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CampingCarl posted:He is now about 12 1/2 so could it be age? Is that a typo? That's old as hell for a rabbit.
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Mar 22, 2010 11:29
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spudsbuckley posted:Is that a typo? That's old as hell for a rabbit. It's a respectable age to be sure but there's no reason to assume it's a typo 
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Mar 22, 2010 11:51
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DS at Night posted:It's a respectable age to be sure but there's no reason to assume it's a typo What a "fun" rabbit fact!
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Mar 22, 2010 14:18
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CampingCarl posted:He is now about 12 1/2 so could it be age? He is still very active, but that area seems to be a popular place where he just sits during the day. My old man Bun, who lived to be 12.5, got somewhat incontinent after his 11th year, so yeah, it could be age. I honestly think he had dementia. He'd hop over to one corner of the cage like there was something interesting there, then sit looking around like he forgot why he went over there. DS at Night posted:It's a respectable age to be sure but there's no reason to assume it's a typo I have one girl who is a month or so away from 13 years, if the original owners weren't lying to me. She was supposedly a 1997 Easter bunny, and I've had her since May 2003. The fur around her ears has turned white, she's a bit less prone to jumping, and she has more kidney trouble these days, but otherwise she's insanely healthy. She'll probably live to be 20 just to spite me.
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Mar 22, 2010 15:46
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Bowser was an adult when we got her- the vets could only narrow it down to between 1-3 years old, and we had her for 10 years. She definitely didn't have dementia, and was spry as ever until a few days before she died. However, she was a stubborn pooper in her later years and insisted on sleeping in her litterboxes and pooping just outside of them. Rabbits. 
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Mar 22, 2010 16:13
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My rabbit has started attacking anyone and everyone. He will be fine one moment and then bite the poo poo out of any bit of exposed flesh the next. For example, he was out of his cage running around and I gave him a dried cranberry treat. He was happy after he got it but then charged and bit me so hard he drew blood. He has done this to me and my husband multiple times. He isn't fearful. I don't know what to do because he attacks other animals and humans. A couple of people have suggested that we put him down. I don't want to euthanize a healthy animal, though. I've already talked to a woman that runs a small rabbit rescue locally and she won't take an aggressive rabbit. We can't give him to 4H because he is mean. My rabbit is a 1 1/2 year old Harlequin named Harper, neutered. We keep plenty of toys and stuff for him that the house rabbit society recommends for aggressive rabbits but that doesn't help and he will still randomly attack. We make high pitched squeals when he bites but he doesn't act the least bit shocked. We've had him looked at by our vet but nothing is wrong with him. I don't even know what to do because I want a pet that doesn't attack me but so far I've been getting nothing but "put him down" advice. I need advice from real rabbit owners and not people unfamiliar with rabbits.
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Mar 22, 2010 17:32
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Can anyone recommend a vet / shelter that does cheap neutering/spaying operations in the suburban Chicago area? The few I've checked out were pricey ($250 - $300). I'd be willing to drive anywhere in the Chicago area, or even parts of Indiana or central Illinois if I can save $100. Some of the information on the House Rabbit Society site seems to be dated as well. Edit - Thanks for the info everyone! The Shep fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Mar 23, 2010 |
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Mar 22, 2010 17:52
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Cmdr. Shepard posted:Can anyone recommend a vet / shelter that does cheap neutering/spaying operations in the suburban Chicago area? If you haven't already, call the Chicago HRS (number here). Their vet list is pretty antiquated but a phone call should get you the most current info. Don't hesitate to ask "where do YOU guys get your surgeries done?" Gumby Orgy posted:My rabbit has started attacking anyone and everyone. Aggression is very commonly a sign that the rabbit thinks his social needs are being unmet. The attacks are NOT random. If you were able to videotape and analyze the behavior leading up to every bite incident, it would almost certainly be revealed that he is exhibiting certain clear behaviors indicating territoriality or social dominance (requests for