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kiwi-and-ellis

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New bun adopter here! My family just brought home Ellis, a seven-month-old Silver Marten. We nearly had to fight the shelter for him - he's very popular with their bunny people, because he's so friendly and well-behaved, and loves to curl up in your lap or against your chest.

I go by Kiwi online, and I'm a college student currently attending summer classes. I live with my parents, but since my older brother moved out my parents have started to get that empty-nest feeling. We fell in love with Ellis at the shelter's recent open house.

If anyone has advice for new bun owners in general or Silver Martens in particular, it would be much appreciated! There's never been a pet larger than a hamster in this house, so we're an odd combination of excited and nervous.
 
Welcome to RO! He sounds adorable! There is a lot to learn about bunnies from diet to housing and lots of other things. I suggest you get the Rabbits For Dummies book. I bought it before I got my Ash and its been very helpful. I also learned a lot by researching online.

A bunny's basic diet should consist of good pellets. You can buy those online or at the store.I buy mine at the store. Anyway they should have unlimited pellets until they are 7 months old and then you need to feed less of them. It varies, some people say to feed 1/8 cup of pellets per pound and some say to feed 1/2 cup per pound I don't really have my own opinion I just feed my Ash about a cup of pellets per day and he does fine. He's an American Chinchilla rabbit and he weighs 9 pounds last time I measured him a couple months ago.

A bunny should always have unlimited hay, usually Timothy hay that's what I feed my Ash. I buy my timothy hay from the same place I get my pellets from Walmart.

They should have some veggies per day. I feed my Ash about 1-2 cups of veggies and he does fine. Somw bunnies perfer different types of veggies, for instance my Ash doesn'r like Collad greens and some bunnies love them it all depends on the bunny. You just have to try out a bunch of greens and see which one he likes.

Bunnies can also have fruit and carrots in limited amounts. You can research online which fruits they can eat and how much they can eat per pound. Ash loves carrots and lots of fruit I feed it too him as a treat. Like when I eat a banana I brake off a piece and give it to Ash. Just research what kinds of fruits and how much per pound bunnies can eat.

They should have unlimited water some people get bottles of water that attatch to the cage and some people get a bowl of water. Some bunnies perfer the botttle and some perfer drinking from the bowl it all depends on the bunny. Ash will drink out of a bowl and a bottle. Just make sure to change his water at leats once per day. Usually its best to refill it in the morning and the night.

Bunnies should get a lot of exercise at least a couple hours per day. They can cause mischief when out though so be on your gaurd. Ash tries to chew on lots of things when he's out make sure to watch him. You can bunny proof your house here is a good link for doing that: http://bunnyproof.com/

Usually at night you keep them in a cage I have a big pen that Ash goes in for the night. You can either keep him in a cage or in a hutch outside. Most of us keep our bunnies inside for the night and day so do I. I think it helps you bond with your bunny better. As far as what cage to buy, that's up to you. Usually Ebay has some pretty good cages for sale. If you buy a cage that's raised off the floor its best to buy a plastic thing that snaps onto the cage and the bunnies can hop on it so tha their feet don't get sore hocks.

Than there's neutering your bunny. Most people neuter their bunnies it promotes lobger lifespan and keeps them healthier. Most rabbit savvy vets will do this opperation for you. It can cost anywhere from 25-200 dollars for a neuter depending on where you live. But most likely your bunny is already neutered.

If your bunny gets sick you should take him to the vet. If he's acting weird defintely post the symptoms in a thread so we all can help you. The thing I like about the rabbits for dummies book is they list all kinds of problems bunnies can have and what the symptoms are. I would definitely get that book.

Those are just some of the basics of bunnies I'm sure a lot of them you already knew. I hope I didn't bore you with my post.

Good luck with the new bunny!
 
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Thanks for the warm welcome!

Ellis has an indoor NIC enclosure, about three feet by four feet, while he's getting used to the house (and we finish bunnyproofing the places he'll be allowed to run). It has a plastic mat for a floor, but he's having some trouble getting his footing on it, so we're going to lay down an old bedsheet for him in the next day or two. He was neutered at the shelter - it's their standard policy to spay/neuter every animal that comes through. I don't think we'll have him outside much because we do have a few hawks in the area, and a very large dog next door that might frighten him.

He's maybe six pounds (about the size of a small cat), and the shelter had him on 1/4 cup of timothy pellets every day, so we're sticking to that diet for now. He gets all the hay he wants, and we've been pulling fresh dandelions from our (pesticide-free and fertilizer-free) yard for his daily handful of greens, which he seems to really enjoy. There's a lot of clover in the yard as well, but we're not sure what species exactly so we don't want to risk it right now.

We put his pellets in a small heavy ceramic bowl, and his water in a larger heavy plastic bowl. I've heard of bunnies tipping their bowls out, but he hasn't so far - though he does sometimes grip it in his teeth and tug it closer. Could this be a problem?

We were told at the shelter not to give fruits or carrots more than once every few days or once a week, because the sugar would make him hyper? Maybe once he's settled in and has more space to run.

So far he seems to really enjoy the cardboard box we put in his enclosure - chewing, ripping, and "digging" at it. Hopefully he'll keep to that instead of the carpets!
 
Everything sounds good! :)

About his plastic water bowl, he should be fine pulling it with his teeth. If he starts to spill his water you should probably switch to using a water bottle.

Hmm, when I used to research online everyone said that you can feed your bunnies treats everyday. I think it should be fine to feed him some treats now.

Oh yeah, bunnies really like to chew cardboard. Have you tried making him a cardboard house? I made Ash one and he loves to sit on it and chew it.

The dandelions sound good, I gave Ash some and he had mushy poo but I may have fed him a little too much. Yes, I don't feed Ash any clovers because I read online that to many red clovers will make bunnies get gas and that's a problem. You can feed your bunny Parsley and lots of other greens. Here is a list of safe fruits and veggies you can feed them: http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/safefoods.htm
 

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