Hi, I'm new! I impulsively adopted my first bunny and now I'm in love!

[la vie est belle]

Hello everyone!

I just adopted my first bunny yesterday from the SPCA, his name is Pierre. He was a stray and is about 6 months old. I woke up the other day with this random urge to get a furry companion, so I thought I would get a rat. I've never had a bunny before- I've always been a rat person (went through many as a kid), and was always unsure about getting a bunny because I thought they were too scared of people and didn't have that much personality, kind of like my old guinea pig. So I spent all day looking for a new rat, then went to the SPCA and saw Pierre. I fell in love and ended up impulsively taking him home even though I knew nothing about bunnies. My heart was telling me to do it!

Here's what I've done so far. Can someone tell me if I'm on the right track/if I should change anything? I've been doing quite a bit of reading since then so I feel I know at least the basics now, but I could definitely use some expert advice.

Accommodation: He's living in my room, which is quite big, he can do laps! He sleeps in one of our old cat cages which isn't that big, hopefully soon I'll come up with something better... (it's about bout 3 x 1.5 feet or 90 x 45 cm).

I made him a litter box, filled it up with Carefresh bedding and threw some timothy hay that we use for our horses over it. I also gave him a timothy straw mat, and he seems to much prefer sitting on that than in his litter box!

I layered the bottom of the cage with newspaper, is this ok? Like if he ends up eating the paper will the ink be toxic?

I let him run around when I'm in the room, but I keep a close eye on him because I haven't bunny-proofed my room yet. If he gets scared he runs back into his cage. I think this is a good sign because it means he feels safe in there right?

Potty:
I haven't seen him go potty anywhere in the room yet which is good! When he's in his cage he poops all over the timothy mat, does that mean he's peeing on it too, or do rabbits just poop everywhere? (He poops in his litter box too).

Food:
I hung up a little hay rack next to his bowl that I fill up with rabbit pellets. Today I gave him some green lettuce, celery a little bit of broccoli and a couple of baby carrots.
I'm a bit concerned because he eats the hay from his litter box... is that good for him/sanitary if he pees all over it?

Personality:
I kept him in his cage all day yesterday just so he could get used to it. He seemed pretty traumatized when I brought him home. Then I decided to let him out and watch him explore a bit before bed. He was tiptoeing everywhere sussing out his new surroundings. Within an hour, he got comfortable and was already hopping around and binkying! I've never seen a rabbit binky before, it was so cute, but it he looked like he was having a seizure or something haha. So after intensive googling I discovered he was actually binkying and is already really happy!

I'm so pleased. He's not too scared of people either... if I sit down on the floor and don't make any sharp movements he'll come up and jump on my lap. However, whenever I reach out to pet him he doesn't let me do it for too long (kind of ducks his head and squirms away). He only lets me pet him when he's in his cage, but not too much when he's exploring. It's tempting to treat him like a rat and catch him and pick him up, but I know bunnies aren't cool with that, so I haven't tried picking him up yet. I don't want him to be scared of me. I'm just letting him do his thing, he seems pretty happy!

Do any of you have any basic bunny advice for me? Any essential dos/don'ts in bunny care/bunny handling? Am I doing ok so far? I'm very inexperienced and want to learn as much as I can!

Here are some pictures, isn't he a cutie?

Running!

Pierre in action!

Binky caught on camera.

Hopping around.

"What's that?!"

Pierre being camera shy

"I really want to chew on these cords, but she's watching me!!"

This is his new favorite spot.

 

[Wabbitdad12]

Let me welcome you to Rabbits Online, my name is Dave and I am a moderator on the forum. So if I can be of any help please let me know. This is a terrific website for rabbits and their slaves, not only is it very active but also friendly. I am so glad you’re here and I know you will enjoy it.

He is a very cute bunny. You can use NIC panels to make a good size cage for him. For veggies, avoid ice berg lettuce, the strings from the celery could cause him to choke. The newspaper is ok, it won't harm him.

Many bunny's recommend their slaves to this site so we may learn of others methods to keeping our furry masters happy.

If you everhave a sick bunny, please post in The Infirmary and include your rabbit's age, breed and health history as well diet and output details leading up to the problem.

