New bunny slave here!

[DawnM]

Hello everyone! I am new to owning a rabbit. How I acquired mine is not the best, but we all love her/him like crazy! We currently are slaves to 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 guinea pigs, couple bettas and our new bunny.

For the record, I won my bunny at a carnival. I have been wanting one forever and my husband honestly didn't think I could do it(neither did I). We are not sure much about bunnies, but I honestly believe I should have grown up on a farm! Haha

We were told she/he was about 10 weeks old and mom was a 30lbs New Zealand. I chose her/him I'm because of the coloring. They were either all black or all white, then this one......

It was love at 1st sight!

Bunny has been with us for almost 2 weeks now. We are gutting out a dresser to turn into an indoor hutch this weekend. She/he will have plenty of free time in the house as well. Right now we block off a large area to run in.

We are working on bonding right now. We sit or lay on the floor and just ignore her/him. We have been lick a few times and bunny has started to jump on us for attention (or to just get close to the dog or cat, lol). When being held, she/he just finds a comfy position and goes to sleep. You can tell that they were all handled a lot by kids & adults.

I would love some helpful tips on bunny ownership!

 

[Aki]

Hello,

Welcome!
I can't see any photos but as far as I know New Zealands are all white with red eyes.
If you don't know much about rabbit, begin by reading articles from the house rabbit society, especially the articles about diet to know how introduce vegetables and which you should be giving :
http://rabbit.org/category/care/diet/

You'll need to see a vet to determine the sex of your rabbit in a few months, as if it is a female it really is advisable to spay her to avoid uterine / ovarian cancers, mastitis and other nasty illnesses. For info, if you don't, your rabbit (if female ^^) has 80% of changes to get cancer in a few years. For a big bunny, it will need to be done when she will be around 10 months old.

Use a litterbox in the hutch so your rabbit doesn't live in their toilets. Use wooden pellets as litter, no woodshavings, no mineral litter.
Also, just in case: don't buy treats from the store. Check the ingredients before giving anything. Nothing with salt, molasses, sunflower seeds, yogurt, milk products, corn... Rabbits are strict herbivores, a small piece of apple or carrot is just fine as a treat.

There for the first advices. Don't hesitate to ask questions if you can't find the answer on the forum or the House rabbit society website.
Have fun with your new bunny!

 

[DawnM]

Sorry about the pictures. I guess I didn't attach them correctly. Here they are.

Thanks for the info! Bunny does have nice Ruby colored eyes! I feed Timothy hay and Oxbow pellets (young rabbit kind). I read to not start veggies yet. We have given a couple small bites of fresh herbs or lettuce from our garden a few times though. It is what I grown for our Guinea Pigs.

I plan on going into the Vet soon and discussing getting bunny fixed! Mr guinea pig ended up with an emergency vet visit the other day, but I am wanting a different Vet for bunny and there is little wait to get in!

We use Care fresh bedding in our Guinea pigs litter box and I am using the same with bunny. Is that OK or should I switch?

I swear, my pets eat and live better than myself and family, lol. They are all spoiled rotten! Thanks for the info!

 

[Azerane]

Hey there and welcome to the forum. It's quite possible that mum was a New Zealand, but dad would have had to have been probably a Californian (possibly a himalayan but Cali is more likely).

It is a very unusual way to get a rabbit, and I think it's quite terrible that live rabbits can just be given away as prizes like that. But that's out of your control I suppose and better you than someone else who is less likely to provide proper care. He is clearly going to have a good home with you and your other pets

Carefresh is perfectly fine for rabbits, many people use wood pellet litter or wood stove pellets in their litter boxes for bunnies, but it's personal preference. So long as you're not using cat clumping litters or crystal/clay litters etc.

 

[DawnM]

I don't really agree with giving bunnies as prizes, but it worked out well for me lol!

I was looking at the wood pellets, but I think bunny would think it is the food pellets. I don't even use clumping litter with my cats, so definitely not for bunny. Once the hutch is done I will try a few different kinds and see what is preferred.

The hutch is coming along and I am hoping it will be done by Monday. I need to stain the frames and then figure out how to get a shelf in.

 

[Blue eyes]

The cage you are making is similar to what I did with an old oven cabinet. I'll attach a photo. I have a video on my website that shows how we built it -- in case it helps give you ideas on shelving, etc. We keep the cage door open all day.

The wood pellets do look like food pellets but don't worry -- bunny won't get confused. I've used the wood stove pellets for many rabbits. It is the best at odor absorption and is also the least costly. I particularly like that it doesn't get tracked about the way Carefresh can. (Though there is nothing wrong with using carefresh.)

Here is the link to my website with the video (scroll down) of our cage making. The rest of the site might prove useful as well.
http://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/housing-options.html

 

[edwinf8936]

Marking look just like my Winston.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Definitely a Californian and won't get much more than 8 to 10 lbs unless exceptionally large. We had a crossbreed with a lop and she was the longest bunny I''ve ever seen and weighed just under 12. We did have a pure Checkered Giant, our largest ever at just under 20 pounds.