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Small pets

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Original poster

rabbit advice please

17 replies

anydreamwilldo · 17/08/2013 21:41

Is there something like an absorbant pad to put in the hutch to soak up the wee? hutch is looking very messy. Also how much food do 2 baby rabbits need, they seem always hungry? They are having pellets and hay at the moment. Think they can have veg when they are 4 months. Any advise very welcome. Thanks

OP posts:
Bumblebee78 · 17/08/2013 21:57

When i was younger we used to cut 2 sides off one of those walls ice cream tubs and put some kitchen towel/ roll, whatever you call it, in the bottom to make a corner 'litter tray' but you can buy corner trays from the pet shop now if you don't fancy doing a blue peter job. All you have to do is empty the towel and rinse the tub when it gets messy. Our bunnies soon learned this was their toilet, try putting some droppings in there to give them a clue at first.

It really helped as they didnt go all over the cage.

On the food side, we used to feed ours once in the morning and once at night, but let them run out in the garden at some point so they ate grass too. We gave ours pellets, and the mixed one with pea flake in there too along with some sort of veg. Sooy, i can't remember ages, we didnt have t'internet in those days, so wasnt as aware on ages to give veg etc from.

Hope this helps.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 17/08/2013 22:01

No rabbit advice I'm afraid but WRT pads-
some people use Puppy Pads but I wouldn't trust my toothy little guinea boys not to eat them.

But I use HippyChick waterproof pads left over from when my (human) babies were night training.
They were ££ but they're like a felt pad, with a waterproofing inside (felty on both sides) and can be washed at high temp.

I sewed some into fleece to make little sleeping rugs for mine (which was a labour of love, I hate sewing) . You might find some on Ebay (it would bother your bunnies if they were used, hot wash them.
(The cloths not the rabbits )

Floralnomad · 17/08/2013 22:02

My rabbit has a cat litter tray in his sleeping quarters ( where he poos and wees) which I line with newspaper and then put straw on top ,it makes it very easy to clean him out . In the open side of his hutch he has newspaper and a hay box / food bowl / water etc.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 17/08/2013 22:05

it wouldn't bother your bunnies... Blush (watching TV and MNetting at the same time)

Steamedcabbage · 17/08/2013 22:09

My rabbits have a very large cat litter tray in their downstairs enclosure. I line in with newspaper and then some of this which is a specially formulated litter for cats and rodents. (It's made from plant fibre pellets.)
Then put a bit of hay on top at one end (apparently rabbits like to poo and eat at the same time).

Very easy to clean - because virtually all poo and wee in one place -

Scroll down here for dietary advice.

Steamedcabbage · 17/08/2013 22:12

pedantic correction: sorry - meant to say it's a specially formulated litter for cats, rodents and rabbits [rabbits are not rodents but Lagomorpha][

BaldricksTurnip · 17/08/2013 22:17

I use sawdust in the bottom corners of their hutch (they have a kind of double decker one) and then straw over the top. Seems to work well to soak up the worst of the wee.

Original poster
anydreamwilldo · 17/08/2013 22:30

Thanks so much will get a litter tray thingy and try to train the mucky bunnies. Very impressed with the poster who sews fancy-schmancy sleeping bags! Am gonna give 'em some veg tomorrow.

OP posts:
70isaLimitNotaTarget · 17/08/2013 23:11

I was Confused about the difference between rodents and lagomorpha

I know rabbits and GPs paws are different
rabbits and rats diets are different

So I Googled " Rabbits' Teeth" - OMG - some of those photos of the horrendous neglect. Poor little souls Sad . Overgrown, malaligned teeth. How can these so-called owners let their animals get like that?
(I can appreciate some of them are difficult to handle but their teeth don't grow overnight)

FernieB · 18/08/2013 07:58

Rabbits can easily be litter trained. I use a litter tray with some 'bunny friendly' litter. Stick a little hay in there as they do like to eat and poo. Put some of their poo and wee soaked hay in as well to encourage them. It will make it easier if you have them neutered (which you should do anyway for health reasons). Unneutered rabbits spray urine to scent mark their territory (especially females) and no amount of litter training will completely stop this.

Persevere as some buns take longer to train. My previous bun (female) took a good few weeks but Current Bun was very fast. Now I only clean his toilet daily and his cage once a fortnight as it doesn't get messy. Unlike my GPs who need cleaning out every hour Hmm

Cerisier · 18/08/2013 08:07

My house bunny is house trained and uses a big low sided basket as her toilet. I put piles of newspapers in, she hops in to do her business and twice a day I just fold up the top few pages and throw away.

My house gp is much messier, I tried absorbent pads but they weren't much better than newspaper. So she is usually cleaned out three times a day. I put down about 4 thicknesses of newspaper and then roll it up and throw away. She doesn't wander far from her igloo, which is just as well as she isn't toilet trained. I have wipe clean floors.

We have newspapers delivered as much for the animal bedding as for us to read. Luckily we get some free papers too.

FernieB · 18/08/2013 09:43

I get friends and family to save their papers for my boys - we go through a lot. By the time the GPs have spent half an hour on it, it's so wet it's almost pulped ready to be made into new paper Grin

Current Bun is great. He free ranges in the house and will suddenly get up and dash through 3 rooms because he needs the loo. We've never had any issues with him.

I think that females are worse as they spray to establish dominance (boys just fight). That's why neutering helps.

Steamedcabbage · 18/08/2013 11:43

CurrentBun sounds great Fernie!

70isalimitnotatarget agree, horrible about the teeth. People spend loads of time and effort preventing their rabbits from chewing things (obviously sensible if what they are chewing is an electric wire) but forget to give them fruit tree branches or whatever to gnaw on, forgetting that rabbits teeth grow continually. Same with digging.

Having said all that, my two are busy digging up large areas of the lawn atm and despite me telling him to look upon it as "environmental enrichment" my dh is not too happy Grin

Waves to all other bun-owners on here!

FernieB · 18/08/2013 12:58

They are aerating the lawn. Saves your DH hours of work in the autumn Grin

Steamedcabbage · 18/08/2013 13:10

Scarifying bunnies! That's genius Fernie!

midori1999 · 18/08/2013 15:25

Neutered bunnies are definitely easier to litter train. However, I have found even my most prudently litter trained bunnies will wee/poo on any hay wherever it is, so I usually use blankets for bedding and confine hay to the litter tray/hack rack, which is over the litter tray. I use wood pellet cat litter and hay in litter trays. Corner trays aren't really big enough for bunnies, but a lot of bunnies will use them reliably.

You can also line the floor of the hutch with lino, which makes cleaning much easier and you don't need to use any other substrate then either.

FernieB · 18/08/2013 16:21

There are big corner litter trays available. I have one and will try to remember where I got it. The 'normal' size ones are a bit small for buns.

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