A question! (or 2.....or 3.....or 4....)

[Nuttygal! :0)]

On Friday my Mum and Dad came back from the pet store with a 7 week old baby bunny for my birthday! He is so sweet! He is a Lionhead and Lop-eared cross breed, and he was hand-reared because he is so friendly! Don't worry, we have kept bunnies for years, and we hav 2 now, because we also have a Netherland Dwarf called Twitch, so we didn't just buy him with no experience at all. Since we started getting badgers and foxes comin into our garden, we keep all our pets inside now (except our barn owl - but he is in no danger!
I called my bun Jaffa! He has an indoor cage in my room (the cage is roughly 5ft) but I am litter-trainin him (so far so good!) and he hops around my room alot! We also curled up together in the middle of our trampoline and fell asleep for about an hour yesterday! He loves cuddles! At the moment he is leanin up against the keyboard, fallin asleep.
Ok, so here is the question! )
His cage only has an openin at the top, and this is ideal because I have 5 cats (4 persians, 1 ragdoll), and they might be able to open his cage if the openin was at the front! It is a big openin, but I am goin to buy a load of toys and cage accessories for him hopefully tomorrow. I want to buy 2 chunky colourful wooden ladders, one to place inside the cage so he can climb in and out and one to place on the outside so he can climb up and down! This way I could leave the cage open all the time (except at night!) If he chewed the ladders would they be harmful to him because they are painted? And also would he be able to actually climb up and down them? They are actually made for parrots methinks.
Also, what other toys can I have for him - both for his cage and for my room!

Ok, done! (methinks!
Soz about the mega-long post! )

 

[OohFeeshy]

Aww... I'm very, very suprised that we didn't get another rabbit this week ) My dads friends pet shop had dwarf lops in . Toywise, my rabbit (who is a ginormous, grouchy New Zealand White) likes her rattle. Just a normal plastic rattle you'd buy for babies. She throws it around. A good webpage is- http/www.rabbit.org/

From there, toys include-
Paper Bags and Cardboard boxes for crawling inside, scratching, and chewing. Bunnies like them much more when there are at least two entry points into the boxes. Chris Rosenzweig has some Great Tips on Building Bunny Box Toys
Cardboard concrete forms for burrowing
Cardboard roll from paper towels or toilet paper
Untreated wicker baskets or boxes full of: shredded paper, junk mail, magazines, straw, or other organic materials for digging
Yellow Pages for shredding
Cat toys: Batta balls, and other cat toys that roll or can be tossed
Parrot toys that can be tossed, or hung from the top of the cage and chewed or hit
Baby toys: hard plastic (not teething) toys like rattles and keys, things that can be tossed
Children's or birds' mobiles for hitting
"Lazy cat lodge" (cardboard box with ramps and windows) to climb in and chew on. Also, kitty condos, tubes, tunnels, and trees
Nudge and roll toys like large rubber balls, empty Quaker Oat boxes and small tins
"Busy Bunny" toys
Plastic Rainbow slinkies
Toys with ramps and lookouts for climbing and viewing the world
Dried out pine cones
Jungle gym type toys from Toys R Us
A (straw) whisk broom
A hand towel for bunching and scooting
Untreated wood, twigs and logs that have been aged for at least 3 months. Aapple tree branches can be eaten fresh off the tree. Stay away from: cherry, peach, apricot, plum and redwood, which are all poisonous.
Untreated sea grass or maize mats from Pier One or Cost Plus
Things to jump up on (they like to be in high places)
Colorful, hard plastic caps from laundry detergent and softener bottles. They have great edges for picking up with their teeth, make a nice "ponk" sound when they collide, and the grip ridges molded into the plastic make a neat "rachety" sound when rabbits digs at the cap. The caps are nice for human-stacks-on-floor and bun-knocks-down kind of games. Note: Be sure not to choose caps from caustic material bottles (e.g.drain uncloggers, bathroom cleaner bottles) since a residue of the cleaner might remain no matter how much washing off you do.

There we go

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Thanks alot OohFeeshy!
Do you have any idea whether or not he will be able to climb up and down a couple of ladders?

