Urinary Tract Infection in Bunnies / Bunny in Pain: Knowing the Signs

How to Recognize And Treat Urinary Tract Infection In Bunnies? Know the Signs of Pain In Rabbits To Not Oversee This Important Condition!

How important is it to notice your bunny is in pain? I am guessing everyone knows that. I am not sure everyone of you knows that this can be really tricky sometimes. OK, you as an owner, can learn trough the time to notice that something is going on with your bunny. Something is happening which is changing their normal behavior. 

Keep an eye on your pet

for the signs of existing pain.

Bunnies won't scream when in pain. Actually they won't let a single sound as an alarm to you that something is wrong. Then how can you tell if your bunny is in pain? and this is an important question, since aside from injuries, urinary tract infection is leading cause of the pain in these cute animals. 

In the article Bunny language and behavior, I was writing about the most common signs bunnies send to you when they are sad, sick and in pain. I suggest you to read it, and here I will repeat the most important things you should know. 

Recognize these signs of pain in bunnies, and treat your bunny in time:

fatigue, sleepy look, they hardly can walk, rejecting food (even the food they love the most), often they become aggressive if you try to cuddle them, wet nose, local signs which depend on the cause of the pain (swealling, blood...).

What are the main causes to urinary tract infection in bunnies? Knowing the reason to infection is key to proper prevention!

Well known bacteria, E. coli is leading cause of urinary tract infection in bunnies. Their pelvis and genitals are in constant contact with the ground, which leads to contamination of the surrounding fur with bacteria from the soil, floor or feces. If the litter box is not cleaned frequently, the pee absorbs into the fur, irritates the skin and genitals. Inflamed and damaged skin is perfect ground for bacterial colonization and this leads to the most cases of infections of urinary tract in rabbits. 
Other reasons are: bladder calculosis, anatomical abnormalities of urinary system, or too much of calcium in the food.

How to treat urinary infection in rabbits?

 

Prevention is the most important part. And Prevention is what we all can do. Make sure the litter box, or the place where your bunny pees is clean and changed frequently. This corner of theirs mustn't be wet, or it will wet the fur, and make it easier for bacteria to grow on their hair and skin.
If you notice that tail and hair around genitals is soaked with water or pee, you have to dry it out with paper towel.

If, anyhow, the infection happens, you need to take your bunny to the vet. The veterinarian is the only person who can treat these infections. He will also check out if there is something more important behind the pain your bunny is experiencing.

If you are not able to take the bunny to the vet immediately (it is night, it is the day of the weekend...) make sure their take lots of water to wash out the bacteria from their urinary system. it is known rabbits don't drink lots of water, so you will have to improvise. Offer them wet vegetables (parsley, salad, cabbage, carrot). Be there for them and keep in mind: dry up their fur using paper towel as often as you can.
During the infection, they will urinate every few minutes, and they will do it everywhere, since they cannot control the urge. Make sure that you clean it up right after they pee.

I hope this was helpful. For any question, please leave the comment!
Thank you.

Bunnies: Moult, Bathe and Fur Care

Tips and Tricks about Bunnies: What Do You Need to Know about Moult, Bathe and Fur Care!

How often do bunnies moult? Can you bathe bunnies, and how often to do that? What is the best way to provide proper fur care for your house bunny? 

If you are owner of one or more of these precious creatures, you have asked these questions at least once. Here you can find the most important information on these topics. 

I like to compare rabbits to cats. In many aspects, those animals are quite similar. They self-groom, they are odorless, clean animals, and pretty much silent. 

That is why I love rabbits. They need minimum of the care, and lots of love and cuddling. They basically clean themselves by constant licking. They do it all the time, when these is nothing more important to do. 

After this it is easy to assume what the answer to those questions would be. But in some specific situations, things get complicated. 

What to do in such occasions? 

Please, keep reading!

What Should a Bunny Owner Know about Moulting of Rabbits? 

Small tricks of bunny fur care!

