New to bunnies

[animalsRbetter]

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum, but I have had excellent results using forums with my other new pets, so I'm hoping to get similar results from this forum and provide a happy, healthy home for our new bunny addition! So here's my story:
First of all, avid animal lover. I grew up with dogs, moved on to cats when I moved out on my own, and I've recently expanded into reptiles in more recent years (bearded dragon and tortoise forums are what I utilize currently, and are SUPER HELPFUL!)
Right now, we currently have three cats (indoor), and in a bedroom the cats can't get into, we have the reptiles. That was until today anyway....
My boyfriend and I went to this animal expo to tag along with a friend of mine who was going to get a couple aquatic turtles there. That was when we found this bunny (or rabbit?? Is there a distinction???) at one of the vendor's tables in a cage smaller than a shoebox. It was heartbreaking! Needless to say, within 5 minutes we decided we had the space for this bunny and we needed to liberate it from its current situation. So, we quickly buy the bunny, buy some basic supplies from another vendor, and brought him home.
I have read little bits and pieces on the internet, and I will be going through the bunnies 101 area on this site to determine diet, etc. And he/she will be going to the vet this week to determine sex and age of our new friend. I would like to go over what I currently have for his new home, and any pointers would be much obliged.
We found a 30"x20"x20"tall bunny cage at the event, I put newspaper down on the grate bottom to determine where to attempt to put a litter box (how big should that be ideally??), I cut a plastic container and put it upside down as a little bunny house, and we have Timothy hay, pellet food (sorry I don't have brands, they came from a vendor at the event) and I plan to feed him whatever greens I have on hand daily as well. The room he is in (which was formally my reptile room, I'm thinking of renaming it the fluffy reptile room now, ha!) Stays closer to 75-80F during the day with all of the reptile lights, but drops to 65-70F during the night.
We do hope to make him/her more of a free range bunny in the fluffy reptile room (not with kitties) once we him/her litter box trained.
All that said, thank you for taking the time to read my essay! Any pointers and answers to questions would be greatly appreciated!!
Sorry for the long post!!!!

 

[BlackMiniRex]

Welcome to the forum!
Pictures of your bunny?
how old is your rabbit? What breed is it? your rabbit's diet should consist mainly of hay. your rabbit should get unlimited access to hay. Rabbit's teeth are always growing so it's good to provide it with plenty of toys. (rabbit chew toys you can find at pet stores or just untreated wood you could find lying around your house) paper towel rolls make great toys too, along with anything that's cardboard Lol there are tons of DIY rabbit toys all over the internet
you'll probably want to start litter training as well if you are going to free range your bunny in the future. Litter training is fairly easy as long as your rabbit is fixed. It helps if you have the hay in the litter box (or above it on a hay rack) I advise you use a cat litter box (I just use a regular plastic bucket) instead of a litter box made for rabbits, since those are generally too small.
here are some links to some very helpful websites about caring for your bunny:
http://myhouserabbit.com/
http://rabbit.org/


Have fun with your new bunny

 

[Ivythelionhead]

First of all congrats on your new furbaby and welcome to the forum also in regards to the litre box it depends really my litre box which I found at a dollar store and was ment to be used for cats is big enough for my rabbits food bowl to fit in and big enough so that my rabbits water bottle can hangover top of it. Iris my rabbit is a mini Rex so she's quite small and the litre box is big enough for her to be able to use the box comfortably, I say as long as your bunny can fit in it and is able to go to the bathroom comfortably then that's good enough.

 

[Ivythelionhead]

Also toys make sure he or she has lots of toys to play with mainly ones that your bunny can chew on it's good for there teeth also rabbits also enjoy toys they can throw around or push around, hay is also very Important especially for the digestion so make sure bunny has lots of hay always, also pictures please.

 

[Azerane]

Hi there and welcome to the wonderfully challenging world of bunny ownership Rabbits and bunnies are the same thing. Bunny is just the cute name for them

Chances are your bunny will very quickly outgrow it's cage. They need a lot of space in their cage, and also access to an area they can run around in for at least 4 hours daily. Puppy play pens are good for both cages and play areas, although you need to be sure you don't have a jumper or a climber. If you're into DIY, NIC or C&C cages made out of wire storage cubes are popular and versatile. I have one myself. In regards to your reptile room 80F is fine, rabbits do better in cooler temperatures, but 80 won't lead to heat stress or anything like that. And you can always provide a frozen water bottle for bun to relax against if you feel he/she may be too warm. If you do allow your rabbit access to the room to run around in, you MUST protect your electrical cables. Most rabbit will chew through any electrical cables they can find. So secure them behind furniture, protect them with cord covers. Do whatever you need to do to keep your rabbit safe, and your reptiles safe from losing their heat lamps.

