Giving your Rabbit a Health Check

Every 1-2 weeks I do a full health check on both Aiko and Raion, and I truly recommend every rabbit owner to do the same. By doing so, you have a better opportunity to catch any disaeses before they become too serious, and that might end up saving your rabbit's life.

A great thing to remember while checking your rabbit, is that you need to keep an eye out for anything that's unusual. Also remember that I am NOT a vet, and if one small thing has changed since your last check, that doesn't necessarily mean that something is wrong.
If you think something might be wrong with your rabbit, then get your vet to take a look!
Here's what I do:

Ears:
Are the ears nice and clean? Are they dry as they're supposed to be? Any sores og bumbs?


Eyes:Are the eyes clear, clean and completely free of any discharge? If the eyes are running, that could be a sign that something might be wrong, so make sure to check the fur around the eyes, to see if it's wet or anything like that. Also check if there's any colour changes in the eye.

Nose:
Anything unusual here? A rabbits nose should be clean and dry at all times (some rabbits get wet noses after drinking from a bowl, which obviously is not dangerous, but I still recommend to keep an eye out!), and also check for any injuries.

Mouth:
Is the mouth nice and clean? Some rabbits are messy eaters, but they should be able to clean themselves pretty quikly again after eating, so if your rabbit often seems dirty around the mouth, you should probably see a vet! Also remember to check the teeth. You can only check the front teeth on your own. Check if the teeth are too long and if anything has changed since you checked them the last time. Raion once broke a small piece off, of her upper teeth. I took her to the vet but luckily it wasn't serious and she wasn't in any pain. Rabbit teeth grow all the time and they were quikly back to normal.

Feet:
When checking the feet, I always start with their toes. Are they nice and straight? Is the nails too long?
How about the rest of their feet? Are they covered with fur? A lot of rabbits lose the fur on their hocks if they have hard og rough bedding. It's ok if they loose the fur, but then you need to keep an extra eye on their hocks! If the hocks have a light pink colour then it's ok, but if it gets red and irritated, then you need to see a vet. Sore hocks is a very serious and painful condition that needs treatment. Many rabbit owners treat sore hocks themselves if it isn't too bad, but if you don't know what you're doing then ALWAYS contack your vet!

Fur/Skin:
How does the fur an skin look? Any small animals? Is it more dry than usual? Any unusual lumps? How about any bald spots? You should also check for sores and bruises. 

Genitals:
Are they clean and dry? Anything unusal at all? Are they bruised, swollen or anything like that? Also check the scentglands to see if they need to be cleaned. So far I haven't needed to clean the scentglads on Aiko and Raion, but I always check them out just to be on the safe side.

Breathing: 
Is (s)he breating normally? Struggling in any way? Listen for any sounds that isn't usually there.

Weight:Keep an eye on your rabbits weigth! If your rabbit is ill in any way, it will most likely show on their weight. If your rabbit suddenly starts loosing weight, then something is probably wrong. I personally keep a weight diary for the girls, just to make sure that I check any differences. It can also come in very handy for your vet if something is wrong.

Other than all of these things, I have a yearly vet check-up on both of them.


I also want to remind everyone that if you notice any changes in your rabbits behavior, you should probably be keeping an extra eye on her/him. The same goes for any changes in their pee or poops and their eating habits.
I hope you found this useful!

How to litter train your rabbit!

Rabbits are very intelligent creatures and they can be litter trained, just like cats! Rabbits are in general very hygenic animals, but that doesn't always mean that it'll be easy to litter train them! Having a litter trained rabbit makes everythig more easy as a rabbit slave, so here's a few advices on how to get started!

• Placing the litterbox the right place can make a huge difference when it comes to litter training. Rabbits tend to choose one place to poop and pee, and it is most often in a corner. If your rabbit has already choosen a place, then start by placing the litterbox there! Some rabbits don't need more help then that.
  If your rabbit doesn't have a place yet, then place the litterbox in one of the corners and see how it goes!
• If your bunny poops outside of the litterbox, then just pick it up and put it in the box. If (s)he pee's outside of the box, then wipe it up with some paper towel and either throw it out, or put it in the litterbox. This will show your rabbit that this is the place where it belongs and that it is ok to use it!
• Place a hayrack by the litterbox, so that your rabbit has to sit in the box, when eating the hay. Rabbits often eat and poop at the same time, so this is often a big help when litter training.
• Place more than one litterbox! If your rabbit has a large area, it can easily get confusing with only one litterbox. Let's face it, eventhough rabbits are very active animals, then they still prefer not to have to move too far away from where they are, just to poop! Also if you add a few extra then there's naturally a bigger chance that s(he)'ll use at least one of them! Once your rabbit is litter trained, then you can slowly remove the ones that s(he) doesn't use that much.
•  If your rabbit still poops outside the litterbox, then try cleaning it's intire area with a vinegar/water mix, except for the litterbox, so that only the litterbox smell like a rabbit toilet.
• If things still aren't working out, then try different types of bedding. Some rabbits refuse to use special types of bedding. Try different types, brands and maybe adding some hay on top of it.
• Spay or neuter your rabbit. Spaying and neutering has a lot of benefits and I personally believe that it increases the quality of life for your rabbit! Not only does if prevent a lot of diseases, but it helps with their litter training and also their mood!
• Give it time! Not all rabbits learn as fast as others, and you need to be patient!

Clicker Training - Basics

Hi everybunny!

Since I love to clicker train with the bunbuns, I thought this would be an ideal "first entry" for the blog. I believe that rabbits needs to have an active life and not only physically! Teaching your bunny to do stuff is a great way to bond with them, and it can become very helpfull in your everyday life too!
This post will just be about the first basic steps of clicker training.

Cclicker training is based on using the sound of the click, to tell the rabbit that she/he did something right in the exact moment they do it, and that a treat will be coming every time they hear that click.
Therefor the most important step is to teach them what the click means. To do that, I clicked my rabbits and gave them a treat at the same time, 5-10 times in a row. I did that a few times a day, until they started to react immediately to the sound of the click.
After this I just started clicking and giving treats every time they did something that I wanted them to do.
Always start with small things and then slowly start to demand more and more of your rabbit, before clicking, and continue that way until they can do the entire trick.

Also, make sure that you only train for a short period of time. You should rather do it for 2-4 minutes several times a day, than 10-20 minutes at once.
Basically rabbits get bored very easily and you want to keep their attention.
- Remember the most important thing is that both you and your rabbit needs to have fun!


Here's a video of me, teaching Aiko to go into her carrier!

Remember guys; Have fun! :)