Bunnies have thin, soft hair, and the season of moulting causes head aches to their owners. This is understandable, because it is quite difficult to clean it of your carpets and furniture. There are few simple fur care tricks that can be applied during moulting seasons.

How often do bunnies/rabbits moult and how  to prevent the consequences?

They moult few times during a year. It depends on the outer temperature. If they are kept in house, they shed every 2 to 3 months, with the peaks in the summer and during the winter (central heating).
Younger bunnies shed discretely, but with the years coming, they star loosing more and more hair, making this process more and more problematic for their owners.
You have to have in mind, that not every moult is the same. In practice, it is proven that every second shedding is more intense.
In older rabbits, it is not rare for them to loose fur completely from their back, or side. This is nothing to be afraid of: it is completely normal, and the fur will return in few weeks, after the shedding is over.
Above and to the right, you can see couple of Amazon products. Those are brushes for proper grooming of your pet. They are perfect for taking away the success of the hair. Since rabbits self-groom, they ingest lots of shedding fur, which can be dangerous in the way of forming clogs in their gastrointestinal tract, and thus leading to gastointestinal stasis (complication of severe moult in rabbits).


To prevent this, and annoying hairballs on your carpet and furniture, use these special brushes to groom your pet once of twice a day. They will love it, and you will ease the pain moult is causing to you. 

Should You Bathe Your Bunny/Bunnies? When is the Rabbit Ready for Bath?

Every pet owner should know that their pet rabbits should never be bathed. Not just that they don't like the water, which is an other similarity to cats, but the water can be very dangerous for them. Even if there is only small amount of it. If immersed into the water, rabbits can suffer from shock and die. This can happen even if there is just an inch of it in bath tub. 

But our pets are known for curiosity, and there are lots of situations when they get so dirty, that something has to be done. So, in those cases, you can bathe them, but you should read how.

You need to place a towel into the bath tub, to prevent your pet loosing a grip.
Don't use shower, and don't immerse bunny into the water. Never shower his head. When bathing, only back, legs and tail can be in contact with water. Try to keep wet area at the minimum size. Use small bottle or cup as water holder. 
On the right side you can see the best choices for shampoo. Use one of those, that are mild and organic, to wash out the dirt from his fur.
After you have gently washed filthy are of bunny's fur, wrap him into the dry towel, and lift him into your arm. Hold him tightly to prevent moving, and jumping (they can hurt themselves in attempt to run away).
Don't use hair dryer, but keep bunny in warm til hi dries up. 
Always offer treat, to ease the stress caused by bathing. 
Note: your pet will keep licking himself after bathe is done. This is more like defense mechanism, and this is nothing to be worried about, if the proper shampoo is used, and washed out properly.

More about bunny hygiene: Bunny as Pets: Improving Hygiene.

I hope this post was helpful. Feel free to ask anything that remained unsaid.
Cheers!

Depression in Bunnies: Is Your Pet Bunny Depressed?

What Is Actually Depression in Bunnies?

Is it true bunnies can be depressed? Is depression in bunnies serious condition?

Just like other mammals, bunnies can too fall into depression. It is a sort of psychiatric disorder, in which one is not interested for anything, and the one blames himself for everything bad that happens. Lethargy, loss of appetite, insomnia (lack of sleeping) and deep pathological sadness are the most common symptoms in this disease. 

Depression in Bunnies: Gary having bad day!

Why Is My Bunny Depressed?

There are various reasons for your bunny being in bad mood, or even depressed. All animals, and bunnies suffer from changing seasons (from Winter to Spring, and from Summer to Autumn). This is called seasonal depression and it is not severe condition. Reason for this condition is lack of light. Mammals need light to stay active, and that is why most of mammals sleep trough the winter. 

The light we are exposed to during Winter time is 600 to 1000 lux, and the light we are exposed to during Spring and Summer goes from 5000 to 100000 lux. Our brain needs more light in order to preserve activity. That is why we are depressed when it is raining for more than 2 days. Same thing happens with bunnies. 

