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nelgamel

nelgamel

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Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
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New Zealand
From what I can understand from my bun Charlee who I lovingly purchased 4 days ago, he seems to be happy.

I believe he's a New Zealand white? He has gorgeous blue eyes that change a violent red in the sun.

So far the only non-packaged rabbit food he eats is lettuce. He has ignored the carrots, apples, even the raisin. He has nibbled at some cucumber but not with much enthusiasm. I'm clearly going to work a bit harder to find "his" treat.

I am a student in New Zealand, and having always had pets growing up, needed something with a heartbeat to look after. The day after I bought Charlee, my parents informed me they had bought me a tortoise.

I'm sure Charlee and the tort will be good friends.

My name is Nancy btw, and i'm looking forward to getting to know you all. :)
 
nelgamel said:
From what I can understand from my bun Charlee who I lovingly purchased 4 days ago, he seems to be happy.

I believe he's a New Zealand white? He has gorgeous blue eyes that change a violent red in the sun.

So far the only non-packaged rabbit food he eats is lettuce. He has ignored the carrots, apples, even the raisin. He has nibbled at some cucumber but not with much enthusiasm. I'm clearly going to work a bit harder to find "his" treat.

I am a student in New Zealand, and having always had pets growing up, needed something with a heartbeat to look after. The day after I bought Charlee, my parents informed me they had bought me a tortoise.

I'm sure Charlee and the tort will be good friends.

My name is Nancy btw, and i'm looking forward to getting to know you all. :)
Click to expand...

Welcome to you Nancy & to Charlee too.

How old is he? When they're young, rabbits should be eating only hay & alfalfa [lucerne] pellets. At some point veggies can be introduced, but very slowly [just a couple bites at first] & no more than 1 new veggie per week. Otherwise they could get diarrhea. Iceberg lettuce is to be avoided, as it has no nutritional value. The other types of lettuce are great.

I wouldn't be in a hurry to find out what treats he likes. It's awfully easy for a rabbit to put on weight that way. Then they sometimes can't reach behind themselves & eat their cecals.
 
Glad you found us here!

I'd love to see pics of Charlee and the tortoise :)

If Charlee is a baby be very careful with veggies. Bunny diarrhea is not only a mess, it can be very detrimental to the bun.

Provide lots of hay for Charlee. Buns digestive system does best with hay.

Looking forward to hearing more from you. Welcome to RO!
 
Congrats and we welcome you, the tortoise, and the hare! :} I agree with LakeCondo. Go extremely extremely easy one carrots and other sugary treats. Not even one a day. That's too much for most buns tummies.
 
That´s a great way to get them to approach getting down to their level. Just ignore him and he should come to you to investigate. Wishing you luck and pics if possible.
 
So I have slept on the floor with Charlee 2 nights in a row. From what I can tell, he only approached me once each morning at about 7am and ran around a bit. Then left me alone again.
Don't get me wrong, we have had some cuddles but only because I have managed to pick him up and keep him still long enough to rub his head and cheek. And sometimes when i'm doing that he will push for me to keep going if I stop.
But mostly he just stays the hell away from me.
And he has a thing for pooing on and under my be specifically.

Any ideas on how I can encourage him just to "be" near me. He even rests on the other side of the room where reasonably there is not enough space for me to sit on my laptop and do some work comfortably, otherwise I would go and sit with him, but he's picked THE worst spot to sit which is either under the bed or near the wardrobe where his food and hay etc, is stored.

And the pooing thing? I have been letting him have free reign of my bedroom all day every day. There is no lid on his cage so he can just hop in and out of the tub. So I assumed he would use that as his litter?


Any advice would be much appreciated. I want to be able to have a happy bunny with me involved, and without me having to wash my bedding every day.
 
Sometimes it just takes a little time for them to become completely comfortable with you. You haven't had him very long so he really is still settling in. Just the fact that he wants you petting him is a good sign. You could try using food to get him more comfortable being around you. You could hand feed him pellets at feeding time. Also using treats or veggies, but just make sure you aren't overdoing the treats as it can make him sick, and always introduce new food one at a time and start with small amounts, and only gradually increase the amounts if it doesn't cause any changes in his poop. Here are some veggie lists and feeding guidlines for them.

http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html
http://www.3bunnies.org/feeding.htm#greens

As for leaving poops everywhere, is he neutered? That will make a big difference in his litter box habits. But he is also just settling into his new home. Rabbits will typically do alot of territory marking in the beginning, but it usually starts to taper of after a while, but rabbits are never completely perfect with the poops. If he is peeing in his litter box then he is doing good.
 
Just to update you, charlie seems perfectly happy about being in his cage after I allowed him to come and go in it as he pleased for a few days.
I removed the legs from my bed so he couldn't get under it and left him in there for a while by himself. He wasn't a very happy bunny for losing his favorite hiding spot, but it has been the best thing i could have ever done.
Now he just hops on and off my bed while I'm doing some work or whatever else, and he runs around me like the happy little maniac he is and comes up for cuddles and he licks me and yay.

Basically i am so happy that he is clearly happy. Thats what it means when he runs around me like a maniac right?
 
I ALSO just recently got my baby bunny.. I got him this past sunday, which I guess is also about 4 days ago. :p (I noticed your post is from January, but still.. haha) I was told to leave my bunny in his cage for a week straight so he associates his cage with his safe spot, and then I can let him run around the room. Of course while he's in his cage I can still pick him up and cuddle him, and of course I clean his cage a ton.. I am leaving hay all over his cage. I actually bought him a new cage that's bigger, but I also bought him a pen so that he can go in and out of his cage as he pleases. :)

I'm wondering how your bunny is NOW doing? My bunny at first was really stressed, (which is expected with my 4 cats and 2 dogs) but now I have him in his own room with the pen and the cage, and even just after a day he was doing so much better. I am going to give him some ME time before I introduce him (very slowly) to my other pets..

Anyways, yeah! Welcome & congrats!! & how's it going?
 
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