Introducing Baby Meru!

[Meru]

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Introducing Baby Meru.[/align]
Hello everyone! I apologize for the block of text, but you see. I am super duper excited, and happy. My name is Ariel, and I just got my first bunny ever. After searching, and searching, little Meru [ Pronounced - Meh-Rue/Roo Not Me-Row or Meh-Row or Meadow. LOL. u__u] Nice to meet you all!!~ Now on to my bun. ~

I finally got the courage to ask for my first ever bunny. She is a Netherland Dwarf, and just turned 8 weeks, on the 10th.

She is the cutest, and tiniest little thing ever. It has only been the first day with her, and I absolutely adore her.

Just a question. I got her bread spread, and I have it at one end of her cage, separate from her food, hay, treat, and water. She constantly goes over to the bread spread, and eats that instead, is this normal/alright? Also I give her very small portions of each thing. Her bowl isn't even filled up much, not like up in the picture, I actually took a huge portion of that away from her, and it's only filled a bit now. She has some timothy hay in a toilet paper roll [ What the breeder I spoke to, recommended.], and a small little block like treat. It's like a hardened version of the timothy hay, if that makes sense. She loves her treat, and LOVES her water. Is this too much for her, or is it just right?

She's also nipping at my wife, and her little sister, but she hasn't nipped at me. Is this an early sign of bad things to come, or is it just because she doesn't know right from wrong yet?

Other than those, she is an absolute joy to have. Her color is black otter, and she has brown eyes. She has a toy bell that hangs from her cage, it has these little wooden shaped banana's, squash, carrots, etc attached to it, that she likes to nip at. She also loves ringing the bell.

Is there an easy way to have her warm up to me? I think she and I, are doing pretty well thus far, but if there's any tips, I'd love to have 'em!

Here's more pictures of my baby;

[Cage] - She absolutely adores the color red. If bunnies are color blind, I simply can't believe it. We have a red popcorn bowl [ empty] on the ground, and she loves sitting next to it, looking into it, and just observing it. Hence why we bought her a red cage. She loves our red blankets, she just seems to adore the color red...Which makes me laugh, because it's my favorite as well.

[Her, and our maltese][Out of cage][Being held by mommy][Side view]

 

[missyscove]

Hi and welcome to RO! Your new baby is adorable.
A few suggestions.
What do you mean by "bread spread"? If the treat you're talking about is just a hay cube, then that's fine but I would limit other treats for such a young bun. At her age she can free feed on pellets and rabbits should always have unlimited access to hay and fresh water.
My Timmy loves toys that jingle
When we first got Timmy he was a bit of a nipper, it's not that he was trying to hurt us, but more that he didn't know any better. He'd move along sniffing you and then boom you (or your clothes) would get a bite. We stopped this behavior by letting out a high-pitched squeal whenever he nipped to let him know, "ouch that hurts!" and now he doesn't do it anymore.

 

[Meru]

It's actually called Softwood Bedding from Planet Petco. There's a link for it; here. http://www.petco.com/product/115507/Planet-Petco-Softwood-and-Paper-Small-Animal-Bedding.aspx

Oh, and it is a hay cube! I was told not to give her any fruits/vegetables until she's at least 6 months old. And alright! Good thing I picked up a big pack of timothy hay! She LOVES the timothy hay, and she drinks very often.

D'awww so it's common? She just loves to go up to it, and jingle it every once in a while.
I actually read about the squeaking somewhere, and that's what we've been doing, so I guess we're doing the right thing thankfully!

Thank you so much for responding to my thread! n__n

 

[Serenity73]

Your bunny is absolutely adorable. The "bread spread" you have is more for hamsters, rats , and guineas. The smell is very strong so that is why your bun is eating it.As far as it being bad I would call Petco and see if that is the appropriate type for the rabbits. I used http://www.petco.com/product/100574/Kaytee-Soft-Granule-Pet-Bedding.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch for a long time with my buns and they never tried to eat it. I eventually just started using hay for the bedding as well.

I have one bun that uses a potty w/ the hay in it and one that doesn't he thinks that is his bed but he will potty in it on occasion. If your bun is nippy she might be a little scared. Loud noises/voices tend to frighten buns. Also I saw in the pic you had the doggy. How does she feel about the dog and how does the dog feel about her? Always keep an eye on those two together. Good luck w/ your bunny:sickbunny:

 

[oryctolaguslady]

Meru is adorable! You will get lots of useful advice here at RO. I agree you might look for a different bedding; otherwise it sounds as though you are doing great with her!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Very cute--looks just like our little boy Stewart-her coloring looks to be Black Otter.