Lack of toys can lead to this condition in rabbits too. 

Bunnies that are held closed in the cages for too long, or being ignored by household are probably going to become sad and depressed.

Changing the place of living is huge stress for your pet. In some cases all the toys can't ease the stress in bunny when he finds himself in new environment. 

Never hit your pet, and don't yell at him all the time, even if they bite everything around. This can show them they are not loved, and they can feel rejected in such situations. 

Depression can be the first sign of sickness. If you bunny is sick, he will withdraw to his safe place and wait until the pain is gone. You will rarely see bunnies making noises when in pain. Instead they will just withdraw and avoid any contact with you, or other animals. The most common cause of pain is urinary tract infection. read about it in the post: Bunnies in pain: Urinary Tract Infection in Bunnies

How Can I Tell If My Pet Bunny Is Depressed? 

How to recognize depression in bunnies?

You should notice your bunny is sad, dejected and not in the mood to play with. He would spend time in some corner, or under the chair, avoiding household. If depressed, your pet has probably lost the appetite and thus he is rejecting any food. He doesn't seem to be in pain, but simply not motivated and dejected. His eyes would be almost closed, and even sounds wouldn't affect his activity. 

These were some of the major sign of this condition in rabbits, and you can find some other too, and also not all of those are found in every case of depression. 

How Can I Help My Bunny?

It is really wrong to think that depression in bunnies is always result of the actions of violent and ignorant owners. But often, this is what pushes them into this condition. Be caring, loving owner to your pets. Be as often there to play with them as you can. Bunnies are playful animals, and they love to be cuddled, and played with. Have this in mind.

Sometimes it is not our fault for them being dejected. It is just the weather, or season in the year, or it is just something we couldn't have changed (moving to new home, death of the family member...). In such cases, it is the best thing not to insist on playing with them. Give them space, but spend time with them in the same room. Be there, let them know you are there, but at the same time provide space and give them a time to reach you when they are ready. It will happen. 

Time heals everything, they say. ;)

Make sure, your pet has his favorite food on menu, treat him with new and interesting toys. Offer some old toys he enjoyed to play with. You try to look and feel happy, for the very reason bunnies are empathic animals. They feel what you feel. You need to be there with them, and to be their best friend in order to help them go trough depression. Bunnies love company!

Hay and Vegetables to Feed Your Bunny

Go back to What king of food to feed your bunny with?

Here I will talk about hay and vegetables. Lets first write few lines about hay.

Hay is basic food to feed your bunny with

Hay can be offered to bunny without any limits. But keep in mind that not every hay is good hay.

Hay is must-have diet component for your bunny. You have to insure presence of limitless amounts of hay for your bunny. But not all sorts of hay are good for your loved ones. Lets see what sorts of hay you can find out there on market.

There are two groups of hay: grass hay ans legume hay. Grass hay is perfectly harmless, and bunny should have limitless access to it. It provides lots of nutrients, and little calories. Legume hay, on the other hand, is rich in calories, and should be limited. It is mostly used for feeding rabbits for food market (we are not talking about those rabbits). Besides calories, legume hay is rich in calcium, which is not good thing either.

You may find few types of grass hay: Timothy hay and meadow hay (made of all different sorts of grass).

Also there are few types of legume hay: alfalfa, beans, peanuts, clover hay. (if you feed your bunny with pellets, it is better not to feed them with legume too).

It is important to provide 90% of daily intake by offering them hay. Rabbits will find fruits, legume, pellets more attractive than hay. If you try to give more other food, and less these grassy components, bunnies will start rejecting hay at some point. Don't let them choose what to eat. Becouse of their lack of judgment when it is about food quality, and their well being, it is your responsibility to take care of their diet.

