Treat question

[quarinteen]

I got a baby rabbit for my daughter.It is awesome its like a combination of a cat and a dog. Extremly friendly comes to you if you sit on the floor. Likes to play. I have a question about a treat though I have read what good for them and whats not but not sure if some things in very small amounts are ok. I would not make it a staple but we have given this guy a couple small bits of rice drispy treats. The thing loves it. Makes it go crazy it funny as hell to watch, but is this ok? Will it make it sick? when I say small amounts I mean like 2-3 peices about the size of a choclate chip a day. Any input would help.

 

[cwolfec]

Rabbits are so great, aren't they?!

I wouldn't feed him rice crispy treats because of the marshmallow and butters and lord knows what else... You could give him regular rice crispies, or maybe cheerios (I've heard those are good treats), or rolled oats!

 

[quarinteen]

yeah he is great. I had one as a child my self he was about a 30 pound white rabbit. I did not ask for it and i did not want it. It was horrible. He bit and crapped everywhere. I was not allowed to take him out of the cage because he crapped everywhere and my aunt didnt like it. But I am older now. Live alone and work from home. This guy is like 9 weeks old since im home all the time i leave his cage on the floor and open he seems to go to the bathroom in it and not on my floor. Talk about a personality as well this thing is funny as hell. Its too bad about the rice cripsy treats he loves them when you feed him a piece after he is done he will climb in your lap and jump around sniffing for more and then follow you around for about 20 minutes expecting you to drop some more. It is the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. I never thought of rabbits as being this social I have always thought of them like the one I had as a child. It was like a giant rat. No personality, would bite you and crapped everywhere. This guy is like a dog in the fact he comes when you call and is really smart and it seems like he wants to please you. He is also like a cat in the way he plays with things. Balls, strings, strips of papper lol.. Oh well maybe I can find something else he responds to like the rice cripsy treats. Its like catnip to him.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

If a bunny has a good personality and is socialized and handled as a kit, they are the greatest companion--way more social than any other house pet. Just be ready to neuter as your little fur ball will become a hormonal vexation when the "teen" phase starts. Sounds like you got a perfect bunny. We have a 19 pound Checkered Giant that is a lap bunny. We do give ours bunny oriented treats--carrot slims, raviolos, yogurt chips and such. In very small amounts though. Once your bunny is older, you can also use veggies and herbs too. I like what Dr Dean Edell said one time=="You can follow a strict diet and exercise all your life and maybe add 3 or 4 years to your time here, but it will be a very boring life". He was for things in moderation rather than being an ascetic.

 

[quarinteen]

Yeah I am already planning on getting her spaid or him nutered. Not sure if its a boy or a girl. What age should I do this at? I have always had my animals "fixed" except my reptiles.

 

[quarinteen]

also the pet shop guy told me it was a dutch dwarf? I never believe those people they always mis inform just to sell things. He knew I wanted something that would stay small. He said this bunny wouldnt get more the 5 lbs and stay small. How can I ensure this is what he said it was? I dont know rabbits. He could have told me it was a miniture moon bunny from alaska that shrinks and grows with his environment and I wouldnt know the difference.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Congrats on the bunny! How old is it? I think that should be the first question before decided whether or not it should have treats. The rice crispy treats wouldn't be good no matter what due to marshmallow, butter etc. but as others said eventually, maybe a few cheerios.

You could post a picture of him here and we might be able to tell you what type he is. Sounds liek a cutie

 

[agnesthelion]

Aww congrats on your new bunny. They are fabulous little creatures Agnes also follows me around and sits on my lap. They are very social and have way more personality than the average person gives them credit for.

A couple tips though. As people have said, avoid rice krispies. Baby buns can get mushy or runny poop very easily. It is a mess. I waited until 3 months to introduce treats/ veggies. Agnes loves blueberries. She didn't as a baby but pretty much attacks me for them now

Start litter training now. I know you mentioned bunny going in the cage but do you have a litterbox in there? If not, start now. Agnes, like most buns on here, is fully litter trained like a cat. Don't use cat litter though, it's bad for a bun.

Make sure bunny gets pellets and hay. Either Timothy or alfalfa as a baby.

Yes, be ready to get him or her neutered or spayed. Teenage stage (4-6mths) can be a pain. Males can spray, mark, hump, females can getgrumpy, also mark and pee. Fixing makes them overall better pets and they smell better too!

Congrats again and post pics!

 

[Ellie]

Congrats!
You could also try giving raisins when they're old enough. Buster goes CRAZY for raisins! I give him half of one when it's time to go to bed and he goes RIGHT into his cage... no problems at all!

 

[quarinteen]

He / She is 9 weeks old. What do I use as substrait in the litter box?

 

[Imbrium]

care fresh bedding, wood pellets, any sort of commercial small animal litter, etc. basically anything but wood shavings or clay cat litter (both clumping and non-clumping) - the wood shavings can make them quite sick and the cat littler can cause GI obstructions if they ingest some.

I'd wait until 12 weeks for treats. yes, it sucks that they're stuck with hay and pellets that long, but just wait until you can try fruits and veggies! mine are 13 and 14 weeks and they're SO cute when nomming veggies. their favorite treat so far is banana, I give them each half of a thin slice a couple times a week

link to an article on rabbit sexing (9 weeks is old enough that it's possible to tell what gender it is) - http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/sexing.shtml

 

[ldoerr]

Shiny Things LOVES raisins. Beauty will not eat from my hand so she does not get them. For bedding in the litter box I use Kaytee Soft Granule Blend. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JLPIWU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20. It really helps with the smell. Petco sells it cheaper some times. It comes in a bunch of scents that are perfect for small animals. When I had mice I used the Lavender scent, PERFECT. I want to try the mint scent as well.

I agree that you should not give your rabbit rice krispy treats.

 

[quarinteen]

So can anyone tell me what kind of rabbit this is and how big it will get?

 

[missyscove]

I'm not a breed expert, but that does look like the typical dutch pattern. It's also hard to tell from above; a better picture would be from the side.

That said, I had a female dutch and she was about 4 lbs.

 

[ldoerr]

Looks like a dutch to me as well.

 

[BunBuns Human]

Imbrium wrote:

their favorite treat so far is banana, I give them each half of a thin slice a couple times a week

Yeah, banana is rabbit crack. The lads will typically get half of a fat slice 5-15 times a day. They do not like it when I run out of banana. When I get 5-15 pounds of marked down bananas for $0.29/lb, the lads are in heaven.

They also have a thing for carrots and oatmeal. Booger is sweet on raisins.

Peaches, pears and apples go over well too.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

A dutch and will probably be around 5 pounds. You can use kiln dried pine--we get ours a WalMart--and the kiln drying removes the phenols from the pine. Can't use Cedar as it's way too high in phenols even for the kiln method. We get treats from Fosters and Smith--raviolos, carrot slims, healthy bit, yogurt drops, etc.

 

[BunBuns Human]

Forgot to add, but I am not a fan of giving them processed foods as a treat. You simply do not know if there is too much salt or other additives in there.

Not only are natural foods like bananas cheaper, they are well, NATURAL. And anyway, bananas are RABBIT CRACK.

If you are new to bunnies, I highly recommend this site:

ldoerr wrote:

Looks like a dutch to me as well.

Looks a lot like Booger to me. So does Booger appear to be a Heinz 57 mongrel dwarf or a poorly marked Dutch?


[flash=425,344]https://www.youtube.comv/=DB1sbdbTdwI&feature=plcp&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

 

[BunBuns Human]

Well, since the movie isn't loading, let's do this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB1sbdbTdwI&feature=plcp

 

[missyscove]

BunBuns Human, Booger does look like he could be a poorly marked dutch.

I offer a range of treats. We end up sharing a lot of produce. Sometimes Timmy gets about 1/4 of a baby carrot if I'm having some as a snack. He'll get maybe a grape-sized piece of the end of my banana if I'm having one. He always gets the tops of my strawberries.
I also have some commercial treats including some Purina "veggie bites" and several varieties of Oxbow treats. He also thinks his pellets themselves are treats.
I never offer him more than maybe 5 treats in total over the span of the day as the sugar really isn't good for them.