My first bun!

[rhianna]

I finally got him! Meet Bear, the one-year-old lionhead who was a craigslist bunny. He came to me in a small cage with pine shavings, a food bowl, and a water bottle. I have removed the shavings and given him fleece, as well as a litter box (with feline pine litter), hay rack (previous owner hadn't been feeding him hay! :scared and plenty of toys. I also gave him one of those veggies ball things, stuffed with romaine lettuce, parsley, and a few pieces of carrot. He hasn't eaten much today aside from a piece of carrot and some parsley that I hand fed him. He's been hopping happily in my room since I brought him home, and how many binkies? I don't know, I lost track at around 5. He's definitely a happy, energetic bunny as I've been watching him do laps around my room, dig at the blankets, and toss all of the toys around. He's still not very used to me yet. He's come near me, sniffed my hand, even climbed on my lap for a second or two, but he barely lets me pet him and won't let me pick him up. His previous owner said that he loves to be picked up and she even picked him up while I was there, so I'm confident that he will grow more comfortable around me in the next couple of weeks. I (finally) got him into his cage for now where I'm hoping he'll eat some hay and pellets. I'm so happy to finally have a bunny and I've quickly learned that he is the boss, not me :blushan: If you have any advice for me then I'd love to hear it, I did plenty of research before getting a rabbit but you can never have too much info! Here's a picture of Bear:

 

[aozora]

He's so cute! I can't believe the previous owner hasn't been feeding him hay... maybe you should check his teeth to make sure they're not overgrown? I think now for the next few days all you can really do is keep an eye on him and note his habits-- does he like to dig? Does he like to chew? Does he like to make a lot of noise? I've only had a pet rabbit for half a year and the first month or so was very much a period of trial-and-error. I changed up sooo many things as I learned more about my bunny and the things he liked to do, the hijinks he would get into. You can really only wait and see how he'll turn out as he gets more comfortable in his new home with you!

One thing I do want to mention in regards to that toy in the bottom right corner of your pic-- I gave my Mocha that exact toy and he was much more interested in chewing the plastic rabbit head (the two wooden carrot pieces were hardly touched). I think he chewed off the nose and almost one entire ear before I caught on and threw it out! Luckily he still acted the same so I don't think it did any damage, but I think you should still keep an eye on that one just in case and if you see him nibbling on the plastic bunny head, it might be a good idea to take it away. Then again, my bunny turned out to be MUCH more of a chewer and only ever tosses things when he's angry rather than for fun/to make noise, so it could be possible that your bun will enjoy tossing that toy more than chewing it instead.

ETA: I forgot to ask, was Bear his original name and if it is are you planning to keep it or give him a new name?

 

[rhianna]

Thanks so much for the reply I have noticed that he loves to dig and toss things around, he's already picked a favorite toy which is the purple jingly ball that you see in the left of the photo. He also doesn't seem to be much of a chewer at all, which is partially good but also a bit worrisome. He loves running around, and he's taken a liking to a specific spot under my bed. I also noticed that when he's out running around, he runs away whenever I move toward him or make a semi-loud noise. He also would hop away when I tried to pet him and freaked out the two times I tried to pick him up. Then when I got him into the cage, he was in there for about a half hour and then I decided to try to pet him. He let me pet him through the bars, actually closed his eyes and chattered his teeth. So I opened the cage and he reacted the same. I decided to reach in and try to pick him up; he happily complied, leaped into my lap and allowed me to lift him against my chest. I was petting him and holding him for a while and he was chattering his teeth again. I brought him up on the bed where he happily laid in my lap and let me pet him (we watched the great pumpkin together :upsidedown When I stopped petting him and started typing this he proceeded to dig at my shirt, and then hopped off the bed and is now hopping around my room... anyways, the point of this story is, why does he get scared of me when he's free roaming but allows me to take him out of the cage and snuggle him then? I'm a bit confused, I thought it'd be the other way around
Another thing I forgot to ask is, when should I bring him to the vet to be neutered? I know he's old enough but I'm not sure how long I should wait for him to settle in before he goes through surgery. I plan on bringing him in to the only exotics vet in the area (hopefully they're a good one) very soon, just for a check up, and I'll have them check his teeth then too. If I don't like this vet I'll probably have to travel out of town for his neuter. Anyways, I think my questions are all used up now :biggrin2: And thanks for the advice on the toy, like I said he seems to be less of a chewer and more of a tosser but I'll definitely keep an eye on it and only give it to him under supervision as with the other soft plastic toys. And he came with his name, I'm 99% sure that I'll be keeping it as it really suits him and I think it's quite cute Thanks again!

