First time bunny mom here!

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Love your rabbit
Advertise with us
Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
M

mrnixonpants

Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2014
Messages
11
Reaction score
3
Location
NULL
Hello all!

First time bunny mom here! I've owned rats for years and currently have 4 sweet ratties, but the world of bunnies is completely new to me! Thursday night my boyfriend surprised me by bringing home a 6 month old female bunny (we had been talking about possibly getting a rabbit for a little while). As soon as I saw her I fell in love! She is the cutest little bun I ever saw. And she's so good about being picked up/handled.

I've got her set up in a nice big pen where she has plenty of room to hop about tending to bunny business. When I first started caring for rats, I learned so much from an online community like this one, so I'm really excited to have found this forum.

I've done lots and lots of research and I think I'll make a pretty good bunny mom. Luckily the vet I take the ratties to sees lots of bunnies as well. He's very experienced with small animals so I've got a vet I can trust and I'm already saving for her spay (should be able to afford it in about a month).

Anyway, here's a picture :

img_2286-8769.jpg


Harper Lee Pants =) Isn't she a cutie?

It's only been 2 days and she already understands what her litter box is for! Looking forward to learning a lot more about my new friend!
 
Welcome to the forum!! She is a cutie! Looks like rex fur -- oh so soft!

I agree forums are a great way to learn from those more experienced. We also have four girl ratties.

If you've already browsed around the site, I'm sure you've already learned a bit.

:hello
 
Welcome to both you and to Harper. We're glad you've found us!

Congratulations on your first bunny. They are amazing animals and make terrific pets. Their personalities are all so unique and they have a way about them that just brings joy to those they are around. I, myself, have two bunnies - Emmet and Oliver. I couldn't imagine my life without those sweet house rabbits. And, I'm certain that you'll quickly feel the same about Harper.

I look forward to getting to know you and Harper better. This really is a fantastic site and I'm sure you will learn a ton just by reading the threads. I know I have!
 
Blue eyes- she is a mini rex and you are right! Her fur is the softest thing I've ever felt!

Harper is doing so well! I'm definitely starting to see her personality coming through. We are starting to bond and I can tell it's the start of something special. She is such a laid back bun she will let me just pet her and hold her forever. She doesn't try to run away when I pick her up, she takes delicious treats (veggies) from our hands, and she even gave my boyfriend 2 licks!! She's not shy about exploring when we've had her out on the couch or bed to explore. She is so great about her litterbox. I only introduced it to her yesterday afternoon and she hasn't left one single poo outside the box since she discovered the box.

I do have a quick question though, Harper is definitely more active at night which I read is pretty normal. She eats, poos and pees a lot more at night than during the day. Today I noticed she didn't poop almost all day from 10 am when I cleaned out her box until almost 8 pm. She was eating throughout the day though, so I wasn't too worried. I just checked her box (it's currently 9:50pm) and there's a normal looking sized pile of poos now. Is it normal for bunnies to go through a good portion of the day without pooing at all? Or could this be due to the fact that I don't know what type of pellets or greens they were feeding her where she came from. I'm feeding her Oxbow because it's a brand I've trusted for the rats for a long time. Just want to make sure everything is normal...

Thanks in advance!
 
Ooooo, she's pretty :)

Welcome! It sounds like your new bun is happy and settling in well in her new home.

Yes, it's pretty normal for them to not poop much during the day, as it is the time where they are usually the most inactive and sleeping a lot. It is good to keep an eye on their poop production though(a common occurrence with us bunny owners :)). Their poop is a good indicator of potential health problems, so it is good to get to know what a normal poop looks like, then if you see any abnormalities, this can sometimes indicate a potential problem.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/drop/Drp_en.htm
http://imgur.com/a/5N4lD

With food affecting her poop, generally it is best to always introduce new foods gradually into a rabbits diet, with the exception of grass hays(usually well tolerated with immediate introduction). This gives a rabbits gut microflora, time to gradually adapt to the new food and minimize possible digestive upset. If your bun seems to be doing alright with the food you are giving and her poop isn't smaller than usual or mushy, then you will probably be fine to continue with what you are feeding. If you are concerned that the sudden introduction of pellets might be upsetting her digestion, you can always gradually introduce it over a couple of weeks, and feed unlimited grass hay. But you do need to make sure she is eating her hay really well.
 
Last edited:
I've been feeding her Oxbow (1/4 c a day), a handful of timothy hay morning and night, and salads made of mostly romaine lettuce, a little spinach, a couple kale leaves, and one baby carrot. So I should just stick to these things only for a while before introducing any new veggies to her? She doesn't seem to be having any trouble with the food I've been feeding. As far as I can tell shes's a healthy and happy bun getting comfortable in her forever home =)

How long do I need to give it before I can start introducing new veggies to her diet? And as far as hay goes, should I only be giving her timothy hay or are there other hays she should be having as well? Sorry for all the questions, I just want her to have a long happy life and I know that starts with a well balanced diet and having her spayed!
 
