Transitioning Outdoor free range bunny to house bunny

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

Cassanova is our BEW netherland Dwarf bunny. He is a fun little character and loves exploring and getting amongst bushes in our garden. He often gets dirty and sometimes an eye might get a bit gunky for a day or two.  He loves being outside.

Probably a week ago I noticed his right eye was puffy  gunky and  closed over.  I managed to catch him the next morning and brought him into the bathroom where i set up newspaper straw etc. in the bath tub. I cleaned his eye with saline, but still no improvement.  It took me a couple of more days before I could catch our second bunny Boston , who is a Brown-gray agouti Standard chinchilla cross.  I hope she has been helping his eye by grooming him regularly.  It opened this morning prior to taking him to the vet for an opinion. his eye was covered in a white sheet/film.  she thinks ulcer cornea and has given us eye cream antibiotics, oral antiinflamatory and oral antibiotics.

I have read from another answered question on this site about not putting such a rabbit back outside.

We used to have Boston inside for her first year, but we found she weed too often in places other than her litter box and it got really hard protecting all the electrical cables in the house from chewing...
Any suggestions on how we could transition Boston and Cassanova to house bunnies successfully?
Sorry for long question.
Thanks vey much,

ANSWER: Dear Sharon,

Since the problem with having her inside was litterbox habits, then the first step is to have both bunnies spayed so you can properly train them.  This will also eliminate their high risk of uterine cancer, which is common in unspayed female rabbits.  Please see:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/spay.html

Once the girls are spayed and recovered, use the tips here to bring them inside.  There's no worry about "transition", really.  You can still let them play outside (much safer if supervised!), but make sure they come in at dusk.  Easy to get them inside if you have a treat ready, such as their daily salad greens:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html

I'm betting they will be very happy to be indoor bunnies, especially if they have supervised play time outside when possible.

Hope this helps.

Dana



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Dana,
Thanks for your answer.  They are both spayed already.  They were done more than a year ago.
They seem to wee anywhere but the litter box.

Answer
Dear Sharon,

Okay, time for Plan B!

Here are some excellent sources with tips on litterbox training.  Even the most stubborn bunnies will usually respond to these protocols, and I hope they will work for your girls, too.

http://rabbit.org/faq-litter-training-2/

http://rabbithaven.org/litter-training/

http://myhouserabbit.com/rabbit-care/litter-training-your-pet-rabbit/

I hope this helps!

Sincerely,

Dana