Lots of Questions!

[mpalamar]

You'll have toexcuse me if some of these questions are a little weird.. but I treatmy rabbits as if they are children. I haven't read thru any of theboards FAQ's yet, so please excuse me if any of my questions arealready answered in those FAQ's. So with that in mind, herewe go:

1) NIGHT TIME: I've always had rodents while growing up, and they usedto love when I'd put a 'blanket' (just a small towel) over their cageat night time to help them calm down and go to sleep, do rabbits enjoythat too? Also, what about night lights? Last night I left a light onin the room for them, just a small light, but a light nonetheless. Ikeep picturing them like little children sleeping in a new house,children tend to get scared and ask for a nightlight... I figured maybemy buns would appreciate it. Do they? or does it hinder their sleep?

2) SNACK TIME: My buns love their carrots, but how much is too much? Igave them one on Sunday and my hubby wanted to give them another oneyesturday but I wasn't sure if that was too much so I told him not to(they are pretty big carrots, about a foot long). Also, when I boughtmy buns, I also bought a rabbit starter kit and it came with food theyclaim is for rabbits but the bag says its guinea pig food... is thatsafe for my buns or should I switch? I noticed that they seem to siftthrough the food to find only what they like and everything else endsup on the floor of their pen.

3)PLAY TIME: My buns pen is a 3' X 4' (3 floor) "condo" and I have themin a room all their own, I open the cage during the day and let themrun free, but my floor is all oil cloth and it's old and starting tocome up a bit, should this be a concern? Also, I have a dog and 3 catsand they are very curious about the rabbits, I'm nervous because my dogis still a pup and hes very playful, and one of my cats is still akitten and she is the same way... how do I go about introducing them tomy buns without worrying about a fight breaking out? (If thats evenpossible).

I just realized how long this post is getting, so I'll stop here for now.

Thanks a bunch!
Melissa

 

[Pipp]

My bunnies would EAT a blanket over their cage -- or at least pull it in and chew on it -- if they had a cage.

I've got a nightlight for my backroom bunnies because they have allsorts of levels and hiding spots, I don't want them jumping up on theircabinet and missing. I never did figure out how good thiernight vision is. Probably good, but I prefer a little lightin there. They keep different hours than me.

My bunnies get about a half-inch of carrot most days.

Ditch the guinea pig food and go for rabbitspellets (the typedepends on how old they are) and/or veggies(with the staplebeing hay). There's a great article on'Feeding yourRabbit' pinned in one of the forums I think, maybe somebody can post ithere?

My bunnies have no problem with cats or kittens -- the bunnies rule the roost.Not sure about puppies.

Hope this helps!

sas :bump

 

[Snuggys Mom]

Here's the link Pipp was talking about:

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12046&forum_id=17

 

[HoneyPot]

My parents put a blanket over their bunnys cageat night... I don't bother (I have a large cage like you).Mine don't sleep in the cage anyway - they just curl up under mybed. I guess it's a preference thing about the blanket - itdoesn't seem to matter one way or the other as my bunnies are up andplaying half the night.

I also don't bother with the night light. I thought about it... but I have a window in the room, so they get lots of naturalmoonlight and have no problems causing chaos all night long.

Definately ditch the guinea pig food. It sounds like it'sfull of 'treats' as well - does it have seeds and colorful things init? Those types of food are just treat food and not great forthe bunny.

Look for a pellet that's Timothy Hay based if you bunny is over 6months in age(Timothy is the main ingredient in the pellet), and alsolook for one with something in the range of this:
- high in fibre (a minimum 18%)
- low in protein (maximum content of 14% - 15%)
-low in calcium (maximum 1%).

You can try Oxbox Bunny Basics/T or Kaytee Timothy Complete... there are some others out there that other members use.

See some better details on feeding here:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12046&forum_id=17

Also - carrots are a treat food because it has a higher sugarcontent. Carrot tops are great for daily feeding, but theactual carrot - you should stick to treat amounts. So 1 -2ounces per 6lbs of bunny weight per day. This is the same forany high sugar foods like fruit.

And last but not least.. I'm going to have to look up a few threads foryou as I know there are lots of other people on there that have catsand dogs that are fine around their bunnies. I'll see if I can find anythreads on introducing them. I know maherwoman used 'softpaws' on her cats when they were getting to know the bunnies.

____________
Nadia

 

[mpalamar]

Well after reading your guy posts about thefood, I ditched the other food, and went right away to the pet storeand (surprisingly) they had some rabbit pellets so I bought some. Ialso bought new litter because, although I love the smell of cedarchips, I know they're not the best so I bought some paper pulp bedding.

I have just one question now... after I came home with the REAL rabbitfood, I changed my buns bowls right away, and after they ate one of mybuns went to lay down. He flopped over onto his back, did a BIG stretch, rolled back onto his belly then proceeded to fall asleep. It was thenI noticed that he was jerking a bit. At first I though it was hisbreathing, but after looking closely his breathing is fine, but hisbody was jerking (like ours does when we have the hiccups). After abouta minute it stopped. Should I be concerned? This was the first timeI've seen Poopers do this and it's got me kinda worried. Please tell meit was just bunny-hiccups!

Sincerely,
Melissa
Poopers :brown-bunny & Friskie :bunny19