Sweetheart (the broken fawn lop baby)

[Michelle Savage]

Hi everyone,

I just bought a cute baby lop bunny. The pet store is suppose to call the breeder to tell me what type of bunny she is, but if she does not get a hold of the breeder I may never know!:grumpy:This makes momma upset to no end. I won't every complain though about her cause I could notof asked for a more perfect baby for me, I love her extremely and I knew to go to the pet store that day (was destiny and I knew as soon as I saw her she was just what I was looking for).:innocent

I have lots of questions if anyone knows the answers to a little, some or all, I would be overly appreciative!ray:



1. Is a baby (around 9 weeks) rabbit safe to eat organic wheat grass? What about oats at this age?

2. What brand of saline solution is the best for my baby?

3. Is white vinegar the safest way to clean my rabbits cage, items and feet? If not what is the safest thing to use for a baby rabbit?

4. By looking at her pictures what type or types of rabbit do you think she is (she is in the photo album in the first 1 to 3 pages)?

5. Do baby bunnies need to have "draw back" (when you brush their hair the opposite way it naturally lays and it falls back to it's natural state)?

6. It looks like someone cut her whiskers (possibably while trimming her nails) or they are broken alot on one side. Will this hurt her? Do they grow back to normal?

7. Is it ok to let her kiss my face and/or lips with or without washing afterwards?

8. Shehad small eye crusties once a few days ago that don't look scary to me, but it that normal?

9. She seems to be eating about 90% of the time and looks like she grew twice her size in 1 to 2 days! Is this normal for a 8 to 9 week old lop bunny?

10. She has approx. 150 droppings a day, is this normal for a baby rabbit?

11. Can I feed her pinapple, papaya or yogurtat her age of around 9 weeks to help with the digestion of hair?

12. Is a plastic cage (with only a litterpan and litterto urinate) bad on her claws?

13. What type of chew toy/s or itemswould be safe for a baby rabbit? Also, her teeth look like they grew 2 to 3 times the size they where is just 5 days, is this normal for a 8 to 9 week old bunny?

14. I gave her about a tablespoon or so of banana the other day and then I read that you are not suppose to give rabbits fruit or veg. until they are like 4 to six 6 months old! Will she be alright, and is this true about their diet?

15. I just want her to live until she is atleast 10 years old, how else, if you have any tips/knowledge, would I help her livea long life?

Note to reader~ I am taking her to the vet this tuesday to get a check up. She seems healthy but I just want to make sure and Ihave some more questions answered. I already have a lot of questions for the vet, so if you can answer some of these questions it would be awesome, thank you all.



Also please let me know what you think of my sweet innocent baby lop. More detailed information about her is on my profile page (Michelle Savage). Thank you and please look at all her pictureswhich where posted in the photo album a think just a couple days ago (so it should be in the first 3 pages of photos in the album).

Thank you again,

Michelle and Sweetheart:biggrin:

 

[qtipthebun]

She's super cute. All I know about the breed is "lop". I'm not good at that stuff.

A few answers:
The fact that you fed her a little nanner won't kill her. Q-tip's grandmother fed her half a banana one of the first days we got her when I wasn't home! She was like "hey, the bunny likes banana!" I was like "noooo"...she's fine. Creature has a stomach of steel though...just check that she's pooping normal.

Chew toys...stuff that you can do at home....toilet paper tubes. Stuff them with hay and your bunny will flip out! Q likes wood chew toys...I find them usually in the bird section at pet stores. A paper lunch bag with hay in it works well too....Throw a few of her food pellets in there for foraging and she'll love you forever.

Q has a big cardboard box with three door holes cut in it that she loves to play with. She naps inside it, too.

Other answers...Tippy gives me kisses all the time. If you have a kissy bunny, be happy about it!! Most bunnies aren't kissers.

Eye crusties...Q gets them too sometimes. I don't really worry about it because nothing else about her seems to bother her. I figure we get sleep in our eyes, she might too.

I hope someone else can answer a few more of these....

 

[mdith4him]

I wish all new bunny owners asked as many questions as you do!! I'll try to answer the ones I can and leave others for more experienced bunny people.

2. What brand of saline solution is the best for my baby?
Out of curiosity, what are you using saline solution for? I don't have any and don't know what I would use it for with our bunnies.

3. Is white vinegar the safest way to clean my rabbits cage, items and feet? If not what is the safest thing to use for a baby rabbit?
I know vinegar is safe to use on cages and other plastic/metal items in their cage. Unless your bunny has gunk on her feet, you probably don't need to wash them. They do a pretty good job cleaning themselves

7. Is it ok to let her kiss my face and/or lips with or without washing afterwards?
I wish my bunnies would kiss my face!! I kiss them on their heads and let them sniff my face all the time; I wouldn't bother washing unless it was a particularly sloppy kiss

8. Shehad small eye crusties once a few days ago that don't look scary to me, but it that normal?
Our bunny Juniper gets these all the time! She doesn't seem bothered by them, so I think they're okay. I help her pick them off sometimes because they get matted into her fur and they don't come off when she washes her face.

