AboutMia Expertise I have learned a lot about rabbits in research and personal experience. My specialties include questions about raising orphaned baby rabbits (What to feed, how to feed, and become the surrogate mother), rabbit behavior (I speak fluent rabbit), showing bunnies (I am showing rabbits in 4-H), rabbit diet (What’s edible or poisonous), rabbit housing (I built my own hutch), good rabbit toys (Safe toys for a bored bunny), treating wounds (Ouch!), keeping rabbits cool in the summer, and basic rabbit care. I can also answer questions about breeding (From buck and doe to kits), grooming (Clipping toenails?), determining the gender of your rabbit (Doe or Buck?), and training (Rabbits can use a litter box too!).
The subject in which I may not be able to answer all of the questions is rabbit health because I am not familiar with all of the rabbit sicknesses, otherwise I know how to prevent hairballs, ringworm, overgrown teeth, about spay and neuter, and etc.
I will answer all of your questions to the best of my knowledge.
Experience I currently have one California mix doe and her litter of five (4 does and 1 buck); and I have previously cared for six other bunnies. The first rabbit that I had was a California buck; the other four were wild baby rabbits that my dogs brought home injured. I treated their wounds and cared for them. One died from the trauma that the dog had caused, two were released back into the wild, and the last one disappeared out of its escape proof box. To this day we have no idea what happened to it. I recently sold one of my rabbits(the sister of my current bunny)at the county fair. She got first in the class of Sr. Does. I have also bread my second place doe twice. In the Veterinary field, I have assisted in procedures ranging from spays and neuters to the normal pet checkup.
Organizations 4-H: Rabbits
Education/Credentials I have completed my Pre-school through 11th grade education otherwise no college yet though I plan to become a veterinarian. I have spent time learning about animals at the local vet. I have also done quite a bit of research on rabbits.
Awards and Honors I recently received 1st and 2nd in the county fair in the same class(Sr. Does)for both of my rabbits. I also won reserve champion in rabbit showmanship.
My 2 year old, un-neutered Holland lop won't stop pooping. I just got him about a week ago, so I don't know if this is normal. He poops like 50-100+ little balls a day. They are all healthy poop, though (dry, compactly packed and he'll eat them sometimes). He also poops while he's sleeping. It just falls out, like five at a time. Is this much poop normal?
He also likes to jump on my bed just to poop on it. When I wake up early morning, I let him out of his cage before I go back to sleep.. and wake up again next to piles of poop on my pillow, around my bed, and on my blankets. Is he marking his territory or does he just really like pooping on my bed? ): How can I make him stop? I usually say, "no" and then put him back in his cage for a couple minutes as punishment.. but he's not getting the idea.
Thanks for your time!
Answer Hi Janice,
This is normal and part of marking his territory. You can try litter training him.
You can start by confining him to a smaller space such as one room or half a room depending on the size of the room. Put a litter box out in the area he excretes the most and show it to him. This is where you have to keep an eye on him to make sure that he is using his new box outside of the cage. You will tell when he is about to urinate if you see him raising his tail, shout "NO!" and heard him to the new litter box to use it then praise him whenever he does use it. If he has an accident then you can soak it up in a paper towel and put it in the litter box so that he knows that that is what the box is for, you can also put his little marbles in there too. For urine, spray the spot with vinegar which will get rid of the strong odor as well as cleaning the spot. Also rabbits are less likely to urinate on a spot that has been sprayed with vinegar. If he chooses one spot as his toilet and goes there no matter how many times you spray it with vinegar, try putting the litter box over that spot. If it is inconveniently placed, such as in a walk way, you can slowly move it inch at a time day-by-day to a better spot. Try putting a hand full of hay in the litter box because rabbits usually like to eat and excrete at the same time the hay will also encourage him to go to the litter box. Once he is using his new litter box regularly, you can expand his running area room at a time make sure that you have at least one litter box in each new room that you let him run in and that he knows where it is. Supervise him a bit to make sure that he is using each new box. If he has an accident again, give him a little less room for a little longer, or place some more litter boxes around the house so that he doesn't have to go too far to find one. If this still doesn't work you can try getting him neutered and teach him again, that way he is not hormonal and will not mark his territory.
good luck
Mia
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