grooming, food, or space) which you aren't consciously noticing, which precede a bite attack. The first thing to do is learn to protect yourself. Until this is figured out, he's not a rabbit to you, he's a carpet shark. Until you get a handle on this, don't allow yourself to be in a situation where you will get bit. Wear jeans and long sleeves, gardening gloves if needed. Do not let him out when you are planning to just chill in the same room - have your eye on him every second, or put up a barrier where he can be in one room and you can relax in the next. That will reduce your stress level about being bit, and give you time for the next step. The next step is you need to try to figure out what cues he's giving that he's about to bite. You need to pretend you're Jane freakin' Goodall and you're gonna write the longest, most boring book EVER about rabbit behavior. Note EVERYTHING the rabbit does. He comes out. He moves left. He looks right. Ears are up, now they go down. Etc etc. Also write down what YOU do prior to an attack. I was filling the hay manger; I was sitting by the couch; I leaned forward. Were you looking directly at him and for how long? Etc etc. Once you learn his pre-bite signals, you'll have some insight into WHY he's being aggressive, and that will let you know how to modify his behavior. Maybe he's lonesome; it looks like he keeps laying down politely nearby, but really he's urgently demanding that you groom him and you are ignoring him. So he bites you to remind you that he's the boss and deserves grooming! This could be fixed by getting him a partner. Maybe he's territorial; the bites are preceded by a body language demand that you leave his territory. Moving his cage and changing the area he can play in can resolve this. You'll also need to think about how he may have been conditioned to bite under certain circumstances. Can he enter/leave his cage himself, or do you have to pick him up to take him out/put him back? If the latter, and if he ends up always biting after a treat - Do you sometimes use craisins to entice him before you pick him up? If so, maybe he's biting to show you he doesn't want to be picked up and put back. This could be fixed by getting a cage setup that he can exit and enter himself. Has anyone EVER hit him or been rough with him? Maybe he's scared (a brave, aggressive rabbit can still be a frightened one). What's your zip code? I may also be able to find a bigger rabbit rescuer who will be a little more helpful to you. Most HRS chapters have people who will come observe your rabbit and help you interpret and modify behavior, free of charge.
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Mar 22, 2010 18:37
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alucinor posted:Fantastic thoughts and advice He goes to his cage on his own at night and is able to freely come and go during the day. Every time he bites me he is always sitting, not laying and is on my left. I never use dried cranberries to entice him out of his cage or into his cage. I like to give them to him after I brush him or just at random and not very often. If I find out that anyone has ever hit Harper I'll beat them with a goddamn baseball bat. There has only been a couple of people who were not me or my husband that have taken care of him when we were away. I have serious doubts that they hit him, but one of them could have possibly mishandled him or something like that. It is very possible that they tried to take him out of his cage and did not tell us about it. We tried letting him meet possible bunny friends every since we had to rehome our other rabbit (Harper tried to kill the other rabbit despite them at one point being the best of friends. We had to get separate cages for them until we found a great home for him.) We let them meet in a place that neither consider home. In fact, we found one lovely lady - a Flemmish Giant - that he started grooming and loving up on. We kept introducing her to Harper and they got along very well until we brought her home. She had a separate cage, but I was watching them in a play area I set up in my living room (not the normal room Harper plays in). She was splayed out comfortably to my right enjoying a head scratch and he was playing to my left with HIS pillow. The lady bun suddenly shot up and Harper started to charge. I put my arm out to stop what I knew was about to be a nasty attack by Harper and he bit the ever-loving crap out of my left arm. I immediately separated them and we gave the female rabbit back to the owner so she wouldn't get hurt by Harper. Where I live there is a tiny rabbit rescue (the one I contacted) but not a branch of HRS, sadly. Edit: I had named the beautiful flemmy Constance Beauregard  Edit II: We did not keep them in the same area for too long, following HRS guidelines. Gumby Orgy fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Mar 22, 2010 |
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Mar 22, 2010 20:45
