# New Bunny Mom/ eight week old Holland lop



## Erika Malady (Aug 27, 2019)

I am a new bunny mom to an eight week old Holland Lop and I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on if it’s OK that the bunny is in our living room or would it be better in a spare bedroom? ( it is just my 10-year-old daughter and I in our home.)

He is very cuddly and loves to be with us, although this is just the third day. We did not leave him alone on the first day. What is everyone else’s thoughts? 

I know he’s very young to litter train but I am trying already with not even a hint of success, any advice and that would also be appreciated. I’ve watched countless hours and read countless articles, but a lot of things seem to be geared toward’s grown rabbits 

Thank you in advance


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## Nancy McClelland (Aug 27, 2019)

If a room is bunny-proof it's alright to leave them out. Our boy Cosmo has his own room so he's always out.


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 27, 2019)

Giving him an enclosed area in one of the rooms with his litter/ hay will help enc toilet habits. Once he figures things out, you can increase the roam time and leave the litter area open for him. However, expect relapse in habits as his hormones kick in around 12 weeks. Once altered, things will improve. Just been through all of this. Got our Holland Lop at 7wks last September.


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## Erika Malady (Aug 27, 2019)

Lauren Kiernan said:


> Giving him an enclosed area in one of the rooms with his litter/ hay will help enc toilet habits. Once he figures things out, you can increase the roam time and leave the litter area open for him. However, expect relapse in habits as his hormones kick in around 12 weeks. Once altered, things will improve. Just been through all of this. Got our Holland Lop at 7wks last September.


Thank you! He is in an enclosure in the living room. He is not using the litter box at all no matter where I move it. He also makes a horrid mess overnight. (He’s a cuddle bug and loves to be with us). Do you have yours in living room or more secluded? I’m just so overwhelmed haha


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 27, 2019)

Erika Malady said:


> Thank you! He is in an enclosure in the living room. He is not using the litter box at all no matter where I move it. He also makes a horrid mess overnight. (He’s a cuddle bug and loves to be with us). Do you have yours in living room or more secluded? I’m just so overwhelmed haha


We started in the living room then moved him to the study( hubby not so thrilled about this) I will upload a picture. Silly question, do you you hay right next to or part of the litter box?


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 27, 2019)

This is how we started out in the living room. He would be in the enclosure unless we were watching him and put back if he peed or started pooping for awhile. Initially I had the rug covered with puppy pads and as he got better I would take them away. I would use this spray on anything he soiled with urine or soft poo


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## Erika Malady (Aug 27, 2019)

Lauren Kiernan said:


> We started in the living room then moved him to the study( hubby not so thrilled about this) I will upload a picture. Silly question, do you you hay right next to or part of the litter box?
> View attachment 42598


I have it inside the litter box. Because he peas and poops everywhere I’ve put doggie pads all over the enclosure With towels underneath and a flooring also underneath that on top of my hardwood


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## Erika Malady (Aug 27, 2019)

Lauren Kiernan said:


> This is how we started out in the living room. He would be in the enclosure unless we were watching him and put back if he peed or started pooping for awhile. Initially I had the rug covered with puppy pads and as he got better I would take them away. I would use this spray on anything he soiled with urine or soft poo





Lauren Kiernan said:


> This is how we started out in the living room. He would be in the enclosure unless we were watching him and put back if he peed or started pooping for awhile. Initially I had the rug covered with puppy pads and as he got better I would take them away. I would use this spray on anything he soiled with urine or soft poo


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## Erika Malady (Aug 27, 2019)

this is the enclosure I made, but had to double the height as he jumped out.


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 27, 2019)

He will catch on! I have an old vinyl table cloth under my rug. Mostly the last few months we just shut the door to the study at bedtime. He thinks that room is his! If he is out in the living area, we call out bedtime Charlie and shake the bag of his favorite treats. He will usually run back to his room for them. He really settled down the most after his neuter. He stopped trying g to pee on the rugs by our entry says after having them blocked off for awhile. We still occasionally battle over the couch. He wants to be up there and make it his by peeing on it. We cover it if not watching closely. The attempts have slowed to about 1 every few weeks.


