Hello hello :)

Hi there, I've been reading this site for a while (as well as the rest of the internet's rabbit corner) and thought I'd sign up as I'm sure to still have plenty of questions as a new rabbit owner! We got our baby French Lop bunny last week and he's been doing pretty good so far. We're getting him used to being handled as he doesn't seem to be scared much. I even managed to trim his nails already (without trancing)!

Our cats are curious as to what this new hopping furball is, they're rather confused and still a bit cautious. Our bunny Fudge knows no fear though and hops around like he owns the place! He loves his "cage" though, which is actually just a pen as we want to eventually make him a free-range house rabbit. Most of the day he just lies in there with the door open, preferably on a pack of ice since it's been so hot here.. Are rabbits always this chilled out, or is it just the heat? He will also stick his front feet in his water bowl and just sit there... Is that normal?

I'm still very careful with him outside the pen, as we haven't finished bunny-proofing the house yet and obviously he hasn't had much training either. He always pees in the litterbox unless he's out and something scares him. He still poops half the time all over his pen, but mostly at night it seems? I thought that was weird..

This morning though, I wake up to a hopping sound under the bed and 2 big-eyed cats on both ends of the room. Turns out our not-so-tiny bunny jumped over his pen so he could explore :l I put an emergency roof made from a cardboard box (I know...) over it now so I'm hoping that will do it at least until we can rabbit-proof the house. I was scared he might have eaten some of the kitty litter in the bathroom, but he eats and poops like normal, so I think we're good for now, phew!

Also, I was wondering what would be a good age to start leash training? It's been hard training him in general as we can't really give him any treats since he's so young. His breeder gave them oats occasionally so that's what we're using now, but he doesn't go crazy over them..


Any way I could get the picture to show bigger?

welcome to the site .....

Hello there and welcome to the forum

I'm not sure there's a recommended age to start leash training, though probably 12-16 weeks at the earliest I would think. Not all rabbits take to it, but with the right training most can. Does he only get pellets at a certain time of day? If so, you could try training him using some pellets as the treat if you train him at a time of day after he's finished all of his pellets.

Thank you

He gets unlimited pellets while he's still young. I've tried it as a treat as well and it works maybe half the time, but he doesn't get too excited over it. The oats he loves but I've been reading it's not too good for them?