don’t have to worry about them getting in the way. As far as the vinegar goes speaking from my own experience my rabbit doesn’t seem to mind it to much, I tried to use it as a repellent so he wouldn’t eat the cage and it worked… for a day! The next day he started to lick it, so there went that. But I still keep a small spray bottle next to the cage to spray on any areas that he sprayed (luckly only had to use it twice so far for that). To get to my point (sorry haha) As long as you rinse it out well and dry it you should be good. Oh and a little tip when your litter box gets crusty on the bottom (it will trust me) Just use some steal wool to get it off. Hope this overly lonnng reply helped haha

ps. a good Youtube channel I love to watch is (((click))) She has a loot of helpful tips!

[DanaNM]

I try not to do any major cleaning while the buns are in their condo, but I will do the litter boxes if they are on a different level. 

I also usually don’t worry about vinegar-ing the boxes at every cleaning… only sporadically. You actually want it to keep smelling like them so they continue to use that spot. 

Mine don’t react too much to the smell, but they tend to avoid it until it dissipates. 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[joea64]

Thanks, all. They started climbing back into their litterbox within a couple of hours as it turned out, and have been visiting it regularly since then for hay (and, I’d assume, for toileting), so that turned out well, but I’ll remember these for next time. It’s all part and parcel of being a terrified amateur bunny-wrangler!

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