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Small pets

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Original poster

damn rabbit

35 replies

AngryBeaver · 11/04/2012 20:43

Sorry, I know this is for animal lovers,but I am sick to death of this rabbit!
Got the kids a very cute mini lop. We got it in Nov when it was about 8 weeks old. They love it. It lives outside but spends quite a bit of time indoors,we bring it'slitter tray in,but it poos everywhere...it is getting beyond a joke. I was told they were very clean and it would use the litter trtay. It does we in there but nothing else. It had also started biting. It broke the skin on my 20 month olds hand and the same day bit my 4 yr old.
If you go to put your hand in the cage it dives at you,trying to bite. It gave my dh a nasty bite.
Have been into place where we bought it but they wern't much help.
Any advice
disclaimer: when it's not shitting everywhere and biting my babies,I actually like it

OP posts:
SparkyMcSparrow · 11/04/2012 20:45

Rabbits are hard work and not very good pets for children.

Have you tried a rabbit forum or website?

SparkyMcSparrow · 11/04/2012 20:46

I didn't mean that to sound bitchy btw Confused

Have you tried putting the litter tray in the hutch/run?

TheSoggyBunny · 11/04/2012 21:04

Hi,

Couldn't leave this unanswered, I have had several bunnies and I think I can explain your rabbits behavior.

It's true they are a tricky pet for a child, you di need to understand your rabbits behavior, but a child and bunny can get
along, with a few ground rules.

What sex is the bun?

Females are very terratorial, and will bite if you reach into their hutch. A male

TheSoggyBunny · 11/04/2012 21:12

Will also bite out of fear if u just teach in and grab. You have to bribe rabbits.

As for the pooing. Your bun is marking. Out a new territory. Becaues it lives outside, and comes in, in your bunnies mind, it has to remark everything once it comes back inside. MAles are worst for this, and even a well trained house rabbit will hop and drop if you clean with strong smelling cleaners, or if someone new visits.

Neutering isn't cheap but really reduces both agression and helps with house training.

There are loads of good websites. Can't link on crappy phone, but try house rabbit society. Don't take all the advice too seriously though, some of them are a little bit intense about rabbits.

HTH x

southeastastra · 11/04/2012 21:14

definitely go softly softly with it. does it run about freely indoors?

AWomanCalledHorse · 11/04/2012 21:16

When rabbits have a change in circumstances they can, somehow, forget to use their litter tray...so you have to spend time gathering their poos and putting them into tray, each time you change the bedding are you leaving a few poops in the tray?
Also, if he/she is pooping elsewhere in hutch, give it a good scrub next time you change it so the rest of the hutch doesn't smell like a litter tray.

You should look into getting it neutered, my boy rabbit was a nightmare for a couple of weeks when he turned 4months before we got him fixed, he is now calmer however he will nip you if you're in his way.
Soggy is right about the females, they tend to be more vicious than the males.

Rabbits are not a great pet 'for' children, they live for around a decade & get stressed out very easily....has something happened to make the rabbit so afraid of the children, are they handling him/her correctly?
What happens when you try and hand feed rabbit?

Tbh, I think the best thing you can do for the rabbit & everyone is to bring it inside and make it a full time house rabbit, it will live longer, get used to being around you all &, possibly, be less stressed out/confused with the constant in/out.

Chopstheduck · 11/04/2012 21:17

Your rabbit really needs spaying/neutering now. H/she is also likely to lack social skills living outside on their own.

To try to teach the bun to use the litter tray, sweep up the poos and place them in the litter tray. Do you put hay in the tray? They love to sit, eat and poop.

When the rabbit bites, make a noise so the rabbit knows it hurts, then turn your back on it. That is rabbit body language for not accepting the behaviour.

southeastastra · 11/04/2012 21:18

older patient children are fab for rabbits ime, don't write them off as adult pets!

Chopstheduck · 11/04/2012 21:19

Tbh your children are very young to appreciate rabbits. They are animals to be watched and appreciated rather than petted and cuddled all the time. Mine hate being picked up and will accept nose rubs when THEY decide to come up to ME! Otherwise they will turn their backs and freeze me out.

Best thing is to sit with a tasty treat and let rabbit come to you. Their sole motivation is food.

TheSoggyBunny · 11/04/2012 21:20

Sorry, you should bribe the rabbit to come out of the hutch.

Ps they are surprisingly trainable too, our two understand and disregard several commands, 'bed' to go into the hutch, ' treats' to come out and get a treat, ' out' , 'no' 'stop' etc. When they were house rabbits, they would love to loll by the fire and watch tv with us, and beg for salad treats by the fridge!

TheSoggyBunny · 11/04/2012 21:25

Any yy to what everyone else is saying, not annimals to be picked up. You do have to respect that. Delightful creatures to watch, but not cuddly.

They can get used to children, our buns love to Chase the toddlers round the garden, and are happy fit Lo'a to stroke them , just don't let the kids pick them up.

Original poster
AngryBeaver · 11/04/2012 21:34

Oh dear, not good news. The pet shop lady told the kids to handle her as much as poss and that she would be a great per for our 3 little ones,all undre 6. We thought she'd be no trouble and jst a little cuddly companion for them when they wanted to get it out of the hutch,clean it out once a week and that's it!

