de wormer???

[bunbunmommy]

my boss decided to take me out today to the place where she recently purchased a lop. I dont think im ready for another bunny just yet, but decided to go along to check out all the cuties.
this woman had mostly lops, i guess she sells show rabbits mostly
she mentioned that she deworms all her bunnies every 6 months and puts mite drops in their ears.
is that a common thing? i never once dewormed my little guy or put drops in his ears.
she also advised against feeding the bunnies hay which just made no sense to me

just struck me as odd, i was wondering if that was a common thing

 

[bunbunmommy]

also, off topic. what can you guys tell me about lop bunnies?
are they playful? they seem very tame and dont mind being handled

my bun bun was a hottot mix and he has such a personality, he chased me back and forth around the house, licked my hand and did binkies like crazy.

do lops tend to have a good personality?

 

[James Hopper]

She sounds like an idiot to me . No need to de worm bunnies or mite drops in ears every 6 months unless they are living in filthy conditions and if they are living like that they should be confiscated by an authority . As for hay , it should be at least 80% of their diet followed by appropriate vegis . I give them a good pinch ox oxbow and a small treat like a small dutch carrot or small piece of apple each day . I have a small shelter for unwanted bunnies bought as kids toys or dumped or rescued . I do however put a small amount of epi otic dog and cat ear cleaner in the lops every few weeks so as to help them get the wax out of their ears . This will help prevent infection in future . Lops are notorious for serious ear problems . However consult a vet first , it is not suitable if infection is already there. I would consider a bunnie from a shelter , they are vet checked and need homes . If you want info on diet and housing I have found " boingonline.com" very helpful for years now . Its an Australian web site and it is purely there for bunnie welfare. There are no adverts trying to sell any products.


Sent from my iPhone using Rabbit Forum

 

[James Hopper]

Be careful with any product that breeders try and sell, a proper bunnie vet will never use mist if these products or probably none at all . Here in Australia per shops and breeders are notorious for bad advice and shonky products that can cause serious health problems for rabbits , even some vets here know nothing . Try and find a bunnie savvy vet when health and advice is needed .


Sent from my iPhone using Rabbit Forum

 

[bunbunmommy]

Be careful with any product that breeders try and sell, a proper bunnie vet will never use mist if these products or probably none at all . Here in Australia per shops and breeders are notorious for bad advice and shonky products that can cause serious health problems for rabbits , even some vets here know nothing . Try and find a bunnie savvy vet when health and advice is needed .


Sent from my iPhone using Rabbit Forum

yea, she suggested i could bring my rabbit (if i bought one from her) to her if he ever got sick instead of a vet because she was once a vet... i donth think i would be ok with that.
i almost want to get one from her just to rescue it , i got a weird vibe from the place.

 

[James Hopper]

The rescue shelters are full of bunnies that came from breeders originally . In my opinion these are the bunnies that need rescuing . By purchasing from a breeder it is only encouraging them to breed more . There is a shelter neat my house in Aust. that always have about 50 bunnies in that section . They also have lots of other domestic unwanted animals . It is heartbreaking when some of these animals are surrendered , the non for profit shelter is always at full capacity and the amount of animals euthanised is staggering . As an example over 1200 bunnies were put down last year and this is only one of 100s of shelters across Australia. I believe that in the US the sad same situation is occurring every day right across your country .


Sent from my iPhone using Rabbit Forum

 

[bunbunmommy]

The rescue shelters are full of bunnies that came from breeders originally . In my opinion these are the bunnies that need rescuing . By purchasing from a breeder it is only encouraging them to breed more . There is a shelter neat my house in Aust. that always have about 50 bunnies in that section . They also have lots of other domestic unwanted animals . It is heartbreaking when some of these animals are surrendered , the non for profit shelter is always at full capacity and the amount of animals euthanised is staggering . As an example over 1200 bunnies were put down last year and this is only one of 100s of shelters across Australia. I believe that in the US the sad same situation is occurring every day right across your country .


Sent from my iPhone using Rabbit Forum

thats horrible.
there is a local shelter not too far from me that i want to check out, even if i dont adopt, i can foster a bunny till it does get adopted. which i just might do

 

[James Hopper]

Great idea, shelter bunnies come in all shapes and sizes and all have different personalities these places are probably the best places to get dietary and care advice from if a bunnie savvy vet is not an option .


Sent from my iPhone using Rabbit Forum

 

[Azerane]

I'm not sure about the worming and mite treatment, but I would agree that the mite treatment really only needs to be done if your bunny is living in poor conditions. Indoor rabbits would have very little chance of getting worms, though if your rabbit is outdoors, it may be more likely.

Advising against feeding bunnies hay is a huge red flag for me. I mean, I think some breeders may feed their rabbits on a high quality pellet exclusively, but to me there's no substitute for hay and it really is important. I would not buy from this breeder, I would be looking elsewhere to a shelter as already suggested or to a well-regarded breeder.

 

[JBun]

Many animals are given deworming treatments preventatively: Horses, cats, dogs. Even though it isn't commonly done with rabbits, some people believe it is helpful for their rabbits health, doesn't make the breeder bad or mean they don't know what they are doing.

I think there are many people that believe a pellet only diet is ok for their rabbits. I don't see how that would work very well, as I see hay as pretty important in my rabbits diets. But in the past, before I knew very much about rabbits, I did feed only pellets, and my rabbits were just fine. I never had any health issues because of it. I think as long as the rabbits are healthy and doing fine on that diet, then that's what matters. Though I still recommend hay in a rabbits diet.

 

[majorv]

Some breeders worm their rabbits on a schedule, but many don't. There are pros and cons to both. Rabbits don't have to be in dirty living conditions to get ear mites. Rabbits can pick up mites at shows, or from incoming rabbits who haven't been quarantined first. Sometimes you just aren't sure how they get them, but it certainly doesn't hurt to be proactive and treat for them. I don't have lops, but I imagine they do have more ear problems.

Most show feeds are a complete feed, without the need for giving hay; however, most breeders provide hay to their rabbits anyway. We recognize the benefits of giving hay even though it isn't (and doesn't need to be) 80% of their diet, and rabbits can easily thrive without veggies.