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spudsbuckley posted:Is that a typo? That's old as hell for a rabbit. He is old, his nose is full of gray hairs(fur is black) and he stretches his back legs when he gets up from sitting a while. Other than that I am surprised how active he is. He won't jump to the bed anymore, I made him a step, and doesn't run laps, but if he thinks there are raisins around he is as bouncy as ever. alucinor posted:I honestly think he had dementia. He'd hop over to one corner of the cage like there was something interesting there, then sit looking around like he forgot why he went over there. He has done stuff like that all his life. Run to a spot, sit for 10 seconds, then run back to where he was before. I just attributed it to him being a silly rabbit who has no clue whats going on. An odd thing he does is he follows people a lot. 95% of the time he doesn't wander out of the room he is kept in at night unless he is following a person. Once there he can play for hours regardless if the person leaves. He isn't afraid, but its like he thinks he needs permission. He used to have a habit of trying to run ahead/under and beat the person to the other room, but I think he has got booted enough that he stays at a safe distance now. He now gets out of the way when people are walking down the hall, unless he is eating in which case he won't move for anything unless you physically move him. He loves to dig for no reason. He has a box of dirt on the deck he just digs a hole, turns around, and digs another filling up the first. On the lawn he just digs up an area, but gets bored after an inch down and moves 6" and does it again. He will chop down grass, sticks, and leaves just because they are there. There is a towel that he does what can only be described as rearrange. All he does is move it around and occasionally dig it where it just bunches up under him. He doesn't chew it or make any shape/nest, he just sits there for up to an hour randomly moving a towel around. He does it with leaves too. Just moves them around and back. If I toss a treat, say size of a baby carrot, a few feet from him he will rush towards it. However as soon as it stops bouncing he stops moving and will only/sniff look in his immediate area. When he was young he used to fight when we tried to get him out from under a chair to go back in his cage. Now he just pulls a ghandi and just relaxes forcing me to slide him out. Once out from under the chair he gets up and goes right on his way to his room/cage. Thats more text than I thought. Might as well tell his bad anecdotes too since I seem to be going on. I have 2 shirts with rabbit blood from when he pulled out nails. Once he jumped from a high bed, about 4ft, and I guess a nail caught on the sheet. He knew he wasn't supposed to do it too, he would never try to get down until I left the room. If I come back suddenly he would be looking over the edge and jump back like he wasn't doing anything. He was on a harness outside for a bit and got a leg tangled on the leash. He panicked and started thrashing. I restrained him and calmed him down and somewhere in there he lost another nail. Once he was out of the deck, and I was moving a chair up the deck stairs (2nd story deck). I heard a thump and some skittering a couple times. When I got to the top of the stairs I saw him get under the railing and jump off 10-12' to the ground. I found him in the ivy below, he was fine except he seemed to be stunned I guess. That chair is now his favorite place on the deck.
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Mar 22, 2010 20:53
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Gumby Orgy posted:good stuff Sounds like you're already off to a good start. Keep observing and looking for patterns in what you are doing or in what he is doing. Gumby Orgy posted:Every time he bites me he is always sitting, not laying and is on my left. Wait - ALWAYS on your left? For real? Is there consistency as to which side of HIS body was facing you? Has the vet ever checked his vision? Like, not just, flash a light across it, "yeah his eyes work", but checked how well he can see? A decrease in visual acuity on one side could lead him to react to any movement as a perceived threat. You don't have any non-symmetrical abnormalities (massively misshapen hand, partial unilateral paralysis, giant sparkling diamond wedding ring) that would tend to alter your or his behavior if he's on one side of you versus the other, I assume? I had a foster parent whose pigs would run from her if she forgot and reached in with her right hand, because she always wore these big jangly bracelets. Even wearing a watch on that side might have something to do with it. Also, what happens AFTER a bite? Does he bite and chase and bite till you can shake him off you, or does he snap once and then go back to acting normal? How is his body language after a bite - standing tall from the ground with ears forward and tail up; or sitting back and pressing himself to the ground? Also also, can you sketch out what you mean by "he's sitting"? Belly touching the ground or not? Are the front legs touching the body or is there space between them and the body? Does he look like he's leaning forward or back? Head and neck extended, or pulled in touching the back, or held low to the ground?
