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RabbitNewb

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Hi,

My girlfriend and I just bought a rabbit the other day, and we have noclue what type of breed it is and how to care for it indoors. We planon raising it indoors, but living in Illinois, the weather tends to getcold. Also, I was wondering if someone could offer up any tips to helpcalm the rabbit or teach it some tricks. If there are any toys thatrabbits enjoy in particular, I aappriate any help provided. Thanks
 
Hi there and welcome

A cheat sheet for rabbit care at the top of the forum page has somegreat links and information on it, but a few things off the top of myhead just before I go to work -

I don't know if it's actually possible to teach rabbits tricks, thoughbooks have been written saying you can, but rabbits can learn simplewords and routines like when it's time to go back to the cage (some aremore amenable than others at this :?).

It's fairly easy to litter train a rabbit, though much easier oncethey've been spayed/neutered as before that when they get sexuallymature most males and some females will spray mark their territory.

Is your rabbit male or female? If you don't know there are some goodposts on here for finding out the sex though it's still esy to get itwrong, especially with a young rabbit. Do you know how old he/she is?Young ones tend to be much more hooliganish than older ones, mostrabbits calm with age.

Spaying/neutering makes a happier rabbit, and helps with hormonallylinked behaviours like spray marking and territorial aggression, not aproblem in some rabbits, but something to be aware of. If your rabbitis female it also removes the risk of uterine cancer which is very highin unspayed unbred females.

Safe foods and woods to chew are in the cheat sheet, the trick to alldiet changes in rabbits is to do it slowly or you can end up with realproblems.

Things dangerous to rabbits include electric wires - these are a magnetto rabbits and may kill if bitten through, but at the very least it'llstop whatever piece of equipment it was attached to working :?.

Also anything syntheticthat can be chewed andeaten(including plastic bags, carpet and material) this cancause a blockage that is likely to be fatal to the rabbit and at thevery least extremely expensive and stressful to cure.

Household chemicals can be very dangerous to rabbits too.

Young rabbits chew on just about anything they can get their teeth on,this includes carpet, furniture, walls, books, wires and anything lefton the floor. A firm No followed by a spray from a water pistol orsimilar is a useful training technique and some rabbits won't chew onthings wiped over with tabasco sauce or bitter apple spray but carefulsupervised watching is necessary for some months while your rabbit isyoung and loose.

Most of us find out the hard way that a rabbit can get to places you could have sworn was safe :D.

It depends on your rabbits preference but good rabbit toys are emptycardboard looroll tubes, cardboard boxes to hide in and/or chew (youcan cut holes for him/her to jump through) just make sure it'suncoloured untreated boxes, a box filled with hay or sand to digin,hard plastic baby toys, not the soft ones which may geteaten, pieces of untreated natural wood to chew, apple wood is verygood. Untreated wicker baskets or balls, hard plastic or wooden balls,bits of unbleached untreated paper (like lining paper or brown paper).

Some people are worried about their rabbit ingesting too much cardboardor paper so you can do it in moderation or make your own decision onthose.

Having said all that a house rabbit is a delightful intelligentamusinglittle companion and well worth the initial bunnyproofing and supervision necessary.

I hope you can post a picture (or more) of your little one, there arepeople on here who can give you a good guess as to what kind of rabbityou have and how old s/he is. There arequite a few guys whopost on here with house rabbits so hope you'll be another one andwelcome :D.

Kate


 
Hi and welcome!

I too have an indoor bunny, and am rather new (about 3 months now).


I advise you before you let your bunny roam 'round the house bunny proof your home LOL.


As weird as it may seem get down on the floor and look around forcables that maybe hanging around (tv wires ,cords for lamps etc) you'llneed to somehow block off those areas. Looking from floor level givesyou a better view of what your bun can get into.


We have blocked ours with the wire squares made to make NIC cubes, http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/NIC.shtml


This will give you an idea what squares I am talking about. We haveblocked off our computer desks to hide the wires behind the singlecubes etc, line them up in a row and connect them together.


We have made gates out of these that can be packed away when our Bindyis in her hutch, we put them to block off the kitchen and our bedrooms(kitchen one I store behind our sofa when we don't use it.


As for food, you need to get some hay for your bun, unlimited hay is agreat idea (timothy or something, we can't get that here in Oz but I dohave another hay similar I buy from a stock feed place or a pert storeI have learnt to trust as they know a fair bit about bunnies)


Bunny will need pellets as well and an endless supply of water.


Carolyn created a post here called " A cheat sheet for bunnies" it's a great post to read and get some basics.


To start when letting your bun out to play, keep them confined to oneroom then gradually increase the "play size", watch your bun to seewhere she goes etc and what she does.


To get your bun to get used to you I found just sitting or laying onthe floor and letting your bunny come to you rather than you forcingyourself on to them works great. It may take a while but bunnies beingso very curious they will come and "check you out".


There are lots of wonderful people here who are happy to share advice and stories and pictures with.


What I did and still do is go and read old posts there is a searchsection in the top right hand corner type in whatever it is and readread read, most of all take time to spend with your bun every day.


In saying that, when we aren't home or we are sleeping Bindy is alwaysin her hutch, I'd hate to come home or wake up and find my bunny haschewed something or gooten stuck somewhere LOL


I know this post is long but I do hope you have fun and enjoy your selfhere and enjoy your bunny, you are in for some FUN times .

