Multiple General Questions (ticks? water bottles? feed?)

[Noahs Ark II]

Hi, new bun mommy here....

Quick background: I have 2 new buns who I believe were dumped on/near our property. My husband and I took them in, but neither of us have any bunny experience, so it's been a learning curve. The first bun (which I now know is a sable point doe) who I've named Dee Dee (My husband had named "him" Dennis Hopper before the vet told us "he" was a she!) and Erma who is a Lionhead and I'm 90% sure is a female (it really is hard to tell with all that hair!! BTW, they are seperated in thier 2 unit bunny condo!! )

I took the first bun to the vet when we first found her because she appears to have some sort of injury or defect to her eye and I wanted to get it looked at. We found her about 3 weeks before we found the 2nd rabbit - so I know Erma was probably running loose for at least that long and no telling when they were actually dumped. We live out in the country and have quite a bit of dense woods/brush around here (not to mention a lot of small predetors - its amazing they survived even a night!) Anyways.... they both had ticks on them. The vet pulled them off of Dee Dee and I got a tick "puller" from the vet for Erma, but with her VERY long hair and of course it's matted from being loose for so long, it's been hard to tell if I got them all. Worst of all, the vet has been unable to tell me how to be sure they are gone/prevent new ones (They are in a hutch in my garage now, so I *think* they should be safe from them in there??) All they could say was a low dose of Revolution (like you use on dogs and cats) but apparently it doesn't really work anyways. :?

So... what do I do? Just pull the ones I find and hope I got them all??? And, how DO I deal with Erma's wild "mane"? I've been told buns have very fragile skin and I'm worried about grooming her. Do you bathe rabbits? Waterless shampoo like for the dog?? I really have to get these matts out so I can be sure that I got all the ticks.

(sorry this is getting long)

Next, I bought both of them water bottles... I showed them how to use them by clicking the ball and letting them sniff the water... I've even SEEN Dee Dee use it, but then they won't drink anything! I check the water levels several times per day and they don't budge. So, then I panic and give them a disk of water which they quickly lap up. So, am I doomed to water bowls forever?

Finally... I give my girls a bowl full of pellets and a rack full of timothy hay whenver I notice the levels have gone down - I usually fill them up 2-3 times per day. However, some days they will eat very little to seemingly nothing and other days the bowls will be empty in a matter of hours. Is this normal?



if you read all this, give yourself a high five and a cookie from me! :wink

~Kimberly

 

[Pipp]

Hi, welcome to the world of bunnies!

Revolution is your best bet for the ticks. Its pretty safe and I think it will work as well as anything on the ticks, and they may have picked up some other parasites. They shouldn't get any more ticks in the garage.

Make sure they have plenty of ventilation in the garage, especially in the heat. Bunnies are 'air cooled'.

Re: the food, mine are pretty consistent, when they don't eat, it's either stress, gas, heat, lack of water, stale pellets or the little beggars found their own food source. (I check my bunny good cabinet for chewed up bag of afalfa cubes).

That said, nobunny ate their pellets at their designated time here yesterday, which was odd, so maybe its a world-wide plot. I'm heading out to grab a fresh bag, being the good little slave I am.

I'd keep a log of their eating habits to see if you can zero in on a reason. Also keep an eye on their output, make sure their poops stay consistent.

You don't want them to be without water even for a minute, but I put a bowl of water under the water bottle, squeezed it a few times into the bowl, let the bowl briefly dry out, and my guys found the bottle pretty fast, although a few don't like using it, so that's that.

I'll leave the grooming questions to those with hairier rabbits then mine, but they shouldn't get baths.


sas :bunnydance:

 

[Noahs Ark II]

Thanks Pip!
I did put the bowls right under the water bottles and when I click the ball they sniff the bottles, but.... humph...dunno! Guess I'll just have to keep a little water in the bowls! It's so much fresher from the bottles!

It's been pretty cool here still and I leave the doors open in the garage to allow a flow of fresh air...though, I will have to figure out something soon as the weather here does get hot in the summer. What is the ideal temp for them?

 

[Runestonez]

Welcome to RO!

We have three lionheads! You have to love their woolies!:biggrin:
Ours get the most amazing matts right behind their ears sometimes! I haven't figured out how they manage that!

Don't try to bathe the matts out!
With lionheads if you try to bathe matts they get worse!

I usually sit down with my little buggers and using a small metal tooth grooming comb, I start at the very tip top of the matt, furthest away from the skin and slowly start to pick and comb the matt.

You can try to clip the worst of them out...but as you said their skin is very fragile...and add to that stretchy! If you think you can safely clip through a bit of the matt..I suggest sliding the comb into the matt near the skin so there is a barrier between the scissors and your bunn and clip what you can-carefully!

The rest is patience and time!
It can be a good bonding experience for you and Erma!
I have been experimenting with wetting mats, soaking them with saline, adding powder, so far the best has been clip the worst, and sit and take your time!

I found that the electric shavers don't work for our lionheads...our kids woolies are too fine and fuzzy...so I have to just use the little scissors and clip clip clip!

Danielle

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

My crew like the bowl so much better for water.

I do not know how old your bunnies are but if there over 6 months old you can start limiting their pellets. I would say 1/4 cup for each. Other will come by with better info on food. Unlimited hay.