 

[Azerane]

He's adorable! Glad that he's such a happy bunny. I couldn't help but notice that the blue ball in the left corner is the exact same ball that Bandit has, crazy. He's a great looking bunn. Maybe to encourage him to go into his cage you could lure him in with some tasty greens.

 

[rhianna]

Thank you! I'm glad he's so happy too, I think he really enjoys his new home with me That's pretty funny about the ball, I got it at the dollar store about a year ago in anticipation of my (then) future rabbit. The ball in the picture is actually purple but I have a blue one too. He actually doesn't seem to interested in eating, I gave him some veggies and he's been nibbling them here and there, but he's mostly interested in exploring my room.

 

[JBun]

Awww, he's a cutie pie! It sounds like he is settling in pretty well. Tooth purring is always a good sign

I have a few suggestions. Being a new rabbit, you may not want to give him run of the room at this point. It can lead to litter training problems and socializing problems Too much freedom at the start isn't necessarily a good thing. You want him to spend time in his cage for a few days, to establish that as HIS territory. You can let him out, but I would keep it to a confined space like your bed, or when holding him, at least for several days. You want him recognizing his cage as his area, and your room as your area. If you just let him run around without establishing that, then you may start to encounter problems. Also when letting him out to play in the beginning, you want to be able to limit his space so that you can monitor him. Things like peeing outside the litter box or chewing on things. An xpen works well for this, or just blocking off under your bed may work fine. You want to limit the space so he can't just run and hide from you. You want him to spend time in the same space as you and learn to be around you, and feel safe around you. When they can just run and hide, like under the bed, this can make it more difficult establishing that bond. It might help to have an extra litter box while he's out too.

Neutering is done when their plums come in, usually around 4-6 months. I prefer to wait at least til the 6 month mark, unless there is hormonal behavior that is driving me crazy It's not usually considered as necessary to get male rabbits fixed. Often it is unwanted hormonal behavior or wanting to bond to another rabbit, that is the deciding factor. Though neutering does usually improve litter habits and decrease urine and marking smells.

Be careful not to overdo veggies if he isn't used to them. Too much too soon can sometimes cause digestive upset. Best to start with one at a time, and in small amounts. Also keep an eye on his eating. If you are using a different pellet, he may not want to eat it, as well as the sudden introduction of a new type of pellet can sometimes cause digestive problems. It's always best to use the same type of pellets that a rabbit is used to eating(hopefully they gave you a baggie of them), then if you want to change pellets, slowly transition to the new ones over at least, 2 weeks time. Keep an eye on hay eating too. If he isn't used to hay, he may not want to eat it. Also watch the water consumption, make sure the bottle is working and that he is drinking ok. I worry about bottles not working so I check my rabbits bottles twice a day when I feed. Best of luck with the little guy. I'm sure he'll bond with you pretty quickly. He seems like a pretty happy bunny.

 

[rhianna]

Thank you so much JBun for the information. I'll take your advice with keeping him in the cage for a few days, this will be helpful before I can block off under the bed anyways. And he's one year old, so I know he's old enough to be neutered, I'm just not sure how long I should allow for him to settle in first. I want to get him neutered just because of the possibility of getting him a girlfriend in the future. He's pretty good about using the litter box, he didn't have any mishaps today. I have only given him a small amount of veggies as I know he's not used to them. He hasn't really been interested in eating much today, I'm hoping he will improve on that as he settles in. His previous owner didn't give me any of the food she had been giving him, but I know it was a seed mix, I don't know what brand. I have offered him Oxbow pellets but he seems uninterested. I will probably contact her tomorrow and ask what brand she'd been feeding, then go pick up a bag and introduce the new brand slowly. He has had a few nibbles of hay here and there but hasn't been eating much of it. I suspect this is because it's Kaytee hay, I'm getting fresh hay from the farmer tomorrow but Kaytee is all I had today because I use that with my gerbils. Hopefully he will be more interested in it when I get him a better quality hay. I also don't think I mentioned in this thread that I'm going to be ordering a new cage for him tomorrow, as the one he came with is very small. The cage I'll be ordering (this one) is nearly twice the size of the one he's in now, I know it's still not the best but he will be upgraded to an NIC condo when I move in the next few months. As far as the water bottle goes, he's been drinking out of it a good amount throughout the day and I have been checking to make sure that it's working. Thank you for all of the tips, I'm very new at this stuff :biggrin2:

 

[Chrisdoc]

He´s a lovely little guy and cute name. Sounds like he´s settling in but he will take time to get used to everything and to you. Jenny as usual has given you spot on advice. Even after quite a while some buns are always nervous with you when they´re out of their cage. If you want to encourage him to come up and explore, get to his level on the floor and he´ll probably come to you on his own. I usually sit or lie on the floor and they´ll come and climb on me, groom me and generally explore.