I have listed some links I thought you might find interesting:

*For reference the Library section

*To brag or tell everyone about the antics of your bunny or just to talk about your day here is where to start a Bunny Blog, you can also look back at it later and remember when you had a life before your bunny.

*Now all the bunny’s like talk to each other when we mere slaves aren’t around in the Bunny Chat is the spot to be.

*Rabbits Online also has regional forums , this a good way to find a vet in your area that has experience with rabbits and to find out from other nearby of good sources of rabbit supplies.

The Let Your Hare Down section is for anything non-bunny related.

Here is a link tothat will help you and your bunny to connect, How To Bond With Your Bunny.

Now every forum has rules and ours can be found with this link Rabbits Online Forum Rules. This gives guidelines on what is acceptable, what is not and how we hope everyone will treat each other.

Everyone on this forum loves to see pictures of each other’s bunnies. So if you would like to post a picture this link will help you do that, Upload Photo's to Photo Gallery. Then in the post, you click on the "G" in the tool bar to insert your photo. Many people also use Photobucket. You just copy the img file and paste it into the post.

I am glad you have joined rabbits online and I look forward to seeing you around.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Hello and welcome to RO. Looks just like our Hutch whom we call the "Binky King"

 

[jcottonl02]

Oh my goodness he is so cute! He is a stunning, shiny black!

That all sounds really good to me! Great to hear you are giving him pellets rather than the mixed foods. Timothy hay is brilliant. Should be fine if he eats it from his litter tray- they love to have a munch while there!!!

Try to stay away from the green lettuces. Try the darker ones like romaine as they are less likely to give diarreah. Great to hear he is getting veggies- bet he loves them. Has he been introduced to them before? If not then make sure you introduce them slowly one at a time to see if any affect him badly ie. diarreah/gas etc.

It really sounds like you have totally got the hang of it from someone who has literally just been thrown into the world of bunnies.

Few really basic tips that all bunny owners should know for you here (you probably know most of it):

Diet should be 70-80% hay, the rest pellets and veggies, so fresh hay should be available at all times.

Stay away from of course, all dairy products, meat and anything like chocolate and crisps. Just stick to totally unprocessed stuff (except the pellets of course). Also stay away from anything in the onion family, bean family, tomato greens or stalks (the red fruit is okay), pips, seeds or stones from fruits.

Here are some safe fruits and vegetables lists:
http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/safefoods.htm

http://www.adoptarabbit.com/articles/packet/abcvegi.html

Rabbits need lots of mental stimulation- toys to chew and tear up eg. yellow pages, empty toilet roll tubes stuffed with hay etc. Sounds like you bun gets lots of time outside his cage, which is great, and sounds like you will be getting a bigger one which is awesome- try buying NIC panels and making a cage. Lots of people on here do this and it's so great.

Here is something written by Flashy on RO about bonding with your bunny- it's very interesting and useful.

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=33921&forum_id=48


Again he's gorgeous! Keep going the way you are- sounds like you are doing great!

Jen

 

[la vie est belle]

Wabbitdad12 - Thanks for the advice. I love the master/slave analogy, he does seem like he's going to be a lot of work, but I know it'll be worth it!

I think I may try out the NIC panels, his current cage is so unsightly and I'd like him to have a little more room to jump around while he's in his cage since unfortunately I'm gone during the day 4 days a week...

If the strings from the celery can choke him, should I avoid it all together?

Nancy - Binky King... that's so cute, haha. Do you have pictures of him on this forum?

jcottonl02 - Thanks! I know, isn't he shiny?! His coat is so soft... that's one of the reasons I took him home too, besides the fact he was super cute, he looked really healthy!

Thanks for the food advice and all of the links. I think he had veggies at the SPCA, but all I saw was lettuce. He does love the veggies, he devoured most of it pretty fast. I'll try feeding him one veggie at a time to learn how he reacts just in case, that's good advice.

When you say the diet should be 70%-80% hay, does that mean I should take out the bowl filled with rabbit pellets to control how much of it he eats? Same question with the veggies, should I go for every day, every other day, 3x a week?

