New Holland Mini Lop behavior questions

[Purplepaw]

Hello — I am pretty new to having a house rabbit. I have had a rabbit before, but it was kept outside in a hutch.  This one is being kept indoors.   I bought a Holland Mini Lop recently, whom I call Flopsy, whom they say was 8 weeks old when I got her 2 weeks ago,  and wanted to ask about her behavior.  

The first thing — I bought a small corner litter box for her, but she began claiming it as her nest.  She did not pee in it, but peed in the opposite corner of the cage. So then I added a 2nd litter box for the other corner.  SHe uses her first original corner litter box as her bed.  She lays down there. However, it’s not that big, so that she ends up partly out of it when she lays down, and I am thinking she might not be very comfortable.  However, if I try to put in a bigger corner box there, and then also have the 2nd litter box which she is using as a real litter box, then her cage space will be overwhelmed with the size of the 2 boxes.  Any suggestions? 

Second — she is very docile and sweet and easy to handle.  I like this, as the previous rabbit I had did not at all like to be picked up and held.  Flopsy is easy to pick up.  However, she seems somewhat indifferent or standoffish and does not demonstrate any affection.  She tolerates being petted but is standoffish or neutral being petted, does not nudge or press against me when being petted as the other rabbit did, so it seems more like “i’ll tolerate this” rather than “I like this. ” 

She doesn’t lick me or chin rub me  —- in fact I have not seen her chin rub anything. Is this normal?  Also, compared to my previous rabbit, who was very inquisitive and liked to explore, she does not have overly much interest in exploring.  Sometimes if I let her out, she hops around, other times she just sits in one spot or in the littler box that I put out for her. 

Do Holland Mini Lops have different personalities, which go in the direction I’m describing? What can I expect from this rabbit? Are there any ways to encourage her to play and/or be more affectionate? 

[Bunnybuzz]

Hi! Iv’e had three Hollands and none of them have liked being pet or held. Kinda like you said they “tolerate” it. I would suggest you set up a play time for you and her to play together. Bunny proof a area of your home and place toys and tunnels etc around the room and sit in the middle of the room. Let her explore the room for a bit. Let her come up to you and then try giving her treats. Oats fruit etc. Then slowly try petting her. All rabbits like to be pet in different places but one common place is on the nose and forehead. Hope this helps=D

About the littler box problem, how big is her cage? And what kind of cage? X-pen, pet store cage, D.I.Y?

[Purplepaw]

The cage id 30 inches by 18 inches, and because she started using two corners to pee in, I decided to put a large litter box in the cage that went from one corner to the other, to try to contain that.  So the litter box that she uses as a litter box is 10 inches by 18 inches.  The litter box that she was using as a nest is smaller, about 10 inches triangular.  I decided just today to take that out, and just let her use the pine shavings on the cage floor to bed in.  She seems fine with that — I initially wanted to leave her “bed” littler box as she seemed to like it but maybe she just liked the corner not necessarily the box.  

She’s a bit more active when I take her out of the cage and put her in a playpen with toys.  Since she is not yet really confidently litter box trained I dont’ let her outside the pen or a tile floor when out — I made the mistake to put her on my sofa and she ignored the litter box I’d set on the sofa and instead peed through 4 layers of towels.  So now she just goes in the pen with waterproof floor or on a tile floor, or goes for field trips outside in the backyard. 

I will try what you say about putting toys around the room and see if she comes up to me.  I did try going inside her pen with her and sitting there, and she would climb on me, but didn’t really like me to pick her up and put her on my leg. She seems to want to approach herself.   

[Sirius&Luna]

That cage is far too small. Can you permanently attach a pen to it? How much time does she get out of it every day?

[At the bare minimum, a rabbit needs to be able to stand up on its back legs and not touch the ceiling, take 4 hops across the cage, and be able to lie down width ways – she might be able to do that now, but definitely won’t once she’s fully grown. Personally, I think they still need more than that]

All rabbits have different personalities. Often younger bunnies don’t mind being picked up, but as they mature they get more difficult about it. When Atlas was 8-14 weeks old he would happily be picked up and snuggle on my lap for hours. Now that hes older, I only pick him up when it’s essential (eg. nail clipping) as he really doesn’t like it.

She wouldn’t lie in the litter box if it wasn’t comfy for her, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Are there any areas with a soft blanket for her?

Often rabbits don’t start ‘chinning’ things until they’re older – it comes with being territorial I think.

[Bunnybuzz]

Yes I agree with what Sirius&Luna said about the cage. She doesn’t have enough room to stand up, hop around etc. Try attaching an X-pen onto the cage for more room.

Besides that it’s great that she comes and sits on your lap. The next time she does that try giving her some treats. It doesn’t have to be fancy, you could just try oats. Those are my rabbits favorites=D

Also what Sirius&Luna said about little rabbits liking be picked up but not so much when they are older is also true with most buns.

[Purplepaw]

Thanks for the suggestion about attaching a pen to the cage. I may well do that. Right now I’m letting her out of the cage every day for an hour or more in a pen about 5 ft by 5 ft in size, where she has room to hop about and explore toys. I could try to permanently leave a pen area attached to the cage, though when I did that with a previous rabbit, she always escaped. This rabbit doesn’t seem so eager to escape the pen. She’s less aggressive and energetic so maybe she’d do fine in the pen and not escape. The room has several “rabbit dangers” such as electrical cords so I would not want her escaping and getting herself in trouble in the space. .

Thanks for the suggestion too of giving her treats when she jumps up on me! Sounds like a good idea!

[Sirius&Luna]

An hour a day means that she’s still locked up in a very small cage for 23 hours, so I really think attaching the pen is essential, or if you don’t feel that is safe, looking for a bigger cage. If she’s still young she’s unlikely to be an escapee, but it is something to be aware of as she gets bigger.

You could also just ensure that she got more time in the pen when you were home to monitor and make sure she didn’t escape

[Deleted User]

She’s probably lethargic because she doesn’t get out much. She doesn’t really have any incentive to be active.

[tobyluv]

It’s best not to use pine shavings or cedar shavings for rabbits. They contain dangerous aromatic oils which have been found to cause respiratory problems and liver damage. Also, if you have litter or bedding all across the bottom of the cage, that confuses a rabbit and makes it harder to train them to use a litter box.

That is a small cage, and your bunny will need more space when she is penned up, as well as needing several hours of out of cage/pen time each day. You do need to “bunny proof” any rooms she is running around in, especially paying attention to electrical cords, which can be wrapped or blocked off or placed up on tables when she is out. Go to the BUNNY INFO link at the top of the page to see information on all the basics of rabbit care, including bunny proofing.

[Purplepaw]

I came up with an idea for how I can build a pen onto her cage, so hopefully this will much solve the problem of too little space.

[Purplepaw]

She does seem more active when she’s out in a pen or in my backyard.  

[Puffbaby]

Why not just use a pen for her cage. Put the 2 litter boxes in it and everything else she has and needs and that way she has a nice sized “cage” rather than trying to attach anything to it. She also may not want to be active during the time you are letting her out to play. Having a large pen would insure that if she decide to play at any hour, she have enough room instead of playing just when you allow it.

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