Questions for flemish giant owners

[SweetSassy]

How cute!! :inlove:

 

[Fancy77]

I got Jay Jay about a month ago. I was under the impression because he is a FG I would instantly bond. well I was lucky cuz I have, even tho I know that is not always the case

I gave him his space for the first day or so, and now he has become such a great house bun. Hubby and I love him.

He is young yet and big into cuddling but he does allow me to cuddle with him from time to time.

His biggest vice right now is the biting. I am hoping that will b fixed when I get him to the vet.

He is just like a dog, very curious, hates to b held. But he is so comical. The best way that I found 4 him to listen is the squirt bottle. But he does like to be the boss so we r working on that, I dont like sharing my thrown.

I am happy that i have him. His cage is NIC, but he is mainly free roam. The only thing I am having a problem with is getting his papers I paid for. The breeder I got him from keeps telling me he will send them...ummm WHEN???

 

[Orchid]

BlueGiants wrote:

Orchid wrote:

What a wonderful story! and thanks for sharing it with us...must of been one heckof a bun to allow your daughter to play dress up!!

What shock and a heck of a way to get you into breeding!!

I have to say I like the blue, steel and the sandy colored ones with random colored patches....very pretty..

Flemish come in 7 recognized colors, Black, Blue, Fawn, Light Gray, Sandy, Steel and White. ("Ones with random colored patches" is not a recognized purebred Flemish, since they don't come with spots).

People that are dedicated to the Flemish, breed them to improve them, and try to adhere to the Breed Standard. There are some people that mix them with other breeds to get "spots" and other colors... but that tends to affect the size, type and temperment, besides messing up the color.

I honestly do not know if I liked the Blue or Steel color better...both looked so pretty!

 

[Orchid]

BlueGiants wrote:

Orchid wrote:

Flemmies are only known to live for 5 years?
I thought that went up with spay and neuter? Is that not so for Flems?

If you compare to dogs, Great Danes and St Bernards do not live as long as Miniature poodles or Terriers. Larger animals tend to have shorted life spans. But as Peg said, any day with a Flemish Giant is better than a day without one.

I tell people, on average they live 5-7 years. The oldest Flemish I ever met was almost9. But not the norm. Spaying and neutering helps.

Flemish Giants (and all their idiosyncrosies) appeal to certain people, just as Netherland Dwarfs (or any other breed) appeals to others. Do the research and make sure you can accomodate the breed you want. Not just size, but personality and care levels. Flemish are big "couch potatoes"... they are not going to run around and binkyas much asa Dutch or a Mini Rex... but Flemish eat more (and poop BIGGER! LOL!). And there is certainly the "OMG! Factor" with Flemish... (you know, answering questions like "What do you feed that thing?" and "Where does a rabbit that big sleep?"... oh yeah, and "Why did you feed it so much?" and "Why did you let it get so big?"... Let it...?)

That would make sense....

I think I would like to own a rex one day...the fur is so super awesome!

What is a Flemish coat like?

 

[wabbitmom12]

These bunnies were both awesome!

Here is Barney, our Steel Grey:

We acquired Barney when he was about 8 months old. He was Dave's XBOX buddy...he always loved to snuggle up to him while he played. He had a quiet, even temperament. Unfortunately, Barney had some health problems due to a huge abcess when he was young, and he lived only about 2 1/2 years.

Here is Lily, our Light Grey:

Lily was not quite a year old when we got her. Her previous owner said she was a Diva. I'd say yes, but no snotty attitude to go with it! She was sweet, through and through. She absolutely ADORED both Dave, and Barney. She'd follow Dave around every morning and "help" him with rabbit cage and feeding duties. She gave him a million kisses a day. The only other rabbit she ever paid any attention to was Barney...he was HER man. She liked to lay in front of his cage and they would just gaze at each other. Bunnylove! Strangely, she died just a few weeks after he did, and never showed a sign of illness until about 12 hours before she passed away. It was a terrible blow. We thought maybe she died of a broken heart, because she missed her Barney so much! She was just about 1 1/2 years old.

 

[Double N]

Hey Peg (and others that use dog crates)....

What are the dimensions? I know you said XL, but I'm not sure of the size of that.

 

[wallice]

Hi

The dog crate I use was bought for my german shepherd dog, but he was too much of a suck to use it (he has to be within a foot of someone at all times), so I got to take it with me to my house .

I'm not 100% sure of the dimensions, but I think its 4ft x 2ft x 3.5ft. I've also put in a shelf made of wood that is just a little over half of the cage length and the same width half way up height wise. He loves it, I've nailed in rugs from the dollar store so he can get a grip, and it gives him a little more surface area to his cage, but its still open for half, so he can stand up and stretch if he wants. If I had a camera that actually worked I'd post pics.

 

[Orchid]

Where do you guys buy large enough litter pans...what sort of litter do you use to keep up with them and not have it cost an arm and a leg....

and food dishes big enough and sturdy enough?

 

[Orchid]

Where do you guys get that fleece looking mat? Is it costly?

 

[Fancy77]

I had a couple left over cages that were small when my babies got bigger so I just use them for litter pans. they r perfect for that.

I use horse stall pellets for litter and I get a 50lbs bag for 4.49.

I also got some huge plastic bowls at the same store as the pellets for 2.00 a piece or so

 

[BlueGiants]

Check out your local pet store for a large (inexpensive) cat litter pan with the removable top. Just don't use the top. (Our local "Dollar Store" sometimes carries them for $5.00) I prefer kitty litter made from recycled newspaper... Yesterdays News or something similar... but whatever is available to you locally.

 

[TinysMom]

Double N wrote:

Hey Peg (and others that use dog crates)....

What are the dimensions? I know you said XL, but I'm not sure of the size of that.

I'll try to measure the cages later and get back to you on that....

 

[TinysMom]

Orchid wrote:

Where do you guys buy large enough litter pans...what sort of litter do you use to keep up with them and not have it cost an arm and a leg....

and food dishes big enough and sturdy enough?

I bought my litter pan at Walmart for $8 - and I use wood stall bedding for horses from Tractor Supply - I think it is something like $6.29 now for a 40 pound bag (which does my whole rabbitry more than once - so it would last you a while).

I bought my flemish giants cereal bowls at Walmart for like $1 each I think - doesn't matter - they knock them over anyway to get to what they like....

Remember - you don't have to get everything all at once....for instance...they don't need a HUGE litter pan to start out with if you get a baby - just a litter pan of some sort will do.

Once you buy the litter - you're set for a couple of months at least - put .50 away each week in a container and by the time you need more litter - you have a good portion of the money.

 

[TinysMom]

Orchid wrote:

Where do you guys get that fleece looking mat? Is it costly?

You mean the one I paid $9.88 for at Walmart - cut it in half so Sophia and Nyx could both have a piece -and they both hate?

I shoulda saved my money but I thought maybe they'd like something "nice".

They'd rather have old paper in their cages to shred....

 

[Fancy77]

TinysMom wrote:

Orchid wrote:

Where do you guys get that fleece looking mat? Is it costly?

You mean the one I paid $9.88 for at Walmart - cut it in half so Sophia and Nyx could both have a piece -and they both hate?

I shoulda saved my money but I thought maybe they'd like something "nice".

They'd rather have old paper in their cages to shred....

That reminds me of every 1st time parent lmao buy the kids all this spendy stuff and they have more fun with the box it came in and my kids loved pots and pans to pound on lol

 

[TinysMom]

Fancy77 wrote:

TinysMom wrote:

Orchid wrote:

Where do you guys get that fleece looking mat? Is it costly?

You mean the one I paid $9.88 for at Walmart - cut it in half so Sophia and Nyx could both have a piece -and they both hate?

I shoulda saved my money but I thought maybe they'd like something "nice".

They'd rather have old paper in their cages to shred....

That reminds me of every 1st time parent lmao buy the kids all this spendy stuff and they have more fun with the box it came in and my kids loved pots and pans to pound on lol

Yep - thats a flemish giant for you.

Last night UPS brought me a bunch of boxes of displays for my work - and lots of them had packing paper in it (like unused newsprint?)....Robin threw it in their cages - it drove me CRAZY listening to the flemmies shred paper last night and this morning...

 

[massie777]

Well i got my flemish giant girl Peaches from the live stock auction down the street from me. I paid $1 for her and she had a broken back leg that needed to be amputated. She is now my 3 legged baby. She came to me when she was around 3 months old i am guessing, she only weighed 1.75 pounds and was so skinny. But she had this wonderful personality that i knew i had to help her. She loved everyone and everything. Would sit with you for hours wanted head pets and would even follow me around the room. She is now around 6 pounds and i think maybe 41/2- 5 months old. She is still a sweetheart, getting more of a spunky side to her but i think she just needs to be spayed soon. She still loves her head rubs and body rubs and will let me hold her for hours. She has to be the sweetest bunny i have had in the rescue. i will try and post pictures tomorrow of her. I hope she keeps staying friendly, i am going to get her spayed soon.

 

[Orchid]

Has anyone has a make or female turn nasty, or nastier...once fixed?

 

[wallice]

Hi
Just wanted to give you an update on my new flemmie, Wallice. I took him outside for the first time last week and it was great! He was very into exploring everything, with one tree as his "safe zone" that he kept gradually going farther and farther from, doing epic bunny binkies the whole time.
Hes also better in the living room, and just realized his jumping capacity, and loves to jump from couch to couch, binkying the whole time with that too. The only thing is he builds up a static charge when he runs around like crazy like that, so I get shocked when he headbutts me for a rub.
His nipping is getting a lot better too, and I've only been nipped 5 times this week, which is a HUGE improvement. Hes aso comming for long cuddles on the couch too, so I feel like hes becomming the flemmie I had read so much about, he just got off to a slow start.

As for the litter questions, I got a kitty litter pan at Walmart for $6, and its definatrely large enough, and hes good with using it. The litter I use is about $13 yesterday's news (25lb bag), and I've maybe used half in the month. I got my bowls as cat bowls from petsmart, and they are heavy ceramic, which is needed, otherwise they play with them, and food and water goes everywhere. The bowls I got are light green outside, light blue inside, and $6 each, though you can use cheaper of course.
Hope it helps!
Have you found a flemmie to take home yet?

 

[Orchid]

Orchid wrote:

Has anyone has a make or female turn nasty, or nastier...once fixed?

wow...I am not tired at all...that was supposed to be:

HAS ANYONE HAD A MALE OR FEMALE turn nasty or nastier because of getting fixed...