Some stupid questions...

[Tinto]

Sorry guys, I am sure many people asked and replied about this elsewhere but I have several doubts and questions about how to take care of my bunny. If you don't mind, I'd be glad to hear some advice...

1) Everybody says that bunnies need unlimited amount of hay all the time... BUT, what should I do with the left overs??? I replenish fresh hay almost every day, and of course my rabbit prefers that one over the yellow and dry hay from the precedent days. Do you just throw that away or wait until he eats everything first?? It looks to me a vaste throwing everything away, but I want him to eat hay in some way...

2) It seems to me that my bunny likes the pellets more than hay. I heard hay should be the main part of his diet. Should I ignore him when he looks for his pellets or seems asking for them. Is it better to serve them just in limited amount in the morning and in the evening?? What about veggies? Once or twice a day?

3) I wrote recently about the problem with chewing on pen wires. Can it be a way to ask for my attention? But sometimes he does that no matter whether I am with him inside his area (he also might be wanting to send me away...) or whether I am outside doing my stuff (in that case he could be calling me to come inside). I got an idea that instead of screaming or spraying water on him, I could try to pick him up every time when he starts biting the wires, which of course he doesn't like. Maybe in this way he will instinctively remember that he will be picked up always when he chews on wires. What do you guys think about this idea?

4) My biggest worry is about how to cut his nails. I should probably take him to the vet, but still picking him up is a great challenge. He even squeaks (?) every time when I pick him up in order to place him back to the cage etc. Usually he seems to like me and not being particularly anxious in my presence. He would even eat directly from my hand.

5) Finally, what about vacation when I need to travel. I heard that rabbits don't like traveling, nor do they fit easily into new environment. Can I put him for several days to a kind of pet hotel (actually, connected with the veterinary clinic)? Will he freak out during the stay? Or will he get accustomed once he's back home? Does anybody have experience with temporary changing place for his or her bunny???

I am sorry for my English. Hopefully, everything is understandable...

 

[Bailey ❤️]

Konnichi wa! Your bunny sugoy kawaii desu!!! I see you are in Japan! We lived there for the last six years before moving to Hawaii! But my Japanese is bad....your English is waaayyyy better than my Japanese, lol!!

About your bunny.....

I have a new bunny too. She is ten weeks old now. She is our second bunny. Our first, Bailey, she died after getting GI stasis from eating some leaves on a walk at the park. She was only about 17 weeks old. It just about killed my soul. But we have Hazel now, and she is our little sunshine bunny!!

I make sure Hazel has fresh hay all day, every day. She does get pellets too, but only a half a large scoop in the morning, and the other half at night. They are Timothy Hay-based pellets, so it’s like she’s eating hay still. Try not to use the soy or corn-based pellets....they’re not good for their tummies. As for veggies, I give her fresh veggies every night for bonding time. Sometimes I bring her a “treat” of extra greens during the day, but it’s mostly at night.

Enjoy your time with your little bun...these are sweet and precious moments!

 

[Hermelin]

1) I often let the old hay be in the box and fill up with fresh hay. My rabbits will eat both but prefer the new hay over the old. Every week I clean the whole cage and that’s when I throw away all the old hay which might still be in the hay rack before filling up again. Rabbits will pick and choose what hay they eat.

2) Your rabbit aren’t starving, it’s like letting a small kid choice between favorit snack or normal healthy food. So just ignore him when he look for pellets. He will later go to the hay and eat. For example my free roaming rabbit will always beg for treats but if he’s ignored he will go eat hay. But it’s better trying to get some treats than eating hay. Pellets are supposed to be limited, I give my rabbits only pellets in the morning. 4 tsp for my giant rabbit and 1 tsp for my holland lop so it’s not much. Both my rabbits dosen’t need more. My indoor rabbit get no pellets because he often get treats from my parents. Rabbits are supposed to get daily veggies if you can provide with it.

3) It can be attention or he need more stimulation, All my rabbits will bite the wires when they want to be let out and run, get excited or wants attention. For example telling “hey I’m here, give me attention” but never give attention when he does it, it might make him learn a bad habit. But if it’s under stimulation, try let him run out from the cage a few hours, have more toys, instead of giving food in a bowl make it a challenge/ play to get the food.

