New to the forum...

[Jenniferinny]

Hello, I'm new to the forum. Also, kinda newagain to rabbits. It's been years since I had rabbits and I justadopted two new ones a week ago from a local shelter. I know a lot hasprobably changed since I had bunnies, so, what's the current feed andbedding of choice?

My two are both spayed females, a Cali and a New Zealand black. Bothabout a year old. I used to show back in the day, but, just pets for menow..

 

[BACI]

Welcome to the forum, and welcome back to bunnymommyhood!!! Look at the home page of the forum it has a great resourcecenter and this link has tons of info. I typed a long message tellingyou what I use and barely moved my mouse and lost it so pls accept myappologies and refer to this
BUNNY 101 INTRODUCTION and INDEX

Pls feel free to start a blog where you can journal or post pics ..welove pictures. By the way, I love the ones you have already shown us.Were they bonded at the HS? I bet that makes the transition so mucheasier for them.
good luck

 

[Jenniferinny]

They were bonded at the Humane Society. Theywere part of a neglect seizure with 12 other rabbits. These two wereabout 7-8 weeks old when the shelter got them. Unfortunately, thereisn't too much demand for large breed pet rabbits, so my two were there7 months before I adopted them. They are pretty attached to each other.The New Zealand is a bit more outgoing and independent. She alreadyruns around the room for playtime and runs right up to me and pulls onmy jeans. They're both pretty sweet though, but still a bit skittish.I've only had them for 2-3 weeks.

 

[naturestee]

Welcome to the forum!

I'm in love with your New Zealand.:bunnyheart And your Calitoo- I've developed a love for big bunnies. What are theirnames?

One of my buns, Sprite, likes to tug on my pants too.

 

[Jenniferinny]

Well, I was trying to come up with a female duoto name them after. There's hardly any female duos! Anyhow, they justgot named Mary-Kate and Ashley. Not because I'm fans of them, it justseemed funny to name two big bunnies who love to eat after the olsentwins.. The Cali is Mary-Kate and the NZ is Ashley. Theydon't quite know their names yet. Just decided on them the day beforeyesterday.

 

[naturestee]

That's cute! They probably eat enough to make up for the anorexic sister.

 

[Jenniferinny]

You bet they do! Already through 10 pounds offood in 2 weeks. Yikes. They're pretty darn smart too. Ashley alreadyfigured out how to open the hay ball I got for them instead of chasingit and pulling the hay through it..

 

[naturestee]

Oh, hey I never replied to yourquestions. A basic pellet should be plain (no treats) andshould have no more than 16% protein and at least 18% fiber.Adult rabbits sometimes do better with lower protein. You canfind 15% protein "maintenance" formulas or feed timothy-based pelletslike Oxbow Bunny Basics/T (14% protein) or Kaytee Timothy Comlete(13%? I think). Pellets for adults are usuallylimited based on their size and metabolism. I go by thissite's recommendations and tweak it for each rabbit:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html

Rabbits should always have as much grass hay, such as timothy or orchard grass, as they want.

You can choose to feed vegetables, too. Leafy greens are thebest, such as romaine, parsley, cilantro, or kale. Carrotsare sugary and should be limited.

There's tons more diet info in the Bunny 101 sectionFeedingYour Rabbit

As for litter, most of us only put litter in the litter boxes once theyare trained. Cedar shavings are harmful and pine shavingmight be too. Plus they're messy as all get-out.Recycled paper products work well, such as Carefresh or Yesterday'sNews. But the really popular stuff here (and I like it too)is wood pellet bedding. It's really absorbant and is the bestI've found with controlling urine odor. There are lots ofdifferent brands both in pet stores (expensive!) or feed and farmsupply stores (much cheaper). Sometimes it's marketed forsmall animals, sometimes for horses. It all works.

Of course, there's also a Bunny 101 thread for that too:
Litter and Litter Boxes

Hope that helps!

 

[Jenniferinny]

I remembered pine and cedar were bad. I did putaspen in there.. Is that safe? I kinda gambled on the timothy versusalfalfa. Couldn't remember which, but, at least by a stroke of luck Ibought timothy. I haven't put a litter box in there yet. They didn'thave one at the shelter, so, I figured I'd let them pick a corner andthen put a hi-back corner box in. They do definitely just use onecorner. I ordered a custom tray from Damars that's 4 inches deep, so,no problems so far with the aspen.