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Mar 22, 2010 21:34
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alucinor posted:Sounds like you're already off to a good start. Keep observing and looking for patterns in what you are doing or in what he is doing. He always bites me if he is sitting to the left of me. It doesn't appear to follow a pattern as to which side HE is facing. The vet did a cursory check of his eyes and Harper seemed to respond with both of his eyes appropriately. I have a 1 carat diamond with a total of 2 carat worth of diamonds on my wedding band. It is a Lazare Kaplan diamond ring and reflects light like none other. I have never thought that it could possibly be my ring. I'm going to take it off next time he's around and see if that changes anything. Other than that, I have nothing else about me. I don't wear any other jewelry or have some weirdly misshapen body part or paralysis. He snaps and then will try to bite again sometimes. I honestly can never tell when he will bite once and then kind of hunker down in a bunny loaf like nothing ever happened. When he sits his belly is on the ground, his head is pulled in, his legs are as close to his body as he can get them. In other news, my sister-in-law called me and I talked to her for a while. I've previously talked to her about my bunny woes but never talked to her about her experiences with him. Apparently when she stayed at my husband and my house for a week before our wedding she tried to take Harper out of his cage a few times while we were out. She said he tried to bite her and did this weird thing where he scratched at her hand with his front paws. I didn't know she tried to get him out at all because we warned her that he bites.
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Mar 22, 2010 22:19
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Cmdr. Shepard posted:Can anyone recommend a vet / shelter that does cheap neutering/spaying operations in the suburban Chicago area? I had/have a great experience with our vet for regular care but also for spaying Sprout. I think the entire spaying process cost $175 or so. It's this place here: http://foxvalleyanimalhospital.com/ They have two bunny doctors, each with 2-3 buns of their own (doctor Govic and Sheradon I believe). Both doctors are recommended on the HRS Chicago website as very good doctors and surgeons for bunnies, and I think HRS requires like a 99% success rate or something to be on their site for spaying/surgery, or something. I don't know, they're great doctors for buns! Edit: The vet techs are good too, never had one that didn't handle a bunny properly. The biggest screwup in two years was when one didn't see that the stethoscope was hanging down on the scale and we thought Sprout gained an entire pound in 3 months. Here's a bunch of costs for us here: Regular checkup + nail trimmings for 2 buns = $85 (it's $55 for one!) Spaying = $175 Xrays + checkup + fluids + antibiotics = $212 Fenarisk fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Mar 22, 2010 |
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Mar 22, 2010 22:21
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Wow, if it's the ring, that'll be fascinating. That may not be ALL of the story - he could still have jerk tendencies, but being dazzled ends up being what sets him off.  Keep us posted!
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Mar 22, 2010 22:25
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Fenarisk posted:I had/have a great experience with our vet for regular care but also for spaying Sprout. I think the entire spaying process cost $175 or so. It's this place here: Gah. It cost 80 dollars for my checkup for Harper. He was being so aggressive that we took him in. Turns out nothing is physically wrong with him. BUT, it only cost 100 dollars to get him fixed six or seven months ago. A female would have been 125 dollars. alucinor, I don't think it is the ring, but wouldn't that be funny? What happens if it isn't the ring? What do we do then? I can't live with such an rear end in a top hat rabbit. If he didn't bite (even if he didn't bite so often) he would be the perfect pet. The fact that he is litter trained, neutered, quiet (mostly), and I am less allergic to him than a cat makes him fantastic. Now if I can get the aggressiveness under control I would be happy and could have people over without worrying they'll get bitten.
