new to forum, new to rabbits

[curiouscarrot]

Hi,

I've just adopted two rabbits and am learning as much as I can as quickly as possible. I'd done lots of reading online before I went ahead and got them, so I'm not completely clueless and the previous owner was helpful and they came with their food and hutches, but I still have a lot of questions. I'm hoping that the experienced "rabbit people" will be able to fill me in on the things that can't be answered by searching online (or which are just down to me being insecure about the responsibility of new pets that you are unfamiliar with.)

Thanks!

 

[ladysown]

Basics about bunny care

1. make any changes to their diet slowly and wouldn't recommend making any for the first week. Just keep them on their regular routine.

2. make sure they always have fresh water available and are drinking it.

3. Hay: many viewpoints on giving hay, my personal one is feeding it gives you options for emergency care. A good quality pellet (not the kind with all kinds of "pretty stuff" in it) SHOULD be sufficient but not all pellets are created equal so having hay provided at least every other day should provide the necessary long fibres. Many folks will tell you that hay is a daily requirement....but considering that many people with hay allergies keep rabbits healthy and active without feeding hay one needs to query that mindset.

4. Think like a rabbit (as opposed to like a human) when it comes to providing extras.... rabbits don't tend to go around digging up carrots.... they eat things like green vegetation, twigs, bark off trees etc. Rabbits are herbivores by design, not vegetarians by choice. They'll raid your garden but won't be digging up holes generally speaking (not like the dastardly squirrels in my backyard).

5. provide sufficient living space. Depending on the size of the rabbit that varies...but you already have their hutch so you should be fine.

6. Depending on the mind set you follow exercise may or may not be a requirementt. I find it deplorable that so many pet rabbit people say you HAVE to have your rabbit out for 4-6 hours a day which means many rabbits are rehomed (and heartache attained by the owners) due to "but I can't meet their exercise requirements" ergo I'm a bad bunny owner and must give my beloved pet up. Sometimes you simply have to do your best and realize that rabbits adapt....that's part of their mindset. So if you can't get your rabbit out every single day for "x" number of hours doesn't mean you are a bad bunny person. You are feeding, housing, providing good quality care for your bunny...that's what matters. Just do the best you can, and where able, better it.

7. realize that bunnies are a whole lot of fun. You can train them, work with them, love up on "em, and just laugh at their antics.

ENJOY!

 

[curiouscarrot]

Thanks for the reply and the advice.

2. make sure they always have fresh water available and are drinking it.

I'm working on that for their hutch (my other thread)

3. Hay: many viewpoints on giving hay, my personal one is feeding it gives you options for emergency care. A good quality pellet (not the kind with all kinds of "pretty stuff" in it) SHOULD be sufficient

Their current diet is rabbit pellets and rabbit muesli, oaten hay, and variety of fruit and vegetables. Seems ok to me, they haven't had a restricted diet so hopefully they've been getting what they need nutrionally. They look healthy, hopefully the vet will confirm that when I take them for their checkup.

4. Think like a rabbit (as opposed to like a human) when it comes to providing extras....

Good point. I don't suppose they climb apple trees either

but you already have their hutch so you should be fine.

The hutch has a small run attached, but I plan to get them a big one, tunnels maybe. I've got an enormous backyard so I can "go crazy" and have a rabbit park.

As for exercise requirement, I suppose like dogs and cats, bunnies have personalities. Some are like elite athletes and some are couch potatoes. I have 2 cats who like being out and about, and one who sleeps on my bed all day. With a big run, the rabbits can run about without waiting to be let out of a little hutch to stretch their legs and see something more interesting. I'm not too stressed about not being perfect. They are adopted and were children's pets where the children had lost interest, so hopefully they'll get more going on here than they were getting before.

 

[ladysown]

no they can't climb apple trees, but they do nibble on the bark of young trees and can girdle them, and I've seen rabbits take advantage of windfall apples...but they tend to go for the tree parts first. (the leaves and twigs). So giving them apple branches makes sense, and limited apple itself.

And yes, they all have their own personalities.

Had a chat with a gal today about her bunny. It's a total couch potatoe. Open cage, freedom to get into things, what does bun do? Crash in her cage, sometimes come out and crash on her couch.

Go figure.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Welcome to RO! ladysown gave great advice!

 

[HEM]

Hello and welcome to RO
This is such a great forum to sign up for. We were first time rabbit owners, getting our Dilly about a year and half ago and you can really learn a lot here. There are so many great people on this site who can offer great advice
Welcome again and congrats

 

[curiouscarrot]

Thanks everyone

I got the flyscreening finished this morning and they are in their "proper" hutch. Seem quite happy, looked around, marked their new "stuff". They've got an appointment with the bunny doctor this afternoon to check them out and make sure all is as it should be and make arrangements for her to have her little "op".

 

[Kizza]

Congrats on the new bunnies and welcome! This forum is great, I have learn a whole lot about bunnies after getting my first boy 2 years ago, I had very little info on bunnies then. It is great that you are invested in their health, it is a lovely thing to hear.

I hope that you do decide to start changing their diet as muesli, fruit, and a lot of pellets and veges isn't too good for them. The right veg is fine in small amounts, and some fruits as treats is also fine, as long as they are the right kind. I would slowly get rid of the muesli entirely and increase the amount of hay they eat.

All in all though you sound like you are doing a great job with them already! I have 2 bunnies, one is a couch potato and I swear the other one has some kind of hyperactive disorder LOL they are complete opposites but best buddies and I love them to bits

 

[curiouscarrot]

Thanks. They can eat as much hay as they like, it's all over the floor of the hutch. I just googled rabbit muesli and it isn't like those pictures. It's just grass hay and stuff, not corn or stuff like that in the pictures. I'll continue reading, there's so much to look into.

 

[DUSTBUNNY-CLYDE]

hi welcome!!!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:welcome1 Ours love fresh apple branches--the bark would go first then they'd eat the rest of it.

 

[curiouscarrot]

Unfortunately, I don't have any apples. I googled up that they can have roses. I have roses, so I'll try them a branch of that (thorns off, of course). The vet said she's got spurs on her teeth and needs more fibre. Hopefully, she'll chomp up some branches and I'll try to find some other hay as well as the oaten.

 

[curiouscarrot]

Photo of the bunnies. The black and white one is called Thumper(M) and the beige one is Muffin (F).

 

[ladysown]

colours (just so you know) black magpie and either fawn or a smutty orange. Could be a tort....but something tells me no.

 

[curiouscarrot]

Thanks. It's not a very good photo, but they wouldn't keep still and then they were hiding in under the low part of the run. I couldn't take a photo through the mesh because the flyscreen was focussed on by the camera. I can get a better photo later, I've put them in their new hutch and they are easier to see (and to get to).