I just got my new rabbit

[ettore]

Hello,

This is (basically) my first post. I recently 'rescued' arabbit from a local Humane Society; he appears to be a Holland Lop andhe has short hair.

Anyhow, the day I got him we emptied a 10' x 12' room of our house thatis carpeted that we didn't use and deemed it the rabbit's training areaas we are moving soon. He was not very friendly as I believehe was given to the shelter from a bad home (I was told the reason theyhad him was because he was no longer wanted). He has sincewarmed up to me and my girlfriend quite quickly. His roomcontains training things like an older bed, a table, some sono-tubes,toilet paper rolls, plastic 'boards',, power cordes covered in varousprotectants (they're not plugged in) and other nick-knacks he mightfind around the house and will destroy. We're trying tofigure out what he likes.

Well, the reason I am posting is that, after about 3 days, he developeda 'weepy eye' where his fur around his left eye was wet. Iimmediately brought him to the vet and they said there was nothingwrong and his eye was not red at all. Well, he continues tohave weepy eye and my girlfriend is cleaning it every otherday. His 'home', which is the primary place he sleeps, is asmall plastic bottomed cage (maybe 2.5'x2') that is filled with hay(not sure of the type) that is very fresh. The carpet is shagand isn't particularly clean (read: it hasn't been shampooed in YEARSso it's a little dusty). He also has been digging through thecarpet and possibly eating it !! We stopped that though withsome careful placements of wooden boards.

Basically, what do I need to do to try and stop his weepyeye. I have had many rabbits (all outdoor) and none have evergotten sick in any way so this is kindof scary to me.If it isof any consequence, the day that I got the bunny I noticed that hisleft eye (the weepy one) is always closed more than the righteye. Of course, I can't show the vet because his eyes areopen 100% whenever he's in a foreign area.

His name was Wesley, now it's Ollie (Oliver). His favoritethings to do are to thump the ground and sleep. Eating isalso one of his favorite passtimes.

 

[pamnock]

This is an excellent site for info:

http://home.kc.rr.com/jhabernal/mohrskc/hrswebpg24.html

 

[gjsara]

welcome, if i were you i would take thepowercords out of the room thoses are bad and if ingestedyour rabbit may become very ill.as for the weepy eye yourbunny may just be allgergies.

 

[ettore]

Well, the cords aren't meant to be 'eaten' ...they're meant NOT to be eaten. The ones that get chewed areobviously not protected well enough and get removed. Wemonitor him a lot, so he doesn't get a chance to go crazy on the cords.

Convoluted tube appears to be working the best next to wire looms thatcost a fortune. Tinfoil works much worse than I thought, heseems to like the tinfoil covered wires MORE than non covered wires.

 

[gjsara]

rabbits chew i know that they arent meant to bechewed on but they will.how old is your bunny?? as it gets older itsdesire to chew will get worse as its teeth grow. rabbits teeth growcontinuesly so it is very important to keep chew toys in the room papertowl rolls old phone books untreated wick matts . bird toys twigs .your bunny will become sick from injesting things around the house

sara

good luck

 

[ettore]

I am told he is 1 year old, whether this is accurate or not I have no idea.

I know rabbits chew, but this one appears to chew the least of anyrabbit I have ever owned. However, I am in the process of making a newcage for him that he can chew till the cows come home. The only thingsI don't want him chewing is carpet because it's expensive to replaceand wires because some of mine are very expensive to replace and theother ones will kill him.

He appears to know what is okay for chewing and what isn't. He chewsthe heck out of this chewing stone I bought and a peice of Cedar that Ihad lying around. He also chews the sono-tubes and the paper rolls (heREALLY likes the wrapping paper ones because they're light and huge)but has SO FAR left the box-spring and bed alone. He also hasn't chewedthe sheets, or the legs of furniture (yet, might be the stain orsomething).

Thanks for the input, I am currently away from my rabbit packing (hencewhy I am posting so often) and I will try to see what I can do aboutthe weepy eye (I have a feeling it's the hay). It wasn't weepy at theshelter and they had him in an identical cage except with shreddedpaper instead of hay.

 

[Carolyn]

Welcomeettore,

Please don't get so defensive with gjsara. People enter thisforum on all different levels of knowledge, she wasn't trying to insultyou, she was trying to help you.

Just when you think a rabbit knows what's okay to chew and what isn't, they prove you wrong, but I'm sure you already know that.

Did your vet take any blood tests or anything or just look at the eye and come to that conclusion?

-Carolyn

 

[AnnaS]

ettore: I am not sure but it may be allergy, atleast for people that what it is. Try different type of hay or no hayfor one or 2 days. Or maybe its dust allergy?