In regards to litter training, it's fairly straight forward although some bunnies aren't very good with it until they are desexed, some are ok until then. A good sized cat litter pan will do, some people use under bed storage trays. Bunnies love to poop while they eat, so a litter tray that can fit bunny and a pile of hay at one end are great (keep in mind bunny needs lots of room to grow). Wood pellet litter is great, some people like to use recycled paper pellet litter. Never use a clumping cat litter or clay based litters etc for rabbits. Rabbits tend to pick a corner to go in, once you know where that is, just place the tray there and you shouldn't have too many troubles. Avoid putting bedding in the rest of the cage as well, as that can just cause confusion as to where to go. A fleece blanket can be used as bedding, but some like to pee on those too so would be better introduced after toilet training if it's causing problems.

If he/she is still young. Take it easy on the greens, they don't always tolerate them well at a young age if they weren't introduced to it while weaning. When you do start to feed greens, one at a time over the course of a week, start with a small piece and gradually increase the size. Rabbits are hind gut fermenters, so anything too rich, or too suddenly new in their diet can cause an imbalance of the bacteria in the gut and lead to messy poops, gas, and GI Stasis (highly recommend you read about that one). Iceberg lettuce is a huge no, no. Romaine and other green and red leaf varieties of lettuce are fine. Hay is the best and most important part of the diet, both to keep the gut moving and for tooth wear (their teeth never stop growing). 1/4 cup pellets per day should be plenty for a small rabbit, though can probably feed up to 1/2 cup for a growing bun.

And just as an additional note on health and spotting illnesses. Rabbits are grazers and eat most of the day, if they stop eating or pooping for 12 hours or more it's generally considered an emergency situation. Poops should also be round, firm and uniform in size and shape. They do fecal poops, the round ones, and cecal poops which kind of look like a long blackberry cluster. The cecal poops usually get eaten straight from the bum. A change in shape, frequency, amount or consistency of either kind of poop is often an early indication of illness or pain etc.

 

[animalsRbetter]

Thank you everyone for all of the info! I'm feeling much better about bunny ownership, we've got some cardboard for him currently, I'm going to go look at bunny toys this morning. My boyfriend will be cleaning up this room this afternoon, until then, we're going to have closely monitored out of cage time. I have a vet visit later this week, and we'll know more about his(or her) specifics. I don't think he's young though, simply because the vendor had a bunch of younger looking bunnies all in one container, and this poor little guy was secluded all by himself. Still, I'll limit the greens until we know for sure. I've got some pictures of his setup (we'll get him something bigger very quickly here) and of his cute little self that I'll attach. All we've determined is he's a lop-eared bunny (maybe a dwarf???)
Just a few more random questions
...Sorry!
Do they need any kind of nutritional supplements or special lighting? I need all of this for my reptiles, but not for my cats (obviously) so I'm hoping bunnies are some.kind of happy medium between traditional pets and reptiles, cause my reptiles are going to be quite pricey over their lifespan (not complaining! I still love my not fluffy guys!)
Also, are there any noises he makes that I should be concerned about? Not that he makes much noise, but while he's running around the room with me this morning, I've noticed a kind of maybe raspy noise when he stops hopping around for a second, then again, I would maybe describe it as a digestion noise possibly too, he's got some greens and fruits and hay in the center of the room he's munching on.
Thanks again for any help pointers not already stated, we do really appreciate it!

 

[animalsRbetter]

So what we've got in the cage (I know it's kind of hard to see) is a water container with a bottle attached, a container with hay, and the white dish has pellet food. then the blue thing is an attempted bunny house I made last night when we made it home

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[stevesmum]

You did a nice job My one tip would be to place it on the floor so he can come and go as he pleases when it's exercise time. Bunnies prefer that.

 

[Blue eyes]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Azarene covered a lot of the basics.

One important note is to cut waaay back on the fruit. Just one slice of one strawberry is the max to be offered on any given day. Fruits are considered treats (carrots also fall into the treat category because of high sugar content). So the general rule of thumb is just 1 tbsp of "treat" each day and only if your bunny happens to tolerate 1 tbsp per day.

So if bunny gets one apple slice one day, then he should not get any other treat that same day -- no other fruit or carrot.

They don't need any nutritional supplements or special lighting.

This page shows how to set up a litter box.

 

[Aki]

I agree with everyone. (S)He's a Holland Lop. I've got one too (a blue otter ^^).
Knowing his gender is important. I don't know if it was said, I didn't have the courage to read the whole thing, but if it's a girl you will have to get her spayed. It is imperative. I'm insisting because intact does have over 80% of risks of getting uterine or ovarian cancer, cutting their life expectancy in half (not even talking about mastitis and other problems). Speak to the vet about it when you see them, try to know also if the vet has experience with rabbits - finding a good rabbit vet is not easy and it's best to pick one when your rabbit is healthy, as health matters tend to go downhill really quickly (like really quickly : I give myself a window of half an hour between 'noticing something is wrong with the bunny' and 'calling the vet asking for an appointment NOW').