 

[SirMinion]

Don't worry about him chewing those ladders, if they're made for parrots, then they'll be coloured with vegatable dyes or non-toxic paint because parrots are big chewers as well!
One of our parrots can reduce a two-foot ladder to toothpicks in about three hours.

As for him climbing them, rabbits aren't as agile as rats or even hamsters because they cannot grip with their paws very well, but as long as the ladders aren't too steep, he should manage it.

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Thanks SM!

 

[MegTheFish]

I think I have the ladder you are talking about, its in my cockatiels cage and I've never had a problem with it, the only thing is the paint will fade away if you wash it.

 

[houndour]

hmmm, I wouldn't be sure about a ladder. It'd be better to make a ramp without any holes/gaps in, you could cover it in carpet or something so it gives some grip.

Have you rabbit proofed your bedroom?! lol I assume you have since you have another house rabbit. Are you going to try and bond your 2 rabbits?

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Hey guys!
Thanks for replyin! I bought a big ladder, but we have a wooden board that we are goin to cut and stick to the back of it so Jaffa's tootsies don't fall thru!
I have rabbit-proofed my bedroom!
And Houndour, I have 2 male bunnies so I wasn't sure if they would fight - do you think they would? How would I be able to introduce them to see if they get along or not?
And also, I thought I was successful with the littertrainin, but I was wrong. ) He did poop in it at first...but he also slept in ate, played in it, and buried in it. I know this is kinda normal, but then he started usin the litter tray for every other than poopin!
So how do you litter-train your bunnies?




~ I luv this little guy, had to hav 'im... ~

 

[SirMinion]

Two Bucks will fight once they get to sexual maturity unless you have them neutered.

 

[houndour]

And Houndour, I have 2 male bunnies so I wasn't sure if they would fight - do you think they would? How would I be able to introduce them to see if they get along or not?

I'm not familiar with bonding bunnies, but from what I've read it's best to keep one female and one male, although it's not unheard of for 2 males to get along. But Sir Minion is right, you'd be best to neuter them.. Nuetering may also help with the litter training. Please make absolutely certain you have 2 males...or you'll have babies very quick and it's so difficult rehoming bunnies and keeping them would cost a fortune.

A small note on bonding (if you are absolutely sure they are both male or at least both neutered, then it's best to do on neutral grounds. I don't think you are supposed to post forums on here, so PM me and I can give you a link to a good rabbit forum where you can get some advice on bonding bunnies.

And also, I thought I was successful with the littertrainin, but I was wrong. He did poop in it at first...but he also slept in ate, played in it, and buried in it. I know this is kinda normal, but then he started usin the litter tray for every other than poopin!
So how do you litter-train your bunnies?

I rehomed my bunnies and they were just over a year old when I got them, and I think they already had the basics of litter training. The 'books' and websites say to simply keep cleaning up their accidents and scoop their poos into the litter tray. I tried this and it didn't really work. What I've found best is simply figuring out where they want to poop and wee! I now have the litter tray in that particular corner of the room (when they are indoors) and they use it all the time.

Eeyore likes to sleep in the litter tray a lot!

What do you use in your litter tray? newspaper? carefresh? I personally use newspaper to line it and put hay on top. They like to eat and poo at the same time.

I know you said you had bunny proofed your room...but just wanted to check...have you bunny proofed nooks and crannies too? And checked for things they can climb on? My 2 are starting to get adventurous and are hopping from one piece of furniture to another. And eeyore just chewed my fish tank filter wire tonight I'm more angry at myself because I hadn't blocked off the gap behind the tank and he could of electricuted himself. (BTW thankfully I have just bought at external filter and this old one was still running at the same time for a few weeks. Annoying though cos it was gonna be my back up.)

sorry for long post.

 

[Iridescent]

Hello! I love rabbits, this is mine.

But I don't know about litter training, only that you but the box in the corner that he usually poops in. I got lucky, Oslo will not poop anywhere but the litterbox, even when he's out and about!

 

[Angel Lady]

That is the prettiest rabbit I have ever seen POTM for him or her..

 

[Iridescent]

Thanks, I think so too! I just made a thread for him.