Hope he llikes his new hay, sometimes it´s trial and error to see which they prefer. Mine love veggies but do introduce new ones a bit at a time. Herbs such as basil, dill, parsley, cilantro are usually favourites.

You could make him a cardboard hideaway, mine love cardboard boxes and I have a digging box for them as well full of shredded paper.

Hope to see more pics of him, he is a lovely colour.

 

[rhianna]

Just an update on Bear. After a night in the cage he seems to not have moved much out of the seagrass bed in the corner, aside from flinging his food bowl around (to be expected). I checked the water bottle this morning and it seemed not to be working very well so I put a glass bowl of water in, which he spent a few minutes drinking from. I'm not sure what time of the night the water bottle stopped working but I'm hoping it wasn't too long ago. Since giving him a water bowl he's perked up again; flinging toys around his cage and chewing on the grass bed. He also still hasn't been eating hay on his own, but I gave him one of those compacted hay cubes and he nibbled it a little bit. I was also able to hand feed him a few strands of hay. Hopefully he'll be better about it when I get the nicer hay. He still hasn't touched the pellets but I've contacted the previous owner asking what brand she fed him, no response yet. I also haven't really noticed any poop or pee which is worrying me since I've had him over 24 hours. Could this be because he hasn't been eating hay so his digestion is slowed down? Thanks everyone for answering my many questions

 

[rabitgrl]

Congratulations on your bunny, he is so adorable!

The no poop or pee would really worry me. I am less expert on these type of health issues - so hopefully someone else will chime in. Personally if I did not see ANY poo or pee for 24hours I would take my bunny to the vet. If you are seeing a small amount, I would just chalk that up the changes in food and environment, and try to encourage more eating.

As for the pellets - it sounds like you are trying to feed really good quality ones. If he was fed the seed and grain type before, I often hear of rabbits getting really picky for their favorite little bits of this type of food. So he might just have to wait until he is really hungry, and then he will eat and get used to the pellets you are providing. I do know veggies can sometimes cause a problem if the bun is not used to eating them. Maybe you should just stick to hay and pellets until you start seeing some poops.

My bunnies will not use a water bottle, so I think it is good you have given him the bowl and he is drinking from it. I also think you are doing the right thing hand feeding the hay. I would keep trying to get food in him until you start seeing poops.

My rabbit Bob was a craigslist rabbit also. He was being fed dog food and no hay at his previous home. He took to the pellets right away, but I think he has pretty high calorie needs and is not that picky. I give my buns their hay in a super big litter box with shredded paper on the bottom. It is basically a large hay box they jump in and eat all the hay they want. I top off with a fresh layer morning and night as needed, I buy a bale, so I have plenty of hay to offer in this way. Not sure if this will help, but it is what I do and they seem to eat their hay well.

I think JBun does indeed give great advice. I had litter training trouble with Bob until he was neutered, and he was not able to free roam until we got that managed.I think he was neutered about three weeks after I got him. He was about 11 months old at that point.This helped immensely with his litter training.

Bob is also not much of a chewer, but after having him about a month he did chew my phone charging cord, and the vacuum cord. So I would not trust your bun, and be super vigilant still, unless you feel your space is very bunny proof.

It sound like you are off to a good start with him if he is tooth purring for you. Bob hates being picked up and held, but my other bun Iris tolerates it. If he lets you pick him up and will stay in your lap, and actually enjoys it, he must be a very special cuddle bun! My only thought on why you can pick him up from the cage but not when he is out it that maybe he thinks you are going to put him back in the cage. When he is already in the cage and you pick him up he is happy to get out and be petted so he doesn't resist. I know Iris will protest more if she thinks she is going somewhere she doesn't want to as opposed to just being picked up for a cuddle. (I never pick Bob up for a cuddle as he prefers his cuddles on the ground only.)

I wish you and Bear all the best! Hopefully he will start eating and pooping for you very soon. Please do keep us updated.

