Easy Ears
Well-known member
Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've stopped by Rabbittalk. I've missed you guys! The following paragraph will be an update about the rabbitry so if you care about that read on. If you just want to know what my questions are skip to the part in bold.
So why haven't I been on Rabbittalk lately? Well, mostly it is due to the fact that I stopped breeding rabbits. There are a few different reasons I stopped, but one of the main ones is because I just don't have the time to raise the kits as tame as I want. Also, the demand for rabbits has dramatically decreased in my area over the past year and there are dozens and dozens of rabbits popping up in rescues all over my small town, which just three years ago there was not even one rescue that had rabbits in the area.
I've recently been fostering rabbits, and decided a few months ago to rehome my last one and just focus solely on my schoolwork as this is my senior year of high-school. Then I got a email from a lady who had adopted an old Holland buck from me. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself, let's go back through the history of this buck the past few years and this present time email will make more sense. Thumper, was my first Holland breeder buck and a sweet heart that I rescued from a inhuman breeder. The poor rabbits were living in just awful conditions. (You may have seen pics or posts about him in the past, I had him for 2 years) Anyway, I got him cleaned up and he lived with me for a year until I decided I wanted to rehome him to make room for a younger buck that had the colors I wanted to introduce into my herd.
I gave him to a very good friend of mine who is very rabbit savy and cares a lot about her pets. That didn't last long. My friend reported to me that no matter what she tried, Thumper just didn't like her and he would dig and bite at her whenever she tried to pet or handle him. I took him back, and he was just as sweet as ever to me. :? :lol: I gave up on getting a new buck and just decided to keep him.
Another year when by and at this point it is a few months from the present. I decided to rehome all my rabbits and I found him a wonderful indoor home with some kids to retire in. I warned the lady who adopted him that I tried rehoming him a year ago and he did not take well to his new owner, but it was a year ago and he has changed some since then. She was fine with it and took him home and it went about a month until I heard from her again. Now back to that email. The lady is telling me that Thumper is biting and she has been trying about everything she can think of to make him feel more comfortable. She got him as a family pet and for her two young boys but she said she hadn't let them hold him because he was being aggressive. She said she may need to rehome him but she wanted a few more weeks to see if she could make a last stitch effort to win him over.
I heard from her yesterday and she said all attempts had failed and no matter what she tried he is still biting and discontent. She said she would sit with him alone at night on her lap when everyone was asleep so it was nice and quiet, but he just shakes when she pets him and if she pets him for too long he will start biting her. I told her before she adopted him that I would take him back with a full refund if it didn't end up working out so I plan on taking him back in.
She is going to drop him off tomorrow and actually pick up another foster of mine who is the sweetest little cuddly doe that I've always thought would be great with children. She sits on my lap contently for hours at a time while I do homework and read. Anyway, I was thinking about rehoming Thumper but he doesn't seem to like anyone else but me! :lol: :shock: So I'm considering keeping him... I realize I mentioned wanting to focus on school, but our 16 year old cat just passed away and our house went from having quite a few animals including a full rabbitry to only one rabbit in the past year. I've never been without a pet and the thought makes me sad. So I'm seriously considering keeping Thumper inside and part of me thinks it may be less work. No trips outside to break the frozen water or open and shut tarps or bundling up to trek through the snow and worrying about ice bottles in the summer. I know I'll have to clean the litter tray a lot more but I think it will compensate with all the stuff with comes with having them outside. (Whew thanks for sticking with me through all that! :cheesysmile: )
Ok, so my rabbitry set up is such that I have large hutches outside in a sheltered area and I put tarps around the rabbit hutches in the winter. Thumper is fairly old and I noticed this fall he wasn't handling the cold well at all, that is one reason I wanted to rehome him to an indoor home. The reason I've never had any indoor rabbits is because I still live with my parents, and they don't like the rabbit urine smell. However, they both really like Thumper (my dad especially) and are willing to make an exception for him (since it is just one rabbit) to live in my room. If this works out how I want it to, I will have him litter trained and let him free range in my room when I am there with him.
So my question is, what are some good ways to reduce rabbit urine odor?
I did some research on it and found Bi-Odor. I hesitate when using anything unnatural (as in not herbs etc) with either myself or rabbits and was wondering if anyone had experience with it? I don't know much about it except you put it in their water and it helps their urine not to smell. This is where I initially found it: http://www.thenaturetrail.com/rabbit-ca ... pdz-yucca/
Of course, cleaning the litterbox out everyday and washing with white vinegar once in a while will help too. I run a diffuser in my room a lot recently with some essential oils just so it smells nice, so that may help. Are there any other tips or ideas you guys have? What works for you who have indoor buns?