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Mar 23, 2010 00:15
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Gumby Orgy posted:alucinor, I don't think it is the ring, but wouldn't that be funny? What happens if it isn't the ring? What do we do then? I can't live with such an rear end in a top hat rabbit. Yeah, I doubt that's it, but I agree it would make an awesome story. Otherwise, you have to weigh how committed you are to keeping him vs how much you're willing to modify your lives in order to work around this behavior. You could simply arrange your home and your lives so that he does not get the opportunity to bite. He no longer has free rein of 100% of the house; you no longer let your guard down around him. This changes your relationship with him - it means no more house rabbit, instead he becomes a part-of-the-house rabbit. He becomes less of a being-with pet and more of a taking-care-of-special-needs pet. It's not such a bad arrangement; many rabbits need slightly more controlled environments as they age, and do well with it. And it would allow you to keep him and maybe this behavior will diminish as time passes and his current habits become less ingrained. I have a bun who was an evil little bitch for about the first two years after we got her. She would bite whenever she had the chance; in my case I was certain it was due to being manhandled in her former home. She's now a doll; even loves to be picked up and cuddled, and the only time I've been bit in nearly two years is when I haven't been careful enough about putting down veggies without getting my arm between them and her. She even found a friend to live with! I didn't do anything special other than just work around the problem till it went away. If you don't see yourself able to make major changes, honestly, euthanasia is not a bad option. There's hundreds of thousands of well adjusted rabbits needing homes. Most people are going to be far less patient than you have been. Even if you CAN find someone else who says they want to work with him, there's better than even odds that they, too, will ultimately give up, and the quality of his homes will drop lower and lower till his life is nothing like what you'd hope for him now. In that case, euthanasia now, although harder on you, is kindest on him. But it's not necessarily at that point yet. The other obvious option is to find an animal behavioralist who can do in person what we're trying to do over the internet. It's harder to find a rabbit trainer than a dog trainer, but it's not impossible. Basically you just need someone with a good understanding of operant conditioning and ideally some idea of prey animal behavior. A horse trainer would even be a good idea; they are very similar animals in a lot of ways. If there's an HRS chapter even a state or two away, you could contact them and see if they have savvy adopters closer to you. You might also consider posting your story to Etherbun to see who's in your area. And of course, all of us here would glad to continue to help; we just need more data. But breaking the pattern - taking away the opportunity for the bite to happen - is definitely the first step. That alone may be enough to fix it over time.
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Mar 23, 2010 01:53
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alucinor posted:More awesome There is a HRS chapter about four hours away from me. Perhaps it would be worth a trip. He's perfectly healthy and euthanasia is obviously a last resort. It upset me pretty bad that non-rabbit owners would write him off so quickly! He's my jerk, despite everything. Rehoming him is not an option. We lucked out with our other rabbit bonding immediately with his new mom's bun. She is just as good (if not better because she is more experienced) of a pet owner as my husband and I are and we were lucky to find her. It would be a terrible thing to do to Harper because there is no way of knowing, as you said, that the quality of the home would be as high. I don't want him biting someone and them throwing him against a wall, abusing him, or abandoning him. All animals deserve better than that. At least Harper is well taken care of and not mishandled or abused in my home. My husband and I have previously talked about basically making Harper a part of our environment like you suggested and it sounds crueler than it is. If it makes his life less stressful and us less bitten, with the hope that he can become a full house rabbit again, it would be worth trying. alucinor, thank you so much for taking the time to give me advice and help me with my aggressive rabbit. I'll keep you updated on what we're doing, ect. I'm not ready to give up on Harper and, as previously mentioned, I was upset that others suggested that I do so. Harper may not be the perfect pet, but what pet really is? Gumby Orgy fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Mar 23, 2010 |
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Mar 23, 2010 02:09
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I might have missed this being mentioned but do you lean over him a lot? To a rabbit that's very looming and threatening. I've found I get a really good response when I bring my whole upper body down to their level by squatting or kneeling and leaning forward. Of course this does put your face in the line of fire so it might not be a good idea.
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Mar 23, 2010 10:49
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Getting better at man-handling Sprout and gripping her tight for meds, I feel bad like at times I'm forcing the meds down too fast but she hasn't made any choking or gasping sounds, even when she's not licking or smacking at the meds. Are there any less-than-obvious signs if I'm doing it "wrong" or harming her in some way? I know when we had that ground squirrel we saw that feeding some small animals with a syringe can aspirate them, not sure if you can do that with a young adult bunny or not.
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Mar 23, 2010 16:54
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You'll be fine. It's kinda hard to screw up with these big guys and such a small amount of liquid. The risk of aspiration exists, but it's not as easy to do as you'd think from the dire warnings you get.
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Mar 23, 2010 17:19
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alucinor posted:You'll be fine. It's kinda hard to screw up with these big guys and such a small amount of liquid. The risk of aspiration exists, but it's not as easy to do as you'd think from the dire warnings you get. Thanks, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. Both my buns are at 4 pounds so I guess I just have this ingrained idea that they are fragile as all hell, even with .6ml of fluid.
