New Bunny Owner and lots of questions

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shemac72

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I just got a new bunny for my kids. He is a mini lop. I got him from a farm kinda on a spur of the moment whim. I got him a three foot cage with wire flooring and the tray underneath. My questions are:
1. Can or will they eat anything other than Timothy Hay? My husband is allergic.
2. How much hay do I give him each day?
3. The reason I mentioned the wire flooring is that he doesn't want to sleep on the bedding and has pushed it all away and sleeps/hangs out on the wire. Is this okay for him? (Probably a ridiculous question.)
4. We are keeping him in an attached garage to the house, but it's not heated. It definitely gets cold out there, but not subzero. Is this okay?

I really wish we could keep him inside, but like I said, the husband is allergic, so he has to be out in the garage. I was thinking about adding a gated area so he can come and go out of the cage.
 
Hi and welcome to RO!

If he's a baby he may be better off with alfalfa hay. Bunnies of any age can be offered unlimited grass hay (e.g. timothy, orchard, meadow, coastal, brome, oat, wheat, barley). Some of the other varieties may be harder to find but if your husband isn't allergic, that may be a better option.

He should be offered something other than the wire to sit on. Wire floors are often thought to contribute to sore hocks. You can purchase plastic resting mats or offer him a rug, tile, wood, etc.

I'm not sure what part of the world you're located in (please at least add your country to your profile, it helps us give tips) but at this time of year in the northern hemisphere I'd be more worried about a hot garage. Buns handle cold much better than they handle heat. Also, if you keep a car in the garage I'd be worried about exhaust or carbn monoxide.
 
Welcome! How old is your rabbit? If he's young (under 6 months) you can feed him alfalfa hay, though I don't know how that would affect your husband. There are other grass hays available besides Timothy also. You can give him as much hay as he'll eat. Are you also feeding him pellets?

The wire floor shouldn't be a problem as long as you have something to cover part of the floor so he can get off the wire when he wants to. The garage should be fine...if you have cars in there you'll need to keep it ventilated. They should do fine in there in the winter. Rabbits tolerate cold temps much better than hot temps anyway. They just don't do well with cold drafts.
 
Welcome to the forum :) The others have pretty much covered all questions, just wanted to add that make sure that water is available at all times. If you are worried about colder temperatures, you can give him a fleece blanket (towels can be bad if they ingest the long fibre strands) or scrunched up newspaper and a pile of hay to snuggle into to keep warm. But as others have said, rabbits handle the cold much better than they handle the heat.
 
Thank you for your responses. We are in Braintree, Massachusetts. It has been really, really hot here the last week. I got him on Friday, which was 101 degrees. I got him from a woman who has a small home farm. He was in a cage outside under a tree, so I'm really glad I got him when I did and got him into an car with AC :).

I'm rethinking the garage situation because I do keep my car in there in the winter. Maybe the cellar will be a better place for him. It's pretty cool in there in the summer and warm in the winter.

I'll try the alfalfa, maybe that will help with the allergies.
 
Hi Shemac :) Jovi and I are pretty new here too. You've come to the right place. When you're online, be sure to check out the nutrition forum, and go slow with introducing new greens and vegetables. There are so many friendly people here, and they're always ready to answer your questions. I've learned so much while hanging out here. Oh and everyone here enjoys looking at photos and videos, so be sure you get familiar with how to upload! Welcome from one newbie to another!
 
shemac72 said:
I'm rethinking the garage situation because I do keep my car in there in the winter. Maybe the cellar will be a better place for him. It's pretty cool in there in the summer and warm in the winter.
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I definitely wouldn't keep him in the garage. Rabbits are very sensitive to exhaust fumes.

Basements are cool, but they're also not places where people hang out much. Rabbits are very social creatures. He would be happiest, and would socialize the best, if you could find a spot where he can get the most human contact. My Natasha Rabbitova is out of her cage with free run of my house whenever I'm home, but if she has to be in her cage (like if there are too many people in the house and I'm worried about her getting stepped on), her cage is in the hall between the living room and dining room so she can keep an eye on everything and maybe get the odd petting from people passing by.
 
Three foot is far too small for any rabbit to be kept in. The minimum allowance should be 6ftx2ftx2ft with an exercise space of 8ftx2ft as they can develop problems in their backs and joins from not moving around enough.
 
Okay. So I think what I will have to do is make space in my office for little one. Any ideas on the least messiest stuff to put in the cage?
 
Oh, and also, he has some white specs in his fur, which actually look like lice......please, give me another explanation for this.
 
You can always give him more space with an xpen for now, you can get them cheap and are great if your not sure where you want to put your pen :) if your bunny isn't a chewer you can put down blankets but mine aren't too crazy about any kind of bedding, just make sure they get plenty of hay :)
 
If you are located in the USA that cage is plenty big enough when compared to the min. set by animal welfare. However if you are in the UK the standards are WAY different from the USA. If you have wire you need something in the cage like a resting pad. Like so
images


You can feed alfalfa up to 6 months then its recommended to switch to a hay like timothy or orchard grass(usually anything but alfalfa as it is to rich for them at that age) UNLIMITED hay is very important, its the most important thing in their diet. It keep their gut moving and help prevent blockages.

I would move him to a place not in the garage, outside in a shed would be better because there would be no problem with the fumes from your car. Keep in mind rabbits handle the cold a lot better than the heat. If you want more of a hands on rabbit, I would start looking into the HRS. If you were interested in 4H I would start looking into ARBA. I am a breeder, but I have had house rabbits and have rescued rabbits, so I am familiar with the HRS although I am a full supporter of ARBA.

