# how to get rid of hutch stench?



## ILOVEMYPETZ (Aug 25, 2011)

i got my baby rabbit 6 days ago and hes loverly.(6weeks old) To settle him in and get him used to my home and me and my partner and my dog i have been keeping him indoors.
Hes currently in my sitting room and is settling in great he sits and watches the tv from his hutch i think he will be very sad when i move him. I was going to keep him out doors but hes so happy indoors with us.
HOWEVER i cant stand the hutch smell. That is defo going out doors, im looking to get a large cage for him for indoors. I have cleand the hutch everyday , and today i have disinfected it and lined the bottom with plastic there was no smell untill he knocked his water bowl over yet again . Is it the grass/wood shavens getting wet what is causing the stench? It really cant go on , is not bad bad but i bet people will smell it when they come in and im very concious.

Basically any info would be much welcomed , its my first rabbit and i want him to feel at home and part of the family without my home smelling like a farm lol x


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

6 weeks old annd you have had him a week already! where did you get him from? i hope you didnt pay anything for him, he is much to young to have even left his mum at the moment poor boy

you need to be VERY careful with what you feed him at the moment, as any change could upset his stomache and send him into stasis, what food do you have him on, what food was he on when you got him? please dont give him any veggies till he is atleast 12 weeks old

if he is being kept as a house rabbit now, there is no way you will be able to move him outside until atleast april now, he will not grow a thick winter coat in time for the winter months, and he will freeze.

wood shavings can be very bad for rabbits, and they do get smelly very quickly, i would recommend trying him on megazorb instead, you can litter train him (but he may not be perfect until he is neutered, intact rabbits sometimes "forget" they are litter trained) then you would only need a litter tray of bedding, and to clean it out once or twice a day
neutering (when hes old enough) will also help with the smell, as he wont have the urge to mark everything :lol:


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## ILOVEMYPETZ (Aug 25, 2011)

Hi thanks for your reply.
Well hes 7Weeks now,the people i bought him off said he was ready to leave his mumhmy:
And yeah i paid £20 for him.

I am feeding him wagg food is that okay? and should i stop putting the woodsahvens in the hutch?

And at what age should he be nurtured.?

And if you have further details on the best way to litter train him ? Im planning on getting a large dog cage for him to go in , indoors would i just place a litter tray in there with his grass bedding?

Thanks so much for your reply LIL MISS much appriciated x


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

im afraid im useless with litter training, my buns are all out door buns, so i have never had a strong enough will to litter train them :lol:

a rabbits shouldnt leave its mum till they are 8 weeks old, so 6 weeks is very young to leave home.
whats done is done though, so you will just need to keep a very close eye on him

what are his poos like at the moment? are there any soft squishy ones? or are they all nice and hard and round?
which wagg is it you are feeding? is it bunny brunch or optimum? does he have access to unlimited hay along side that?

they are safe to neuter as soon as their bits drop, so long as they are over 1KG in weight

a large dog crate would be an ideal indoor set up for him


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## ILOVEMYPETZ (Aug 25, 2011)

Lil Miss said:


> im afraid im useless with litter training, my buns are all out door buns, so i have never had a strong enough will to litter train them :lol:
> 
> a rabbits shouldnt leave its mum till they are 8 weeks old, so 6 weeks is very young to leave home.
> whats done is done though, so you will just need to keep a very close eye on him
> ...


his poops are all hard and round and the wagg food is the optimum. I dont have hay but readigrass? Is that okay or should i have hay also.
I hoping to get him a cage tomorrow or at the weekend , what do u recommend i put in there? for example set it up like the hutch?(im just thinking of the mess as the cages dont have a deep bottom) or should i get a litter tray and put hay/grass in and just put his food bowl and toys in ?

Thanks for your advice so far i just want to make sure im doing everything right for him


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

optimum is a good food, and its great that his poos are all hard, redi grass is very high in calcium, so shouldnt be fed in huge amounts when they get older, you need to provide him with lots of hay, when he gets to about 12 weeks old i would start to cut back on the redigrass, as at that age his stomache will be better able to handle the change, to about a handful a day, with unlimited grass hay (meadow, timothy ect) for now just add unlimited hay into the diet, but dont change anything else

when he is litter trained you will be able to line the bottom of the cage with fleece or vet bed, and just leave a litter tray full of megazorb (or similar) for him to poo and wee in
something to remember, is that rabbits will poo while they are eating hay, so it works best if their hay is reachable from the litter tray

you can start litter training him now by lining the cage with fleece and picking up any stray poos and putting them in the litter tray, and cleaning up any accidents as they happen, some one with more experiance on litter training then me will be able to help you on that more though.

if you want to keep litter in the bottom of a dog crate though, you could always cut down some card board boxes, and cellotape them together (cellotape on the side not facing towards the cage) and make a skirt around it to keep litter in


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## ILOVEMYPETZ (Aug 25, 2011)

Great advice ill give it ago and also research litter training further will let you know how i get on x


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## Guest (Aug 26, 2011)

Lil Miss has explained everything else so I won't repeat what she has said :lol:
I have indoor buns so I'm used to training them hehe
For now if he wee's mop it up with some toilet tissue and place that in his tray and any stray poops so he gets the idea of where to go. Once you have mopped up his wee clean the area with a mix of white wine vinegar, lemon juice and hot water, the vinegar takes away the smell so he doen't go back and wee in the same place and the lemon juice helps to take away the vinegar small for us hoomins lol.
You will find it a lot easier to litter train him once he is neutered as an entire rabbit has an urge to mark everywhere so that any other rabbit knows it is their home


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

I saw some rabbits in Trago today which were well under 6 Weeks. They had rabbits with no hay, a rabbit on display with an eye infection and degus with no where to hide! I will be writing to them! 

A good breeder will not sell the rabbits until they are 10 weeks plus, and its very hard to sex young rabbits, I would ask your vets to check the rabbit over and be extremely careful not to change his diet to quickly


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## ILOVEMYPETZ (Aug 25, 2011)

i have rehomed him in to his new large dog cage where he has loads of space in there he has a litter try, watter bottle food bowl , a towel which he lies on. and tons of toys. Im yet to buy him a little hide out.

he seems fine and happy and at night i placed a blanket over the top for him.
To my amazement he started using the litter tray in his hutch yesturday with out any formal training,id only started looking it up the night before (previous posts)
Anyway hes seen it through in ths cage only thing is ive noticed his poo has turned softer????? what could this be? and he taking a liking to ripping and chewing the newspaper i lined the cage with PLEASE HELP


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

have you introduced hay into his diet yet?


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## ILOVEMYPETZ (Aug 25, 2011)

no noy yet just readigrass should i use hay?


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

yes hay should make up 80% of their diet, so just make sure you provide him with lots and lots of hay for now, when he reaches 12 weeks old, start cutting back on the redigrass


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## ILOVEMYPETZ (Aug 25, 2011)

Okay ill get some today , but other than that does his cage set up sound okay?


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