 

[rhianna]

Thank you for the reply, rabitgrl I still haven't seen any pee (possibly he has gone in the litter box and I just haven't seen?) but about an hour after hand feeding him a bit, a few little poo pellets appeared (in the litter box, too!) He also had come to me with pine shavings in his cage, which I didn't remove until about 4 hours after bringing him home, and there had been poop and damp bedding in a corner when I cleaned it out. And I was thinking the same thing about him not letting me pick him up when he's out of the cage. He really hates the cage as it's very small and he has no room to hop around; his favorite thing to do. I've actually decided that I'll be ordering an x-large dog crate rather than the cage I linked earlier, because it's the same price, wider, and tall enough to add a second level. Hopefully when he has a bigger cage he will be happier while he's in it. I talked to the previous owner and she had been feeding him Kaytee fiesta ullhair: Despite the horrible quality it's just as expensive as Oxbow, which I'm unhappy about but I'll be going out for a bag later to switch him over to the Oxbow.
He's definitely cuddlier than I expected in a rabbit, when I lift him out of the cage he lets me hold him to my chest and rub between his ears while he tooth-purs away. I'm very happy with my little guy, he has tons of personality and I've never really experienced that in a small animal as he's the first rabbit I've had. :bunny19

Edit: After posting this I looked into the cage and, low and behold, more poos in the litter box! I supposed my suspicions were right and he just needed some hay to get everything moving again. He's also currently shredding and eating his grass bed, which I'm hoping will give him some additional fiber.

 

[rhianna]

Just an update, Bear has been mostly confined to his cage for the past couple of days and seems to be growing more territorial over his space, which is good, also not trying so hard to come out of the cage when I open it. He's been pooping a healthy amount now and also peed a few times, not too much though. He's not neutered so I'm surprised he hasn't peed on everything, he's only peed in his litter box. He's been eating hay that I've been hand feeding him, though I still only have Kaytee hay available until tomorrow afternoon, hopefully he'll eat it on his own when I get good hay. He's also been eating veggies (small amounts), drinking plenty of water, and I've seen him eat a few pellets. I ordered him this cage as well as a non-tip food bowl (the one he has now is his favorite thing to toss), some storage grids so I can block off under my bed, and a few toys/treats (couldn't resist). They're expected to arrive around nov 7th which is thursday so by one week from today he should be in a much better cage and allowed out during the day. I'll continue to keep the thread updated for anyone who's interested :big kiss:

 

[Srecko]

Omg just wanted to pop in to say Bear is one of the most adorable rabbits I've ever seen!!


Sent from my iPhone using Rabbit Forum

 

[rhianna]

Thanks so much! I think so too

 

[rhianna]

I haven't been on rabbitsonline in what seems like forever! I just thought some of you might like to know how Bear's doing.
As mentioned in some other threads back when I first got him, he was having problems with eating his hay, and he was an insane sprayer/humper. As far as the hay goes, recently he's been doing a lot better about eating it. I put it all over his cage (currently a pentagonal xpen)- in his food bowl, hay rack, hay ball, litter box(es), inside toys, and sometimes straight onto the floor. After lowering his pellet amount to 1/8 cup a day and offering multiple types of hay at a type, he's almost always munching now. I don't even have to put it all over the place anymore- just in the racks and litter box(es). He loves to sit in the litter box and have a munch while he's letting out dozens of little bunny poos.
He's also getting so much better about spraying and humping. I spent a lot of time discouraging the behaviors by locking him in his cage when he'd do those things, as well as wiping up all sprayed pees and putting the paper towel in the litter box. We did have a problem for a while where he'd take the towel out and start tearing it up all over the cage, but after many stern "NO"s and lots of returning the shreds to the litter box, he keeps it contained to there now. He's also almost 100% litter box trained when in his cage, and he doesn't pee a whole lot outside of his cage but he never specifically goes to the litter box to pee when he's free ranging. He likes to dig at the carpet a bit before peeing, so I've gotten the hang of yelling "NO" and carrying him to the litter box whenever he starts digging.
He isn't neutered yet but is quite a bit less hormonal than he was before. It's going to be no less than $125 but likely $350 to get him neutered and I just don't have the money yet (things keep coming up- for example, I'm rescuing a hamster this week). I will definitely have him neutered before getting him a friend but that's quite far into the future and he does quite fine for now.
I've definitely learned a ton about bunnies in the past few months and there's no way I could ever live without a bunny now