Many owners prefer to give less hay to prevent contaminating the house with it. It is truth bunnies like to spread hay around the place, but there are ways to reduce that problem. When you offer too much hay, bunnies will eat the best of it, and leave the rest not to be eaten. That hay will soon be around the house. But if you try offering them 3 times a day lesser quantity of hay, they will eat more, and leave less of it not eaten. Also, putting   hay in litter box, or some other box should do nice job too. But be careful then. Bunnies pee and poop in the places where they eat. Having the food in box, it will get contaminated easily. So, try to change hay once a day.

In this what kind of food to feed your bunny to post, I will now write few lines about vegetables.

Vegetables are an other great source fiber for your pets. 

When you imagine rabbits, what sort of vegetables do you link them to? When I think of rabbits, I always think of carrot too. :) Well, aside of cartoons, in reality it is a bit different. Eating carrots, your bunnies take lots of sugar in. So, it is not good for abdominal flora, and the blood sugar levels. Instead of feeding your bunny with carrot root, you should give them carrot tops, and 1-2 slices of carrot root a day.

Lets start with a list of acceptable vegetables:

Basil Beet greens (tops) Bok choy Broccoli (mostly leaves/stems) Brussels sprouts Carrot tops Celery Cilantro Clover Collard greens Dandelion greens (NO pesticides) Endive Escarole Green peppers

Kale Mint Mustard greens Parsley Pea pods (the flat edible kind) Peppermint leaves Radicchio Radish tops Raspberry leaves Romaine lettuce (NO iceberg or light colored leaf lettuce) Spinach Watercress Wheat grass

Mmmmmm... :)

Kale, mustard greens, and spinach are rich in oxalate, which can accumulate in the system and cause toxicity over the time.

Vegetables are important for improving chewing habits of your bunnies. Give them every day a different vegetable to chew to make them use different chewing motions, helping that way teeth grinding.

Some authors recommend giving wet vegetables to your bunny. Some others say it can softer their feces. one thing is sure, you have to wash vegetables up well, so no pesticides remain on it. 

Vegetables will provide lots of vitamin, fiber, nutritients and water for you bunny. It is health and low in calories, which is good. If you ask me, the best to feed them with is a salad and carot tops. 

Bunny Overheating | Bunnies and Heat

Introduction to bunny's temperature regulation | Can bunnies overheat?

Can my bunny cool himself? How does bunnies react to heat?

Bunnies are animals extremely sensitive to high temperatures. Actually, there are three main problems in these animals: malocclusion, gastrointestinal stasis (ileus) and overheating. Follow these link to read more about Bunny teeth care and malocclusion and Gastrointestinal stasis in rabbits.

Bunnies don't have ability to efficiently release surplus of energy, which is in this case in form of heat. Optimal temperature for rabbits is 10 to 20 degrees. They like cooler places, and lower temperatures. If thermometer shows more than 20 degrees, there is risk of overheating. This is important to know in summer time. Rabbits can not perspire like humans. They have small mouth, and small tongue, so they can't cool themselves by increasing respiration like dogs. Bunnies are covered by dense fur, which prevents cooling of the skin in the wind.
In short words, in hot days, your bunny is in danger. Bunnies and heat don't go along with each other.

Symptoms of Overheating (hyperthermia) in Bunnies

How can I tell if my bunny is overheated?

Whenever temperature rises above 20-25 degrees, you should start watching your bunny's body language more often. 

Heat can lead you rabbit to lethargy at first. Bunny is not in mood to cuddle, jump or even eat. You will see him lying in the corner, being extremely passive. Bunny will try to find some cool place, like floor tiles, to stretch out and let tiles absorb some of that heat accumulating in his body. You will also notice bunny is breathing really fast, trembling and possible shaking. 

Heat stroke, or overheating is state of emergency! Take your bunny to the vet ASAP!

Prevention of overheating (heat stroke, hyperthermia) in bunnies

What can you do to cool your bunny a bit, and easy a heat?

I need to mark one thing here: when your pet has heat stroke, don't try to apply preventive measures. Take him directly to vet.

