Hello, newbie here!

[Selasorrow]

Hello Everyone!

I am so glad I found this forum. You all seem to be very friendly andwilling to help, so I thought I'd join! I grew up withbunnies, always had at least three of them (one for each of us kids)and just loved how cuddly they were. And what sweet personalities! Iwas called the "bunny girl" when I was little because I always had asmall bunny cradled in my arms sleeping. We had mostly English Spots(gotta love the butterfly wings on their noses!), a few adorableEnglish Lops (my personal favorite!),and a mini Rex (ooo,what soft fur you have! lol). Our bunnies lived in a hutch outside.

So, I'm thinking of getting a little bunny again, and this time I wantto (if its possible) keep my baby inside the house, in my bedroom. Iwas hoping somebody here could give me their opinions (and pastexperiences ) about this? I know rabbits can and will spray, and thatspaying or neutering will cut down on this, but will it stop it? Wouldit be healthy to keep my bunny's homein my bedroom? I'mwondering if the smell of the urine would be too strong? Lol, my momloves to garden and is happy about the fact that she'd be gettingfertilizer out of my bunny haha!

I've looked at a few different breeds that I like (love actually!), andwas wondering if anyone who owns one could tell me what the breedspersonality is like? Of course each rabbit is different. I'm thinkingof getting either a Dwarf Hotot, a Dutch, or a Netherland Dwarf. Anyonehave any experience with these breeds? I definitely want to find acaring breedernear me, instead of going through a petshop. Ithought a dwarf bunny would be best, as I'd like to keep it inside. I'mleaning towards the Dwarf Hotot, I've heard they really respond totheir owners, more than other rabbits. Although, I do like the Dutchbunnies, as I've heard they are a more relaxed breed, and not as hyperas most. I don't know much about the Netherland Dwarves, and am lookingup more info on them. What small breed do you suggest?

Can anyone also suggest a good cage? I don't know what sizes to lookfor really (as my other bunnies were outside) and whether I should geta urine spray guard to go around the cage? I found a cage, (I don'tknow if I'm allowed to post a link to their site?) here:http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=11166&N=2007+113918andwas thinking of getting the Jumbo size, is this large enough for thesmaller breeds I'm thinking of? Of course I want to have my bunny outand about quite a bit, and used to take a bunny with me during the day(only around the house, it'd be too scary going out into the wide worldwith a little bunny), so the baby would get a lot of "free time" tostretch its little legs. I'm not good at building, lol and fear ahomemade cage wouldn't be safe enough. If you know of any other goodcage, please let me know.

Also, I've heard SO many different opinions about bedding and "litter"for the litterbox, what do you suggest? I know that Pine shavings are aBIG no-no (after a long time of use they can harm your pets breathing),as are Cedar shavings(I've been told they can cause Urinary TractInfections). I'm hoping to find something safe and easy to find instores to use. I've even thought of just using a long section of fleecedoubled over for underneath the bunny's feet, and of course some typeof litter for thelitterbox. I could buy a ton of fleece atwalmart, and just daily shake it out, and then wash it. What doyouthink about it?

I'm thinking that for during "free time" for my bun, I could start outusing one of those small animal playpens with add-on panels? After mybunny is litter-box trained I could enlarge the area to a room(bunny-proofed of course ). I've checked out a ton of funtoys,I want to spoil mylittle one rotten lol! I'vealso checked into vets, and know there's one who already cares forrabbits not too far from me. So, I guess thats about it. Ihope to get to know all of you, this seems like such agreatplace to learn about bunnies! Thank you for all of your help!

~Selasorrow

 

[maherwoman]

Hello!! WELCOME!! :colors:

Well, I'll answer your questions below in bold as I can. Ihave two buns. One is about two months old, and was a rescuea few weeks ago from a very neglectful neighbor. The otherwas brought home about three months ago, and is my first bunny ever, soall I've learned has been on THIS SITE. You've picked a GREATplace to learn all you can handle reading!

I hope my answers help in your quest to create a wonderful bunny homefor your future baby! In the meantime, check out all theresources this site has to offer. I really love it here, andhave made so many sweet friends in posting my MANY threadshere.

A couple things to remember about this site:

- Everyone here is very friendly, and will not flame you or make youfeel badly. Yes, there are bunny owners here that are quitepassionate about animals' care, but they understand when people makemistakes, and are here to help them gain knowledge, not belittlethem.

- There's no such thing about posting too manythreads/questions. We all love to help, and would rather youpost thousands of questions, than have you feel like you're bugging us(which it wouldn't) and not ask something that could bevital.

So, ASK AWAY!! We're all here for each other!

Also, since you've had so many buns before, you're quite a bit ahead ofmost that get buns, since you've already got quite a bit of groudworkas far as their care. I'm sure your bun will have awonderful, loving home with you.