 

[Bassetluv]

Hi Jenniferinny, welcome to the forum! Your newbunnies are gorgeous! I wanted to say thank you for adopting the two ofthem together as well...I'm sure they must both want to thank you forthat.

And you sound like me...many years ago I used to raise and showrabbits, but fell out of it due to circumstances (life, divorce,pregnancy, etc.) and never did get back in. I now have two bunnies whoare pets, but no plans on showing any more. What breed did you showback in your day?

(Oh, and as for litter, I use a litter box in each of my rabbits' cagesand put Guardian horse bedding in them. It's one of the pelletedbeddings that Naturestee mentioned. I pay around $7.00 CAD for a 40-lbbag; it's made of pine shavings compressed into pellets, but the pineoils haveall been removed in the processing to make it safefor the animals. I've also used Woody Pet in the past; they are verysimiliar and both do well in rabbit litter boxes...the only differenceI've found is that Guardian's pellets are a bit longer, perhaps a bitmore 'durable'. If you do decide to go with a wood pellet, either ofthose two are wonderful.)

~Di



***Until one has loved an animal, part of one's soul remains unawakened... - Anatole France***

 

[Jenniferinny]

I showed Holland Lops and English Angora... Iwanted to start into English Lops, and had gotten my first one when wehad a bad outbreak of pastuerellosis.. That was enough forme.. I mean, that's something you deal with when you show, and theoccasional case wasn't a big deal.. But, I ended up with nearly 20cases of pneumonia from it. Despite antibiotics, my new Elop died, 5 ofmy angoras died, and I had to have ten others euthanized who justweren't responding. The individual who brought the really sick bun tothe show brought the same carrier bun to the next one to. That's when Iquit. Though, if they ever vaccinate for it here, I'll show Elops..

 

[Bassetluv]

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that; it must have beenjust so heartbreaking for you! And maddening...to think that someonewith a known carrier would continue to expose it to other rabbits likethat, esp. at a crowded show.That's the one thing aboutshowing rabbits which is so scary...coming back with a contagion....orpurchasing a rabbit who is contagious. I did manage to escape that(fortunately) after another breeder sold me three young rabbits, all ofwhom had pasteurella. They looked fine when I went to pick them up(though she didn't let me in her barn, which should have been a clue),but by the time I'd transported them home, the stress of the tripprobably triggered the symptoms, as all three were mucousy andbeginning to sneeze when I unloaded their cages. I tried to return themto the seller, but she'd washed her hands of it, saying there had beennothing wrong with the rabbits when they left her property.Unfortunately I had to put them down, but (thankfully) nothing wastransferred to my other rabbits.

Something like that would definitely be enough to put me off of showingagain. I used to raise blue-eyed white Polish...actually was the firstone to introduce them into the province...so they were quite a noveltywhenever I went to the shows with them. Beautiful little breed, thePolish. I also had two or three Hollands at a time, and of course theodd rescue bunny (couldn't walk by a meat table without buying one totake home as a pet...LOL). Now I have amixed-breed,Anna,and an English lop, Raph. Raph waspurchased from a breeder and it turned out he had all sorts of geneticproblems...but I couldn't return him, couldn't put him through all ofthat - he was shipped in to me - so he's my big baby.

Anyway, once a rabbit lover, always a rabbit lover...I'm soglad you found the forum...now you can share pics of your babies!

~Di

***Until one has loved an animal, part of one's soul remains unawakened... - Anatole France***

 

[Jenniferinny]

The really maddening thing was knowing there wasa vaccine for it in Europe.. There still is. Why in the world we don'thave it in the US or Canada yet is beyond me. I guess I should bethrilled my vet can test for it..

 

[Bassetluv]

I just pray for the day when it is erradicated(hoping that day comes soon). I contacted many breeders in my searchfor an E-lop a couple of years ago and several had gotten out ofbreeding because of that one disease. They were tired of receivingrabbits from others who were carriers, having it show up in their herdand then losing just about all their rabbits.

Well, the two you have now look to be the picture of health! (I loveyour NZ's coat, it looks so beautiful.) How wonderful that they wererescued from a neglectful home and now have such a loving one.