First time mom :)

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SillyAnneh

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Jan 5, 2013
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Location
Tucson, AZ
Hello all from Arizona :p I'm a first time rabbit mom. I was really wanting a fuzzy for the last couple months since I lost my cat of 17 years in May, and started thinking about rabbits.

Let's see, how do I even begin about Bun. I volunteer at the local Humane Society, and had had bunnies on my mind for a few weeks (but none of the local shelters seemed to rescue many rabbits. In fact, the rescue nearest to me is about two hours away :nerves1), when one day I see in a small cage in the receiving area this itty bitty pink rabbit.
Yes, she was pink. :bunny18

They called her Rosie, supposedly a year old, and had been brought in by someone who had found her out and about. :yuck

I wasn't ready to adopt at the time, Christmas was coming up and I was traveling to California for a week, but I thought "if she's still there when I come back, I'll adopt her that minute." I thought about her the whole way home, and sure enough that Friday, there she was, the little pink bunny everyone called "a real sweetheart."

And boy, is she :D

When I took her for her first check-up, my vet said she is actually closer to 4-6 months old. So, best as anyone can figure, she was somebody's Easter present (hence the pink dye) and when she hit puberty, they couldn't handle her behavior and set her loose.

I'm so happy I adopted her. She's only been here a week, and already has warmed up to me, like sleeping on my feet while I'm on the computer and watching movies in bed with me. I was surprised, considering her experiences with people.

But now I'm a little lost on her behavior, having trouble discerning between age related behavior, pure personality, and bad manners :p

Any advice on acclimating a bunny to a new home would be appreciated! For starters, I've got a 5x5 pen set up, fleece blanket floor, plenty of toys, a cardboard box house (which she prefers to eat/sleep on top of instead of inside), a litter box, grass mat, two crocks for pellets and water, a dish for veggies, and plenty of timothy hay.
 
Thats awesome of you! my advice is to leave her be for a week and then you can set up a little ramp or stairs to let her out and let the bonding begin. lol mine loves eating and standing up high on top of his box, he will sometimes go inside just to eat at the window and doors i made for him. Sounds like she has cone to a great hone, you must have done your research! my favorite websites are the houserabbitsociety and binkybunny. Post some pics sometime soon :D
 
Welcome! She sounds like a great new bun :)

Usually leaving a rabbit alone for the first few days that it is in a new home, is if the rabbit is feeling nervous or scared, but if she is feeling comfortable around you and, lol, sleeping on your feet, she is probably just fine being out and about. And it sounds like she has already been with you for several days.


Can you list specific behavioral things that she is doing, that you don't understand.
 
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Oh wow, I wasn't expecting replies so soon, thanks all! And thanks for recommending the sites, I am checking those out right now
Here's some pics I took earlier :)
What I'm noticing most is that she seems to have an all-consuming desire to chew on plastic, namely the plastic sheet under her play area. I can't seem to interest her in much else :confused2:
She also has a tendency to dig up her litter box as soon as I put a fresh one in, dumping most to all of the contents on the floor before she'll use it :?

Bun.jpg

Bun sleep.jpg
 
She looks quite content in that 2nd picture. Doing that side flop usually means she is quite at ease and comfortable.

I'm just outside of Phoenix, so I probably know which rabbit rescue you were referring too that was too far away.

Are you planning on getting her spayed sometime soon? (Sounds like she's about that age.)

:welcome1
 
What a great dead bunny flop!!! She looks sooo relaxed and content in her new home :)

Well I guess getting her spayed won't fix those problems, lol. Unfortunately chewing is just normal behavior for rabbits, and some seem to like it alot more than others. I would look in to getting a hard floor surface for her. You definitely don't want her chewing plastic. There are a few options that I can think of that would be chew resistant. You could get one of those hard carpet floor protectors used under offiice chairs, if you can find one big enough for the area. Or, a large piece of linoleum. It would be slippery so you would probably need to put fleece over it for traction. Or, a more expensive option is these plastic floor tiles. They are textured so they shouldln't be slippery. Hopefully one of these may work for your situation. Here's a link for the floor tiles.

http://www.rubberflooringinc.com/garage/slate-pattern.html

The digging is also pretty normal for some rabbits. You either have to find a way to contain it or prevent it. You could get a bigger litter box with higher sides so that the mess is kept contained. Or you could put a grate covering over the litter so she can't dig. Here's instructions on a grate covering you can make yourself. And fyi, make sure you are using a rabbit safe litter, if you aren't already.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f69/stormhaven-litter-system-step-step-instructions-48510/
 
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welcome! I *love* the litter box grids from that link, they prevent digging in litter, eating litter and standing in waste - I highly recommend making one!

I used a huge tarp under my playpens for a long time, it worked quite well... however, I recently switched to these tiles: http://www.rubberflooringinc.com/garage/diamond-grid-loc-tiles.html ... a little pricey (at least it was for me since my bunny pen is about 120 square feet of floor space), but the bunnies and I like them and they're practically indestructible. they get great traction on the tiles.
 
Everybody has already given great advice so I just stopped by to say welcome and love that dead bunny flop picture :bunnydance:
 
Hello and we love that pic too. Our avatar is a REW and she's sound asleep on her back with her mouth open. She's our DBF queen.

I thought of your avatar bunny yesterday, lol - I opened the bonding pouch I had my sugar gliders in and took Hurricane out... and Trouble was still in the pouch, SOUND asleep, lying on her back with all four feet up in the air even after I moved the sides of the pouch so that they weren't supporting her any more.
 
Oops I must've skipped over that part. That's great that she's already warmed up to you within a week! It's been 4 months for us and still not the best but he's finally coming around. He's decided to come into the kitchen but not brave enough to go anywhere else.
 
What a cutie! Sounds like you're doing a wonderful job with her. This kinda reminds me of when one of the other forum members got her bun Muppet- if I remember she was pink just like that too!
 

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