Hop Tart and Friends

[igorsMistress]

I've been getting rabbit poop from my son for our garden and I'd been lobbying hubs to have our own bunny. He didn't want a bunny and kept telling me if I wanted rabbit poop for the garden I should just get it from the kids. I love my kid, but he is busy and doesn't have time to bring me bunny poop every time he cleans. Still, hubs didn't want another mouth to feed, didn't want to have to build another cage for another animal, blah blah blah. I let it go.

When my son called and abruptly asked if I still wanted a bunny, I looked at my husband who promptly said NO. The kid came to the rescue, telling hubs rabbits are fairly inexpensive and don't require a lot of work; the bonus was I already had a rabbit hutch that I use to brood chicks so housing was covered. Hubs finally agreed (I'm pretty sure the great artichoke harvest we're getting after putting bunny poop in the garden helped) and we got a 2 year old female. I named her Hop Tart.

All I know about her background is that she was an indoor rabbit that eventually got kicked outdoors. She lived outside for a while but I'm unsure for how long. When she started digging the owners decided to get rid of her and my son took her and another rabbit. Unfortunately Hop Tart didn't get along well with their bun and attacked her, but they didn't want to ditch her at the pound so they called me.

After a few days hubs softened up and my son brought her over last night. I know nothing about caring for rabbits, but I typically do a lot of research when I'm starting something new and this has been no exception.

We currently have 2 dogs of our own and about 18 chickens. Our daughter recently moved back home with her kids and brought her dog as well. The dogs are bullies and all listen quite well/are well behaved. The kids not so much

My goal is to convert the mini coop into outdoor housing for Hop Tart. I hope to allow her to run the yard with the chickens when weather permits, which is not in the summer where I live. Since we have extreme heat to contend with I'll be maintaining an indoor area for her as well.

Speaking of indoor housing, I put Hop Tart in that bunny hutch and was appalled! She's not a tiny little thing, but she's certainly not huge and the hutch is far too small. I left her in there over night and then changed things this morning.

Here's the original set up. I planned to keep the hutch inside the dog playpen and attach a ramp to give her a way to get out.


Plan B. I got larger litter box, cut a couple of holes in a Chewy box and put a rubber backed door mat under it so the hay doesn't slide around. I'm temporarily covering the walls of the enclosure with a sheet until she's more comfortable with her new surroundings. This helps keep the dogs from scaring her too.


I'm expecting another playpen to be delivered next week. I plan to attach it to the current pen to essentially double her space.

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

Aww. Sounds like a sweet story. Her new set up looks really good! I have one question: what is her diet (like the amounts of everything)?
I love your dogs by the way! As a kid, my grandparents owned loads of pitbulls and they were so sweet . We had one called Loki, who looked like your white dog!

 

[igorsMistress]

Aww. Sounds like a sweet story. Her new set up looks really good! I have one question: what is her diet (like the amounts of everything)?
I love your dogs by the way! As a kid, my grandparents owned loads of pitbulls and they were so sweet . We had one called Loki, who looked like your white dog!

Thank you! I need to weigh her today, but I've given her a few good handfuls of greens and 1/2 cup of adult pellets. The greens go quickly, the pellets were spilled all over the floor lol.

We actually have 2 white pups, Frank and Abby. The brown dog is Layla, my granddog

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

I’d definitely get her weighed. My rabbits is about 5lb, and gets unlimited Timothy hay (I wish it was as green as yours), 1 cup of greens twice a day, and 1/4 cup of pellets. That might change depending on how much she weighs. My rabbit wolfs his greens down in minutes.
Your dogs are so cute! I wish I could get a bully, again. Sadly, they’re illegal in England

 

[igorsMistress]

I’d definitely get her weighed. My rabbits is about 5lb, and gets unlimited Timothy hay (I wish it was as green as yours), 1 cup of greens twice a day, and 1/4 cup of pellets. That might change depending on how much she weighs. My rabbit wolfs his greens down in minutes.
Your dogs are so cute! I wish I could get a bully, again. Sadly, they’re illegal in England ☹

Bullies are illegal? That's so sad! These are half English Bull Terrier and half American Bull Terrier. Super sweet pups.

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

Bullies are illegal? That's so sad! These are half English Bull Terrier and half American Bull Terrier. Super sweet pups.

A lot of them are and if they aren’t, they need to wear muzzles and have restrictions on what they can do.

 

[igorsMistress]

A lot of them are and if they aren’t, they need to wear muzzles and have restrictions on what they can do.