4) you can train your rabbit to tolerate being picked up for short periods but that takes a lot of time but it will work, of you have patience and time. Have 3 rabbits, all of them can be picked up and held calmly in the arms, two will give kisses while one of them might fall asleep but all my rabbits want to be handle differently when being picked up.

But no one of them like getting their claws trimmed. For me it helps being two people, one holding the rabbit while the other trims the claws. But I go to the vet with my cowardly bun because he might bite.

5) It all depends on how the clinic it’s. When I just go away 5-6 hours car drive I take my rabbits with me but if it’s out of the country I just check them into a rabbit hotel. At least my rabbits handle it well they often only take a day for them to adapt then they are fine.

One of my rabbit it’s used with spending hours in travel cage and being in cars, trains and so on. In the beginning, he was scared but now he often sleep in travel cage and loves people. He will give anyone he sees kisses and want to jump up into their knees.

Spend as much time your can with your bun, and you will get a lovely bond.

 

[Bailey ❤️]

Ahhh yes, with the old hay....I just repurpose it for the lower layer of the litter pan. It’s switched out for fresh hay every morning when I let my bun out to play as I clean her little condo. Hope that helps!

 

[Blue eyes]

You've already received some good suggestions. I just wanted to add that wasted hay is to be expected. It is just part of having a bunny. If you can buy it in bulk or by the bale, it makes it easier on your conscience to "waste" it.

As for pellets, rabbits under 6 or 7 months of age should only get a small measured amount. An average size rabbit should get just 1/4 cup per day. You can divide that into two feedings or keep it to one. Doesn't really matter. But it is a good idea to be consistent since they like routine.

The greens should be fed daily too. Again, once or twice per day is up to you. But greens need to be introduced carefully -- one type at a time and just a little bit of any new type. Gradually you will work up to about 2-4 cups of daily greens. This page shows how to go about introducing greens safely and has a list of types too.

 

[samoth]

5) Finally, what about vacation when I need to travel. I heard that rabbits don't like traveling, nor do they fit easily into new environment. Can I put him for several days to a kind of pet hotel (actually, connected with the veterinary clinic)? Will he freak out during the stay? Or will he get accustomed once he's back home? Does anybody have experience with temporary changing place for his or her bunny???

I board mine at the vet clinic when I visit family for holidays. I bought a large cage that still fits into the back seat of my car, and leave a week's worth of food, hay, bedding, etc. at the clinic.

Boarding is kind of expensive, but the alternative in my case is driving with my rabbits for 6 hours through city rush hour traffic. I choose to board them instead of putting them through that.

My rabbits have always done well during their boarding esperiences (usually for 7 days). They're happy to get home when it's done with, though. I've had no issues with the temporary change, and have done it several times at two different places.

 

[Tinto]

Thank you guys for kindly responding to me. Well, my English is as it is, I live in Japan but I am not Japanese either...

Tomorrow I will undergo the challenge of trimming Tinto's nails at the vet's. I also plan to inquire about boarding possibilities, since I have to do a business trip in April for a couple of days.

I am really new to this, so sometimes I get nervous because I don't know how to act and how to handle my bun. Of course, I don't want to hurt him, and I don't want that he dislikes me, but on the other hand, I would like if he respects me and trusts me.

There is another thing I have doubts about. What do you do with bathing? I tried special wet towels for pets which worked at the beginning when Tinto was still rather cowardly, but now he apparently fears or hates them. Is it okay not to shower or bath your rabbit at all????

Thank you again for your advice and emotional support!!!

 

[Popsicles]

Rabbits shouldn’t need bathing at all, they keep themselves very clean. The only time you might need to just wipe them over would be if they have been standing in their urine (which would mean you need more absorptive litter) or not been eating caecotropes and getting a poopy bum, which can occur for a variety of reasons.
Has your bunny actually been dirty that you need to clean him?