But, there are preventive measures that can help you keep your bunny safe from heat. 

Keep you pet away from direct sun: it is the best to take him inside the house over the summer months, if you have outdoor rabbit. If it is indoor rabbit you have, then choose the coolest room to move you bunny to. I like to keep my Gary in hole, with lots of floor tiles  for him to cool on.

Spray his ears with water every few hours: this will help him lower body temperature for few degrees. Ears in rabbits are rich in blood vessels, and cooling them, will lower the blood temperature in whole body.

This is time to turn your air conditioner on!

Fans and hair driers (cooling) will do the trick. Be careful, and not point the fan or hair drier directly to your bunny. 

I hope this post was useful! Let me know!

Thank you for your visit!

Bunny Teeth Care | Trimming Rabbit Nails

Earlier, in post What Kind Of Food to Feed Your Bunny With?, I talked about importance of rich diet programme as part of bunny teeth care. If you haven't read it, maybe it is best you start from there, or from the very first post: Bunnies as Pets. All owners know about need for nail trimming, for those buns can scratch!

Lets take a short view of which teeth problems am I going to write today, and what measures of bunny teeth care do we have. Later I will write more about it. After discussing bunny teeth care programme, I will explain nail tripping techniques.

Bunny Teeth Care

Bunny Teeth Care - malocclusion

• Malocclusion,
• Molar spurs,
• Teeth loosening,
• Gum infection,
• Teeth root infection,
• Root extension farther into jaw.

First, let me say that bunnies have incisors (4 front teeth: 2 in the upper and 2 in the lower jaw) and molars (teeth located in the back of the jaws). Molars are not easily visible and reachable, while molars can be seen easily if you separate bunny lips. 

NOTE: Bunnies' teeth are growing continuously whole life (hipsodonts) and they need to be wear off. Feeding your bunnies with food rich in fibers (hay, wood), or giving them toys which are safe for them to bite the, will do the job. This works for normally occluded teeth.

Malocclusion is term used to describe situation when teeth are not meeting well. Either upper teeth are growing over lower, or it is other way round. In both cases there is an issue: teeth wearing off (sharpening while chewing food) is being compromised. If they can't sharpen their teeth (wear off), teeth will continue to grow. The same thing can happen in case of normally occluded teeth (if bunnies are not feed with proper food). This is why proper bunny teeth care is important.
I hope you understand the importance of giving to your bunny something he/she can bite and sharpen their teeth.
Malocclusion can be inherited (teeth are in malocclusion from the very start of growing up), or earned after jaw trauma.
If not wear off regularly, incisors AND molars will continue to grow. Incisors can grow outside of the mouth, or inside (hurting opposite gums, or tongue.). Teeth can sometime be so curved, they brake up. It is understandable that overgrowth teeth are not useful. Many dentists will use trimming as first teeth care solution. In practice this was proven to be not that successful as thought before. Teeth will continue to grow, and procedure has to be done every 2 to 4 weeks. It is stressful for your bunny, of course. Leading world veterinarians agree that pulling maloccluded teeth out is the best solution.
Molars (important for grinding the food after it being cut into pieces by incisors) won't overgrow in this way, like shown on picture (incisors overgrowth on the picture). Here we will see molar spurs (spikes, extensions) originating from molar edges (not aligning to upper/lower teeth). These molar spurs can grow into gums, or into tongue. Also they can grow that long so they make pressure on tongue not allowing bunny to move his/her tongue. It is then causing huge pain to your pet, not allowing him to eat anything. So, the main symptom is weight loss, and gas accumulation in intestines (this can cause ileus- lethal complication).

Teeth loosening is something not that rare, that affects elderly bunnies. It can cause root extension deeper into mandible/maxilla. If not treated, in time, teeth root can penetrate sinus, and is often followed by infection (mostly fecal bacteria from feces which has been pushed between loosen tooth and gums).

