Tips for keeping rabbit inside?

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MandiRock

MandiRock

In the Brooder
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My son just got a pet rabbit (it wasn't for me, I swear!). He's a little mini rex, SO adorable. We have him inside in a 3x2 wire rabbit cage, then I have one of those big "kid pens" from when my son was little that we set up in the den for his safe play time. He loves playing in there! I was just wondering though, if anyone has any tips on how to keep the area around his regular cage clean? He kicks his bedding out A LOT. My husband suggested maybe taping up 3-4 inches around the bottom, but I think that would look pretty junky.

Also any other general tips you have about keep a bunny inside would be helpful. I've had a rabbit before but its been like 10 years, and mine was outside. I've done a lot of research and reading but it's still good to hear from people about specific experiences.

 
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All of my indoor rabbits have been amazingly clean...until my current Elop buck! He is my messiest animal. Ever. He's my first neutered rabbit...all my unnuetered bucks were tidier than this guy. X). Our doe Elop practically wore a maid uniform she was so clean. But, here is what I've had to do for him:
-He lives in a large, home made cage so I can easily reach in.
-The floor is an easy to wipe down linoleum.
-He has a high sided litter box (though he STILL manages to overshoot on occasion, so there is a puppy pad kind of acting as a door mat for it). They make high sided litter boxes, but since he is a big bunny, he uses a big box. Lowe's sells recycling bins that have a dipped side that look just like a litter box...I'll try to post a photo later. Keeping litter (we use Feline Pine. Feline Pine does not have the harmful oils wood shavings do due to processing. Don't use clay cat litter!) or bedding only in the litter box, and a bare floor elsewhere, helps guide them where to go and will eliminate bedding getting everywhere.
-He drinks from a cat auto waterer (not electronic, just the overturned jug style) which lasts his thirsty, water to pee converting self for five days.
-I tried TEN home made hay rack designs for him...not including the one I bought. All were rendered useless in the face of his messiness. Wire racks to reduce what he could pull out? Ha! He managed. Even a solid upright Tupperware canister fixed to the cage wall with a hole cut by me in the side was made in vain. I learned that he will poop and pee where his hay is. Period. And that said hay would be happily spread everwhere. The solution ended up being a 5 dollar wal-mart bag...the kind that have fabric that can breathe and are meant for reusable shopping bags. I bought him a bright pink bag as a punishment. It has daisies on it. >:^) I cut a hole in the side, fashioned a button to keep the top closed, and added velcro type fasteners to a strap cut in two. It straps to his cage side and hangs over his litter box. He eats without spilling from this contraption, but anything that could spill would just fall into his box. It has completely eliminated the worst mess of all...hay getting everywhere.
-His pellets go into a ceramic dog bowl...too heavy for a rabbit to tip.
-When he molts, he has a carpeted platform. All the hair gathers there. He gets papaya tablets to prevent any issues with wool block. Cleaning up his very fine rabbit hair is as easy as running a damp paper towel over the platform.

He is a super snuggly and amazing pet, and after we got down a system that cleaned up his act, owning him became that much better. ;)
 
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My rabbits aren't messy either. They are litter trained and I use yesterday's news cat litter. I use the paper pellet litter because cedar and pine give off phenols which are harmful to animals lungs. I have 4 rabbits, one male and three females, all are spayed and neutered which I recommend if it is a pet not a show/breeding rabbit. It helps with litter training, behavior and health (prevents cancers). If you are keeping him in a cage and want to litter train him, do not put bedding in the bottom of the cage, you can put a towel or blanket down and only put litter in the litter box. I hang their hay over the litter box this way if they pull hay out it is easier to clean up.

My rabbits live in a dog play pen like this one.
http://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Black...8&qid=1344741424&sr=8-5&keywords=dog+playpens
They have their own vinyl flooring which is easy to clean. I give mine pellets once a day and mixed greens once a day and unlimited timothy hay. I use Oxbow brand food and hay, it is one of the best commercial rabbit foods produced, but as long as you don't feed him rabbit food with any seeds or colored pellets it's okay. Just find a rabbit food with plain pellets. Since yours is young it is normally recommended to use an alfalfa based pellet and after a year switch to a timothy hay based pellet.

I used water bottles for awhile but I switched to bowls sometime last year cause after a while all the water bottles kept leaking and drove me nuts lol. They also have lots of different types of toys like cat balls, rattles and lots of chew toys to keep their teeth healthy. I also use cardboard boxes as houses, they love to chew and shred them.

And for shedding I highly recommend furminator brushes for cats, they are amazing and well worth the price.

Here are some good rabbit care sites-
http://www.rabbit.org/
http://www.binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/Default.aspx
http://www.myhouserabbit.com/care.php

Good luck with your new addition, he is very cute!

Here is two pictures of my rabbit pen.


 
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we have a mini rex lop in the house only ours in is a huge hutch ( they sell them at tractor supply). He is in the basement where it is cooler. He has his own personal fan as well.

I will tell you that although we have no problems with our bunny.. he didnt stay small like yours very long. I was amazed at how big a mini gets, I am guessing he weighs 15 lbs and he is NOT fat.

They do make great pets as long as you are gentle with them.

have fun with your bunny he is adorable
 
capstone said:
we have a mini rex lop in the house only ours in is a huge hutch ( they sell them at tractor supply). He is in the basement where it is cooler. He has his own personal fan as well.

I will tell you that although we have no problems with our bunny.. he didnt stay small like yours very long. I was amazed at how big a mini gets, I am guessing he weighs 15 lbs and he is NOT fat.

They do make great pets as long as you are gentle with them.

have fun with your bunny he is adorable
Click to expand...
There are only a few breeds of rabbit that get up to 15 pounds, and they are all considered "giant" breeds. The ARBA does not count a mini rex lop among their recognized breeds - my guess is that you were - um - "misinformed" about what your rabbit's ancestry is.


The Mini Rex breed standard calls for a maximum adult size of about 4 pounds. They are one of the dwarf breeds, so there is the possibility of non-dwarfed individuals that may weigh up to about 5 1/2 pounds.
 
i have 2 giant rabbits that live inside and they are pretty clean and they use a litter tray, just keep putting them in to it when they poo/wee mine have the run of the house tho but stay mainly in the dinning room and they have the run of the backgarden i also have cats and a dog that live in the house,
 
Another good thing about Yesterday's News litter is that it (along with your rabbit's contributions) makes wonderful compost. You can just throw the contents of the litter box in a compost bin or an unused section of your yard without needing to add other material. I didn't turn mine or add other materials because i was busy with other projects and in six months it was ready for the garden. Just make sure you use the unscented kind.
 
Is the bunny litter trained? If not, buy a litter box for rabbits at the pet store, the bunny will pee on it because it wants to get its scent on it. After a day or 2, your rabbit will only do his business in the litter box. My rabbit was litter trained the day we got him :) its really easy. We started by putting a little box in there, he peed on it then we put the litter into a litter box. Its easier to clean up the mess when its all in one spot, but he still throws around his food bowls and makes a mess with hay
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We bought heavy food bowls so he can't tip them over (which he tries to do) but he ends up throwing the hay all over his cage! If your rabbit is a male and if its not fixed, it will pee on everything. My bunny likes to go on the couch >:(
 

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