:bunnydance:

Selasorrow wrote:

So, I'm thinking ofgetting a little bunny again, and this time I want to (if its possible)keep my baby inside the house, in my bedroom. I was hoping somebodyhere could give me their opinions (and past experiences ) about this?I know rabbits can and will spray, and that spaying or neutering willcut down on this, but will it stop it? Would it be healthy to keep mybunny's homein my bedroom? I'm wondering if the smell of theurine would be too strong? Lol, my mom loves to garden and is happyabout the fact that she'd be getting fertilizer out of my bunnyhaha! I can't answer much about the spraying and will itstop completely once they're altered, but I can tell you from theexperience of having two buns living in basically what is our bedroom(we have a one bedroom apartment, and our daughter has the bedroom, sothe animals live in the livingroom with us while we sleep at night),that the urine smell won't be too much if you litter train them as faras urinating, and clean their litterboxes every day or every otherday. Also, I've read that you can clean their cage withdiluted vinegar if you make sure to rinse it (or sponge it out) wellenough. I haven't yet tried it myself, but so many peoplehere rave about it, it's definitely worth a shot!

I've looked at a few different breeds that I like (love actually!), andwas wondering if anyone who owns one could tell me what the breedspersonality is like? Of course each rabbit is different. I'm thinkingof getting either a Dwarf Hotot, a Dutch, or a Netherland Dwarf. Anyonehave any experience with these breeds? I definitely want to find acaring breedernear me, instead of going through a petshop. Ithought a dwarf bunny would be best, as I'd like to keep it inside. I'mleaning towards the Dwarf Hotot, I've heard they really respond totheir owners, more than other rabbits. Although, I do like the Dutchbunnies, as I've heard they are a more relaxed breed, and not as hyperas most. I don't know much about the Netherland Dwarves, and am lookingup more info on them. What small breed do you suggest? Idon't know much about breeds, but in asking the same question, theresponses I've gotten were mostly that it doesn't depend on breed asmuch as each bun's personality. My two buns' breeds areunknown, but both are as sweet and loving as one could ever want.

Can anyone also suggest a good cage? I don't know what sizes to lookfor really (as my other bunnies were outside) and whether I should geta urine spray guard to go around the cage? I found a cage, (I don'tknow if I'm allowed to post a link to their site?) here:http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=11166&N=2007+113918andwas thinking of getting the Jumbo size, is this large enough for thesmaller breeds I'm thinking of? Of course I want to have my bunny outand about quite a bit, and used to take a bunny with me during the day(only around the house, it'd be too scary going out into the wide worldwith a little bunny), so the baby would get a lot of "free time" tostretch its little legs. I'm not good at building, lol and fear ahomemade cage wouldn't be safe enough. If you know of any other goodcage, please let me know. My best suggestionfor a cage is to get storage cubes and build a cage from them with zipties (use the search ability on this site and check "NIC", and you'llfind a picture that'll show you what I mean). The panels areabout 14.25" squared in size. Maisie and Flower (my two buns)each have their own cage, and their cages are each three panels wide,two deep, and two high, with two levels in addition to the bottom floorbuilt in. Each of their cages cost a total of about $80 tobuild, and an already-built cage that size would cost probably in thearea of $125! Another great thing is that you can build thecage however you want, make the levels in whatever design you want,etc. Not only that, but I recently had to change Maisie'scage a bit, and it was SO EASY to do!

I read that you're worried about building it, and it does take twopeople, but it's really easy, and with the zip ties, and wooden dowelsto reinforce the levels, it's actually REALLY stable andsafe. You'll find that MANY people on this site have thecage, and it's awesome!

Here's a good thread her that has MANY pictures of people'scages...gave me GREAT ideas for Maisie's cage.http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=1931&forum_id=1&highlight=NIC

Here's another thread on this site regarding cages and hutches:http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11792&forum_id=17

The cage you have posted is a good idea, except that it doesn't haveany additional levels, which from my experience, the bunnies LOVE tohave.