Gums and teeth root infection is caused mostly by bacteria moving under the gingives trough small fractures in the teeth (they can be caused by repetitive teeth trimming). This is one of the reasons veterinarians are recommending teeth extraction nowadays.

How to prevent bunny teeth going wild? 
What is proper bunny teeth care?

Bunny teeth care- biting

 In case of no malocclusion, the best thing you can do is to check your bunnies mouth every 7 days to have an overview on teeth growth! Feeding your bunny to fiber rich food is essential. Give some proper toys which he can bite and use to sharpen his teeth. I will repeat that it is crucial for your bunny to have rich and different diet programme every day. Also, lots of toys for biting and chewing is as important in bunny teeth care strategy (see TOYS). Seeing the veterinarian from the first day you got the bun is great investment in bunny's health and thus his long and health life!

Bunny teeth care - trimmer

Teeth examination:
Just like it is normal thing to examine your own teeth from time to time, it is the same thing with bunnies. Just, you need to do it more often. Their teeth are growing really fast, and in a week they can go from good into bad!
Checking incisors is easy job. You just need to hold your bunny tightly, and move his lips so you can see first 4 teeth (2 upper, and 2 lower ones).


Checking molars is, on the other hand, tricky. It is better to check them indirectly, buy looking for secondary signs of molars disorders:

• swelling,
• drooling,
• laud grinding,
• bad odor coming from the mouth,
• eating disorder,
• weight loss.

Treating teeth disorders (bunny teeth care in general):

As I stated earlier in this post: some veterinarians choose to trim bunnies' teeth. Others choose pulling them out as the best and long lasting solution. It is surgical procedure with little incision into the gums. It is important to pull out the whole root (their teeth roots are much longer than in human species). Antibiotics are per scripted for next 10 days. Healing is fast (bunnies are able to take food from 4 to 12 hours after the procedure). 

What after loosing teeth? Your bunny will adapt fast! Pellets will be his favorite food, since they are small and they pick it easily of the floor. You will have to cut hay into 2 to 3 inches long pieces for easy grabbing with their lips (they are not able to cut hay without teeth- you have to do it for them). Long term prognosis (your bunny is happy, and able to eat. pain is gone! Procedure is up to 100% successful.).

Long rabbit nails bother you? How to perform trimming rabbit nails?


This is not about some disorder. It is normal, common thing to see nails grow up, and be cut down! We all do it. The tricky part comes if your bunny is one of those which will do anything to get out of your hands. Well, my Gary is that type. He doesn't enjoy being tide up, and hate nail trimming (cutting). Most of rabbit hate it. Some of them will lie calm.
What to do if you have non-cooperative bunny? Just insure you have control over his legs, so he doesn't hit and scratch you while trimming his nails. You can to that by folding him into a towel, while keeping nails on his front legs little above the towel edge. Use trimmers for trimming dog nails (even regular nail clipper will do). Insure not to cut too far (watch for red line under the nail). If you cut the nail too far from the nail edge, there is chance you will hurt live tissue, and cause pain and bleeding. If there are few drops of blood in claws after cutting nails, put some antiseptic solution to prevent infection.
Now you know everything about trimming rabbit nails. Not the hard. The hardest part of it is take control over your bunny.
If you are interested in how to treat their fur, and should you bathe your pet, I suggest you to visit this post: Bunnies: Moult, Bathe and Fur Care.

Did you find Bunny Teeth Care | Trimming Rabbit Nails post useful? If so, tell me. If something is left unexplained, please ask.

Next time I will talk more about proper toys for bunnies to wear their teeth, and playing with your bunny. Stay tuned.
Thank you!

Octofinder
BlogCatalog
Hostgator promos

What Kind of Food To Feed Your Bunny With?

Hi, dear reader.

Yesterday I was writing about litter training. It is giving head-ache to new bunny owners. And I hope my advices were helpful to you.

If you have missed last posts, it is the best you start from the beginning:
bunnies as pets,
litter training.