She's old enough for all acceptable veggies. There's a few lists in the library section. One thing to watch for is sludge--white build up in the urine as kale and spinach are high in calcium. Also, you want to make hay available all the time as it is the natural food. Our vet says all they need is hay and veggies and he's against pellets--we do give ours some, but only the timothy (alfalfa free) ones. She is just sooooooo cuuuuuuuuuute!
 
She doesn't seem very interested in her hay. The first night she ate all of it and since then she hasn't eaten much that I've given her even though I've changed it out for fresh hay multiple times. Should I hold off on giving her pellets and salad until she eats some of her hay? Or is that a bad idea?

You know what I did notice a little white spot in her litter box. I thought maybe it was just something weird from the litter. I'll cut the kale and spinach for now. Thanks for the advice!
 
We give ours a small amount of veggies in the morning and then again at night. They have hay racks which get filled a couple times a day, and the only pellet they get is a little bit at night as a treat. I'm allergic to Timothy hay so we use Orchard grass instead. Some of ours came to us not ever having had hay, but, they are all massive consumers now. The only problem child was Peter--he wouldn't eat his hay at all so he got no pellets for three days till he started eating it in large amounts. He is now a very diligent hay consumer. You don't have to eliminate the kale or spinach, just limit the amount to small portions. Most are fine and can shed the excess calcium once they are no longer growing and don't need as much. We have had two that we had to really limit it as they had sludge problems and one had a gigantic bladder stone. That's only 2 out of 37. It's a watch and learn thing with bunnies anyway as they are all different.
 
Congratulations! Everything I learned about being a new bunny Nonny, and bunny Mom now that I have my own, I learned here. RO is such a wonderful source of bunny enlightenment! My grand bun (Bun Jovi) is not a big hay eater either. One way that we manage to get some into her is by stuffing toilet paper tubes with it hanging out both sides. I do not know why this makes it more enticing, but it does. Barry enjoys his this way too. Perhaps it's because this hay is always un-soiled.
 
^ my two bunnies go crazy for hay stuffed into a cardboard tube, too!

Harper is so cute! She sounds like a really lovely girl. :)
 
I have a hay rack which worked great the first night we had her. She even knocked the whole thing down and got all the hay out of it! But since that first night, she hasn't eaten much hay at all. I thought maybe she was too lazy to mess with the hay rack, so last night I put a nice big pile down for her and she hasn't really eaten much of it. I see her munching on a bit of hay in her litter box while she does her bunny business, but she's definitely not eating a significant amount.

I'll hold off on giving her pellets until she puts a good dent in her hay then. She really loves her pellets! I make sure I limit her to 1/4c a day though. Should I still offer her salad or should I wait until she eats some of that hay? I've changed the hay out for fresh hay multiple times so I know that's not the issue...

I'll try the toilet paper roll trick and see how that works.
 
pani said:
^ my two bunnies go crazy for hay stuffed into a cardboard tube, too!

Harper is so cute! She sounds like a really lovely girl. :)
Click to expand...

She really is something special Pani! Already I just can't imagine life without her and it hasn't even been a whole week yet. Every day her personality comes out a little more and it's just been so wonderful getting to know her. She will just let me hold her and pet her forever! I've really tried not to mess with her too much since she's still settling in, but it's so hard not to want to play with her every second! I never knew bunnies could be so sweet!
 
Wewt! Another crazy bunny lady in the making! Heehee. You're gonna drive your Facebook friends nuts ya know. That's what I do.
 
Channahs said:
Wewt! Another crazy bunny lady in the making! Heehee. You're gonna drive your Facebook friends nuts ya know. That's what I do.
Click to expand...

Yup, it's safe to say I've officially become obsessed. And as far as driving my facebook friends nuts goes...they're already nuts because I already post so many pictures of my rats! Oh well, if you don't like my fuzzbutts then feel free to unfriend me in my opinion! I just have such a soft spot for little feet, fuzzy bums, wet noses, and whiskers! Life just isn't complete without some trouble makers running around =)
 
mrnixonpants said:
She really is something special Pani! Already I just can't imagine life without her and it hasn't even been a whole week yet. Every day her personality comes out a little more and it's just been so wonderful getting to know her. She will just let me hold her and pet her forever! I've really tried not to mess with her too much since she's still settling in, but it's so hard not to want to play with her every second! I never knew bunnies could be so sweet!
Click to expand...
As someone whose bunnies are very independent and don't particularly enjoy attention from humans, colour me jealous! :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top