LolaE
Well-Known Member
Hallo everyone. I have recently come to care for two new Netherland dwarf bunnies, a brother and sister who are now 11 weeks old. I have experience caring for my sister's two-year-old rescue rabbit (neutered male, unknown breed), but babies are new for me, and I have developed a couple concerns.
Since I brought them home a few weeks ago, they've seemed very happy. They warmed up very quickly to the new environment, and have spent lots of time out of their cage exploring (though they haven't left the one room of the house yet). I have been litter-training them (also new to me, as my sister's rabbit was litter-trained when she got him), and they've responded pretty well, with the exception of a couple mistakes here and there. Drusilla (the black girl): she's very assertive, always wants to know what's going on, and spends her time either exploring or lounging luxuriously. Both bunnies are surprisingly not shy at all, but Drusilla is not interested in being petted--she's way too busy, and if you try, sometimes she likes it, but usually she will turn her back on you and begin checking out something much more interesting. Nebel (the grey boy) is much more submissive, very quiet, and spends all his time eating or nestled down real quiet. If you go near him, he'll stop whatever he's doing and come nuzzle your hand for lots of pets, and then nestle right down under your touch--very sweet. He will even sit happily on your lap for a cuddle. Sweetest of all, they are inseparable. They explore together, eat together, binky together, and sleep together.
Now they are 11 weeks old, and it's coming time to have Nebel neutered. I've separated them so that they are still in the same area, just with a separating fence between them, so they can still see and maybe even touch each other through the bars. When I did this, Drusilla was completely nonplussed, and continued lounging as normal. Nebel was a little upset at first, and tried to get through the separator, but he gradually quietened down and now seems fine. The vet in my area told me that they recommend waiting until bunnies reach about 1.5 kg to have them neutered; I weighed Nebel at 730 g about a week ago (he has grown since then, but is definitely not even 1 kg). I called the vet and told him I didn't think they'd ever reach 1.5 kg since they are such a small breed (Netherland dwarf), and he said he could still do the procedure but recommended I wait until Nebel is at least 14 weeks.
So, first question: is it alright to keep them separated like I have for another several weeks, including the period after the surgery?
Now, the most urgent question: today I noticed that Drusilla (since they are separated, I know which one it is) peed in a spot outside of her tray, and the urine was sort of off-white, thick, and a little sticky. I took a picture as best I could, included in this post. It was on a grey dishtowel I've been using to litter-train them. I have not seen this before, and I didn't see it happen--I only assume it's urine, because what else could it be? But it does not sound normal. I looked up what it could be, and found information suggesting they could have too much calcium in their diet--but it sounded like this could be a very serious problem. What should I do?
I currently feed them a diet of alfalfa hay and pellets for baby rabbits, and lots of water. I have also fed them each a fingernail-sized piece of pear, but have been very slow to introduce other foods. I originally had them on the regular meadow hay my sister gives her adult bun, which they liked for about a week, but then their poop started to be much bigger and softer, so I switched. They have seemed perfectly healthy until now.
I have also noticed before that Nebel's urine (maybe both of theirs, but I at least know his is for sure after separating them) is a very deep rust colour, also pictured below. This has been the case for a while. I haven't worried about it, because I was aware that bunnies can have quite orange-red urine, but since I am asking about Drusilla, I will just double-check about this, too.
Even since finding Drusilla's strange urine today, she has seemed fine. No behaviour out of the ordinary, and is eating regularly. I do have timothy hay, and am thinking I will start feeding her that and weening her off of alfalfa hay immediately, given the high levels of calcium in alfalfa.
Also, I live in New Zealand, where today we have just gone into level 4 lockdown for COVID-19. This means I have no current access to a vet. So I am looking for options I might have readily available to me--change in diet, and anything I should keep an eye out for in her behaviour to make sure she is okay. I am pretty concerned about this, because everything I found on the Internet suggested this could be a really serious problem--I hope there is something I can do to help her without needing to take her to a vet.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and get back to my questions. I really appreciate the advice.
