Rabbits!!

[marie83]

Awesome, got up this morning and bunny is hopping around the living room and I swear there was a smile on his face! I certainly didn't expect him to be giving Ollie a run for his money hahaa! The clip was securely on last night before I went to bed so it looks like I'm going to have to relocate the cage to the kitchen at night time or find other methods to lock the cage up.

[marie83]

Well the little cutie (devil) has started peeing everywhere now, last night it was the couch and today it was the rug. So much for him being fairly clean lol.

So how do I get rid of the smell to put him off going in that spot again? Obviously it needs to be bird safe so I squirted some of their disinfectant on after I scrubbed it but I don't think that is enough to get rid of the scent.

Secondly has anyone trained their rabbits to only go in one place and how did you do it? I don't know why he has suddenly started doing this, he has been going back to his cage perfectly before now and I always leave a tiny bit of old litter in his toilet area so the smell attracts him back to the same corner.
I can live with the pooping all over the place as it is easy to clean up straight away but not the peeing as I dont always see him do it and the birds go on the sofa/floor at times.

[Eurycerus]

He may be marking his territory. I know quite a few people that have successfully potty trained their bunnies so I know it's doable!

I've heard of all of these natural urine neutralizers before: http://frugalfurbabies.com/?p=602#_ cheap and fairly safe.

[marie83]

Thank you for the link I'll give that a go.

I know potty training is possible, just not 100% sure the best way to go about it yet as he doesn't seem to accept treats, I rarely seem to catch him in the act to reward him anyway and I know my partner wont help with training when I'm out. I'll give it a good go anyway and see what happens.

[liz]

The bunnies that are potty trained are given a litter pan with cedar shavings. Confine it to a linoleum or hard floor room. Just like a kid or dog when it has an accident you put it in the litter pan. You may want to start by putting a urine soaked paper and a few dropping in the pan. They can learn. Keep his food on the opposite side of the room.

Fabreze is a brand name for faberic freshener. It does work. I once forgot a gallon of milk in my car for a week in the summer. I tried everything to get the smell out. Finally a bag boy at the grocery store suggested it. It does work.

[Eurycerus]

Fabreze is a brand name for faberic freshener. It does work. I once forgot a gallon of milk in my car for a week in the summer. I tried everything to get the smell out. Finally a bag boy at the grocery store suggested it. It does work.

Do not use Febreze! It has a lot of toxic chemicals. I am seriously allergic** to it and therefore would never use it around a creature that has more delicate lungs than me.

http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/febreze.html

**As in asthma attack not the sniffles

[liz]

You can wash it off after it gets rid of the stink.

[marie83]

No don't use febreeze, whilst it won't kill a bird insantly the build up over long periods of time might do harm, just like 1 cigarette wont kill a person instantly. The manufactuers are quite open to admit that no research regarding the use around birds has been done and they wouldn't advise anyone to use it. I used to use the stuff myself but they put so much rubbish in it I figured it probably wasn't that good for people never mind the birds.

This is my problem Liz, our kitchen is hard flooring, quite small and he lives in there in the daytime when we are at work but theres nothing in there but his toys, his cage and an old bedsheet he claimed as his own which he uses to sleep on. I would like him in the living room with us when we are in where he has space to run around, not be on a hard cold floor all the time and have company.
I think it is you I have seen before saying that nobody is locked away, whilst my flat isn't a completely free kingdom for my pets as they are put in cages, I do like them to have as much freedom as possible so I do share some of your principles.

I may try dotting a few litter trays round since we have a large living room so he is always near something that smells like his corner then gradually move them towards his cage over time. Only problem with that is I'll need to put them away when Ollie is out as he will be trying to get in them lol.

[Ursibear]

I have 3 bunnies myself 2 lionheads and a holland lop-eared bunny. When they are out of their cage they mostly like to chase each other around, but some of the toys you can make are the following:
-wicker baskets! they love to chew them and it's safe, as long as the material is untreated. They are also very light, so if they end up flipping them over and jumping inside and stuff, they wont get injured.
-toilet paper rolls. they love rolling them around all over the place.
-Cat tree with several tiers! they like jumping all the way to the top and look around from there
One of my girls, Princess, also likes to play with seashells, the kind you pick up at the beach. i put them in a small clay bowl and she likes to pile them up in a corner on the cage, or flinging them off the table.
I've also got some seaweed mats around the cage for them to chew on i find it weird, since wild bunnies have no access to seaweed, but hey, whatever works...
When it comes to the hay thing, it's really important that you get him eating it ASAP. It's the primary way they have to keep their teeth trim and a clean intestinal track because of all the fiber. You could try feeding him dandelion leaves or clover leaves and flowers to get him started, most of them love that

[Ursibear]

Oh yes,
Today i found out rabbits really love millet. I accidentally left the box where i keep them slightly ajar and when i came home from work it was all gone
So you can try that too!