"What do you want from me???" :)

Today I will write something about food that is good and bad for bunnies.
In general, bunnies will eat everything you give them. They will even show more interest for food that is BAD for them (such as chocolate- they love it, but it is poison for them). That is why you need to know basics about their nutrition, so you can be sure food you have been feeding them with is good for them.
What kind of food to feed your bunny with?
Lets start with bunny food pyramid:

Bunny food pyramid

As you can see from the food pyramid, the main food, your bunny should always have on menu, is hay. Timothy and meadow hay should always be there for you bunny. They can eat it in unlimited quantity.
More about hay you can find in the post Hay and Vegetables to Feed Your Bunny.
Water is the most important substance in bunny's life. We all know the value of water. In this case water also helps bunnies digest their fur hair, they ingest by licking themselves. By doing it, they take lots of hair in their digestion system. All that hair can cause many problems. The greatest of them is Ileus. That means passage in their digestion system has been blocked, and is life-threatening. Water prevents them going into Ileus. So, make sure, there is some water around them all the time.

On the next step on the food pyramid, there is vegetables. It is great source of vitamin, fiber and water. Fresh and green vegetables are the best. Some authors say that we should be feeding them with wet vegetables, and others claim dry is the best. The one thing is sure: vegetables should be well cleaned! Avoid feeding them with too much vegetable that has lots of sugar in it (carrot and other roots).
More about vegetables you can find in post Hay and Vegetables to Feed Your Bunny.
In second part of What kind of food to feed your bunny with post I will write few lines about pellets and fruit. Stay tuned!

Pellets.
Rabbit pellets, known for their ease of feeding and rapid weight gain, were originally developed for the rabbit "livestock" market, where rabbits are raised for their meat or fur and not intended to live out their potential lifespan. For house rabbit, that are expected to live 10 or more years, it is preferable and vitamin rich diet.
Pellets are rich in calcium, and many of them are rich in sugar and fat. Calcium can cause many health problems (urine sludge, heart conditions), and sugar and fat lead to obesity. FAT RABBIT IS NOT A HAPPY RABBIT! There are different pellet products, and you can choose ones that are low in previous mentioned ingredients. More about pellets you can find here.

What you have to know about fruit is that fruit provides lots of vitamins for your pet, but, lots of fruit in their diet is bad for having sugar in it. You pet will love fruit. Apple and banana is my Gary's favorite food. So I like to use it as reward for his good behaviour. I do feed him with apple often, I must admit (2 slices per day), but I don't give banana to him that often. The main reason is a sugar. So I give it once per week. Pineapple and papaya juice is good for digestion. It prevents condition of Ileus. Fruit provides lots of water for your rabbit, so that is one big plus too. But, I will repeat: be careful. Tu much sugar, can cause abdominal flora dis balance, which can be lethal. More about fruit you can find here.

What kind of food to feed your bunny with? Well, treat is not one of that food. Treats, as sweets, are rich in sugar and fat. So, better not to use it. Better treat is fruit (apples, pineapples, banana). Few raisins can do great job too. Use treat only during learning lessons as a reward. Later, give some treat to your bunny once per week. And remember: FAT BUNNY IS NOT HAPPY BUNNY!
On the other hand, there are some sorts of snacks and treats which can be offered to your pet. I suggest to check those out here: Organic Snacks for Your Pet Bunny.

For any question, feel free to ask. I will do my best to answer to it. Thank you for reading my blog.

Next time I will talk more about bunny habits and behaviour.

Did you like it? Did you find it useful? Please, leave a comment, and share ideas, thoughts, ask something, or  give a critic.

Thank you.

Octofinder
BlogCatalog

How to Litter Train Your Bunny?

Hello, dear friends.

Today I will talk about litter training.

I will explain how to teach your bunny where to do their "business". When you get your first bunny, you will think at first: God, did I need this? Well, I understand you, completely. At first, they are just not used to poop and pee in one corner, but rather, they do it everywhere around the house. In this post I will try to explain that bunnies can learn thing, and having bunnies as pets is one game of patience, but it pays off in short time.