9. She seems to be eating about 90% of the time and looks like she grew twice her size in 1 to 2 days! Is this normal for a 8 to 9 week old lop bunny?
They do grow pretty fast! Enjoy the tiny bun you have because she won't be that small for long!

10. She has approx. 150 droppings a day, is this normal for a baby rabbit?
I haven't actually counted droppings per day, but yes, they do poop A LOT! As long as they're pooping consistently and they are all about the same size, then things are probably okay. On a related note, I was told by the breeder we got Juniper from that rabbits will occasionally have red-tinted pee. It's not blood, just extra calcium that they're getting rid of. I've never seen this, but it's just a tid-bit in case you see it (no need to worry!).

11. Can I feed her pinapple, papaya or yogurtat her age of around 9 weeks to help with the digestion of hair?
Yogurt and any other dairy product isn't healthy for any bunny. Their systems can't process it correctly. We waited until Juniper was about 3 months old before we gave her treats, but I'm not sure if that was necessary. I think you'll get a lot of varying opinions on this.

12. Is a plastic cage (with only a litterpan and litterto urinate) bad on her claws?
It's not bad from anything I've ever heard. Their claws are pretty tough!

13. What type of chew toy/s or itemswould be safe for a baby rabbit? Also, her teeth look like they grew 2 to 3 times the size they where is just 5 days, is this normal for a 8 to 9 week old bunny?
Toilet paper or paper towel rolls are fun (you can stuff them with hay, connect them, all sorts of stuff). Any type of untreated wood product (available at pet stores). Our bunnies really like tunnels made of hay (again, at pet stores):

Oxbow Hay Tunnel

Willow Ball

Anything from the BinkyBunny store! BinkyBunny Toys

14. I gave her about a tablespoon or so of banana the other day and then I read that you are not suppose to give rabbits fruit or veg. until they are like 4 to six 6 months old! Will she be alright, and is this true about their diet?
Generally, I think it's best to hold off for awhile, but one banana bit isn't going to hurt. Like I said, we started giving fruit treats (very small and just one every day or so) when our bunnies were about 3 months.

Hope that helps!

 

[ZRabbits]

2. What brand of saline solution is the best for my baby?
Out of curiosity, what are you using saline solution for? I don't have any and don't know what I would use it for with our bunnies.


This is good to have around if your bunny should get something in their eye. Like hay or hair. It's basically to flush the eyes. I use a saline solution for contacts. I use it myself. lol Just make sure it's just saline solution and nothing with medication in it. Some eye drops do have medication, like "gets the red out".

And regarding the banana, like Meredith stated, if it's just a little, it won't harm. Just observe your bunny's poo. If it does get a little loose, just give extra hay.

The reasoning of waiting until a bunny is 6 months is that is when his/her system is fully matured. Bunnies have very delicate digestive systems which need to work around the clock. If it stops, bunnies get real sick. That's why free choice hay is given so they eat all the time and keep their systems moving.

When you are ready to introduce something new to your bunny, do it in little amounts, then wait a day or two and see how your bunny reacts before introducing a different veggie or fruit. This helps you to tell which veggie gives what reaction.



15. I just want her to live until she is atleast 10 years old, how else, if you have any tips/knowledge, would I help her livea long life?

Well going to the Vet to get her checked out is a very good start. Plus spaying your female is another good way to give her a long life. Intact females, not being bred, can get cancer. Also, false pregnancy can occur due to hormones raging. I think any rabbit, male or female, not being bred, should be neutered/spayed. It takes away that drive to procreate and allows them to relax and be a bunny companion to you or another bunny if you wish. That's just my opinion.



Wishing you luck with your new bunny. Babies do grow up fast. Enjoy every day with her and you can watch that personality shine through! That's the best part!



K

 

[mdith4him]

One note on the willow ball I mentioned above: on the inside, there are two walnuts. It takes our bunnies awhile to get to them, but once they fall out, we take them away. From what I've read, bunnies shouldn't eat nuts. Other than that, the willow balls are a lot of fun for them!

Thanks for the info on the saline solution. I know people use it for contacts and flushing eyes, but I didn't realize you could use it on bunnies!

 

[Michelle Savage]

Thank you all so much for the help. I have been doing hours and hours of research online and reading a book to learn and have found some info. but sometimes people say different things, or it is not meant for baby rabbits or of course just not finding the anwers I needed, so thank you all for helping me find some answers. I think maybe I am a little over concernced do to reading the fagile state of bunnnies online and having a wild bunny die after I gave it to someone to take care of it (who knew more than me at the time). Anyway, thank you all so much.