You are lucky, my rabbit does not chew anything, I don't know why.

 

[Rowan]

Hi ettore

Welcome

I love the idea of giving Ollie a training room, my daughter has just had to suffer while our rabbits use hers to learn in.

It might well be the shag pile, those carpets can hide a ton of dust in them, they make me allergic! but I'm no rabbit expert.

I'm curious about your wire experiments because although in theroommy rabbits arein at the moment the wires areout of reach I do have the eventual plan of them free roaming thehouse. What are the convoluted tubes like. I know you're not lettinghim eat them on purpose and they're not plugged in, but it'd be good toknow which types he's not interested in chewing. I read on a differentsite that rabbits don't tend to go for those concertinaed tubes thatcar wires are wrapped in, is that similar to what you're trying or not?I hadn't even heard of the wire loom option.

I've been amazed at how fast my rabbits have learned to leave justabout everything they're not supposed to chew alone, except for thewalls, which they just find irresistable. But I know that wires are awhole different game with rabbits. I wouldn't trust my lot an inch, soif you did find some rabbitdeterrent covering I'd be reallyinterested to know what it was.

Thanks

 

[HankHanky]

Hello Ettore,

I hope you do not take this the wrong way as I am only trying to help.I would remove that Cedar Block as it is not/can not be good for yourrabbit. I would go with a block of Pne or hard wood. In truth, I do notgive my rabbits any chew toys, they get quite enough with theirpelleted feed and grasshay. The weepy eye is a definite issuewhich should be addressed. As for the Vet, He/She most likely had noclue as to what they were looking at or how to address it. The problemcould be a blocked tear duct. In that case a QUALIFIED Rabbit savvy Vetwould have to do the minor operation. It could also be any foreignmatter in the eye. As you say the Rug is quite dirty I would thinkthrough digging etc. the rabbit has caused the problem. This is easilytreated with most any over the counter eye medication made for humanuse. I can assure you it will cost not nearly as much as a Vet visit ortheir guessed at treatment. Always look for the simplest solutionfirst. As when a lamp doesn't light, you check to see if it is plugedinto the outlet. I hope this helps a bit.

Dennis,C.V.R.

 

[ettore]

Carolyn: Was I being defencive? Ididn't think I was. I thought she misunderstood the purposeof the cords. The vet that Ollie was brought to is the HumaneSociety vet and I was informed that the vet wasn't too knowledgeableabout rabbits. Her diagnosis was based completely on feelingaround his head, looking at his eye and checking his heart rate (which,by the way, pissed him off a lot; nobody touches his belly).I will most likely be bringing him to the University of Guelph animalclinic. I have heard they are the authoritative source onjust about any animal as they have a huge vet college there and a lotof students who are willingto help out.

AnnaS: I am hoping it's either an allergy or dust; we will see when hemoves in 5 days to our 'new' home (that has been completely shampooed,shampoo is rabbit safe, I made sure). If he doesn't clear up,he will be going to the Guelph vet (see above)

Rowan: The 'Convoluted tube' I speak of is the same as your'concertinaed tubes'. It's probably just a naming thing, butwe're talking about the same stuff. It doesn't appear to bethe actual PLASTIC that they dislike more than the noise itmakes. My girlfriend flattened out a piece of this tube sothat it's just a peiece of plastic and he WILL chew that but not inwrapped form. I am going to try different colors next, I havered, yellow, 'chrome' and black to test with (I have a good feelingabout the chrome one). I have been told the yellow stuffprobably has the least dye in it from a friend who does injectionmoulding. Oh, I will also be testing by putting a hotsaucetype material (jalapeño extract or something) on a cordand see what that might do. I don't know how well that willwork because I believe the cords will get all sticky and collectdust. I also don't want to kill him so I am going to do alittle more research to make sure it won't make him sick.

HankHankey: 1. Those rabbits are very cute. 2. Ibelieve you are right about the vet not being rabbit savvy, all she didwas look at the eye for redness and told me that he MIGHT havesomething (I can't remember what it was) that causes the rabbit's eyeto water ... apparently 40% of rabbits have this. We will seeif a cleaner environment coupled with a new cage and some absorbentlitter made of (I think it is) corn or something will help to keep thebunny in a far more dust-free environment. 3. Are you SERIOUS aboutremoving the cedar? I was planning on making my bedframe outof Cedar and my bedroom will be Ollie's primary living area (I ammoving in with 2 other people). I told my girlfriend toremove the Cedar board as a precaution, she replaced it with asmallblock of pine / spruce (not sure what it is).I tried searching on the net for problems with Cedar and I didn't findanything.

