We got a bun and I have some questions

[brdlovrsd]

Hi my name is Sancia, and some of you mayremember about the bun running around my townhome complex. Well we gota new little bun almost two weeks ago her name is Willow and she is aspayed Dwarf. She is such a little doll! We built her a NIC condo lastweekend and she loves it! I have a couple questions, a few days ago mydaughter was trying to get her out of her cage so she could take her inthe backyard and she growled at her and then a little bit later myhubby tried and she started to thump her back legs, what does all thatmean? Also I have been reading about blockages and now I am so worriedcause I noticed last night that she is eating the grass mats I boughtfor her at Pier 1, is this bad for her? Also we put like an indooroutdoor carpet in her cage but I don't think she has eaten that yet,she also likes to play with cardboard rolls! She is a very good eaterand will eat all her greens and her Timothy Hay, I also give her alittle bit of pellets daily too. She likes dried papaya as well and afew times a week I give her a little fruit! I did notice this morningshe had a little diarrea, it could be from the apple she ate yesterdayI don't know. Also I took her to the vet last weekend and he said shelooked real healthy and I asked him about her poop that I had seen itwas a pellet but it was made up of a bunch of little pellets and hesaid that is their night poops and they normally eat them but shedoesn't seem to be, do you guys know if that is true? Well I think thatis all I have for now I hope you guys can help me be the best bun mom Ican be



Sancia

 

[Lindsey]

Congrats on the new bun! My boys also just absolutely love dried papaya, I sort of use it as training treats!

Anyway, I wouldn't feed them too much fruit, like apple, because of thehigh sugar content. Occassionally its fine, but too much could probablycause the diarrea. If she is older I would stick with a pellet diet and1/2 timothy 1/2 alfalfa hay diet with dark leafy greens like mustardgreens and parsley. And as for the poop she eats, those are calledcecotropes and are a part of a rabbits diet. They regain passednutrients when they consume those feces. Seeing one or two every nowand then is okay, but if she really isn't eating them there may be aproblem. Cecotropes are a little larger, greener,and wetter,and smell more too.

I would definatly watch out with the grass mat, and bunnyproof any part of the home she may run around in. Her behavior issomewhat normal, if she's new she may just be shy and acting aggressivebecause of it. Do you know how old she is? It's a good idea to get abunny fixed, since it can help reduce potential population, tempermentproblems, and health issues.

Other than that it sounds like she has a home where she is very caredfor, which is always nice to hear. I believe there is a cheat sheet forrabbit care in the "Hot Topics" thread, and I know any member here isalways glad to help!

Good luck!

 

[cirrustwi]

Congratulations. Is it the same bun that was running loose? Can't wait to see some pictures.

I'm going to try to address your questions as best I can. Asfor the growling and thumping, some rabbits are territorial about theircages. Elvis doesn't want me to get him out of the cage, butonce he gets himself out, he's perfectly happy. She's alsonew to you, so she may just need to adjust some more. Grassmats are relatively safe, but watch the carpet. The cardboardrolls are just fine as well. Just watch her poops, if she hasa blockage, nothing will come out and most likely nothing will be goingin either. Trust me, you don't want to deal with this, I hadto and it's really stressful and expensive!! Catching itearly is the best thing, but these are really less common then mostpeople think when a rabbit is on a good diet. The diet you'regiving sounds good. Limit fruits and give her unlimited grass(timothy) hay. Give her pellets daily, 1 oz (1/8 cup) per lbof body weight. Give her oats and hay for the diarrhea, noveggies, fruit or treatsuntil it's better. Thedried papaya is great. It has good enzymes. You cangive canned pumpkin too. Mine get a little piece of driedpapaya or about 1 Tbsp of canned pumpkin daily. The strangepoop you saw is a ceocotroph (sp?). These are completelynormal. Usually the rabbits eat them, they contain goodnutrients that the rabbit's digestive system didn't use the first time.

Jen

 

[samandshawn]

Hi, the reason shes is a bit wary about yougetting her out of her cage may be because she is guarding herterritory, because she is new, buns don't like change and take a whileto settle in, she sees her new home as hers and by putting your hand inyou are invading her territory and she is protecting it, be patient andafter a while when settled she should be ok about you and your familygoing into her space. Rabbits thump for a few different reasons; it canbe to warn you and other buns that there is danger coming, that theyare cross, or to get your attention, in her case it was proberlybecause she was cross. If she is eating and pooping then thechances are she doesn't have a blockage, buns do eat the night poop andmost of the time we don't see them eat it, the bun will sometimes takeit straight from in between the back legs so you will not always seethem eat them, they are not always produced at night but because wedon't always see them they have been nicked named night pellets.

How old is your bun?

 

[brdlovrsd]

Thanks for the replies! This is not the same bunthat was running around, we were able to get her and take her to a safeplace to live her life, she was so happy when we left her there Wegot our new bun at an animal care center, she is already spayed andmicrochipped and the vet said she is probably about a year to a yearand a half old. She is I am told a Netherland Dwarf, I will post somepics if I can figure out how! I went at lunch and bought her some strawmats at petco that I will give her instead of the grass ones from Pier1 I am a paranoid mom LOL! She is such a little pistol and we havefigured out that everything is on her time not ours LOL, we have 5birds so we know all about that I do notice the night poops in herlitter box alot so I am not sure she is eating them. The vet justpretty much did a visual look over of her, he did tell me that I shouldhave her poops checked for parasites though so I need to do that toeaze my mind! I will give her a little canned pumpkin later to see howshe likes it, I have been giving her Timothy hay and all the greens Ican get my hands on, and a few times a week only I give her a couplepieces of fruit which I may cut to one day a week. The vet told me togive her an 1/8 cup of pellets cause she is only 3 lbs. I just wanna doeverything right, and as you can see I am one of those paranoid bun,and birdie moms LOL! To post pics do I just start a new post with mypics inserted??? I inserted one in this reply so I hope it works!



Sancia