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 27, 2019)

Just keep putting him back when he uses your house as the litter. I read A LOT of material on rabbits and litter training the 2 weeks we waited for him to be old enough. Most said too much space/ freedom when they are small and training would make it difficult so keep with what you've got and monitor his free time.


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## Erika Malady (Aug 27, 2019)

Thank you so much!!! Do you think he’s going to be OK living in the living room in his enclosure since that’s where we are the most? 

Also, every morning his enclosure looks like this. (Uploading pic)

I’m cleaning it out like new every AM (which is not something I can all the time do bc of work) How often do I change everything out?


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 27, 2019)

Unfortunately I did daily cleanup and made my son, the one who talked me into the rabbit, help. As long as there was no urine, I would sweep up or vaccum the poos. Is the urine in the box, can't see in the picture. It did take time. I work full time plus but hot rabbit when my youngest was a senior in HS. 
We only moved the rabbit because of the Christmas tree and then he seemed to like the new spot so much, we left him there. He also loves the laundry room. Mine is not affected by noise. Could care less about the vaccum, nevermind people noise. I actually think he judges me on how I clean his place.
I bet in a month or so, it will get better.
Do you have a rabbit shelter near you for more advice/ support?
I forgot...now that Charlie is a grown up bun, I do his litter/ fill hay rack every third day. I use pine pellet horse bedding. He likes it, its cheap, and smells good. I got the hay rack thing on ETSY. But pinterest has tons of ideas. I do use a per hand vac daily in his room for the "dust bunnies " so much hair for a small bun .


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## Erika Malady (Aug 27, 2019)

Lauren Kiernan said:


> Unfortunately I did daily cleanup and made my son, the one who talked me into the rabbit, help. As long as there was no urine, I would sweep up or vaccum the poos. Is the urine in the box, can't see in the picture. It did take time. I work full time plus but hot rabbit when my youngest was a senior in HS.
> We only moved the rabbit because of the Christmas tree and then he seemed to like the new spot so much, we left him there. He also loves the laundry room. Mine is not affected by noise. Could care less about the vaccum, nevermind people noise. I actually think he judges me on how I clean his place.
> I bet in a month or so, it will get better.
> Do you have a rabbit shelter near you for more advice/ support?
> I forgot...now that Charlie is a grown up bun, I do his litter/ fill hay rack every third day. I use pine pellet horse bedding. He likes it, its cheap, and smells good. I got the hay rack thing on ETSY. But pinterest has tons of ideas. I do use a per hand vac daily in his room for the "dust bunnies " so much hair for a small bun .


Thank you so much!!!! I do, I spent a couple hours there on Sunday! Haha. We’ve only had him since Saturday, my daughter is 10 and is helping, but ‍
He is not even interested in using the litter box. Not once yet.


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 27, 2019)

Best Christmas present ever from my husband. Helps make bunny cleaning easier


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 27, 2019)

Ohhh. He is very new. Right now I expect he is trying to claim the area as his by decorating it with poo. I bet as time goes by there will be less as he is more comfortable. Even now, when I clean Charlie's place. He has to go in and drop a couple to mark his area. These are territorial poos. Amazing how much comes out of them. 
It really should get better but make take a couple weeks. At least till hormones hit. 
Do.you have a vet in mind? They will neuter after 4mos, spay I think a little older.


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 27, 2019)

I'm sure they told you this, but make sure to put some of his poo in the box and if he urinates on paper, some of that too to help him get the hint.


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## Erika Malady (Aug 27, 2019)

Lauren Kiernan said:


> I'm sure they told you this, but make sure to put some of his poo in the box and if he urinates on paper, some of that too to help him get the hint.


 I’ve been doing putting them in the litter box, the woman I bought him from was a breeder, she really give me a lot of misinformation, like she showed me a cage to keep him in, then I did a bunch of research over a couple weeks on the Internet and learn that he needs to be in an enclosure and potentially free roam when he is litter trained. I would’ve bought from a rescue if I knew better. She says she will take care of everything in four months when he’s ready to be neutered & get shots.

Thanks for all your advice, it’s a lot harder than I imagined! But want to make it work!


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## Erika Malady (Aug 27, 2019)

Lauren Kiernan said:


> Best Christmas present ever from my husband. Helps make bunny cleaning easier


 I’m going to get one! Haha. Do use this for the hard poos?