OP posts:
AWomanCalledHorse · 11/04/2012 21:43

They can become very tame, it takes time and effort.
However you've always got to remember everything is out to get rabbits so they can be terrified of the stupidest things, for example my rabbits thump & are shitscared of me hiccuping.

If you're going to keep her outdoors I'd say change her more often than once a week because of the risk of flystrike.

lurcherlover · 11/04/2012 23:10

She's lonely. Rabbits are hugely social animals and if they don't live in the house 24/7 where there are people around they must have another rabbit for company. How many hours is she in a hutch by herself? (and I hope she has a run too, and isn't just in a hutch?) once you've seen two rabbits cuddling and grooming each other you know it's cruel to keep them alone. I'd get her neutered and either keep her permanently in the house or get her a friend. And make sure she can exercise in a run every day.

Original poster
AngryBeaver · 11/04/2012 23:23

Well the lady in the petshop told me the bleeding opposite!! "shall i get 2 rabbits,or 1 and a guinea pig?" "No,rabbits don't lke to share their hutch!! Just one rabbit!"
It doesn't have a run as the idea was to keep it in the house more often than not. But it isn't panning out that way. I'm at the end of my tether picking up poos,and if she gets into my sons room,she goes to the drawer under the bed and pees all over his tops! We live in NZ so it's mainly nice weather and she seems ok outdoors.I think we'll have to get a run though. Only thing is when I was a child,our guinea had a run and our dog dug it up and ate it. Would worry about predators as obviously I can't stand out there all day!
Wish we had never got it now,tbh.Didn't realise they were so much trouble

OP posts:
Chopstheduck · 12/04/2012 08:02

I do feel for you. I think things have changed so much over the past 20 years regarding the care of rabbits, and so there is still a lot of misleading advice out there.

I kept one as a child, and got my three not really knowing how much work they are or understanding them. Ideally you really need to spay her, then either let her be full time housebun, or get her a male companion to bond him with. A bonded rabbit will be perfectly happy with rabbit company and won't actually need that much human interaction so long as their food, housing and medical needs are met.

Mine are tame, but they still aren't cuddly rabbits. More often than not, when I got out there with the cat carrier to get them in for the night, they LAUGH at me by running off binkying. During the day they will venture up to see if I have any goodies for them, and if I sit ignoring them they will come up and start nudging me for attention. Some rabbits just never do approve of cuddles. Never met one that didn't like nose rubs tho!

TheSoggyBunny · 12/04/2012 08:26

Beware getting her a companion though. Bunnies must be habituated to eachother, you can't just buy another and bung them together, they will fight. Very aggressively.

There's loads of advice on tinternet, though again a lot of it is a bit over the top, you will need to follow a set procedure. Feel free to pm me if u need detailed advice.

TheSoggyBunny · 12/04/2012 08:28

But their behavior will be better once they are together.

Chopstheduck · 12/04/2012 08:43

In the UK some rescues will do the bonding for you, I don't know if you have anything like that in NZ?

cornsyilk · 12/04/2012 08:55

Poor bunny sounds very unhappy. She may well be scared of the younger children. Our house bunny doesn't like it when young children call as they tend to chase him and try to pick him up. Don't let the children actually pick her up as they may be hurting her.

I think you may need to grit your teeth and let her have the run of the house for a few days. She'll soon find a place where she wants to poo and you can then leave the litter tray there, but she may want to choose it herself rather than you choosing it for her. Once she's chosen a spot leave the litter tray there.Rabbits are very bright so she'll get the hang of it. Our rabbit chose the bathroom funnily enough!

She may be pooing in your dc's bedroom if she can smell urine from the dc wetting the bed in the past. Our rabbit drove me mad seeing on ds2's bed so I always made sure the door was shut and he stopped after a while.

cornsyilk · 12/04/2012 08:59

Sorry our rabbit was 'weeing' on ds's bed - darn iPad

Original poster
AngryBeaver · 12/04/2012 09:35

I really don't want to get another one,tbh. And the thing with having her as a house bunny,that I hadn't quite thought out,is that as this is a sub tropical climate...we have the doors open all the time. I looked into getting some chicken wire today and will talk to dh about building a run for her.
I also went back in and talked to the per shop woman and she said again,no mates for the rabbit and she doesn't need speying etc
She actually seems to like the dc's holding her. My dd was cradling her like a baby for about an our and she spent the entire time with her paws around dd's index finger,licking away!!

OP posts:
AWomanCalledHorse · 12/04/2012 09:42

Female rabbits need spaying or there is a high chance (think it's around 70%) they'll get ovarian cancer before the age of 5.

If she was upside down when dd was cradling...she would've been 'hypnotised', Grin
Glad she was licking & not bitey!

cornsyilk · 12/04/2012 09:44

aw bless she sounds adorable!

Original poster
AngryBeaver · 12/04/2012 20:35

She licks everyone but me!!(she will sit snd lick the dc's solidly for 30 mins...cue giggles) Smile

OP posts:
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