About the diet. A good rabbit diet is hay first. The rabbit should eat his body in hay every day. It is really important (not enough hay will cause lots of dental and digestive problems, some being permanent like maloclusion or life threatening, like gut stasis). Then, he eats about 8% of his body in vegetables with 2/3 of leafy greens and 1/3 of hard vegetables (like parsnip or Jerusalem artichoke) everyday. Then about 2% of his weight in pellets (good grainless, without molasses pellets like Sherwood's or something). NO supplement. I don't give treats or fruits either - rabbits get fat easily, sugar doesn't help with stasis, they don't need them and they won't miss what they don't know. Nevertheless, tons of people give them and there is no harm in giving a small slice of apple or a piece of strawberry. But NO commercial treats, ever. They are all bad. A tree branch like hazelnut or apple tree is actually the best if you can get that - it keeps the rabbit occupied for a long time and isn't fattening.

Here's a good list of vegetables :
http://rabbit.org/suggested-vegetables/

I second the suggestion you actually read that entire website. The information is really reliable, and I think all new bunny owners should read it (preferably before getting a rabbit) as it covers about everything. Of course, if you need more details afterwards, don't hesitate to ask here.

 

[Ivythelionhead]

He or she is gorgeous and definitely a lop. Rabbits don't need any special lighting like reptiles do or any special supplements.

 

[Azerane]

Regarding his cage set up, he is going to need much more hay than what you have in there. Most rabbits should eat a pile at least the size of their body every day. Not sure if it's been mentioned, but their food should be roughly 80% hay, 15% leafy greens, 5% pellets and treats.

Have you put tape around the edge of the plastic container where you have cut it? Just be very careful, some rabbits love to chew tape and it can cause serious GI issues if ingested.

He/she is very cute. Certainly not very young, but still looks young-ish to my eyes, less than a year old.

 

[animalsRbetter]

We just got back from the vet. Regarding the vet herself, I think she's a very well educated competent vet. She's taken care of all of my pets so far and I trust her very much. The vet mentioned the percentages of different foodstuffs. I've given him 1/4 cup of pellets, just a handful of veggies in the morning, and I replenish his hay 2-3 times a day since sometimes he goes to the bathroom in there, I don't want to waste all that hay.
We also believe he's nuetered, which was a bonus for me, around 2 years old we're guessing, and he seems to be in good health but he could weigh a bit more (I believe he was 2.45 pounds). Is there any higher calorie foods (brands, I guess) I could give him to up his weight, or should I maybe just wait and see if he bulks up a bit under our care??
Also regarding brands: I was hoping to get a dry shampoo that could get rid of the yellowing on his paws that I think is from just sitting in his own filth, is there a brand that anyone prefers?
Regarding my homemade bunny house, I have since removed it since he didn't seem to care for it or have a need for it since he wants to see what's going on at all times. Quite the curious bunny! Also, we've chosen to name HIM Abe, now that we've got all that straightened out!
Thank you all for the advice and support! It's been very much appreciated!!!

 

[Ivythelionhead]

It's nice that he's neutered already for you one less this you have worry about and Abe is an excellent name, I'd wait and see if you guys can get him to gain a bit more weight before moving to another food just because changing food sometimes can be very radical to a bunnies digestive system and maybe he won't need it anyway, as for shampoo I'm sure there some kids shampoo you could use but I've never used shampoo or washed my bunny before so I'm not sure, good luck with Abe, may he live a long happy life with you guys.

 

[Azerane]

It's good that he's doing well, he'll probably bulk up under your care on a correct diet. Providing you do frequently replenish the hay is should be ok. I provide a large pile 3 times a day, a little of it gets wasted, but most of it gets eaten and I always top it up before it runs out.

Regarding the dry shampoo. I don't have any recommendations. My white boy had stained feet also when I got him. I found the worst of the staining went away within a month and any remaining stains went away with his next moult. I didn't bother to wash him even though he had a little staining on his side and well and smelled a little like pee (probably from laying in his litter tray previously).

 

[Blue eyes]

If the hay is added 2-3 times per day, that will keep bunny off of soiled hay. One really should expect wasted hay. If you buy it in bulk (by the bale or half bale) it is infinitely cheaper. I buy hay by the bale and for two bunnies it averaged about $2 per month for hay! And I am super generous with the hay.

Once your bunny is eating a good diet and getting plenty of refills of hay, he will likely get to an ideal weight and will also be able to adequately clean himself. My white pawed bunnies all kept their paws white because those additions of hay kept their paws off of soiled litter.

Rabbits are really good at self-grooming. Just give him time.

 

[Maxi]

Hi animalsRbetter!
I just wrote some information here online, and lost my writing. I will go offline and compose myself with the help of a word document, so that I can copy and paste the text here. It will take me half an hour to one hour. I see that you are online, so I will definitely come back here.

Six months ago I was given a small rabbit to take care of, and I will write for you from that experience. I have read what has been written here, but I have not been able to cover the whole 1000 pages existing on the forum, so I hope that if I write something already existing it will not be frowned upon, too much.

Sonya