Mocha is still peeing in her nestbox Since I use a cardboard box for a nestbox I had to once again put a new box in with her. I was thinking it has something to do with her feet. When I bought her she had terrible sores on her hocks and her front feet had sores. Over 2 months later she is still getting sores on her feet.

I have been keeping most of the wire covered with cardboard so she has a place to sit, but she pees and poops on it so of course it doesnt fall through and piles up. Anyways it doesnt make a difference she still sits in the nestbox and goes in there too.

So since my other bunny is now 3 weeks old I moved him and mom to the wire cage and moved Mocha and her kits to the fish tank. I also changed the nestbox to a plastic dish pan I had laying around (no worries on tippping it fits snug in the tank)I am hoping this will help and she wont sit on the kits and pee, since now they are not in the back of a long box. I dont know what else to do other than completely remove the kits from her and bring them to her twice a day. Which I really didnt want to do that, but she keeps jumping in the box on them and then jumping out. If she doesnt do better with her next litter I dont think she is going to be staying!

i am new to this rabbit raising for meat concept. but from what i have read it is not uncommon to remove the nest box in very cold weather. and return it twice a day for nursing. how big is the fish tank? is there enough room? i would think wet kits would be a very bad thing.

The box should be big enough that she can feed the babies in, but not so big that she can comfortably sit in it and make a mess.

Another thought - did you try moving it? Maybe its in her bathroom corner.

The cardboard won't do much for her feet, she'll just sit on it and make a mess. Get her a piece of wood to sit on. They also sell stone blocks at pet stores for chinchillas, those work nice, or spare tiles maybe? They're easy to wash off and the urine won't soak in.

Keep an eye on the rabbits in the fish tank, respitory issues have been known to be caused by living in spaces with little ventilation like tanks. Also, might want to look into investing in a good wooden or metal nest box. They aren't expensive, and will serve you much better then a cardboard or plastic box.

Remove that box!
You are exacerbating the problem by creating
a place for reinfection to take place.
The wire is NOT, I repeat is not what is causing the sore hocks.
Sore hocks is due to poor furring on the feet, it can only be
corrected through proper culling techniques.
You want to breed rabbits with well furred feet/hocks.
Her nestbox was/is obviously placed in her potty corner.
Move it to another spot, she will still go in to feed the kits.
When she is loaded with milk she will have to in an effort to
re-leave the tension.
Ottersatin.

__________ Wed Feb 08, 2012 9:33 am __________

Oh my,
I missed that,
A Fish tank is the worst place you could ever house a rabbit in.
I would ASAP purchase a rabbit cage with an all wire floor.
The solid floor of the fish tank is the source of your sore hock problem.
Ottersatin.

She was in an all wire cage I just moved her today to the 55 gal tank. I have never had problems leaving the rabbits in there short term while they raise their babies (they dont stay there permently). As for the box being in the potty corner, she has no corner she is by far the messiest rabbit I have seen! She will go anywhere in the cage. I have tried moving the box to different areas of the cage, even the middle and she will still sit in it and pee. Anyways even though she has nice color and fur density I think I am not going to keep her she is just to messy for my likings and if her sore feet is not from the wire then its not something I want to keep anyways. Ithink her front feet wont heal becasue she keeps them wet, she will dip them in the water bowl then flicks water everywhere, and she licks them alot

I do need to have my DH make a nestbox for me, he has been very busy with his job so he hasnt had time. Plus I have not had any problems before with any of the other rabbits and the cardboard nest box. How big should it be? I didnt think the cardboard was too big it is 19 inches long by 8.5 inches wide, should it be smaller than that? She is a mini rex but she is on the larger size at 5 pounds.

__________ Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:13 am __________

Here are some pictures of the nestbox I removed you can see where she used it as a toilet. The kits stayed in the back.

Jessica, it could be about half that size for a Mini Rex. Give her a box that is about two inches bigger than she is on all sides.

If I measure her she is 13 inches long, in a more relaxed pose she is 15 inches long. She is 7 inches wide. Like I said she is a big mini rex. I moved them to a 14x12" box and i dont think that is working too well, she jumps right on top of them. I think I am going to run to TSC and get a metal box the only size they have though is 10x18.5"

You only want it to be big enough for her to get in and feed them. Any bigger and she will want to lounge in it and potty in it...if you get the box from TSC, throw away the bottom and put a piece of floor wire in it instead. Solid bottoms get nasty really quickly.

I don't use boxes that are 'just big enough', always bigger because when they jump in, they can stomp the kits. Why not give her an empty, plain box to sit in?
I agree that the one you have looks too long, though. At least take 1/4 off the end and see what happens.

I tried an empty box, I dont know why but she like to sit in the one with kits in it.

So should I take 3 or 4 inches off the length of the box? So far in the tank she has been sitting and laying outside of the nestbox, but up against it, with only an occasional hop inside the box, then right back out.

Here are some pics of her in the old box to show size comparison. I have the size wrote in. Please help me improve my box

Mocha is a pretty girl!

I would make it even shorter than where you have marked, by another inch, inch and a half. I would also add more bedding.

I think most does know where the kits are- think about when you misjudge distance on a step, and you lurch off balance... once or twice falling into the nest's depression would quickly teach her to aim for firmer footing.

Thanks! I will try that and see if it works. She did have more bedding than that, I removed as much as I could to the new box.

She sounds like she doesn't want to be a messy girl... Have you tried giving her a litter box? I had problems with Lily messing in her food dish, which immediately stopped after I gave her a litter box, she just wanted a specific place to pee and poo.

having seen the box... Cardboard soaks up urine so that could be part of the issue as to why they get wet.

You could do a variety of things... you could build up the nest so it sits up higher (think like a small mountain). Wet goes down.. kits stay drier.

You could put a whole whack of shavings in there.

You could give her a litter box.

IF she's staying out of the box in the fish tank WOOT WOOT!!!

NOW>>
you need to consider.
Do you want to keep her based on health reasons.
1. she's a messy doe - could this be trained? Only time and effort can tell answer that.
2. she continually has sore feet - thin feet? poorly furred feet? Only you know what the issue is.
3. more of type issue not health issue - she's a big doe. Good for meat, not good for show.
4. she's having issues raising up her kits.. do you want to breed that issue into the kits?

The actual nest should be up near the back of the box, so that when she jumps in, it is not directly on the nest and should not be stomping the kits. That being said, not every rabbit does the same thing. Mine seem to do fine with the 10" x 19" nest boxes I use.