It was getting to be like that here for a while. Statistically it's Chihuahuas and Cocker Spaniels that bite more, Jack Russells too, so some places have started to come to their senses. My state and town never banned them, but my daughter is a renter and it can be difficult to find a place to live for her.

 

[igorsMistress]

I've been giving Hop Tart various greens. She had some spring mix, romaine lettuce, and carrot tops. I also bought some wheat grass to try. I've planted grass in a couple of window boxes for her to munch on too.

So far she doesn't seem very interested in apple wood sticks but I've heard her pulling strips of cardboard off the inside of her hide.

Hubs has agreed we need a stronger pen. Neither of us are comfortable leaving her at home with the dogs for long without something that will stand up to 70 lbs of running beast. We're going to build a 4'x8'x4' pen with 2x4s and 1/2" hwc. The bottom foot will be reinforced with wood. I found some interlocking foam tiles at HD for the floor but I'm debating about those. The tile seems too slippery so I want to leave only a small space for her to stretch out on to cool off if she's too warm but cover the rest. Still thinking on that.

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

Sound good! I’d be careful giving her veggies that she hasn’t had before as it can cause stomach problems. I don’t know if I’ve said that already (I have the memory of a goldfish). Interlocking foam tiles are good, I need to get some for my own rabbit! I’d just be weary of exposed corners of foam as rabbits are notorious chewers. You can cover it with fleece or blankets if you’re worried about it.

 

[igorsMistress]

Messy girl.

 

[igorsMistress]

Ms. Hop Tart has had a few days to get used to things. She is much more comfortable with me going into her enclosure, stays out to sniff me, etc but not quite ok with petting or holding yet. We'll get there. No issues with things she's had to eat. I gave her 3 small grapes yesterday and she's hammering on the fresh greens. I bought mustard and bok choy, she'll share with my chickens. She likes romaine, spring mix and I bought her some baby arugula. I have nasturtiums, dill, cilantro and basil in my garden so those will be added in the future. I've read they can have artichokes so I may cut off some of the smaller leaves and offer those later this week. Our hours coincide nicely. I'm a very early riser so I give her fresh greens first thing in the morning and give her some pellets. At dusk she gets another handful of greens and I think that's when I'll offer her a bit of fruit. I am thrilled that she's litter trained. No potty messes anywhere but where she's supposed to go. Next weekend we build her new pen and the following week her hideout will be delivered. I've read some DIY stuff to make rabbit toys and have some ideas for her pen.

 

[igorsMistress]

Building the enclosure

Done enough to move in

Enjoying the cool tile

I need to clean out the litter box and then we're done for now. She loves the tunnel so I told my kids I want a bendy one fir Mothers Day

 

[igorsMistress]

Hop Tart got a house and an address
My oldest grandson helped me put the little house together yesterday and we left it outside to air out over night.

 

[helena]

My goal is to convert the mini coop into outdoor housing for Hop Tart. I hope to allow her to run the yard with the chickens when weather permits, which is not in the summer where I live. Since we have extreme heat to contend with I'll be maintaining an indoor area for her as well.

We have had chickens since i was five years old and I would just beware with letting them run together. Chickens have a nasty habit of liking to peck eyes....... For some reason they are just attracted to eyes. Especially the rode island red chicken breed. Since bunnies are so friendly, i bet it would hop right up to the chickens too. When i take Bunster outside for her daily playtime, i just take her to a differant spot than the chickens. (We have outdoor free roam chickens). Hop Tart is sooo cute!

 

[igorsMistress]

HopTart has been reacquainted with Kevin. They were bonded before my son got them and when introduced to their female Mac, well HopTart beat her up. They kept Kevin because he got along well with Mac and they thought he was a female. Nope, he's an unneutered male. I'll be making an appointment to have him neutered on Monday.
Kevin

HopTart

 

[igorsMistress]

So, the buns were getting along very well in their meet and greet and, while I was prepared with a separate pen for Kevin, I didn't need it. HopTart found him in her little house and didn't beat the tar out of him so I left them to it. Based on the pic, she's happy he's around. I think they may have remembered each other, they lived together for a couple of years before a short separation.

 

[igorsMistress]

The buns got a housing upgrade today. I had an old desk that hubs helped me convert to a 2 story...whatever. He added the the second story and I used stick on carpet squares that I found @ walmart to give the buns some grip up there. The metal fencing is just an xpen type thing and the rug is non slip. I'm going to use some old fleece dog blankets to attach to the front similar to a fleece forest for the bottom floor, maybe add some blankies to cuddle in, not sure what else. They have a TokiHut castle on the way too.