 

[Binkis Mum]

I give fresh hay every day, and add it to the old hay, until I clean the litter, then I put the old hay in there. Mine prefers eating pellets, and usually prefers chewing cardboard to hay. The only time she chews on her fence is when she doesnt want it there! If I have put up a pen for some reason, she tries to knock it down and chews on it. Mine hated being picked up, but I find she is less stressed by it after being spayed? I found this person to have really good videos on nail trimming

 

[Tinto]

I really appreciate all of your responses... They have been so helpful

Yesterday, we underwent the adventure of our first nail trimming. I was pretty chill. I had to trick Tinto to get into the carry bag (which was new for him). At the vet's waiting room he was freaking out, probably because of various noises and smell of other animals. The trimming itself was quick, but I admired the stuff how they can resist his moving and shaking. His nails are black, so unfortunately I'll never have courage to cut it by myself. Obviously, he was pretty upset afterwards and refused even to take from me his dry fruit treats for a couple of hours. But fortunately, the mission has been accomplished... The next thrill will be in around two months xD

As for the bathing, I was just wondering what other people do with it. I have the impression that rabbits are very clean indeed. But I worried if he's not itchy, because he keeps scratching and cleaning his fur practically every free moment, when he's not eating or sleeping or running around. But now I understood that that's probably normal and I don't need to help him with cleaning himself

 

[JBun]

Like said, rabbits don't need bathing. They are very clean animals and constantly grooming themselves to stay that way, and bathing can be potentially dangerous for them. There is the risk of hypothermia occurring, and in some instances the stress and shock of bathing can induce a cardiac arrest.

If a rabbit is getting a messy bum, then it indicates a problem that needs to be addressed, usually a health problem or cleanliness of their environment. In very rare instances a butt bath may be necessary when other dry methods of cleaning them up won't work, but should only be done when absolutely necessary. At the same time addressing the issue that caused the rabbit to get a dirty bottom in the first place.

As for pellets, rabbits under 6 or 7 months of age should only get a small measured amount. An average size rabbit should get just 1/4 cup per day. You can divide that into two feedings or keep it to one. Doesn't really matter. But it is a good idea to be consistent since they like routine.

I'm guessing you meant to type 'rabbits over 6 or 7 months'.

 

[Blue eyes]

I'm guessing you meant to type 'rabbits over 6 or 7 months'.

Oh, yes, indeed! Are you, as a moderator, able to correct that? I definitely mistyped there.

 

[Tinto]

Oh, yes, indeed! Are you, as a moderator, able to correct that? I definitely mistyped there.

Sorry, I tried but I don't really know how to correct it...

 

[samoth]

Thank you guys for kindly responding to me. Well, my English is as it is, I live in Japan but I am not Japanese either...

I wish I had the opportunity to immerse myself in another country/language when I was younger. Learning from a book in college or afterward is nothing like actually being around the language.

There is another thing I have doubts about. What do you do with bathing? I tried special wet towels for pets which worked at the beginning when Tinto was still rather cowardly, but now he apparently fears or hates them. Is it okay not to shower or bath your rabbit at all????

As others said, it's not necessary to bathe rabbits on a routine basis. They're very clean animals.

That said, sometimes you need to bathe them for health/medical reasons. For example, my doe has had issues with hypercalciuria and developed matted cecotropes. I needed to clean her backside, but I didn't want to shock her by giving her an actual bath and submerging her in water -- I just needed to clean the fur around her butt.

To do this, I set her in a padded area in the kitchen sink facing away from me, and used one hand to lift the front of her body towards me. I then took cups of lukewarm, slightly soapy water from a secondary container with the other hand and gently rinsed her butt area from a ventral position. The sink was set up in a way to drain the water I used to wash her, so she was never in standing water. I cleaned her up as much as I could, rinsed the soap out with a few cups of lukewarm water, and tried to pat-dry her backside with paper towels as much as possible.

Hopefully your rabbit is healthy and you never have to worry about giving him a bath But if for whatever reason it's needed, just take care to have a targetted plan to safely clean him where he needs cleaning; a full bath or shower would not make for a happy bunny.