Felix's mama saying hi from Western Australia

[pani]

Hi Rabbits Online!

I'm Pani and I adopted my little guy Felix, a black Netherland Dwarf, last week. The little guy has captured my heart and all I want to do is snuggle him, spam pics of him everywhere, and watch him binky all around the living room. :}

We live in Perth, WA, and I got him from a breeder (as he's my first bun, I wanted the chance to raise him from young) at 8 weeks old. So far his favourite food to eat is nice cold spinach, but he's also a fan of red seedless grapes and craisins! As he gets older, we'll try out new fruits and see what else he likes.

Looking forward to talking bunnies with the rest of you!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Welcome to the forum. With a bunny that young, you shouldn't be giving veggies or fruit. Our vet says unlimited alfalfa and pellets til 6 months then onto hay without limit and limit pellets to the size/weight ratio on the food. He told us to start veggies at 4 months and only give a tiny bit of fruit.

 

[selbert]

Hi Pani and Felix! Welcome!
Spam away with pictures!

:sunshine:

 

[pani]

Welcome to the forum. With a bunny that young, you shouldn't be giving veggies or fruit. Our vet says unlimited alfalfa and pellets til 6 months then onto hay without limit and limit pellets to the size/weight ratio on the food. He told us to start veggies at 4 months and only give a tiny bit of fruit.

I see - thanks for letting me know! He was being fed small amounts of fruit/veg at his breeder's, but I'll limit it back for now. Maybe a small treat once a week or so, if he's been a good bun. :} I did notice this coming up doing a bit of reading tonight, so I guess the little guy's gonna have to hold off on his spinach for a bit longer! Thankfully he doesn't seem to have been experiencing any tummy troubles, so hopefully we've been lucky and can return to a hay/pellet diet with no drama.

I tried to purchase some alfalfa/lucerne based hay on eBay a few days ago, but the seller advised me that due to quarantine in my state, they're unable to send it over. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find it anywhere else, but I'll check with a few other sellers. If I can't get any alfalfa, is there any decent alternative?

I've ordered him some timothy hay-based pellets until then, since the food I got from the breeder is pellets mixed with a large amount of shredded hay, and he doesn't seem to enjoy it as much since he's more interested in the bigger, crunchier pieces of hay in his hutch. :} Are pellets an acceptable substitute for fruit/veg to use as rewards, to encourage good behaviour?

Hi Pani and Felix! Welcome!
Spam away with pictures!

:sunshine:

Thank you! :} He's become the focus of my Instagram account recently...

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Hello and welcome to the forums! Felix is SUCH a cutie!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

I'm in love. We give all of our orchard grass as I'm allergic to timothy. If you can find an alfalfa based pellet that will help--the reason for the alfalfa is it's higher in protein and calcium which is good for a growing bunny but not so much for a grown one. Before I knew better we gave all of ours fresh greens--luckily we had no problems, typically it can loosen the stool and that can have dire consequences. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

 

[pani]

Hello and welcome to the forums! Felix is SUCH a cutie!

Thank you! I'm sure he'd say thanks too if he weren't all snuggled up against his frozen water bottle. The Australian summer is harsh for little bunnies! :{

I'm in love. We give all of our orchard grass as I'm allergic to timothy. If you can find an alfalfa based pellet that will help--the reason for the alfalfa is it's higher in protein and calcium which is good for a growing bunny but not so much for a grown one. Before I knew better we gave all of ours fresh greens--luckily we had no problems, typically it can loosen the stool and that can have dire consequences. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

I actually contacted another seller who said they have no problems shipping alfalfa hay my way, so I'll be getting my hay from them I guess! Unsure why the first said no, but I guess they may have run into problems with the past (possibly due to the way it was packaged).

Little guy's harness arrived today, and ohhhh myyyy he does NOT like it! I've given it a rest tonight because trying to get it on seemed to be stressing him out, so we'll try it again tomorrow or the next day. Gotta get him used to the harness, then used to the leash, before attempting to venture a twilight park trip. :}

 

[Aubrisita]

My goodness you are right, he and Stache could be twins! I don't think Stache is a dwarf though, he weighs 6 pounds.