Hello

[adamsone]

Hi everyone. Have some expirence with rabbits as a kid. 4 days ago I was at my favorite fishing spot and seen someone pull up and dump a rabbit next to a gator infested pond and drive off. Having no supply's on hand to catch him I finished out my fishing trip with the wife and left. Next day I can prepared with a box and to my surprise the rabbit was sitting under the same bush he was dumped at. Long story short I called him to me and caught him.

3 days later it turns out he is the sweetest rabbit ever. He seams to have bonded with me and will lick my from head to toe as long as I let him. For some reason he refuses to lick my wife but runs to me as soon as I enter the room, greets me with a daily bath the binkis and stretches out for a good petting session.

I have no idea what breed he is so any info will help. Two other issues I have are fleas from him being outside and lately he has stopped eating all greens except for kale, any advice will be appreciated.

Like I said he has a awesome personality and we clicked from the moment I brought him home, I really can't imagine why someone would dump such a loving bunny.

 

[stevesmum]

Good for you and so lucky for him that he was rescued by you!
Is he still eating his hay? How are his poops looking and is he pooping lots?

 

[adamsone]

Still eating hay, he was pooping alot but today he has only pooped maybe 10 pellets but they look normal, he also slowed down on drinking today, was drinking 3 bowls a day but so far he has drank half a bowl today. Still playing and acting normal and does not seam to be sick or in pain.

 

[JBun]

What a great story! I can't believe someone would just dump him there, but so glad you were there to save him. He sounds like a real sweet bun.

For the breed, he may be a harlequin, or it may just be he has the harlequin coloring and is a different breed. I don't know much about the breed so can't say for sure.

If your wife uses lotions of perfumes, that may account for your bun not wanting to lick her. But also sometimes rabbits just bond with a particular person and there's no explaining it. It may be as your wife and bun spend more time together, the bun will bond with her too.

For the fleas, it would be best to get some Revolution from a vet, to treat your bun. Only a few flea treatments are actually considered safe for use on rabbits and some are dangerous, so you do have to be careful about what you use. Revolution(selamectin) is safe for rabbits and is the best treatment, but is rx so you have to get through a vet. NEVER use frontline. It is toxic and can kill your rabbit.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/fleas/Fleas.htm

With the greens issue, it may be he is sensitive to one of the greens and it is upsetting his stomach. The slow down in his eating, drinking, and pooping would correspond with a digestive upset, possibly from gas pain which can sometimes be fatal with rabbits if it is severe enough. You have to be really careful as rabbits are very prone to digestive issues becoming life threatening. So you want to keep a close eye on the eating/drinking, as well as the poop size, amount, and consistency. if he stops eating/pooping and is acting subdued or off for more than a few hours, he will need to be seen by a vet right away.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.pdf

I would stop all greens for now and make sure he is eating plenty of hay. Grass hay is usually the best thing to help get a rabbits digestion back on track. If it is one of the veggies causing digestive upset, he should start feeling better by the next day. Rabbits tend to have a very sensitive digestive system, so careful diet management is usually pretty important. You'll know he's doing better when his poop production is back to normal. Often one of the first signs of a digestive issue is a change in the rabbits poop amount, consistency, and size, so it's always good to keep an eye out for any changes.
http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-droppings.asp

Once he seems to be doing well again and is back to normal, you can try reintroducing greens again. You'll want to do this gradually, starting with a small amount of one type of green, and gradually increase if he seems to be doing ok on it. This way you give his digestive flora time to adapt to the new food and also you will know what food to stop and avoid if there are any signs of digestive upset. It might be good to avoid cruciferous type greens for now, as they seem to more commonly cause digestive upset in rabbits.
http://www.lagomorphs.com/salad.pdf

Best of luck with the little guy. He is lucky to have found his way to such a wonderful caring person.

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

You seem like a wonderful person to rescue him. Your story made my day.
Your bunny has the weirdest coloring. Very cool rabbit!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:welcome1to the forum. Try some other greens like cilantro or italian parsley--kale is alright in small amounts but it is high in calcium. There is a whole list of veggies in the library section here.

 

[Chewy-de-Lionhead]

He's so cute. So glad it was you that saw what happened and caught him. I'm sure with your care you will have many great years together.

I second the revolution. We had the dog bring in fleas and I called and got it from the vet. Of course she had just seen him, so she knew his weight and split the kitten dose for me, so I have another 30 day dose to give him next week. The day after putting it on him, the fleas were dropping off him dead. What a relief.

 

[adamsone]

Thank you all for the advice. I changed his diet to hay and pellets only till he is back up in poop count. Today during our grooming session I found a big sore right ontop of his head with a giant flea attached to it so i will start looking for fle medicine asap, had a axle blow on my car today so it may have to wait a week but either way i will keep grooming him till then and he is running around more playfull then ever (got him to chase me last night) like I said thank you all for the advice I look forward to many years with this very unique and loving bunny.

 

[adamsone]

Update: after a full day of only hay and pellets his poop factory is back at full steam. I think it may have been the cabbage that messed him up. I think I will rotate it out of his diet.

 

[JBun]

I'm glad you found the possible culprit of the digestive upset. Cabbage would make sense. If you still plan on feeding kale, since it is also a cruciferous veg, it's possible it could also cause some upset. So just something to keep an eye out for when feeding it.

 

[Lokin4AReason]

cool bun w/ a cool story =0)

 

[kksdad]

Great story. Thanks for saving him.