Well, as you all know, my rabbits are all blood related. BitBit and MaoMao are the biological parents of Socks and Dash. Now you would think One Big Happy Family eh?

NOT.

The very queer thing is that my rabbits don't get along. Peculiar right? A papa, a mama and 2 daughters. The catch here is that my girls cannot stand each other BUT each of them is perfectly okay with BitBit.

I find this exception VERY suspicious. Why choose only BitBit? Then again, BitBit is a very laidback rabbit. He goes with any bunny (well, ALMOST any bunny except that day when Okie was sick and got cranky and had a go at BitBit so BitBit returned the favour) and has never caused me trouble when socialising with other rabbits. So it only explains why the girls were all so gum with him.

Anyway, this was also a very frustrating period for me. I had to keep the girls separately which means 3 different enclosures. And sometimes I would just pop BitBit in and out of their spaces (I know he sounds like a gigolo at this point ...gak!) But he is an excellent therapist. He is able to calm the girls whenever he is around to groom and kiss them.

Many times I tried to bond them. I tried taking them for rides. No change. I tried bathing them then placing them in fresh places. Nothing. I tried working with 2 rabbits first - MaoMao and Socks.

Get this: On the table, the girls were tolerant of each other. They even successfully shared a litterbox with body contact with no problems. So I transferred them to the floor in a spacious pen. Die! Once I had my back turned, Socks had a go at her mom. Arghh!!!

So take it from me, never assume rabbits. They can be unpredictable. They are not humans in that manner. Just because WE are a family WE can tolerate each other even if we may like our dodgy second uncle or bitchy Aunt Agnes.

Rabbits are different. They have a hierachy system in each warren. It is a natural behaviour. Some bunny has to be up there and another has to be down there.

1. Wire-bottom cage: 2 rabbits were housed in each cage. Each cage was lined with rubber bathroom mats on top of the wire-bottom. Wire-bottoms, I feel, are useful in the littertraining process because stuff just falls through and it's easier to clean.

2. Litterbox: A plastic box about A3 size and 10cm high is placed inside. Undisputedly, recycled paper bedding is used.

3. Hay, pellets and water: These consumptions or items that hold the consumptions should be placed IN the litterbox or arranged in such a way that the rabbits must get inside the litterbox to reach what it wants.

4. Small playarea: After cleaning out the smells of the previous playarea, reduce the size of the playarea so that monitoring is easier. Gradually increase the size as the rabbit gets better at using the litterbox. Remember that rabbits continue to require daily let-out exercise.

5. Feed in the Litterbox: To encourage the rabbit to use the litterbox, feed vegetables and treats only when the rabbit is IN the litterbox. It will soon learn that it is The Place To Be to get what it wants. Positive training is always the best alternative.

6. SHOO: Whenever you can, shoo the rabbit into the litterbox. When you see a tail lifting outside the box. When the rabbit tries to be lazy by stretching instead of going into the box. A gentle tap on the buttocks is usually enough to make a rabbit lift its rump and into the box.

Whatever you do, don't hit the rabbit like you would a child. It is not a child and does not speak your language. It does not understand your intentions when you inflict pain. It will however associate things: litterbox with good stuffs.

Believe it or not, I re-littertrained my rabbits this way for an entire year. Well, you have to take into consideration that I have to train 4 simultaneously. Once one gets it the other may not and may end up influencing the trained one to be de-littertrained. Arghh!!!

*breathe in breathe out*

Like I said, I kept all my rabbits. Not one was abandoned. Not one was deserted. I kept all my rabbits. Until Steffi adopted V.eve and Topaz.

That was some time during the process of littertraining all the rabbits. You people will probably laugh at me but I stayed up one fine night - all night - in the playpen with the rabbits just so I can monitor them 24-7 (talk about literal terms) and shoo them into the litterbox when I spied a lifting tail. I am such a pathetic owner.

Anyway, Steffi and her parents came to my place to view the rabbits and - smart girl - she picked Topaz and V.eve who were then the MOST littertrained (though not completely but nonetheless) of my rabbits. Good on her.

They live a pampered life at her place. I know that because I've seen it with my own eyes and Steffi keeps in touch with me. She is such a wonderful girl. She loves and cherishes them, and pops in on events to support HRSS as well as to grab stuff for the kiddos to chew/eat/munch/destroy.

Their names have been corrected to Toppy and Eveie, by the way. But they'll still be the little red and black wiggly things I first set my eyes on on February 13th 2003.