Also, I've heard SO many different opinions about bedding and "litter"for the litterbox, what do you suggest? I know that Pine shavings are aBIG no-no (after a long time of use they can harm your pets breathing),as are Cedar shavings(I've been told they can cause Urinary TractInfections). I'm hoping to find something safe and easy to find instores to use. I've even thought of just using a long section of fleecedoubled over for underneath the bunny's feet, and of course some typeof litter for thelitterbox. I could buy a ton of fleece atwalmart, and just daily shake it out, and then wash it. What doyouthink about it? I haven't had any realexperience with fleece as far as bedding, sorry. As for whatI use, the bottom of our buns' cages is pegboard covered with linoleumpeel-n-stick tiles, with grass mats on top. The additionallevels are covered with more pegboard (rough side up for traction) thatis zip tied to the panels. Both the bottom floor and theadditional levels are quite easy to sweep stuff off of, and cleanup. Check out this thread for what I mean:http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=13403&forum_id=1&highlight=pegboard

As far as what I use in their litterbox, you're right, opinions varyquite a bit. I use CareFresh in my babe's litterboxes, but itcan get expensive if you have more than two buns. There aremany brands out there, and I'm sure you'll get lots of answers onspecific brands. From what I've read about brands, so farthese are the ones I've heard are good: CareFresh, Yesterdays News,Woody Pet. I'm sure others will be able to provide moreinformation about that.

I'm thinking that for during "free time" for my bun, I could start outusing one of those small animal playpens with add-on panels? After mybunny is litter-box trained I could enlarge the area to a room(bunny-proofed of course ). I've checked out a ton of funtoys,I want to spoil mylittle one rotten lol! I'vealso checked into vets, and know there's one who already cares forrabbits not too far from me. So, I guess thats about it. Ihope to get to know all of you, this seems like such agreatplace to learn about bunnies! Thank you for all of your help!

~Selasorrow

 

[TrixieRabbit]

Hi! Welcome to the boards! I am leaving worksoon, but I wanted to post a link to my bunny blog. If you go to the3rd page, you will find step-by-step directions on how to make a cageusing wire storage grids from Bed,Bath and Beyond (with pics)

The whole cage cost less than $100 to make and is HUGE! Trix loves it!


http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12961&forum_id=6&page=3

 

[naturestee]

Hi! Welcome to the forum!:wave2

I'll put in a third vote for NIC cages. You can build them tofit your space, add extra levels, and change them when you needto. A few zip ties is all you need for stability.Plus they're much cheaper than comparably sized pre-fabcages. If you're not sure about this, check out large dogcrates and dog exercise pens (these will need a floor). Thebigger the better, even with small buns. I'm not a fan ofwire floors, although some long-haired or ill rabbits stay clean betterwith them. I also prefer to be able to let my rabbits comeand go from their cage during playtime. It makes a bigdifference in how they react to you and can help with littertraining.

As for breeds, the personality is definately up to theindividual. There are some supposed trends such as goofydutch (I have one), mellow holland and mini lops, etc. I havetwo dwarf hotots- sisters from the same litter. Theirpersonalities are night and day different. And I have a fussylittle princess of a Polish. Actually, if you want to adopta rabbit for personality your best bet is to adopt an alreadyspayed/neutered rabbit from a shelter. You may have noticedthis with your previous rabbits, but the personalities of babies canchange drastically once they become "teenagers." Fixing doeshelp this, but sometimes the change is surprising.

All my rabbits are in the house. I love having them in thehouse with me! And my friends have commented that they onlysmell hay, not animal, even though I have four buns in a smallhouse. Littertraining helps, a good litter type and frequentcleaning helps more. I've used a couple different types butmy favorite for odor, absorbtion, and price is wood pelletlitter. Woody Pet is a popular brand, but I can't getit. I use Eagle Valley ABM. There's all sorts ofdifferent brands, and the cheapest are at feed stores and farm supplystores, sometimes marketed as horse stall bedding.Spay/neuter usually stops spraying because that is hormonally based,although they still may mark territory. That's where trainingcomes in.

It's great that you've already found a bunny vet! That can be a real struggle for some of us.

It sounds like you're really doing your homework. Good job! It sounds like your bunny will be very lucky!

 

[Selasorrow]

Hello,

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome!

Maherwoman, thank you, your answers are a great help! I am verygrateful that everyone here won't bash me for not knowing the correctanswers lol. Besides, message boards are to help right? Thank you!

TrixieRabbit, I absolutely love that cage! Wow, only $100? Top notch! Iwas wondering if you have a problem with spraying or marking when yourbun is on the upper levels? Do you have anything to protect the wallsaround it? Also,the 14" x 14" grids from Bed Bath and Beyond,(I'm guessing they won't but..) will they rust? Or are they like powdercoatedmaterial? What an easycage! And so spacious!Wonderful, thank you so much!

Naturestee what a beauty in your avatar! Just to make sure, is thatsweetie a Dwarf Hotot? What a beautiful bunny! Thank you so much forthe info about litter, I was a bit confused . Yes, I've learned(through the past, eeek!) that its best to do your homework ahead oftime, its whats best for everyone, and especially your pet. I'm alittle ashamed to say I didn't think of adopting from a bunny rescue,I'll definitely look into that now. And as you said, their personalitywill already be shining through.

