New Adoptive Hare Owner

[kathyfg60]

Hi everyone. We recently adopted ahare who had been hanging around our house. He was ill, soafter a vet visit (dehydrated, ear mites, fly larvae in nose), weadopted him (or maybe he adopted us). He is obviously a"dumped" pet as he is very tame and affectionate (aren't some peopleawful). WE ARE NEW TO RABBITS AND WANT TO DO OUR VERY BESTFOR "CINNAMON" SO ANY RECOMMENDATIONS WOULD BE APPRECIATED--THANKS.

Our vet (rabbit/hare specialist) told us to feed Cinnamon only pelltesand hay until he regains his strength. While he likes thepellets well enough, he is not at all interested in eating thehay. Is this common? Any suggestions?

Has anyone had any success with odor control with a product called Bi-Odor?

Cinnamon does not show any interest in exercising out of hiscage. This may be due to weakness from his illness, but I amworried about it. Should I leave him be until he getsstronger? Or force him out of the cage to exercise?He is very willing to be removed from the cage, but then does not wantto hop around or anything.

Please, we want to do the best for him, but we do not know much, so please help.

You can respond on this site or to my email at [email protected]

Kathy & Dave Giraitis
Orlando FL

 

[bunnydude]

A hare or a rabbit?

 

[Cheetos mom]

kathy,

Lucky for you... you have found a wonderful place with lotsa helpful bunny lovers.

I, too found a rabbit rather recently, on Mother's Day. Thus, I am very new rabbit owner.

Go to the cheat sheet for lotsa good info.

Congrats on your find!

 

[kathyfg60]

the vet told us he is a "Rex" hare

 

[ayglnu13]

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=3005&forum_id=1

Check out that link, it has TONS of information in there that will help you raise your bunny better

As for you vet calling your rabbit a hare...that sounds odd too me...Ithink that if your vey was rabbit savy he would know that a Rex isnt ahare.

Check out the link below and it will explain the difference

http://www.orcca.on.ca/~elena/useful/bunnies.html

Where do you live? Maybe some one can recomend a rabbit savvy vet for you


~Amy

 

[ayglnu13]

I also dont suggest using Bi-Odor, it isntnatural and could be harmfull for your bunnies. Plus rabbits reallydont smell unless you dont clean their cage. Is it the one you put inthe water or the one you clean cages with?

Also your bunny may not want to run around because he is sick, andmight not have much energy right now. Also when did you adopt him? Hemight just be a littler nervous right now since he is new

~Amy

 

[kathyfg60]

we had seen "Cinnamon" around the back of ourhouse (we back to the woods) for about 3-4 weeks, but noticed he wasill (ears scabbed and listless); we took him to the vet last week, sowe have had him about 1 week

he is very tame and affectionate, and behaves like a gentleman for his medicine administration

I am so worried (because we don't know anything) and want to help him get better

He goes back to the vet for a checkup on Friday

Kathy G

 

[ayglnu13]

You sure he isnt a wild rabbit? What does he look like?

Where are you located (state)?

 

[ayglnu13]

Oh I apologize, I didnt see that you had you state listed at the bottom of your post!

Does your vet specialize in rabbits?

 

[Kricket]

Weird that the vet would call a Rex a hare. :?

Perhaps Cinnamon will feel up to excersing after he feels settledin. And I agree with Amy (I think) that maybe he needs tobuild up his strength before the Bunny 500's and the binkys.Rabbits are so hardy, I am expecting him to make a fullrecovery! Well, that is if he is a rabbit.

 

[kathyfg60]

I do not think he is a wild bunny, as the localwild bunnies are quite small with small ears. We are incentral Florida. Cinnamon is much larger with large uprightears. Also, he is very tame and hops right up toyou. There is another rabbit/hare we had seen withhim. It is white and tan and otherwise looks like the samebreed. Cinnamon himself is brown.

Any reason why he would not be eating his hay???

Kathy G

 

[Kricket]

What kind of hay Kathy? Is heyoung? If he is, he might enjoy alfalfa. Timothyhay is for mature rabbits.

 

[BenjiAndBabs]

Can you get any pictures of Cinnamon? That'd help.

 

[naturestee]

Some rabbits are fussy about hay and won't eatit. One of my local pet stores sells dried herbs to mix into hay toencourage rabbits to eat it. I've only seen it in this one pet store,though. Also, the rabbits could just sift through the hay and eat onlythe herbs.

Since your vet told you only to feed pellets and hay, you could tryfeeding him a different type. What are type you feeding him now? LikeKricket said, if he's young he could have alfalfa. You could trytempting him with it anyway. There are also a couple different types ofgrass hay. Timothy is good and is often the most available at petstores. You can also find oat hay, brome, meadow grass, and orchardgrass. Some rabbits will like some but not others.

Congrats on your new bunny friend!

 

[cirrustwi]

Welcome to the forum. It sounds likeyou found a great new friend. I certainly think he's adomestic, although I'm not sure why your vet called him ahare. Do you know if he is a standard rex or a minirex? I have 3 mini rex who are very sweet.

Some rabbits just don't like hay. I don't know why, but someof mine are picky about the hay and only eat it if they have finishedoff their pellets and are apparently still hungry. I worryabout the amount of fiber they are getting, so they get canned pumpkin2 times a week. It works just fine and they absolutely loveit.

Jen

 

[samandshawn]

This is a adult Belgian Hare

This one is 9 weeks does it look like these?

 

[ayglnu13]

If it does look like that then it is definitely NOT a rex

~Amy

 

[samandshawn]

ayglnu13 wrote:

If it does look like that then it is definitely NOT a rex

~Amy

exactly. There is no such thing as a rex hare soit might be a hare or a rex rabbit, that a vet is calling a hare

 

[bunnydude]

Could it be a belgian hare / rex cross? It makesme a bit uncomfortable that he calls your bunny a hare. Maybe youshould find another vet.

Check out this link:
http://www.rabbit.org/care/vets.html

 

[Kricket]

Hey Kathy, any new word?