If your looking into a house rabbit on YouTube 101rabbits is a great guide to raising house rabbits there isn't many people who have 4H guides though!


Hope I've helped good luck! :bunny19
 
Do you have a picture of these white flecks? If he is a broken colored rabbit this could just be scattered white hairs.
 
Rabbits are actually pretty easy to litter train. My rabbits live in my bedroom in a 42 inch dog crate where they have carpets and towels on a solid floor (although while litter training, I'd just go with litter in a box and a solid floor until they figure out where the litter box is). I have my cords covered and anything important up where they can't get to it and they get free roam of my room when I'm home.

In most cases (but not all), I think people get more enjoyment out of their rabbits if they've got them indoors and really work to make them part of the family.
 
If you want to keep the wire floor, you will want to consider putting something in there so that he can have a place to rest. Wire floors can make their feet sore, cause their fur to fall out from their paws and sometimes if it's bad enough it'll start to cut into their skin. Bunnies on wire floors may be less inclined to walk around their cage and it'll make them just want to sit around all day :( Missy is right, bunnies are pretty easy to litter train. Once they are, you and the bunny will be happier for it!

As for the white flecks, it's possible it's loose fur, it's also possible that it is fur mites. Is your bunny itchy or scratching a lot? Missing clumps of fur anywhere on the body?
 
Yeah, my bunny is (Gizmo) is scratching like crazy, poor thing. I'm so new to this and I wish I done my research beforehand. He seems so timid and nervous that he makes me nervous to handle him. He doesn't seem to be eating his hay much. He's eating his pellets just fine, but he's also not chewing on any wood toys. Also, when you keep the bunny in the house, do you use the stuff in the cage that gets all over the place?
 
kirbyultra said:
If you want to keep the wire floor, you will want to consider putting something in there so that he can have a place to rest. Wire floors can make their feet sore, cause their fur to fall out from their paws and sometimes if it's bad enough it'll start to cut into their skin. Bunnies on wire floors may be less inclined to walk around their cage and it'll make them just want to sit around all day :( Missy is right, bunnies are pretty easy to litter train. Once they are, you and the bunny will be happier for it!

As for the white flecks, it's possible it's loose fur, it's also possible that it is fur mites. Is your bunny itchy or scratching a lot? Missing clumps of fur anywhere on the body?
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I defiantly agree with this you need to put something in the cage ASAP, however you should also read up on wire cage floorings for more information the links below have some great information!

http://shinysatins.weebly.com/wire-floors.html
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sorehocks.html

As for the flecks in the fur you see, I would take him to the vet, don't bring him in the house just yet, and keep him away from any other pets you may have. If they are fleas or mites in his fur they will spread quickly if medical attention is not seeked. There may be options for you doing something at home but if you don't know what it is, you risk harming your rabbit.
 
best thing to do is get revolution for kittens , if you think its lice. that is safe for bunnies!! don't put any shavings in the cage. just a little bed or fleecey blanket. get a litter box and you can use pine pellets and you can put newspaper on top. and also put alfalfa hay on the newspaper. bunnies like to nibble and pee and poo at the same time. when he messes just fold up newspaper and throw away. then just put new newspaper and hay in again. then you can dump out pine pellets about every 4 days and replace. invest in a shop vac, little dustbroom with pan to clean up messes. his own garbage can. also get a squirt bottle of 1/2 strength vinegar to spray and clean cage, bowls, floors, walls, etc. and a case of paper towels. bunnies are messy at first until they're spayed or neutered. here's the ex pen I bought. it's big and you can move it easy!!!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FS6INU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
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Yipes. Scratching like crazy sounds like he might have fur mites. It is very treatable though. Just be careful when choosing medication, because the stuff you can typically buy in pet stores for dogs and cats are dangerous for rabbits (Advantage is a brand that comes to mind). Revolution, if you can get your hands on it, works really well, given in kitten dose. Since he is a lop, I would also check the insides of his ears. Does he have flaky skin or black specks inside of his ears as well?

Some buns take a day or two to adjust to a new environment. He might eat more hay with a bit more time. Since he is eating pellets in the meantime, I wouldn't be too worried yet.

Some bunnies don't play with wooden toys, or any toys at all that we buy. A lot of times my buns would rather play with simple stuff they can tear into like a phone book or an old cardboard box, an old oatmeal canister (cardboard material), a used up paper towel or toilet paper roll stuffed with hay. Things like that usually get more interest from the furry ones than commercial toys.

Does Gizmo have his own litter box inside of his cage? Not sure what kind of litter you are using, but there are many kinds available in stores. Stuff like wood shavings, compressed paper pellets (Yesterday's News), compressed cotton pellets (Carefresh), compressed pine pellets (Feline Pine) works fine. Something even as simple as a thick layer of old newspaper folded up at the bottom of the litter box works. Whatever you have, I'd put it in a small litter box and top it with a bunch of hay, perhaps also put his bowl of pellets in there. Rabbits naturally eat and poop at the same time, so putting his edibles there, he will learn to associate that area with what he needs to do there. It'll also help keep the rest of his cage dry and clean.

Edit: Avoid cat litters that "clump" or contain clay or corn. That stuff gets into the bunny's system and is harmful.
 
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