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Mar 23, 2010 17:46
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As of late I can see exposed heel on Frith's feet -- I can see pink skin, whereas Zen's heels are fully fur covered. Is this bad? He only walks/hops/runs on carpet, couch, or the occasional grass, except on the rare occasion he's dumb enough to attempt to scramble across the wood floor and immediately regrets it. Is this something to be concerned by?
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Mar 24, 2010 00:45
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It DEFINITELY isn't the ring. 
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Mar 24, 2010 01:24
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angelicism posted:As of late I can see exposed heel on Frith's feet -- I can see pink skin, whereas Zen's heels are fully fur covered. Is this bad? He only walks/hops/runs on carpet, couch, or the occasional grass, except on the rare occasion he's dumb enough to attempt to scramble across the wood floor and immediately regrets it. Is this something to be concerned by? Keep an eye on that, it can turn into sore hocks. It should be covered with fur, but may be something as simple as the hair being parted wrong.
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Mar 24, 2010 03:21
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pseudonordic posted:Keep an eye on that, it can turn into sore hocks. It should be covered with fur, but may be something as simple as the hair being parted wrong. Anything specific I should keep an eye out for? Or should I make a preemptive trip to the vet just in case?
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Mar 24, 2010 03:34
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angelicism posted:Anything specific I should keep an eye out for? Or should I make a preemptive trip to the vet just in case? It is possible he has urine burns which can cause the hair to fall out on his feet. I would trance him if possible and look at his skin. Does it look a little extra pink or red? If so, get some cornstarch and gently rub it onto the skin to soothe the burning skin. Brush off any excess and do it about twice a day until the hair starts to come back. If it isn't urine burn, just watch him to make sure he doesn't get sores. Sores are fairly easily treated, though. A trip to the vet probably isn't necessary just yet. Also, is it possible he's been pulling out his hair and eating it?
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Mar 24, 2010 04:24
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Did That on Television posted:I demand pictures of fat bunnies. Eeeeee! I didn't see this so long ago. So I will make a Bunny challenge. Lets have a rabbit fat off. WHO'S BUNNY IS THE FATTEST?!?! I enter Tubby Lumpkins  keep in mind Tubbs is a dwarf, so she cant compare in size to a flemish giant, but she can fight for fattest. \/\/\/ thats a drat fat bunny Errant Gin Monks fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Mar 24, 2010 |
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Mar 24, 2010 22:49
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KenMornignstar posted:I didn't see this so long ago. So I will make a Bunny challenge. Lets have a rabbit fat off.
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Mar 24, 2010 22:53
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Melicious posted:That is a fat loving bunny.
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Mar 25, 2010 01:01
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Melicious posted:This is loving amazing...
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Mar 25, 2010 14:28
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Gumby Orgy posted:It is possible he has urine burns which can cause the hair to fall out on his feet. I would trance him if possible and look at his skin. Does it look a little extra pink or red? If so, get some cornstarch and gently rub it onto the skin to soothe the burning skin. Brush off any excess and do it about twice a day until the hair starts to come back. Frith doesn't trance easily but I got a quick glance at his feet and they look a bit pinkish. But. He's an albino, so he looks pinkish and whitish all over, so... If it's possibly urine burns should I try to change out the litter box more often? Right now his gets changed out every 2-3 days (and even then it's not full, so it's not like he's ever sitting around in a gigantic pile of poo and pee -- it's a large litter box). I can try doing it daily and see if his feet look better.
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Mar 25, 2010 18:59
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angelicism posted:Frith doesn't trance easily but I got a quick glance at his feet and they look a bit pinkish. But. He's an albino, so he looks pinkish and whitish all over, so... Try changing his litterbox daily but also make sure to do the cornstarch thing I mentioned earlier twice a day. Before you start doing the cornstarch thing for the first time, run a cool rag over all exposed areas to cool and soothe. If it starts to look worse, take him to the vet, but that is most likely not necessary. Does it look like it is causing him pain?
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Mar 27, 2010 03:13
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Gumby Orgy posted:Try changing his litterbox daily but also make sure to do the cornstarch thing I mentioned earlier twice a day. Before you start doing the cornstarch thing for the first time, run a cool rag over all exposed areas to cool and soothe. He doesn't seem to avoid being on his back feet in any way (at least, not insofar as I can tell) so... no? I'll change his litter box more often and try the rest of your advice. Hopefully it's just his fur parting funny. But I don't think it used to be that way.
