Need some Bunny Guidance!

[nchan94]

Hi Guys,

My name is Nick, I live in Hong Kong and recently got a 2 month old bunny. Attached is a picture of her.

This is my first time owning a bunny so I have a lot of questions that I hope you guys could help me answer. I looked through the threads but I prefer to get more updated answers so I could give her the best conditions!

Soo here are my list of questions:

1. What temperature would she be best in?
2. Do I just feed her Hay? Or are there other things? Because I feel giving her a more varied diet would be good for her. I'm giving her Timothy Hay now.
3. The Pet store owners told me I can't give her carrots or veges yet. So when can I?
4. Is it possible to litter box train her?! If so are there articles that can teach me?
5. What species is she? Is it possible to know?
6. What's a good bedding for her?
7. Websites told me to get "Bunny Proof" toys, is it really necessary? Can I just give her toys like squishy toys for dogs?
8. So far she has a Pellets from Calnic giving to ger everyday, Hay, a water source thing and some rabbit pellets as a bedding. IS there anything else I need? Like Vitamins, Calcium?
9. She doesn't like being picked up, is that normal for her?
10. Lastly, how long can she live for?

Hope you guys could help me answer my questions ASAP so I can give her a proper living environment.


Thanks

 

[whitelop]

1. As long as your comfortable in your house, she'll be comfortable. Rabbits do better in cooler weather, anything over 85* F is too hot for them and can stress them out.

2. She should be getting hay, pellets, and when she's over 12 weeks old you can start giving her greens and herbs.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html
http://rabbit.org/faq-diet/
Rabbit safe veggie list
http://rabbit.org/suggested-vegetables-and-fruits-for-a-rabbit-diet/

3. Its always good to wait until she's 12 weeks or more to give her veggies/greens/herbs. When you do start giving her veggies, make sure you start slowly and make sure that you're watching her poop to make sure they're all still uniform and not soft. If they get soft back off with the greens. If they stay uniform, then you can start giving more greens. Introducing one green at a time, giving a few days between new greens.

4. Yes, its possible to litter train them. Here's an article.
http://www.myhouserabbit.com/tip_littertraining.php

5. She looks like a Dutch rabbit. I have a dutch that looks very similar. She'll get somewhere between 3.5 lbs to 5.5 lbs, with 4.5 lbs being the normal. She'll be pretty small. My Dutch is incredibly smart!

6. A good bedding would be any sort of paper pulp or paper pellets. Or pine pellets. Something like Yesterday's News or Equine/Feline Pine. I know you're somewhere else, so maybe they're called different things but something similar. Maybe someone else can help you, thats closer to your location.

7. For toys, if you could find hard plastic baby keys or a plastic slinky that would be good. Hard plastic balls. You wouldn't want to use a squishy dog toy because the bunny might ingest the fibers and thats not good. So something hard plastic and that would be okay.

8. You don't been vitamins or supplements. They don't need any extra calcium than whats in the food. Make sure that she is getting unlimited hay and right now, almost unlimited pellets since she's a baby.

9. Rabbits are prey animals, and they don't like to be picked up. You don't have to hold her, but you can get her used to being held. Make sure that you're picking her up the right way and to make sure to support the rear end. To help bond with your bunny, you can sit in the floor and let her hop around you and get to know you like that. She'll come hop around you and sniff you and maybe let you pet her. But it takes time to gain their trust.

10. Well taken care of, rabbits can live to 12 years or more. There are several members on here who have had rabbits live to 14.

I will add that your cage is too small. Unless she's getting A LOT of out of cage time, that cage isn't going to be big enough for her when she's an adult. I prefer to have an exercise pen around the cage, that way my bun can get out of the cage and have extra room to run.
http://www.petco.com/product/5992/N...5&mr:keyword=&mr:match=&mr:filter=51515394835
This is the one I have, so you could find something similar and put it around the cage, so she'll have plenty of room to run around!

Hope that helps! Your rabbit is adorable!

 

[MikeScone]

As to toys for bunnies, there are a number of threads on the board which deal with that, so you should be able to find lots of suggestions here. Just put "toys" into the search box and click 'go'.

As a general rule for toys for rabbits - there are no general rules. Rabbits are very individual in their tastes, so you have to get to know your particular rabbit to see what she likes to play with.

All rabbits need to chew on things, because their teeth grow continuously and they have to keep them worn down. So chew toys are nearly always favorites, but don't waste money on pet store chew toys. Neither of my bunnies liked them at all. Instead, try empty toilet paper or paper towel rolls - stuff them with hay, and the rabbit will have lots of fun digging and chewing to get to the treat.