If you haven't read my earlier posts, try to start from the beginning

This was my first photo...

When I got my Gary, he was so small. Just a baby. And as every baby, he didn't know that we expected from him to find a single place for doing his habits. So he peed and pooped everywhere. On my notes, on the carpet, on the couch etc. I must admit, he never peed on the floor coverings. It was a bit funny to see him going to the edge of it, placing his rear part over the uncovered floor, and there we go... little pond on the floor. :) But luckily, carpet would have remained dry. With the poop, it was different. But no worries, bunnies excrement are dry, firm, little, balls (5mm in diameter). You can just take a napkin and grab it and flush it away. No stains, nothing.

So, how to teach your bunny to do it on the right place? Sometimes it is an easy job. They mostly choose the place they like, where they feel safe, and they keep doing it there. On the other hand, some bunnies can be extremely stubborn.

So, the most important thing is being patient! Prepare yourself for days, maybe weeks or even months of observing the bunny, and teaching it where should it be done. I will just say I was lucky. My Gary has chosen his „right corner“ for doing his things in  less than a week. Actually, it took him 2 days to learn that peeing everywhere is not wanted. Speaking of poop, well, it took him longer to control and change that habit.

Of course, bunnies are animals, and we have to understand their need of marking territory. They need to do that when they arrive to your home. So, that is why it is hard to explain them that all peeing and pooping should be done in one or two places. Even later when they learn, you will still be finding small poop balls around your house. If it is not big amount (10 at max outside litter box), don’t make big deal out of it. That way they may start thinking this way: If I may not mark my territory, it means I don’t have any, SO, the whole house is my territory. Then I can do it all around. You don’t want that.

If you have stubborn bunny, you will have to make improvisations. Having bunnies as pets can sometimes make you start pulling your hair out. But, what ever you are doing, do it slowly, and don’t scare them. It can work against you.

First I will tell something about litter boxes. There are so many types of litter boxes. The only really important thing is that you prepare a place for them in one corner. It doesn't care if it is even going to be a box (I just place few newspaper pages on the floor tiles, and duck tape them for floor tiles). It is up to you. You can also improvise and take a top of shoe-box, place some newspaper on the bottom, and voila!

Why news paper? Well, it is the best material for absorbing strong smell of their pee.

Litter box can be place to eat in and poop&pee in it. Bunnies use to do all those things together. So, the best way to make them do the stuff in one place, is to put some hay there, so they can do it first time there while eating. Every next time it will be easier and easier. It is in their nature to do sanitary habits in one place (they use smell to determine where did they do it last time). Use this as a tool. If they keep with their bad habits, take some poop and, mop some pee with a toilet paper. Put that toilet paper, and collected poop in the spot you want them do it next time. Also, when so see them preparing for doing it outside of litter box, be fast: clap your hands few times, and firmly say NO! And then take the bunny and put it in litter box. This won’t work if bunny already did it on you floor. Any sort of punishment is out of question.

Make them feel free in litter box. Make them love it. Be sure there is always fresh new hay there, and that is it clean. Bunnies are clean animals. They don’t like to spend much time in filthy places.

Instead of news paper, you may use cat sand. But it is not recommended. Our bunnies are sniffing everything. They can be poisoned if they inhale too much of products that are part of cat sand.

Soon, armed with lots of patience, you will start seeing bunnies can learn lots of stuff. That why having bunnies as pets is great thing. You will actually have one great friend, that knows what they may or may not do.

Probably this is going to be enough for today. Tomorrow I will be writing more about food and eating habits.


Did you like it? Did you find it useful? Please, post a comment and share idea, thoughts, ask a question, or give a critic. 


Thank you.


Here you can check lots of interesting stuff about other pets too: http://www.squidoo.com/petdaycare .

Octofinder
BlogCatalog