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Mar 28, 2010 07:09
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I was just browsing on petfinder and saw this article: http://www.petfinder.com/pet-news/paralyzed-bunny-helps-children-overcome-their-own.html It's awesome that it's helping disabled kids but the idea of a paralyzed bunny having a brace that makes it able to live a full life is pretty great too
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Mar 29, 2010 21:45
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Levitate posted:I was just browsing on petfinder and saw this article: That's an awesome story. Obviously we need to solve more of the world's problems with the cuteness of bunnies.
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Mar 29, 2010 22:22
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Marmalade's newest thing is digging ALL of the Carefresh out of his litter pans as soon as I put it in/back in them. So frustrating! I know he's playing, which is cute, but its messy and without anything to absorb urine, it gets gross. Would switching to the pellet type litter help with this you think? Has anyone else had this issue? What did/would you do? edit: Also, his ear hasn't bothered him since I last posted. I think it was just itchy
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Mar 30, 2010 03:21
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My best friend and I each got one at the mall about a month ago. This is mine. Her name is Dorothy, and I love her to pieces.  She is so freaking cute. They're almost to the point where they can be left out of the cage all day, and they're all lot more outgoing. Dorothy is the more dominant one, she explores everything. She follows the cats, my 14 month old niece, and will purposefully get in the way of my feet just for her adrenaline fix. Also, she's to the point now where she trusts me enough to let me rub her belly. She'll lay on her side and close her eyes and fall asleep to me giving her a bellyrub. This is Cassie's bunny, Buddy:  He is definitely the toddler who copies everything Dorothy does. He won't do anything unless she does it first, and then when you go to scold him for trying to jump in the cat litter box, he just looks up at you like:  They're so freaking ; I really didn't expect bunnies to be so therapeutic.
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Mar 30, 2010 04:49
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majour333 posted:Marmalade's newest thing is digging ALL of the Carefresh out of his litter pans as soon as I put it in/back in them. So frustrating! I know he's playing, which is cute, but its messy and without anything to absorb urine, it gets gross. Would switching to the pellet type litter help with this you think? Has anyone else had this issue? What did/would you do? I had to get a high backed, corner locking litter box that has mesh over the litter for my obnoxibunny because he would take glee in pissing in his litter and then making sure it covered everything. It is slightly more trouble to clean than a regular litter box but the lack of dirty litter over everything more than makes up for it. That was a nasty phase Harper went through. He also has enormous bunny poos for his size and they fall right through. He also stays cleaner and doesn't get yellow-stained feet. I haven't had a problem with sore hocks using the mesh, but if you decide to switch litterboxes, just watch his feet for a while to see if there is a problem. http://www.rabbitmart.com/shop/index.php?page=shop-flypage-23712 Could it be that a change in litter would help? I use yesterday's news on top of ammonia-reducing cat crystals (Harper doesn't have access to his litter anymore so this is alright, I promise). You could try just switching to yesterday's news and see if that stops the digging. Another thing that could help is to get a box, cut a hole in the side, then fill with shredded paper. Harper LOVES his paper box and doesn't use it as a second litter box, but ymmv.
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Mar 30, 2010 05:31
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My rabbit definitely pushes all the carefresh out of his box when I've just changed it, but I tend to just sigh and pick it all up and put it back in. He likes hanging out in his litterbox and lying in it so I know he's just doing the rabbit thing of trying to "tidy up" before relaxing.miseerin posted:They're so freaking While it's good that you enjoy their company now, be prepared for them to become noisy messy destructive assholes when they're a couple of months old until they're about 2 or older. That thing they do now with being super cuddly, that's going to stop. They will of course still love petting and attention and such, but they will change. Just a heads up.
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Mar 30, 2010 12:50
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| # ? May 14, 2024 19:15 |
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Yeah, as a general rule, don't leave anything (ANYTHING) that you don't want destroyed within reach of a bunny. Even for a few seconds while your back is turned. They may show no interest in chewing holes in something until that one minute that you're not paying attention and then bam they've ripped it apart. Mine especially loves to decimate blankets
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Mar 30, 2010 13:38
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