When I read a magazine, we enjoy it together- while I read, I give Natasha the tip-in cards as I pull them out. She can have a ball chewing on them next to my recliner, and won't be nibbling at the magazine.

A plain corrugated cardboard box may make a good toy, as long as it's the plain brown cardboard. Avoid plastic-coated boxes or colored boxes. A small box can be stuffed with hay, a larger box can form a good play tunnel or house for out-of-cage time. Cut a hole just a bit bigger around than the bunny, and let her modify it as she sees fit. She'll love the opportunity to engineer her environment.

 

[nchan94]

Thanks alot for the quick replies! Really helped!

I just have a few more questions:

1. Do rabbits need vaccinations?
2. Any Hygienic things I need to worry about? Like teeth cleaning etc?
3. How often do we need to shower them?
4. Aside from Timothy and Alfafa hay, do you feed them other kinds of hay or grass? especially for 2 months.
5. Is the hay enough to keep her teeth in check? Like preventing it from growing out too large?


Sorry for all the questions

Thanks!

 

[curiouscarrot]

1. That will depend on where you live. Here, we have vaccination for calicivirus, but what's available and necessary where you are may differ. Is there a rabbit association where you live? They'd be able to give you good specific local information.
3. I have read that it isn't necessary to bathe them.
4. I feed oaten hay, but again availability to you may differ. My rabbits are grown, I'm not sure what babies get. You can also get wheaten and meadow hay.
5. My girl has some spurs on her cheek teeth. Vet advised fibre. They get hay but also veges. So, from what I know if the teeth are normal they need to chomp on fibre. If there's an abnormality, the chewing won't do the same thing and you'll need vet care.

 

[MikeScone]

1. Do rabbits need vaccinations?
Not in the USA. Vaccinations are required in some other countries.

2. Any Hygienic things I need to worry about? Like teeth cleaning etc?
3. How often do we need to shower them?
Rabbits do a good job of keeping themselves clean, if they're held to a healthy weight. An overweight bunny may have problems reaching those hard-to-reach spots.

4. Aside from Timothy and Alfafa hay, do you feed them other kinds of hay or grass? especially for 2 months.
Young rabbits should get alfalfa hay. Once they're mature, wean them over to grass hay. Any grass hay should do - nutritionally, grass is grass. Bunnies have different tastes, so you may want to try several different kinds. Scone hated timothy and wouldn't eat it in any form, but he inhaled orchard grass. Natasha loves timothy and hates orchard grass. Her current favorite is Organic Meadow Hay. I try to keep several different kinds on hand and feed them in different places, so Natasha can enjoy hunting them out.

5. Is the hay enough to keep her teeth in check? Like preventing it from growing out too large?
Maybe. It's a good start. With a few chew toys most rabbits won't have tooth problems. Some do, your vet can advise you if there's a problem.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Only a couple of things to add--very cute little Dutch bunny. As to vaccination questions, contact a rabbit savvy vet or if there are any rescue organizations and they can tell you what you need or don't need in your area. I haven't been in Hong Kong since the late 60's so all my memories are probably of no use to you now.

 

[nchan94]

Thanks for the quick reply guys!

One more question:

I noticed that her pee is orangy or and yellowish. its not clear and very creamy/saturated.

Is this normal?

 

[whitelop]

Yes that normal. Rabbit pee ranges in color from clear to a darker orange almost red. It depends on what they're eating for the most part.
My rabbits pee is regularly that color.

 

[mimosa]

What an adorable little bun!