Once again WELCOME!:D
 
RabbitNewb wrote:
Hi,

My girlfriend and I just bought a rabbit the other day, and we have noclue what type of breed it is and how to care for it indoors. We planon raising it indoors, but living in Illinois, the weather tends to getcold. Also, I was wondering if someone could offer up any tips to helpcalm the rabbit or teach it some tricks. If there are any toys thatrabbits enjoy in particular, I aappriate any help provided.Thanks
Up ears or down? Color? Boy or girl? Did you get it at apetstore?Do you know about how old?If you post aphoto we might be able to tell the breed, but a lot of times petstorerabbits are mixed breeds I've found.

Going to raise it inside or out? Your statement kinda contradicts ....

I think having them inside is really good if you can. That isbecause you can have them out to play with you and stuffeasier. Rabbits actually do better in cold than heat.


 
Hi

Just wantde to back up what everyone else here has said.

If you keep coming back to this forum you will get the greatest advicefrom anumber of rabbit 'experts' and lovers alike.

I agree entirely that the best measure to calm arabbit down is to havethe spay or neuter operation - my male bunny stopped chewing and bondedwith his female very well after the operation.

Bear in mind that rabbit will explore EVERYWHERE not a singlecentimetre of the space you allow them to roam in will go unsniffed orjumped upon. They are very different to cats in that theyenjoy nooks and crannies and will bite anything.

Happy bunny owning - If you put in the effort rabbits can be the most lovable creatures on God's earth.:p
 
Thanks for the advice!

Do you know exactly how much those NIC Cubes cost? I was planning onbuilding our cage for Thumper too, but I want to be sure I make itright. Those NIC cubes sound like a good idea, if affordable.
 
Bo B Bunny wrote:
RabbitNewb wrote:
Hi,


Going to raise it inside or out? Your statement kinda contradicts ....

I think having them inside is really good if you can. That is becauseyou can have them out to play with you and stuff easier. Rabbitsactually do better in cold than heat.

I'm going to raise it inside. It's a boy rabbit and about 2 months old.I'll post up a picture as soon as I can have Thumper stay still longenough. Thanks

Here's a pic of Thumper
 
Welcome!

I was like you when I got my first rabbit. A neighbor gave me a bigblack lop and he didn't know anything about rabbits either. I asked alot of questions at the pet stores and I read a lot of books andmagazines. I found Rabbits for Dummies particularly helpful.

We bought some clear tubing at Home Depot which my boyfriend slicedvertically down one side so we could use it to wrap the wires. It wasfairly inexpensive.

As far as toys, I bought plastic ferret toys with bells inside andbunny chew-n-toss rattles. My three love tossing these around theircages. I also bought a big cardboard tube at Home Depot for them to runthrough like a tunnel. It stands vertically in the corner behind thebedroom door when not in use. I also keep old towels around for them todig in (and to save my carpets!) :p

Hope this is helpful. Enjoy your new little one!
 
Good toys for bunnies are toilet paper rolls,boxes with hay in it for digging, pine cones(maybe need baking),anything the bunny can throw without eating it.

My bunny also loves his carrier to sleep in.
 
Thumper keeps running away and hiding from mygirlfriend and I. We can't seem to gain its trust. I can understandbecause we've been moving it from my home in Chicago down to Champaign,then from dorm to apartment. How long does it usually take for therabbit to adjust?
 
all of them are different just like people.

Try laying quietly flat on the floor and see if he comes toyou. Also, you can bribe him with a few rolled oats (dryoatmeal) and kinda let him know that being near you can be a good thingLOL!
 
RabbitNewb wrote:
Thanks for the advice!

Do you know exactly how much those NIC Cubes cost? I was planning onbuilding our cage for Thumper too, but I want to be sure I make itright. Those NIC cubes sound like a good idea, if affordable.

I don't think they are very expensive, I live in Australia so isdifferent costing, but we got 20 sides in 1 packet I think and theconecting disc thingys I got ours from (ok I am stuck here, dunno whatyou guys call a discount store, you know they sell things cheap) anywaywe have them and they are good.

Click on the link below and scroll down to the condo (bunny style LOL)anyway has prices etc and where they got them, might help you.

http://princessblackie.homestead.com/

Can't help but think I have seen this pic before

 
I just bought the parts for the NIC Cube Cage,but I had some questions about what I need in there. I wanted to createa second level and I was wondering what marterial would be good for thebase and the lofts.

Other concerns:

-Potty Training: Is a litter box necessary or can I just designate a corner for it to "go" on?

-Carpeting: Good or bad?

 
I think you need a litter box.
I think it takes about a month for a bunny to get comfortable usually.But even after a couple of months I am still seeing changes in thebehaviour.
Also it depands on circumstances and bunny's previous experience.
The best way to get a bunny to stop being afraid of you is to
sit on the floor with him, and let the bunny come to you.
 
Also carpets are bad since a bunny can ingest parts of it and
get blockage of the system which can be fatal.
 
I just wanted to know where you got this rabbitand if you have taken it to a vet.If you haven't taken it toa vet, I would suggest doing so, just because rabbits hide sicknesswell...and one day symptoms could creep up on you, but it could be toolate...Also..just a little more help:

I feel the most important things to know about rabbits under 6 monthsof age is that they need alfalfa for the calcium...which they can haveunlimited amounts of, and to only start introducing veggies no earlierthan 12 weeks and in very small amounts...I don't know, I just feelthat those are important things to know about junior rabbits

If your rabbit eats, drinks, poops, pees, grooms itself and stretchesout in the cage...it's coming through the transition stage nicely, andit wont be long after that until they start warming up to you

Stay away from rabbit treats available at pet stores and remember: themore wood chews you provide for your bunny, the more it'll stay awayfrom your things

Hope this helps

-Vanessa
 

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