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Dadof2

Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
Messages
16
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Location
Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, USA
Hi all! First post here and new to owning bunnies.

I have 2 daughters soon to be 10 & 8. They have wanted bunnies for a few years now but I've waited until they were responsible enough to be able to care for them mostly on their own.

These cuties will be under the tree for them Christmas morning...

ndQbE.jpg

 
Very Very cute and welcome. I know that not everyone will say getting a bun for a child is a good idea. But my now 10 yr old daughter has had her bunny for 2 yrs and is a wonderful bunmom.
 
My oldest has a guinea pig at her mom's house and is such a good mommy to it. That is how I know this will work well. I understand that I'm a big part of raising them too. I should get my play time in now before xmas, after that they'll want those cuties to themselves. :)
 
what beautiful color that lionhead has!! i hope your girls enjoy them! bunnies trump guinea pigs by far IMHO!!
 
fuzz16 wrote:
what beautiful color that lionhead has!! i hope your girls enjoy them! bunnies trump guinea pigs by far IMHO!!
Yeah, as soon as we saw it we had to get it! Same goes for the Lop. :) So excited for my girls on xmas morning!
 
welcome to RO! I have a holland lop and a lionhead as well that I got when they were babies.
 
How easily were they to litter train? How are they with kids if you have any?

The first night they were a little skittish when we'd walk into the room. Now they seem excited to see us when we get home. We'll open the cage and they'll come out on their own.

They are just about 9 weeks old. I'm hoping they don't grow too much over the next 4 weeks so my girls can see them while they're little. They do eat a LOT of pellets for sure!

Another pic...

r7OBD.jpg

 
KittyKatMe wrote:
Post more pictures!!! And tell us how you got them:)

I found a breeder on craigslist. I was a bit skeptical about doing that but the girl was very nice and gave us a lot of info and helpful hints, she also shows bunnies as well. I'm very happy with the 2 little buggers we ended up with. :)
 
It seems different with all rabbits regarding litter training. My sebi has been perfection since he was a few months old and now 3 and still perfect!!

Murphy, is 7 months old and still trying to get the hang of it lol. but she i think she uses the excuse of 3 legs to being too lazy to jump into the box to poop lol

the show rabbit trio i have, the buck is 10month and never seen litter box since this past couple months. hes perfect with it.

the older one is 6 months and she will use the litter box, but then digs everything out!

the youngest is 4 months and literally tips her litter box over everytme i fix it and stands on it lol.


Regarding kids...i have 2. 4.5 and 1.5 :)
They are all great with them. even the nasty little brat young doe who growls at me will tolerate the kids cuddling and loving on her lol
 
fuzz16 wrote:
It seems different with all rabbits regarding litter training. My sebi has been perfection since he was a few months old and now 3 and still perfect!!

Murphy, is 7 months old and still trying to get the hang of it lol. but she i think she uses the excuse of 3 legs to being too lazy to jump into the box to poop lol

the show rabbit trio i have, the buck is 10month and never seen litter box since this past couple months. hes perfect with it.

the older one is 6 months and she will use the litter box, but then digs everything out!

the youngest is 4 months and literally tips her litter box over everytme i fix it and stands on it lol.


Regarding kids...i have 2. 4.5 and 1.5 :)
They are all great with them. even the nasty little brat young doe who growls at me will tolerate the kids cuddling and loving on her lol
Thanks! If they start to get nasty, when does that happen? Ours seem so friendly now but i guess that could change. If we have a problem with them I heard it's best to have them fixed, does that help?
 
Usually between 4-6 months, their hormones start coming in and it is possible for them to start fighting, but they may not as well. Other reasons to consider spaying them is that unspayed/unbred females can develop uterine cancer, also the spaying helps improve litterbox habits, and decreases hormonal behavior problems like humping, false pregnancies(building nests and ripping out fur), cage aggression, and also makes their urine less smelly. You can usually get the spaying done right at 4 months, just as the hormones are starting to kick in.

Litter box training just depends on the rabbit. Some take to it right away and some not. Sometimes there are things you have to figure out if they aren't taking to it, like it could just be the kind of litter that you are using that they don't like. I had a bunny that wouldn't use her litter box, I changed the litter to aspen bedding and she loved it and would use her litter box after that. So if you are having problems, just create a new thread about it and you will get people offering different ideas on how to help.

Handling your bunnies alot between now and when your girls get them, will help them with being better with your girls holding them when the time comes. Don't let them get away with nipping now. If they do it, just discipline like their momma would by gentling but firmly pressing their head/shoulder area to the floor for a few seconds. You don't want them to get into the habit of thinking biting or nipping people is ok.