Thanks for reading! Love you guys! :group-hug2:
So why haven't I been on Rabbittalk lately? Well, mostly it is due to the fact that I stopped breeding rabbits. There are a few different reasons I stopped, but one of the main ones is because I just don't have the time to raise the kits as tame as I want. Also, the demand for rabbits has dramatically decreased in my area over the past year and there are dozens and dozens of rabbits popping up in rescues all over my small town, which just three years ago there was not even one rescue that had rabbits in the area.
I've recently been fostering rabbits, and decided a few months ago to rehome my last one and just focus solely on my schoolwork as this is my senior year of high-school. Then I got a email from a lady who had adopted an old Holland buck from me. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself, let's go back through the history of this buck the past few years and this present time email will make more sense. Thumper, was my first Holland breeder buck and a sweet heart that I rescued from a inhuman breeder. The poor rabbits were living in just awful conditions. (You may have seen pics or posts about him in the past, I had him for 2 years) Anyway, I got him cleaned up and he lived with me for a year until I decided I wanted to rehome him to make room for a younger buck that had the colors I wanted to introduce into my herd.
I gave him to a very good friend of mine who is very rabbit savy and cares a lot about her pets. That didn't last long. My friend reported to me that no matter what she tried, Thumper just didn't like her and he would dig and bite at her whenever she tried to pet or handle him. I took him back, and he was just as sweet as ever to me. :? :lol: I gave up on getting a new buck and just decided to keep him.
Another year when by and at this point it is a few months from the present. I decided to rehome all my rabbits and I found him a wonderful indoor home with some kids to retire in. I warned the lady who adopted him that I tried rehoming him a year ago and he did not take well to his new owner, but it was a year ago and he has changed some since then. She was fine with it and took him home and it went about a month until I heard from her again. Now back to that email. The lady is telling me that Thumper is biting and she has been trying about everything she can think of to make him feel more comfortable. She got him as a family pet and for her two young boys but she said she hadn't let them hold him because he was being aggressive. She said she may need to rehome him but she wanted a few more weeks to see if she could make a last stitch effort to win him over.
I heard from her yesterday and she said all attempts had failed and no matter what she tried he is still biting and discontent. She said she would sit with him alone at night on her lap when everyone was asleep so it was nice and quiet, but he just shakes when she pets him and if she pets him for too long he will start biting her. I told her before she adopted him that I would take him back with a full refund if it didn't end up working out so I plan on taking him back in.
She is going to drop him off tomorrow and actually pick up another foster of mine who is the sweetest little cuddly doe that I've always thought would be great with children. She sits on my lap contently for hours at a time while I do homework and read. Anyway, I was thinking about rehoming Thumper but he doesn't seem to like anyone else but me! :lol: :shock: So I'm considering keeping him... I realize I mentioned wanting to focus on school, but our 16 year old cat just passed away and our house went from having quite a few animals including a full rabbitry to only one rabbit in the past year. I've never been without a pet and the thought makes me sad. So I'm seriously considering keeping Thumper inside and part of me thinks it may be less work. No trips outside to break the frozen water or open and shut tarps or bundling up to trek through the snow and worrying about ice bottles in the summer. I know I'll have to clean the litter tray a lot more but I think it will compensate with all the stuff with comes with having them outside. (Whew thanks for sticking with me through all that! :cheesysmile: )
Ok, so my rabbitry set up is such that I have large hutches outside in a sheltered area and I put tarps around the rabbit hutches in the winter. Thumper is fairly old and I noticed this fall he wasn't handling the cold well at all, that is one reason I wanted to rehome him to an indoor home. The reason I've never had any indoor rabbits is because I still live with my parents, and they don't like the rabbit urine smell. However, they both really like Thumper (my dad especially) and are willing to make an exception for him (since it is just one rabbit) to live in my room. If this works out how I want it to, I will have him litter trained and let him free range in my room when I am there with him.
So my question is, what are some good ways to reduce rabbit urine odor?
I did some research on it and found Bi-Odor. I hesitate when using anything unnatural (as in not herbs etc) with either myself or rabbits and was wondering if anyone had experience with it? I don't know much about it except you put it in their water and it helps their urine not to smell. This is where I initially found it: http://www.thenaturetrail.com/rabbit-ca ... pdz-yucca/
Of course, cleaning the litterbox out everyday and washing with white vinegar once in a while will help too. I run a diffuser in my room a lot recently with some essential oils just so it smells nice, so that may help. Are there any other tips or ideas you guys have? What works for you who have indoor buns?
Thanks for reading! Love you guys! :group-hug2: