Bedding for Your Bun
Whether
you choose to line the whole cage or just the litter box,
you need to know what type of bedding is right for your
pet. When you go to the store the possibilities just seem
endless, there are probably more than 20 brands to choose
from, and from that there are choices of what material to
use. You may be shocked as to what you’ll learn here,
because the most common bedding used for rabbits and other
small animals is in many cases the worst bedding to use.
You’ll
see stores loaded with this stuff, and yet it is what you
should avoid because they are known to cause major
digestive and respiratory problems. I must highly suggest
to you, to stay away from bedding that is made from pine
and cedar. There have been too many cases where rabbits
and other animals have gotten sick from, and died from
problems that have been associated with these types of
bedding. The dust is known to cause respiratory
infections, and in some cases eye infections, and the
ingestion of these materials is known to cause compaction,
as well as stomach and intestinal blockages.
Aspen
bedding is said to be much safer than pine and cedar, and
is used with great success with many rabbit owners. Also,
in recent years CareFresh has become extremely popular
too. I have to say that I’ve used a lot of different types
of bedding, and Aspen works good, CareFresh (regular)
works great, but so far the best bedding I’d have to say
I’ve ever used is the CareFresh Ultra (white) bedding. To
me, nothing holds in the liquid and ammonia smell as good
as this product does. Since the coming out of CareFresh
and its positive results, many other companies
have come out with similar products that other rabbit
owners have told me work just as well. All of these new
products are pretty much made of the same material, which
is basically the pulp that is left over from making
paper. Feel free to check them all out when you get the
chance.
Going to the Bathroom
Yes,
rabbits go to the bathroom just like all wonderful things
in this world, so it is a topic that should be discussed
as well. When a rabbit goes to the bathroom, its liquid
waste comes out as a bright yellow color normally.
Sometimes the urine can also come out as an orange-ish
brown color too. The more water your rabbit drinks, the
clearer its urine usually is. It is also important to note
that the foods your rabbit eats can alter the appearance
of your rabbits urine. I find this to happen most often
when giving my rabbits treats from time to time. The
colors from the fruit in some of these treats tend to dye
the color of the urine. If the color of your rabbits urine
appears different for an elongated period of time, then
you should consider taking it to the vet to get checked
out.
Rabbits
also have a solid waste that comes out as a round,
brownish pellet. Many owners wonder like me tend to wonder
how so much poop can come out of something so small. It is
truly a miracle, but yes rabbits go to the bathroom a lot,
and frequently throughout the course of the day. What many
owners encounter next is a little squeamish, and not for
the light stomach, but it is a normal part of a rabbits
lifestyle.
Occasionally you will find your rabbit eating its own poop
pellets. They do this because after eating, sometimes they
don’t get enough nutrients from their food, and to do so
they will eat their pellets again to get the proper
nutrition out of it. Now the pellets that your rabbit will
attempt to recycle in a sense are different from the
normal hard round brown pellets you normally see. These
pellets are a lot softer, generally smaller, and are
usually in a cluster. Most of the time your rabbit will
discharge these pellets at night, but you will see it
during the day too from time to time. However, if you see
these clusters or other soft stools more often then its
regular poop, you may have to consider changing your
rabbits diet, and consider taking your rabbit to the
veterinarian.
Litter Box Training your Rabbit
Whether
you have a cage or hutch as described above, or have a
cage with a big plastic bottom that can hold bedding, you
should know that you can litter box train your rabbit, and
you should consider doing so. It makes cleaning time a
thousand times easier and quicker. Plus, it makes handling
your rabbit outside its cage easier too. A litter box
trained rabbit is less likely to leave stray pellets and
pee stains around your house, and in many cases puts an
end to these habits completely.
So,
what’s the magic process? Many rabbit owners want to know
how to do this, and if it is possible for their rabbit.
Out of all the rabbits that we’ve owned and rescued, only
two refused to be litter box trained, and I’m betting if
we had them longer, they probably eventually would have
gotten the hang of it. So, yes…it is possible for your
rabbit too. The first thing you have to know is that it
will take some time and some patience. Some rabbits catch
on quicker than others, and with babies it tends to take a
while too.
Always
begin the litter box training in the cage or hutch first,
and then later on you can take it to the next level
outside the cage. Now you need a litter box for your
rabbit. There are all sorts of different types out in
stores today, and some are much better than others. But to
start, you may want to use a rectangular Rubbermaid type
of box, or a similar type of box that is available in many
pet stores. Put some bedding in the box, but not anywhere
else in the cage, not at this point anyway. To get your
rabbit used to going in the box you’re going to have to
make him want to go in there. To do this, you’ll want to
use some hay. Don’t put any sweets or treats in there,
that will defeat the purpose, for now just use hay. You’ll
want to put a nice amount in there in one of the corners
of the box. This will lure your rabbit into the box, and
as he spends his time in there he will eventually go to
the bathroom.
You’ll
want to be there as often as you can, so that right after
he goes to the bathroom, you give him a treat. He will
soon learn that going to the bathroom in that box means a
special reward for him. You can also pet him, call him by
name and tell him how good he is (this is another form of
positive reinforcement). If your rabbit is constantly
going outside the litter box, use a scoop and put it in
the litter box. This will also help your rabbit associate
going to the bathroom in that spot. Believe it or not,
most rabbits catch on pretty quickly, and once you have
him used to going in the litter box inside the cage, then
you can extend the training to outside the cage and in
other areas of the house using the same process as above,
and of course always supervised.
Rabbit Proofing Your Home
After
litter box training your rabbit in its cage, many owners
start to wonder if they can do it outside the cage, and
just let their rabbit run around and free roam all the
time. Litter box training your rabbit outside its cage is
actually the easiest part in the process. You’ll slowly
have to introduce your rabbit to more and more space with
the litter box available. Eventually you’ll be able to put
a litter box in more than one room if you wish. One thing
to take note of is that it may take your rabbit some time
to get used to using those other litter boxes, and this
can be true if and when you replace the litter box. You’ll
want to take some of the used litter from one of the other
boxes and place it in the other one so that she knows this
is a spot where she can go to the bathroom. When she does,
you can go ahead with the positive reinforcement like
before with a treat, or pet it gently and tell her what a
good girl she is.
This is
just the first step in rabbit proofing your home. Making
sure your rabbit doesn’t leave stray poop and urine around
the house is a great accomplishment, next you have to make
sure it’s safe for your rabbit to run around freely. To do
so, it’s almost just like baby proofing. You have to make
sure your rabbit can’t get into poisonous substances
around the house. Many people forget, or sometimes don’t
even know that parents, landlords, or previous owners have
pesticides sprayed, or have mouse and rat traps and
poisons all over the home. If your rabbit gets into this
stuff the consequences are deadly. Also, there are many
other household liquids and chemicals that can poison your
rabbit too. Make sure all these items are secure, and that
your bun can’t get to them. Make sure you cover all the
outlets that aren’t in use in your house, rabbits are very
curious little creatures and are likely to sniff
everything, and can easily get a nail stuck in a socket.
Rabbits
also love to jump on things, so make sure you have
anything valuable secured. Also, they are not cats and
won’t always land on their feet so to speak. Some owners
have those cat condos in their house, and their rabbit’s
love to play on them. A rabbit falling from a height like
that is likely to sustain some serious injury, and
sometimes even death. So, make sure your rabbit can’t
climb up too high on anything.
Rabbits
also love to chew things. Even If you have everything
pretty secured your rabbit will often find something to
chew on especially wood, and even more frequently wires.
Most rabbits I’ve cared for always go for the wires.
They’ll get wires that you wouldn’t even think of, that is
until you get ready to use that device and all of a sudden
it magically stopped working. One time, one of our rescued
rabbits Buster was playing on the floor, supervised of
course. He decided to run towards my desk and I quickly
got him out of there. Everything appeared to be fine at
the moment. Later that day I went to turn my computer on
and my keyboard wasn’t working. I got behind my desk and
looked at the wire and it had been chewed in 3 different
places. He was there for maybe 3- 5 seconds, the time it
took me to get off the floor where I was petting one of
the other rabbits to get to him to get him out of there.
So, a note to the wise: Be aware of where all your wires
are and keep your rabbits away from them, or have them
covered with hard plastic. They’ll get in and out of there
so quick you won’t even know the damage they’ve done until
it’s too late.
To
prevent some biting and chewing there are a number of
bitter sprays like bitter apple and bitter lime that work
like charms to get you rabbit out of the habit. Some
owners claim they don’t work well with rabbits because
rabbits enjoy bitter foods but my experience has proved
otherwise. Just be careful because many of them are hard
to wash off, and if you happen to touch an area you
sprayed and don’t realize it and then grab a bite to eat,
you will get a very unpleasant and nasty tasting surprise.
Of course
many of these things can be avoided as long as you
supervise your rabbit whenever it is outside of its cage.
Some people let their rabbits free roam all the time and
don’t have a problem, and I’ve had 2 or 3 rabbits the
same. However, most of them were not so. Rabbits love to
dig and chew and it’s from the majority of my experience
that I recommend only letting your rabbit run around when
you can supervise their activities.