That's good you mentioned the dairy products because I have a question about that... I bought him some fruit flavored rabbit treats from the pet shop, they're called "Yogies." They're pretty sugary, so I was only planning on giving him them rarely (he's only had one so far), he seemed seemed to like it. However, a red flag popped up when you mentioned dairy products because on the box it says "made with real yogurt" and some of the ingredients include "yogurt powder, made with cultured skim milk and yogurt culture" ... should I stop giving him these? It also has partially hydrogenated vegetable oil which can't be good, that's not even good for people... haha.

Thanks for mentioning toys too, I definitely need to get him more, because all he has in his cage right now is a chew stick. I noticed he tried to push around his litter box, and was throwing around the plastic bowl filled with veggies, which makes me think I should get him some kind of toy he can throw around.

And thanks so much for the link on bonding, that's really helpful. I definitely don't want to fall into the trap of wanting to bond too quickly, pushing his limits and permanently losing his trust (however tempting it may be)! I'll work at his pace, so far I've just spent a lot of time watching him and letting him come up to me.

 

[jujub793]

oh my gosh! he really looks like he feels at home!! :hyper: doing binky's and stuff already!!

 

[Flash Gordon]

oh my gosh ..i luv Pierre !! hes so cute!.i think ur doin awesome already!..i would take out the mat and the newspaper from his cage for now...until he knows that the only place to potty in is his poop box...hes prob just marking his territory now so hell prob get better at his potty habits..is he neutered already?.that would help with his potty habits for sure...he is really a cutie..i always thought that rabbits had no personality too..,i thought they were like my hamsters when i was young..but holy oh my gosh was i wrong!!..these guys have as much personality as a dog does..as long as u always give him love and attention he will surprise you everyday...its the only critter that i have that brings the biggest smile to my face ...even when i dont wanna smile..

 

[jcottonl02]

I'm always quoting the House Rabbit Society's guidelines for feeding buns because it's the one that I use for mine and works very well!

They recommend 1/4-1/2 cup of pellets, and 2-3cups of chopped veggies, per 6lb of bunny daily. The rest would be made up of hay and maybe a few bits of fruit treats etc.
You can separate this to a few times a day if you wanted to. Maybe give the pellets in the morning and the veggies in the eve? Or all together. Or a little bit of both a few times a day. I give mine all at once but lots of people like to split it.

As for those yogi treats I used to feed those years ago. That is strange actually because it never occured to me they had yoghurt in them. That's odd. I generally stick totally to fresh fruit for treats. I find my buns enjoy them soooo much more, and those packaged treats (as you've seen!) don't really seem that nutritiously good for them.
So many pet shops sell treats that are so packed with sugar, and things rabbits shouldn't really have, advocating to buyers that they are healthy treats but so many aren't really. It annoys me. Like selling hutches that are too small. It's not fair.

Yeah that link is fab. It really does go through step by step how to earn your little one's trust, which, once got, is so precious.

I've also always loved this website:

http://language.rabbitspeak.com/

Just about understanding rabbit behaviour really. And it's quite an amusing read!

Jen

 

[Amy27]

OMG is he a runner! I love the pictures of him in motion running. He is adorable.

 

[la vie est belle]

jcottonl02 - I guess I will stop feeding him the Yogies, I'd rather not risk it! I'm not really sure what treats he likes yet, he's still too timid to take treats from me even when I offer.

Thanks for that other rabbit language website. It's a lot to take in at once haha I will have to keep it for future reference. I tried one of the things they suggested when Pierre was in an excited mood and I gave him a little head shake (I probably looked insane hahaha). I was so surprised to see that every time I did it he would shake his head and then start binkying! Then he started throwing binkies like crazy and circled me super fast like 4 times, apparently this means he likes me. And I just saw him do his first bunny flop. Awww, I'm so happy he's happy. He still doesn't like to be touched that much though.

Amy27 - Thanks! He's so adorable... he has so much energy! It's kind of hard to catch him running on camera because every time I take a picture the shutter makes this really loud noise and he stops because it kind of scares him... I'll have to be more discreet next time, use a zoom lens or something and stand far away hahaha.