 

[Meru]

Thank you so much for your input, Serenity. I actually looked over the website, and heeded your advice calling to ask. They said that it's fine, just as long as I didn't put in a bunch, and like a bunch of it was gone. It's not bad for her, as long as she realizes, which I think she has. She is an intelligent little bun, and has actually taught herself to go potty in that area. There's a lot of it everywhere, but that's her main area to go. Now she nibbles on the one little hay block she has the most. However, she doesn't seem to be eating her pellets. She prefers the Timothy hay, and the hay block. Is this normal, or should I take/add more to her bowl? Perhaps I took away too much?

She also drinks a ton. I thought maybe she was just dehydrated because unfortunately we weren't expecting to have her, so she had to stay in a box while we found her the right cage, water bottle, food, etc....Buuuut, she continues to drink a lot. I just want to make sure this is normal? She has nice fresh water, because I make sure to make it so.

And I apologize for continuing to ask questions, however. I picked up a small spritz bottle of 'Quick and Clean Instant Shampoo', which says it's for rabbits, I made sure of it. It has the gentle scent of baby powder, and I refuse to spray it right on her, because I heard that rabbits do not like getting their fur wet...So I spray it into my hands, rub it together, and then rub it on her. Is this okay, or should I not use stuff like this on her, even though it says it's for rabbits...Sometimes people who make products don't know what they're talking about, so I prefer to ask other professionals. Heh. It doesn't seem to bother her at all. She's actually a very hygenic little thing.

I kept going into the cage whenever she'd go potty, and pick it up right away, however...I realized everytime I would do that, and come back, there'd be twice as more in there...So I decided to extend her cage cleaning until the end of the day! :]

As for her interaction with little Penelope. [ My Maltese. ] The breeder's that I got her from, actually had huge dog's, in which the young bun got along with just well. In those pictures I took, Penelope was actually curious about her, and would just go up to Meru, and smell her. She surprisingly doesn't bark at all near her, though I make sure to keep my bun held when Penelope's in the room, because I'm still nervous and don't know how their interaction would be if I let her go. I'd prefer to take it little by little. Believe it or not, it makes us laugh because Penelope actually seems more scared of her, than Meru does of her. Penelope when frightened, simply runs out of the room, and peeks in from a distant corner.

But honestly, thank you everyone! Sorry about the novel writings, I just want to make sure I'm doing good for little Meru. I've been wanting her for such a long time, and now that I have her, I want her to be healthy and happy.

 

[bunnylove7782]

Hey Meru, Welcome to RO. This is the right place for all bunny lovers, people here are very helpful and answer all your queries.

If Meru is eating a lot of hay and drinking lots of water, its the best thing. Hay helps to develop their digestive system and wear their teeth which keeps growing thruout their life .So nuthing to worry abt on dat front ..just ensure to keep refilling her water bowl with fresh water .

As she is new to the family she wil take little time to get used to her new surroundings.Rabbits in general are very scared animals and they take time to really trust and mold to their surroundings.So take it slow and enjoy with Meru.

Any other questions plz pop in

 

[Wabbitdad12]

I would like to 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.

Many bunnies’ 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.

Here are somelinks 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.

*The House Rabbit Society has a lot of good information on what veggies are safe for bunny’s, etc.

*Here is a link to learn what your furry master is trying to say to you How to Understand Your Bunny's Language

*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.

Don’t hesitate to ask questions and I am glad you have joined rabbits online; I look forward to seeing you around.

 

[ZRabbits]

:wave:

Hi Ariel. Congratulations on your new bunny. She's a beautiful Black Otter. My Dobby is a Sable Marten and has the same markings as your little girl. I love the white under his nose. Makes him look like he has a mustache. And I love the white under his chin and around his neck.

Hoping every one is getting along. I got my first bunnies 7 months ago. Like you, never had them, even at 5. It's been an amazing experience. Like some have said already here, when they came home I gave them their pellets free choice. Started cutting back now because they are 9 months again. Also lots of hay. If she is drinking a lot of water, that's excellent. Water is definitely needed for a bunny to eat. Regarding their veggies and fruit. Vet recommended introducing slowly veggies at 3 months and fruit at 7 months. Because of their digestive system.

Believe me, it does take some time for your bunny to get to know you and her surroundings. Patience and repetition has helped me. I only fed and water them for the first week. Didn't do much but be there. Then gradually started interacting. I did mess up a few times, but not so bad that they were ever truly scared of me. I feel bad, but I'm learning too.

Sorry so long winded. Just as excited with my rabbits as you are with your sweet girl. Wishing you all the luck with her.

K

 

[Yield]

oh hey! i knew i recognized you on the rabbit thread! it's me, baileeYDG c; welcome to ro!