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## Erika Malady (Aug 27, 2019)

Erika Malady said:


> I’m going to get one! Haha. Do use this for the hard poos?


 Also how many sets of NIC did you use for your enclosure?


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 27, 2019)

I use the vaccum for the hair and poo. The brush and is removable. Also handy for other areas in the house.
I already had the NIC grids. They were arts and craft shelves in my old house. I used a combo of the knobs they come with and zip ties. There are 30 on the main enclosure. I used the zip ties for the doors and bull clips to close, later I had switched to carabiners cuz he learned to head but it open. The only time I close him in is if he is in bunny time out, ie tries to pee on the couch
That's great that the breeder will take care of the neuter. I am in CT. Cost me $80 for the preop visit and $298 for the neuter. The Vet is specialized in exotics. Tried to talk my son into a rescue. Then all is done! Training a bunny is like training a toddler. Takes awhile but eve8 you get there.


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 27, 2019)

Another thing I thought of for the babies. If he can fit his head through a space, he will most likely get all of him i . Ours got behind and under a dining buffet . Also worth the NIC grids, don't use them until you are sure the boney part of his face cant get through. Some one on this forum had that happen and the bunny was seriously injured. Be aware of slippery stairs( I block mine off) and chairs, couches not against the wall where he may try to leap off too.


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## Erika Malady (Aug 27, 2019)

Thank you so much! You cannot imagine how much I appreciate all the advice that you’ve given me, truly! I appreciate it so much! I ordered the hand vac and will go check out the grids at bed Bath and beyond before I order them from Amazon! 

Final question, for now, the bunny will be OK at times where I’m working all day and then have business or networking events, right? I just feel so bad we’ve been literally taking him to the store with us and everything as to not leave them alone


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 27, 2019)

Erika Malady said:


> Thank you so much! You cannot imagine how much I appreciate all the advice that you’ve given me, truly! I appreciate it so much! I ordered the hand vac and will go check out the grids at bed Bath and beyond before I order them from Amazon!
> 
> Final question, for now, the bunny will be OK at times where I’m working all day and then have business or networking events, right? I just feel so bad we’ve been literally taking him to the store with us and everything as to not leave them alone


I am a nurse and am gone 12 hrs. Sometimes other family members are gone before me. all are active with work and gym...etc and he seems fine. I will confess to getting a video monitor on amazon so I can check on him. Brand is EZVIZ. Kids say I didn't watch them this well. The nice thing about rabbits is that they are active in the early morning and late evening. Mine naps most of the day with little snack breaks now that he is all grown up. As long as his enclosure is safe and he cant get out, he will be fine!


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 27, 2019)

I especially liked this article as I was learning to train my rabbit. 
https://rabbit.org/faq-training/


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 27, 2019)

https://rabbit.org/faq-litter-training-2/
And this is another I referred to frequently. I was used to cat so this bunny thing was a mystery to solve but worth it. Boy did I realize I knew nothing about rabbits before.


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## Erika Malady (Aug 29, 2019)

That’s awesome thank you so much I’m going to read these! That makes me feel better too about leaving him alone. It’s so funny that you have a camera that you can check on him because I have already thought about that, Ha!


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 29, 2019)

Erika Malady said:


> That’s awesome thank you so much I’m going to read these! That makes me feel better too about leaving him alone. It’s so funny that you have a camera that you can check on him because I have already thought about that, Ha!


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 29, 2019)

Bought him this cool maze on Binky Bunny .com
I am glad to share what I have discovered this year! It has been fun.


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 29, 2019)

Also enjoy him small. I swear Charlie doubled in size the first 2 weeks .


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## Erika Malady (Aug 30, 2019)

Charlie is SO cute!! I will definitely check out that bunny maze! My Bleu it’s actually using his litter box some, but keeps peeing on his hay instead of the litter. I’ve tried switching the sides of the litter and hay but nothing is seeming to work. Did your bunny do that when he was a baby?


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 30, 2019)

He pulls hay into the litter box from the rack. You will always end of sacrificing some hay I think.


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## Lauren Kiernan (Aug 31, 2019)

This is what the litter box looks like in use. I spread the stuff he gets in the litter box periodically over his poops. To keep his feet cleaner.


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