Thank you so much everyone, you've really helped me! I can't wait tolearn more, and after I have my "bunny knowledge" down, I'll getstarted on a cage, and have all of the necessities set up beforebringing home my baby. And also, thank you for being patient with basicquestions! What pro's!

~Selasorrow

 

[maherwoman]

You're welcome! I'm glad our info helped!

Let us know if you have any other questions, ok?

 

[naturestee]

Yup! My avatar is Sprite, a sassydwarf hotot. If you want to see more pics (and you have afast connection LOL!) my picture-heavy blog thread is here.Fey and Sprite pics start a few pages past the beginning.

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=9472&forum_id=6

Lots of people don't even know that they can adoptrabbits. I didn't when I got my first. And if youwant a specific breed it's usually fairly easy to find netherlanddwarfs, dutch, holland and mini lops, etc. Dwarf hotots areless common but still show up. I got my two dwarf hototsthrough an ad in the paper. Their previous owner got boredand couldn't have cared less about them.:rollseyes:

And don't worry about asking basic questions, especially if you're notsure what to make of the different opinions in Bunny 101.Most of those threads have opinions from all sides so you can learn andchoose what you think is best. But it does get confusing atfirst. We've all been there before.

 

[Selasorrow]

Lol, I checked the link, and from there readonto three other stories! What an excellent site this is! I'm checkinginto bunny shelters near me (just lookin' for now...) andhave found quite a few bunnies needing good homes. I don'tknow why I never thought of rescuing, but thank you for mentioning it!I'm reading and learning so much, lol I'm now taking notes to keep upwith everything! Thank you! I can tell you all care so much aboutbunnies!

~Selasorrow




Edited to say: Oh! Thank you for mentioning Bunny 101, I didn't see itthe first time, just hopped right by it! More reading yay! Thanks

 

[TrixieRabbit]

Selasorrow wrote:

Hello,

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome!

TrixieRabbit, I absolutely love that cage! Wow, only $100? Top notch! Iwas wondering if you have a problem with spraying or marking when yourbun is on the upper levels? Do you have anything to protect the wallsaround it? Also,the 14" x 14" grids from Bed Bath and Beyond,(I'm guessing they won't but..) will they rust? Or are they like powdercoatedmaterial? What an easycage! And so spacious!Wonderful, thank you so much!

Hi Selasorrow,

Thanks! Yes, it was about $100 to make!A smaller pre-madecage would cost around $250or even $300! You can't beat theNIC cages.
Iknow Office Max, Staples, and even Costco, Wal-Mart, BJ'sand Sam's sell the grids too. It just happens that I called all of themand Bed, Bath and Beyond was the only one in my area that carried themin stock at the time. You can also order them online fromwww.Wal-Mart.com.
The wire grids from Bed,Bath and Beyond are powder coated and won'trust. They also are chew-proof, as Trix sometimes tries to chew thewires and the paint doesn't chip at all! They had them in grey(which iswhat I used), white, and black. I like the grey as it doesn't stand outas much as the black or white....looks better in the room.
I don't have anything protecting the walls around the top levels, asTrix has never sprayed. Actually, I never had a problem with a bunnyspraying (hopefully I didn't just jinx myself) But you can always get alight plastic and zip-tie it to the outside of the upper levels. Somepeople use Coroplast, which is corrugated plastic, for the differentlevels. It can be cut to have an edge as a urine/spray guard.


Any more questions, feel free to send me a PM or ask any time!

 

[Selasorrow]

I can't believe how much I'm learning here!Thank you TrixieRabbit, that sounds so easy to make (the cage) and I'vebeen looking around at cages, they're really overpriced lol. So I guessan NIC cage it is! What a good idea about the corrugated plastic, thatwould work perfectly for a urine guard. Thank you so much! Lol, I'malready lookingfor the ingredients for a huge NIC cage lol.Thanks everyone, you're a big help! I know I probably would have spent$124-$200 on a smaller cage.

 

[naturestee]

Shopko and Target also carry those grids. In fact, I think Target has a sale on them right now.

Or if you live near Sheboygan, WI, pm me. I have tons of spares that Ipicked up from an ex-cavy breeder. They need cleaning andsome need paint, but they'd be super cheap or free. They'reway more than I can use.

 

[Selasorrow]

Thank you Naturestee, but I'm in N.C.Thats very kind of you!Lol, that would be a verylong drive! There's a Target very close to me, I'll have to check andsee if they're on sale there. Thanks for the tip! I've found a verycute bunny in a shelter near me, (arrgh, I knew when Ilookedonline there I'd lose my heart to one of those babies,but how could I not look?!) and am hoping that it can work out, wherethe lil' fella can have a wonderful home here. But I still have a waysto go and learn, I don't want to take any wrong steps to scaring thelittle guy. Thanks, what a great forum this is!