 

[rabbitgirl]

ettore, I've seen that weepy eye thing also. Itoften goes away on its own but like sniffling and sneezing has severalpossible causes (some bad, some not)so it's hard to know whento worry or not.

A plugged tear duct is a possibility as was mentioned, but allergiesare a strong possibility too, or dust. Or a mild injury (and it's notalways visible).

One of my bunnies is allergic to pollen, hay and straw, and dust isalso aggravating. His nose drips. His sister gets the weepy eye forabout a week (no apparent cause)and then it just disappears. An oldbunny of mine gets it in the winter when not feeling well.

Rose

 

[gjsara]

ettore i didnt think that you wereusing the cords for the rabbit to chew on . i was justsimpley cautioning you that the will be chewed on i have had to replacemy mouse twice and my speakers amoung splicing other wires.and all of this happend while i was in the same room . i have sincetaped up my wires .i was just tring to save you some trouble and if ioffended you i apoligize i didnt intend to.

sara

 

[Carolyn]

Hi ettore,

I apologize if I was incorrect.

I just posted a list of what things to ask a veterinarian when you'retrying to chose the right one for your rabbit. You might want to scrolldown and take a look at it so that you can interview the next vet yougo to.

Good vets are out there, you just have to find them.



-Carolyn

 

[ettore]

Nah, I wasn't offended; nothing offends me. Sorry if this confusion is confusing :shock:

As an update, today Ollie has no weepy-eye. Apparently yesterday wasclear too. He has started digging in the OTHER corner of the closet butmy girlfriend put a piece of wood there too.

Any suggestion of what to satisfy his digging needs with? If I let himTRY and dig in the closet, he gets nowhere anyways. Should I fill alarge box with shredded paper or something? He likes a specific corner,it is (coincidentally) the darkest corner. Now that he cannot dig inthe dark corner, he's digging in the next darkest. I have a feelingthat IF he can have something to dig around in, he will dig it up, makehis hole and hang around in it. Note that I probably can't use hay.Another idea my girlfriend came up with is a bundle of grape vines thathe can chew up and arrange.

 

[Rowan]

I'm glad Ollie seems better, I hope he stays that way.

Thanks for the info, I'll be interested in seeing how your experimentcontinues. I've had good success with very hot chilli sauce (Carolynrecommended it to me to my eternal gratitude) on all the woodenfurniture that they were chewing. After a couple of tries ofitthey've leftthe furniture completely alone, and Ihaven't had to redo it as yet, but the same sauce on the walls didn'twork at all, they eat it with relish there. Unfortunately it obviouslyisn't a cure all. My suspicion is that it wouldn't work on wires, butI'mcurious about how Ollie reacts to it. It won't kill himanyway. I've wondered about it being the shape of theconvoluted/concertinaed tube that puts rabbits off, but if it makes anoise so much the better. When are you starting on different colourtests? What makes you think chrome may be the most offputting?

There are a couple of old threads on here about digging boxes, if you put the words into search.

Good luck with the move and I hope you'll keep us posted on the wire trials

 

[ettore]

Oh, and thanks Carolyn ... I checked your listand the only listed place in the area I am moving to is the place thatI said I was going in my post; this is good. I have a very good feelingabout this place.

... and I will definitely keep you up to date on the wire research.

gjsara, I took heed of your wire chewing warning regarding computerstuff. I find even MYSELF chewing on my mouse wire (I have a chewing onthings problem too ) so I bet they're irrresistible to the bunny. Ihave just purchased wireless components for my computer. Since I amsharing a house, I would have ethernet wires running around so I boughta wireless router, and just for good measure I bought a wirelesskeyboard and mouse. I am working on wireless headphones.

 

[Loz n Ebony]

How is he eating? When Fluffy had eye problems itwas because the roots of his teeth where pushing up to his eye hecouldnt eat so he became very thin. I cant bear to think about fluffy.We had to give him injections and water his food. Eventually one day hejust hopped into the kitchen. (he never came indoors) as if to say"mummy im in pain"

 

[Stephanie]

We put tubing around all of our wires, as we hadto replace the PS2 wires, stereo wires, and a new waterbed heater (thatwas new to begin with). It's a neverending battle it seems. So Ihear you loud and clear on that one!

One of my rabbits loves to dig in his carrier. It's just a regular petcarrier you can get anywhere. The other one likes to dig in an emptycard board box. You could try that and see if it works.

Also, one of our rabbits was really going after the rug, so we madesure to have lots of chew stuff for her. She likes plain blocks of wood(what Hank suggested), toilet paper rolls and untreated wicker baskets.Both of my rabbits looooove the basket. They're very very cheap too,cheaper than chew toys at a pet store, which my rabbits ignore anyway,but for some reason one of my cats likes.