Other things that are good to know for new rabbit owners - feed unlimited plain(no added treats) alfalfa based pellets until about 6 mo. old, then you need to limit their pellets based on weight, and alot of people will also switch their adult rabbits to a timothy based pellet. If you have any poopy bum problems, you may need to limit pellets now. Also, any food changes need to be gradual over a few weeks to give your rabbits digestion time to adjust to the new food. Always feed your rabbits unlimited hay. Some people will feed their bunnies alfalfa hay until they are 6 mo. and then switch to a grass hay. I just feed my babies timothy. Sometimes if fed alfalfa only, babies can get picky about their hay when you try to switch them to grass. So I just feed mine timothy hay and just a little alfalfa. If you have a horse feed store near you, it is the cheapest way to get hay. Just call them and ask if they have bales of timothy or another grass hay. You want good horse quality hay that is green, never been wet, and doesn't have weeds. The bales are about 50 lbs + and cost about $7-20. So much cheaper then petstore bags. Make sure you use a rabbit safe litter like yesterday's news, pine pellets with no additives, aspen bedding, and kaytee soft granule bedding are a few of the ones safe for rabbits. You don't want to feed treats or veggies to your bunnies until 12 weeks old, and then you need to not overdo sugary things like carrots and fruit, and slowly introduce veggies. They need to always have water or they will stop eating, Any toys will need to be rabbit safe as your buns will chew them up. Toilet paper rolls, hard dried pine cones, are cheap fun toys for buns. They love cardboard boxes with crawl holes cut in them. Sometimes it's trial and error finding the kind of toy your buns like. One of mine loves this hanging rabbit chew toy with a bell on the end. It's hung on the side of his cage, and he'll stick his head under it and flips it over his back over and over. None of my other rabbits do this, they will chew on theirs though, but he doesn't, he just plays with his. I can't think of anything else right now. Here are some good veggie lists and how to introduce the veggies, when the time comes.

http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html
http://www.3bunnies.org/feeding.htm#greens

The rabbit.org website has lots of great info for new rabbit owners too.

Good luck with your new buns. They're cuties and I'm sure your girls will absolutely love them. I just love sitting and watching my rabbits play. They'll zip around the room and do their little bunny tricks, which is pretty funny to watch. Oh, if you do let them run around your house, remember rabbits are chewers. Do some bunny proofing, keep an eye on them, and keep electrical cords out of reach because they seem to be especially tempting chewing objects to buns :)

 
JBun wrote:
Usually between 4-6 months, their hormones start coming in and it is possible for them to start fighting, but they may not as well. Other reasons to consider spaying them is that unspayed/unbred females can develop uterine cancer, also the spaying helps improve litterbox habits, and decreases hormonal behavior problems like humping, false pregnancies(building nests and ripping out fur), cage aggression, and also makes their urine less smelly. You can usually get the spaying done right at 4 months, just as the hormones are starting to kick in.

Litter box training just depends on the rabbit. Some take to it right away and some not. Sometimes there are things you have to figure out if they aren't taking to it, like it could just be the kind of litter that you are using that they don't like. I had a bunny that wouldn't use her litter box, I changed the litter to aspen bedding and she loved it and would use her litter box after that. So if you are having problems, just create a new thread about it and you will get people offering different ideas on how to help.

Handling your bunnies alot between now and when your girls get them, will help them with being better with your girls holding them when the time comes. Don't let them get away with nipping now. If they do it, just discipline like their momma would by gentling but firmly pressing their head/shoulder area to the floor for a few seconds. You don't want them to get into the habit of thinking biting or nipping people is ok.

Other things that are good to know for new rabbit owners - feed unlimited plain(no added treats) alfalfa based pellets until about 6 mo. old, then you need to limit their pellets based on weight, and alot of people will also switch their adult rabbits to a timothy based pellet. If you have any poopy bum problems, you may need to limit pellets now. Also, any food changes need to be gradual over a few weeks to give your rabbits digestion time to adjust to the new food. Always feed your rabbits unlimited hay. Some people will feed their bunnies alfalfa hay until they are 6 mo. and then switch to a grass hay. I just feed my babies timothy. Sometimes if fed alfalfa only, babies can get picky about their hay when you try to switch them to grass. So I just feed mine timothy hay and just a little alfalfa. If you have a horse feed store near you, it is the cheapest way to get hay. Just call them and ask if they have bales of timothy or another grass hay. You want good horse quality hay that is green, never been wet, and doesn't have weeds. The bales are about 50 lbs + and cost about $7-20. So much cheaper then petstore bags. Make sure you use a rabbit safe litter like yesterday's news, pine pellets with no additives, aspen bedding, and kaytee soft granule bedding are a few of the ones safe for rabbits. You don't want to feed treats or veggies to your bunnies until 12 weeks old, and then you need to not overdo sugary things like carrots and fruit, and slowly introduce veggies. They need to always have water or they will stop eating, Any toys will need to be rabbit safe as your buns will chew them up. Toilet paper rolls, hard dried pine cones, are cheap fun toys for buns. They love cardboard boxes with crawl holes cut in them. Sometimes it's trial and error finding the kind of toy your buns like. One of mine loves this hanging rabbit chew toy with a bell on the end. It's hung on the side of his cage, and he'll stick his head under it and flips it over his back over and over. None of my other rabbits do this, they will chew on theirs though, but he doesn't, he just plays with his. I can't think of anything else right now. Here are some good veggie lists and how to introduce the veggies, when the time comes.

http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html
http://www.3bunnies.org/feeding.htm#greens

The rabbit.org website has lots of great info for new rabbit owners too.

Good luck with your new buns. They're cuties and I'm sure your girls will absolutely love them. I just love sitting and watching my rabbits play. They'll zip around the room and do their little bunny tricks, which is pretty funny to watch. Oh, if you do let them run around your house, remember rabbits are chewers. Do some bunny proofing, keep an eye on them, and keep electrical cords out of reach because they seem to be especially tempting chewing objects to buns :)
Thanks so much for you helpful info!!!! :)
 

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