Lola
Drusilla's white urine:
Nebel's orange urine:
Since I brought them home a few weeks ago, they've seemed very happy. They warmed up very quickly to the new environment, and have spent lots of time out of their cage exploring (though they haven't left the one room of the house yet). I have been litter-training them (also new to me, as my sister's rabbit was litter-trained when she got him), and they've responded pretty well, with the exception of a couple mistakes here and there. Drusilla (the black girl): she's very assertive, always wants to know what's going on, and spends her time either exploring or lounging luxuriously. Both bunnies are surprisingly not shy at all, but Drusilla is not interested in being petted--she's way too busy, and if you try, sometimes she likes it, but usually she will turn her back on you and begin checking out something much more interesting. Nebel (the grey boy) is much more submissive, very quiet, and spends all his time eating or nestled down real quiet. If you go near him, he'll stop whatever he's doing and come nuzzle your hand for lots of pets, and then nestle right down under your touch--very sweet. He will even sit happily on your lap for a cuddle. Sweetest of all, they are inseparable. They explore together, eat together, binky together, and sleep together.
Now they are 11 weeks old, and it's coming time to have Nebel neutered. I've separated them so that they are still in the same area, just with a separating fence between them, so they can still see and maybe even touch each other through the bars. When I did this, Drusilla was completely nonplussed, and continued lounging as normal. Nebel was a little upset at first, and tried to get through the separator, but he gradually quietened down and now seems fine. The vet in my area told me that they recommend waiting until bunnies reach about 1.5 kg to have them neutered; I weighed Nebel at 730 g about a week ago (he has grown since then, but is definitely not even 1 kg). I called the vet and told him I didn't think they'd ever reach 1.5 kg since they are such a small breed (Netherland dwarf), and he said he could still do the procedure but recommended I wait until Nebel is at least 14 weeks.
So, first question: is it alright to keep them separated like I have for another several weeks, including the period after the surgery?
Now, the most urgent question: today I noticed that Drusilla (since they are separated, I know which one it is) peed in a spot outside of her tray, and the urine was sort of off-white, thick, and a little sticky. I took a picture as best I could, included in this post. It was on a grey dishtowel I've been using to litter-train them. I have not seen this before, and I didn't see it happen--I only assume it's urine, because what else could it be? But it does not sound normal. I looked up what it could be, and found information suggesting they could have too much calcium in their diet--but it sounded like this could be a very serious problem. What should I do?
I currently feed them a diet of alfalfa hay and pellets for baby rabbits, and lots of water. I have also fed them each a fingernail-sized piece of pear, but have been very slow to introduce other foods. I originally had them on the regular meadow hay my sister gives her adult bun, which they liked for about a week, but then their poop started to be much bigger and softer, so I switched. They have seemed perfectly healthy until now.
I have also noticed before that Nebel's urine (maybe both of theirs, but I at least know his is for sure after separating them) is a very deep rust colour, also pictured below. This has been the case for a while. I haven't worried about it, because I was aware that bunnies can have quite orange-red urine, but since I am asking about Drusilla, I will just double-check about this, too.
Even since finding Drusilla's strange urine today, she has seemed fine. No behaviour out of the ordinary, and is eating regularly. I do have timothy hay, and am thinking I will start feeding her that and weening her off of alfalfa hay immediately, given the high levels of calcium in alfalfa.
Also, I live in New Zealand, where today we have just gone into level 4 lockdown for COVID-19. This means I have no current access to a vet. So I am looking for options I might have readily available to me--change in diet, and anything I should keep an eye out for in her behaviour to make sure she is okay. I am pretty concerned about this, because everything I found on the Internet suggested this could be a really serious problem--I hope there is something I can do to help her without needing to take her to a vet.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and get back to my questions. I really appreciate the advice.
Lola
Drusilla's white urine:
Nebel's orange urine:
