New unexpected Bunny mommy.. help..

[yashi]

Hi! First of all I'm so glad I stumbled upon this forum! I am the proud owner of two dogs, a 2 lb pom mix, and and 50+ lb shepherd/mutt mix. A few weeks ago I saw a rabbit running around my yard. My husband and I caught him and brought him in, he looked a little beat up. Had obviously been in a tousle with some neighborhood cats. Well I took him to the vet to find out that he is not only perfectly heathly, but has also been spayed. So I went searching for his parents. I had all the vets run a check on their altered male patients, none of which matched Boomer (his new name). So then I talked with the neighbors. I walked four blocks and put notes on everyones doors, hung signs at all the vets and pet stores, and put an ad in the paper. During my jaunt I found out he had been running in the alley for about a week now. I was planning on taking him to the humane society but I have fallen for him. Not only is he extremely cute, but he is great with both my dogs, and LITTER BOX TRAINED! Can't really beat that. He was a little skittish at first, but this morning he nustled up next to my hand and let me FINALLY pet him without having some sort of treat in my hand. So since you know my story, here are my questions.

First of all, does anyone have any idea what kind of rabbit it is? (Just curious).

He is about 18 inches when fully stretched and standing, and probably around 6 lbs. Right now he is being kept in a decent sized dog crate but I ordered some NIC to make him a cage. My dimensions are going to be 52 long x 28 wide x 28 tall. Is this tall enough for now? I plan on making it bigger down the road but not for awhile.

Also, my husband picked up some alfalfa hay. I give him about 2 handfuls a day just to graze on, a tiny handful of pellets, and some romaine lettuce. Occasionally he gets a carrot, but the vet said carrots really aren't great to feed him a lot of.Is this sufficient? And can rabbits have tomatoes?

One more then I promise I'm done. What kind of litter is best rabbits? I've googled and get all different replies... Thank you so much for all the help and I'm sorry this message is so long.

 

[Suz]

Hi and welcome!

I have no idea what kind he could be, as I'm not breed expert. But he's a cutie!

Timothy hay/alfafa hay, orchard grass, bermuda grass, oat hay, botanical grass - any one of these should be offered at all times. However, my rabbit won't touch any sort of hay at all. You'll learn his preferences over time I'm sure.

Carrots and veggies should be considered "treats" as far as I'm concerned. So yes, your vet was right. Lettuce is actually not so great for rabbits (causes diarhea), but iceberg is the worst, so romaine is better. Just give sparingly. Same goes for tomatos. But only the fruit! Not the tomato stems/leaves, as they are toxic from what I've read!

There's a whole list of safe foods on this forum which you will find helpful!

I use wood stove pellets for our litter box. They are the same as the wood pellets used in cat litter, at about a quarter of the price. I get mine at Home Depot. Don't use anything clay based.

Good luck and have fun! My daughter and I have a blast with our bun. We have a catahoula leopard dog that loves to cuddle with Muppet too.

 

[Wabbitdad12]

Let me welcome you to Rabbits Online, my name is Dave and I am a moderator on the forum. So if I can be of any help please let me know. This is a terrific website for rabbits and their slaves, not only is it very active but also friendly. I am so glad you’re here and I know you will enjoy it.

Thank you for rescuing this bunny. I am glad he found someone that will show him love. Bunny's do have a way of stealing your heart. The dog crate is ok and the cage dimensions would be the envy of any bunny. For litter I use the wood pellets, they are very absorbent and you only have to scoop out the used ones and not all of them. Just make sure they are kiln dried, this means all the toxic pine oils have been baked out of them.

Can you post a bigger picture of him?

Many bunny's recommend their slaves to this site so we may learn of others methods to keeping our furry masters happy.

If you everhave a sick bunny, please post in The Infirmary and include your rabbit's age, breed and health history as well diet and output details leading up to the problem.

I have listed some links I thought you might find interesting:

*For reference the Library section

*To brag or tell everyone about the antics of your bunny or just to talk about your day here is where to start a Bunny Blog, you can also look back at it later and remember when you had a life before your bunny.

*Now all the bunny’s like talk to each other when we mere slaves aren’t around in the Bunny Chat is the spot to be.

*Rabbits Online also has regional forums , this a good way to find a vet in your area that has experience with rabbits and to find out from other nearby of good sources of rabbit supplies.

The Let Your Hare Down section is for anything non-bunny related.

Here is a link tothat will help you and your bunny to connect, How To Bond With Your Bunny.

Now every forum has rules and ours can be found with this link Rabbits Online Forum Rules. This gives guidelines on what is acceptable, what is not and how we hope everyone will treat each other.

Everyone on this forum loves to see pictures of each other’s bunnies. So if you would like to post a picture this link will help you do that, Upload Photo's to Photo Gallery. Then in the post, you click on the "G" in the tool bar to insert your photo. Many people also use Photobucket. You just copy the img file and paste it into the post.

I am glad you have joined rabbits online and I look forward to seeing you around.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

If he's full grown, he doesn't need alfalfa--too much calcium. We use kiln dried pine shaving from Walmart and shredded newspaper for litter pan filler. God luck and welcome to RO.

 

[ladysown]

to help figuring what what potential breed he is, pictures would help.

6 lbs... erect ears? what colour? could be a florida white, tan, mini rex (brood size), small meat type rabbit. High likelihood of being a mutt.

 

[yashi]

Okay let me see if I can post a pic this way... Kind of new to this.

 

[Flash Gordon]

sounds like uve done ur homework already ,.so far ur doin really good for a new bun owner....
unlimited timothy hay is the best..,alfalfa is norm for the younger buns but some people still feed adults with it..
i do timothy hay and use alfalfa as a treat,
i also feed veggies prob about 2 cups a day for my adult buns..start off with a small amount of each veggie cuz too much at once could cause runny poop.
i do romaine lettuce,parsley,cilantro,tiny piece of carrot..
others that i feed on occasion are cut up celery in 1/2" chunks..
bell peppers (they really like the colored ones)
cucumbers
tomotoes(not many of my buns like this)
i also get fresh mint and basil cuz they go nutzo over it..theres more i just cant think now.
i use woodstove pellets for litter also cuz there cheap but alot of people use yesterdays news and carefresh..
keep us updated on ur bun we love to hear about em..and pics too,
dont worry about asking too many questions..we like em,

 

[Flash Gordon]

oh he is a cutie...,maybe some lionhead in him..but dont quote me on that im no good at it .others will be along to help im sure

 

[yashi]

Thank you so much. I am so excited, I've checked amazon like 3 times today to see if my nic cubes have shipped! And today it's like he can't get enough of me. He keeps nudging me, and I actually caught him grooming my large dog. Had to catch a pic of it. I'm off tomorrow to get timothy hay, wood pellets, and some mint or basil. I never would have thought to pick that up. Also, he has a really bad habit of chewing the carpet. I have provided him with apple orchard sticks, chew blocks, and other sticks, but he still chews on the carpet. Please tell me there is some way to stop this. I would love to let him out of his cage more often but can't if I can't trust him to behave when 100% of my attention isn't available.



P.S. Isn't he GORGEOUS!!!!

 

[Flash Gordon]

the best thing to do is to try and devert his attention away from the carpet...more stuff to chew on..hay ,hay,hay,,,toilet paper rolls..hay, hay ,hay any cardboard ,,,they like hidey boxes made outta cardboard boxes just cut 2 holes for him and he will love it and chew on it..
and yes he is stinkin cute!!

 

[AquaticRex]

Everything has been pretty well covored, so I just wanted to say a few things. Litter: I use yesterday's news (btw there is no best for bunny. Only what not to use, such as clay based. The reason I say there is no best is cause everything offers something different. You just need to know what you want it to do more. Cover scent. More absorbant, etc. It's caused quite a debate on here lol) as well, a word of caution about this site. It's really addicting lol. It's part of my rutine morning and night web check and randomly through the day lol and I'm sure a few others are guilty for it too ^_^ welcome to RO!! ^_^

 

[Wabbitdad12]

Very adorable bunny, I would have to agree, it looks like he has some lionhead in him. The fur around his head sticks out like a lionhead.

 

[Jaded]

Welcome to Rabbits Online!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

hello and welcome to the wonderful world of bunny slavedom--very good looking bunny.