new bunny owner

[tyang]

hi everyone

my name is Thou (pronounced "two"). I am owned by 5 parrots (lovebirds and one parrotlet). And i got an 8 wk old bunny boy yesterday at the MN State Fair. He's a Holland Lop. I never had a bunny before. Any good advice on how to bond with it? To tame and bond w/ a parrot is one thing, but I don't know how bunnies think. I would imagine the bonding/taming process to be the same as it is w/ a parrot. Hopefully it'll be much easier and w/ less biting

Milo is very sweet and mellow, and allows me to pet him, but not to pick him up though he did yesterday, but i think that was just cuz he's been at the fair for four or five days in a tiny cage. I am about to google his breed and see how big they are supposed to get. he's white w/ splotches of brown. in fact, i don't even know how one is to hold a rabbit.

He's been hiding underneath the couch and I don't know how to get him out. I had to wait for him to come out and then go after him, but I hate to be chasing after him like a wolf so how do i get him to come to me? With my birds, I lure them w/ millet and seeds to get them to do things I want, but what is a considered treat to rabbits?

i've seen some cool litter boxes on here, but don't know what kind of box to get. do i just get a regular kitty litter box? i've read that i need to put it in a corner w/ some of his pee and poo and he'll go there to defecate. I also started another thread on urine smell too.

What do you guys all use as bedding? How much of it do i use? I just got some softwood bedding for him cuz I didn't know what to get. Is this sort of bedding safe? I think it said its' made from pine, fir, and spruce. And on the back, it says "freshen" but I don't know what that term means. Does it mean I scoop out the bedding in the cage and put more in? Or just put more in?

Right now he is in my living room with my birds and boy are they curious as to who this furry creature is that is running around in their territory. I have him in a cage that's 30Wx18Lx16H. I hope that's big enough for him. And it's ok that he's on the floor right? I mean, his cage is not on a stand or anything. My boyfriend said that his cage being on the floor is just fine, but my parrot brain is like, "no, he needs to be up higher, he'll feel more safe that way."

Do they play with toys? I gave him some apple wood I had ordered for my birds, but they don't chew it anymore so i have two bags full of wood for Milo and a toilet paper roll. But I feel like he needs more. I just don't know what.

anyway, any advice and help is greatly appreciated. thanks.

 

[katt]

welcome to the world of bunnies!

rabbits are great animals, but it does take some basic things to make life good for milo(and we would love to see photos of him! and your birds to!)

for now the cage will work. i would suggest looking into NIC cages, they can be made one size, and you can add on as long as you need till you find a cage that works for him.

at 8 weeks old, he won't jump right into great litter habbits. at that age i normally give them a litter box, but don't hold to much hope that they will actively use only that place.

holland lops are cute little guys, they tend to not get over 4 pounds, he should reach his full adult weight around 5 to 6 months.

a great bonding trick is to sit in a dry bathtub with him. its sounds kinda funny, but just lay a towel down (so he doesn't slide around), and sit. bring a book. just let him hop around you and sooner or later he will come and investigate who you are and why your not paying attention to him (hence the book) just ignore him for a while, let him hop on you and around you, sniff you out, ect. this is a great way to build trust, and it keeps him contained to one area.

i personally use yesterday's news. it isn't to expensive, and it works really well on the smell. it is a pellet bedding so while it doesn't look soft and fluffy it absorbs all liquid and like i said is great on controlling the smell factor. i would start by using it in both the litter box and the cage floor. once he gets use to the litter box, i would only put in in that, and leave the floor of the cage bare(this is what i do with my rabbit)

the cage on the floor is fine, this will make it easy for him to return to while he is out of the cage running around.

rabbits love toys (well most do), we like to give ours cat jingle balls, and the hard plastic bird toys that hang from the cage (just hang one of those up in his cage and watch him go). toilet paper rolls are great (try stuffing it will hay, they love to toss it around a pull the hay out of it). golf balls are fun to roll around, boxes are fun to hide in, grass mats are fun to dig at. just get creative. i once had a rabbit that loved to push hot wheel cars around.

another really good thing to mention is food. i hope that the person you bought him from gave you some food to start off with. if not, it is okay, but just watch him for poopy butt and such. find a good pellet food. one without junk in it(all those colorfull little add ins really aren't good for a rabbit). i myself am a fan of purina rabbit chow, look for a feed store, if there aren't any feed stores around oxbow and timothy complete are 2 other good food choices that are found at many petstores everywhere. at 8 weeks i would hold off on to many veggies, and i personally wouldn't give fruit at all. just pellets and hay, maybe a little dark leafy green. once he is older i would add veggies slowly and one by one. he will need both timothy and alfalfa hay untill he is about 5 months, then i would switch over to only timothy hay with alfalfa as a treat.

anyway, that covers some basics, i am sure lots of others will offer more great advice, i would suggest digging into the library section of the forum. there is so much great information there

and have fun with your new boy. he sounds adorable!

 

[Amy27]

Congrats on your new bunny.

I use yesterday's news for litter and love it. I usually put about an inch of litter in. I use cat litter pans. I like that they are big and I can put some hay in there too. Putting hay in the litter box will help attract the bunny to the box. Also when they eat they tend to go to the bathroom. Only bad thing is it gets them use to going to the bathroom on the hay. So if you put hay in something else like a shoe box, your bun may go to the bathroom there.

If I want my bunny's to go somewhere I shake a bag of treats. It won't take long for your bunny to know what that sound means. It is also a good way to get them in there cage. Shake the treats by the cage and put on in the cage. The bunny will learn that that sound means get in your cage after awhile. You can also do that with food. Feed your bunny when you want him to go to bed. He will learn the feeding sounds and run to get his pellets. That is probably a better way then treats because you don't want to give to many treats.

I think having the cage on the floor is best. It will allow your bunny to go in and eat, drink or go to the bathroom when needed. If you can train your bunny to get in his cage when you are ready for him to go back, having the cage on the floor really helps.

Every bunny is different with toys. They have some they like and others they don't. Some rabbits don't really play with toys. You can also give them things like boxes to chew. Cut a hole in the box and your bunny will go and maybe even make some new holes.

Here are some threads from the library that may help. I agree with Katie. That is a great place to get information.

Litter and Litter Boxes
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12084&forum_id=17

Bonding
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=33995&forum_id=17

Urine
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=30244&forum_id=17

Pellets
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12160&forum_id=17

Bunny Proofing your house
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12079&forum_id=17

Odor Control
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=14868&forum_id=17

Litter Training
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12213&forum_id=17

Toys
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12433&forum_id=17

And there are lots more in the Library under Bunny 101

 

[Fancy77]

For me a good comb/brush it the best thing since sliced bread. My Hollands got poop butt and I am not too keen on holding them with poop on them so I just kept my brush handy and took it off b4 I held them. Well and of course I use it to brush them 2 lol Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new bunny where do u live and cant wait to see pics.

 

[tyang]

Thanks what kind of comb should I get? I live in Minnesota.

 

[Fancy77]

I actually went to Fleet Farm and got mine a small palm sized comb it has metal tines on it one side has them close together and the other are further apart, it was like 4-5.00 I got this cuz I saw the breeders use it on their lops in Owatonna. I have about 5 and love them, they get all the under coat out too and mine started to shed real bad then got new coats almost with darker markings. that was a life saver to have so many too cuz I loose them all the time too

Oh where in MN do u live???

 

[Fancy77]

sorry this one is all I can find its beat up but I lost in the bunny cage and well you see they liked it