New bun; questions!

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mithril

mithril

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Joined
Aug 29, 2013
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Location
Denton, TX
Hello all! I'm picking up my newest family member in a couple of hours. He is an almost 6 month old Polish buck, and my first bunny. I've spent a countless number of hours researching how to care for him and I have two years of experience working for a rabbit savvy vet so I feel prepared, however I still have some questions.

My first question is about neutering. I am planning on getting him neutered but am curious as to when I should get this done. I know he'll probably be stressed out as it is in his new home/environment, so should I schedule the neuter for a couple of weeks out? Or should I not worry about it and get it done as soon as possible?

My second question is about acclimating him to my home. Once getting him home, how much time should I give him to adjust to his surroundings before lavishing him with attention and allowing him access to his pen (which is attached to his cage)? I imagine he'll be scared/nervous and I don't want to stress him out more.

That's it for now. I've spent a lot of time reading this forum and am so glad to have found it. I'll post some pictures as soon as I'm able to and will probably have more questions over time. Thanks all!:happybunny:
______
Ashley
 
I'd definently let him settle in atleast a week before taking him to the vet. Now on how long to settle in before messing with him I would just monitor him and once he seems calm and not hiding all the time that's when I would start. Atleast give a day for him to settle in though.

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I would agree with Flemish Giant... We've had our new bunny for a week now and he's just starting to explore a little. I can't imagine taking him to the vet yet, he's still figuring us out and trying to trust us. I'd recommend letting your new bunny settle in for a few weeks, so he can start feeling at home.

As far as handling, I'd recommend giving him a day to himself and then handling him a little everyday. I wasn't sure myself on this - my new bunny is pretty introverted, he's totally happy in his cage and whenever we leave the door open, he'll just sniff around the opening, at best. He's still never came out on his own. But even with him showing he's happy by himself, my boyfriend and I make sure to handle him for about an hour a day so he'll start recognizing us. Hope this helps!


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One way to know if your rabbit is used to you is to sit in the cage with it. I would do it for like 10 mins a few time a day until the rabbit approaches you.

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I wish I could do that! Our Srećko has a small cage. Our hope is that the cage will be just his safe haven where he pees/poos and eats. Otherwise we want him to be free roam... Idk how to get him to bond with us


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Me and my partner my bunny Sheldon on Tuesday and he is amazing, we open his cage and let him out for atleast a few hours a day or longer if we can and he jumps straight out, would rather be out of the cage than in if I'm honest, and we have done this since he came home, we just let him run and try not to make a fuss, sometimes he comes up and sniffs us, but he likes running around and exploring (he's an indoor rabbit so do have to keep an eye). We do give him a cuddle a little bit each today so his scent gets on us and he gets used to us. Yesterday I laid on the floor with a fluffy blanket and pillow and he just came straight up to me and started sniffing, hopped on me etc. so maybe try that so he can get used to your scent too but don't make any sudden movements.


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We want to be able to do that, but our bun is marking his territory anywhere and everywhere, even on us. So we're scared to let him on the carpet.
 
Was told by our vet that a male can be neutered at 4 months, or when the members drop--if they show, they can go! As to how much time to acclimate, we usually give them a couple of days--it really depends on the bunny as some were right at home from the first second and others were "shy" and we had to work them for awhile.
 
I would wait at least a week or two before taking him to the vet, basically whenever he seems well adjusted to his new home. Also, I would slowly start introducing him to your carrying cage so when you do take him to the vet he isn't startled by the new place. As for the attention/bonding, leave his cage door open (as long as he is in an area he can rome free/has a safe playpen) he will choose when he wants to come out. It didn't take my rabbit too long before he was wandering around letting me pet him, probably about 3hrs after we got him he was outside roaming! You can also give your rabbit treats, the hand feeding will start a good bond and gives him the idea of "Oh, that person gives me delicious food. They're safe, I like them" do not try and pick your rabbit up too early though, I would wait at least until the second or third day AT THE EARLIEST. Enjoy your new bun!
 
I would let him settle down for around a week before taking him in, he will be fine an extra week with being unneutered, it will not affect his health and I'm sure he will be ask sweet as sugar! :) I would leave him in his cage for the first three days or so, let him get use to his new cage. You also want to make sure he is litter box trained this is important especially if you don't want to be picking up after his mess everywhere. Good luck with him! :)
 
In addition to allowing two weeks or so before neutering to make sure he's settled, it's also a good idea to wait so that if he exhibits any out of character behaviour after the neuter, it will be easier to pick up on because you'll know him a bit better :) If you do it while he's still shy of you and before you know him well enough, you may not know if he's just uncomfortable around you or whether there's something wrong.

Additionally, perhaps don't give him too much time out and about in the pen just yet, when you have him neutered he will need about a week of cage rest before he can hop and run about, so if he expects to be let out every day then suddenly isn't he may be grumpy :p Rabbits have a habit of thinking if they get away with anything once, they suddenly have complete claim over being able to do it again whenever they want!
 
When you say he's marking his territory I'm guessing you mean going to the toilet, rabbits normally choose a place in your home to go to the toilet (one specific place) and it sounds like he's trying to find that at the moment, once he does you I would then advice to use another litter tray in that area with litter pellets and some already used litter inside so he establishes the 2 together and hopefully he will then not go to the toilet around the rest of the home, all about training but he needs to find his own place to go, you can't pick it for him.


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Thank you all so much for all of the advice and suggestions!

Squirrel (as he was named by his previous owners) seems to be adjusting well. He is usually laying in his bed in his cage - out of his igloo house, so I take it that means he feels relatively comfortable in his environment. He runs to the cage door when I am approaching his cage and when I put my hands in there for whatever reason he will instantly approach me. I haven't allowed him any pen time yet (no worries; his cage is large/comfortable enough as a primary dwelling) but will be doing so on Thursday.

I've decided to schedule his neuter tomorrow for two weeks out. If I don't feel confident/comfortable about it for whatever reason then I will re-schedule. I'm actually a little worried about it in general. He's a cool little bun and if anything bad were to happen... :\ But I definitely do want to and will get him neutered.

As far as marking...he doesn't really do that. He is about 90% litter box trained thanks to his previous owner and I have yet to see any pee/marking outside of the box.

Overall he is a really cool bunny so far. I feel very fortunate to have found him. :)
 
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