1. What temperature would she be best in? I keep my thermostat to 72F. She's never seemed to mind that.
2. Do I just feed her Hay? Or are there other things? Because I feel giving her a more varied diet would be good for her. I'm giving her Timothy Hay now. She needs hay. Alfalfa until about six months, I think. I do mainly timothy for Harriet, who is over a year. She need pellets for young rabbits.
3. The Pet store owners told me I can't give her carrots or veges yet. So when can I? No carrots. I started introducing veggies at 6 months. Carrots should be given in moderation. Harriet gets about 4 cups of greens a day and about 1 tablespoon of fruit or carrot every 3-4 days.
4. Is it possible to litter box train her?! If so are there articles that can teach me? Yes! Definitely litter train her. I have no idea how to teach her though because Harriet did it on her own. I just put a litter box in her cage and it was a done deal.
5. What species is she? Is it possible to know? Looks like a dutch!
6. What's a good bedding for her? I do not use bedding at all. In her litter box I use a puppy pee pad, Kaytee bedding for small animals, and then top it with hay. I used to use give her baby blankets, but she'd just kick them out of her way, so I don't anymore.
7. Websites told me to get "Bunny Proof" toys, is it really necessary? Can I just give her toys like squishy toys for dogs? No, she will eat the rubber. However, my rabbit doesn't like Bunny Toys. I get her really cheap used books, phone books, boxes, and other paper items to destroy.
8. So far she has a Pellets from Calnic giving to ger everyday, Hay, a water source thing and some rabbit pellets as a bedding. IS there anything else I need? Like Vitamins, Calcium? I don't give Harriet vitamins.
9. She doesn't like being picked up, is that normal for her? Yes. Harriet still only tolerates being picked up. Keep at it though, she needs to get used to it so you can groom her.
10. Lastly, how long can she live for? 10-15 years.

Reddish urine is completely normal.

Also, free feed until a year. She can have as much hay as she wants for the rest of her life, but she should also get as many pellets as she wants until a year. Then cut it back.

 

[kirbyultra]

Thanks alot for the quick replies! Really helped!

I just have a few more questions:

1. Do rabbits need vaccinations?
2. Any Hygienic things I need to worry about? Like teeth cleaning etc?
3. How often do we need to shower them?
4. Aside from Timothy and Alfafa hay, do you feed them other kinds of hay or grass? especially for 2 months.
5. Is the hay enough to keep her teeth in check? Like preventing it from growing out too large?


Sorry for all the questions

Thanks!

Hi Nick,
Your dutch baby looks so cute.

Couple things that caught my eye: Hong Kong weather, especially in the summer, is just too hot for a bunny. Hopefully when no one is home, your bunny can enjoy a little fan or even better some AC. Temperatures above 26.6 C (80 F) is too hot, and since HK has high humidity, it could be a real issue and bunny can suffer heat stroke. When I was in HK and walked down that street near Mongkok where there are many rabbit pet stores and fish stores, they keep the baby bunnies just in a big plastic box for display in the sun -- it really is very dangerous and breaks my heart Ventilation is key. If you can even keep a fan in the room where your bunny is, so there is some moving air through the cage, it would be helpful. Don't fan it directly onto your bunny, but just so there's some ventilation around is appreciated. Freeze a bottle of water and then wrap it in a towel and place it in the cage so your bunny can lay near it if she/he gets too hot. Make sure there is water for the bunny to drink before going out for long periods of time.

1. Rabbits do not require vaccination in most places. Some areas have problems with myxo but I don't think Hong Kong is one of those places, especially if you keep your bunny at home.
2. You should only worry about grooming them. Brush the fur, especially when the bunny is shedding, which happens several times a year. And every 8 weeks or so check to see if the bunny's nails are too long. Very long nails obstruct proper balance and could hurt the bunny if they want to run around. Clip the nails regularly.
3. Healthy bunnies never need to be showered. Placing a bunny in water or wetting all of their fur can send them into shock or severely frighten them. Healthy bunnies clean themselves just fine and they keep very clean. Just keep the environment around the bunny clean and dry and your bunny will naturally keep herself very well-groomed.
4. Baby rabbits can be fine with just timothy and alfalfa. You can supplement with some other types like meadow grass or oat hay if you want. A variety of hays can be beneficial for keeping healthy teeth, but timothy and alfalfa are nutritionally sufficient as far as hay goes.
5. In most cases, yes, it's generally enough. The way that hay helps keep teeth short is that the bunnies chew and grind when they ingest hay into their mouths. Some bunnies are just genetically predisposed to have bad teeth. They may be just mis-aligned and so no amount of chewing hay will grind the teeth to keep them short. Since your bunny is new, you can keep an eye on her and just track her progress. Every 3-4 weeks just take a peek at her teeth and see if it's not dramatically longer. Your bunny is small so she will grow and so will her teeth. But unless your bunny starts to display strange behavior like refusing to eat hay or refusing to eat her food pellets, I wouldn't suspect that she has a dental issue.

Also, as others have said, urine can range from almost clear to a milky orange color. All of this is normal. It depends on what your bunny eats and how much water the bunny intakes. Some babies drink a LOT and some babies hardly touch the water at all. When you introduce vegetables as they grow older you may find their urine changes color/texture a bit too.