Rescued bunny..new to rabbit!

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kaosu

kaosu

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Hello!.

Im from Washington State.

I have not kept rabbits for a lone time..and am here to tell my story thus far and gather more information!

my main hobby is fish keeping me and my fiance have over 300 gallons spread between 12 tanks.


ok! to the bunny.

I brows threw Craigslist regularly ..looking for fish tanks mostly but I have to clock on the bunnies and see them as well.

My b-day was recently and an add came up with a free bunny cage and everything for a few months of keeping him...I debated on it for a few days and my Fiance convinced me to call. He was still available..unfixed and about 2 years old..all they said was he is big and fluffy.

soo an hour drive later we show up on a farm and meet him..The people said they rescued him from a friend of the family who was going to toss him out for the coyotes!!! so they took him home and offered him up on CL.

he is so big!!..ok well i think he is, the poor guy had been neglected, we believe him to be an angora? or maybe a mix of his fur is so long.

most of his body is covered in mated fur..we are taking him to the vet tomorrow to get him shaved down...

ok here he is! lots of questions to come.

this was on the ride home
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the next day.
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his icky spots
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we brought him in the house today..he hopped around and followed us everywhere the cats were very interested and he tried to cuddle with them..he is so silly,

he follows us every where!!...and if we stop he runs around our legs and tried to figure 8 threw them.
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and he had a blast outside!!! he was running around so fast but never went to far from us he is such a love bug and likes to give kisses....cant believe any one would neglect such a sweet heart..

anyway now that i have gone on pic overload ill make him a normal thread later and bring some shaved pics when he is all cleaned up ^_^.

glad I found this forum!
 
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THANK YOU FOR THE PICS :D I LOVE HIM!!! HE IS SOOOOOO FUZZYY!!!

In all seriousness, you would be dumb to put out any type of 'coyote food' that is only going to make them come back for more....
 
yeah...I cant wait to see what he looks like under all of that mated fur!!..he is such a love bug its crazy..is it normal for them to run around your legs? and figure 8 around them?.

any guess on breed?
 
That is a sexual courting behavior...he is trying to make you his girlfriend ;) I'd check on that neuter...

Some type of angora...weight and fur texture will help you narrow it down.
 
>.> well i guess he really likes me...yes neutering will be on the order soon first to get him back to health and checked out at the vet.

and his fur is silly soft..but ill try and figure out his breed once all his fur is back to as lovely as it should be!

...he does not seem to be drinking much? his bottle is not that big and i check it often but its only ever down about 1 inch?..not sure if i should be concerned or not ..but he is eating his pellets and the fruit i gave him and he seems to be going the bathroom fine.
 
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He seems like a sweet rabbit, and is smitten with you :) Those tiny water bottles don't really have a good water flow. I would suggest a 32 oz bottle, or using a water dish. Also, make sure he knows how to drink out of a bottle, as some rabbits don't know how.

He looks completely happy and comfortable in your home, and with your cat. I can't imagine why someone wouldn't love this sweet little guy.

A few things you'll want to be careful with, him being new and all. Some rabbits have a very sensitive digestion, and if these pellets are a new kind to him, then you are going to want to start him out on a very small amount, and gradually increase the amount each day, as just putting him on a new food suddenly, can cause big digestive problems with some rabbits. Also, you don't want to give too many sugary treats, as those can cause problems as well, and gradually introduce veggies, unless he is used to them and was given them at his old home. The best thing for him to eat is his grass hay, as he gradually gets used to his new pellets and veggies. Keep a watch out for soft poops. If he is having a problem with something in his diet, then the soft poops or not pooping, will be an indication. Here are some good diet instructions for rabbits, as well as a couple veggie lists. Oh, and when you bring him inside, watch out for your electrical cords. Some rabbits really like to chew on them.

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html
http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html
http://www.3bunnies.org/feeding.htm#greens
 
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JBun said:
He seems like a sweet rabbit, and is smitten with you :) Those tiny water bottles don't really have a good water flow. I would suggest a 32 oz bottle, or using a water dish. Also, make sure he knows how to drink out of a bottle, as some rabbits don't know how.

He looks completely happy and comfortable in your home, and with your cat. I can't imagine why someone wouldn't love this sweet little guy.

A few things you'll want to be careful with, him being new and all. Some rabbits have a very sensitive digestion, and if these pellets are a new kind to him, then you are going to want to start him out on a very small amount, and gradually increase the amount each day, as just putting him on a new food suddenly, can cause big digestive problems with some rabbits. Also, you don't want to give too many sugary treats, as those can cause problems as well, and gradually introduce veggies, unless he is used to them and was given them at his old home. The best thing for him to eat is his grass hay, as he gradually gets used to his new pellets and veggies. Keep a watch out for soft poops. If he is having a problem with something in his diet, then the soft poops or not pooping, will be an indication. Here are some good diet instructions for rabbits, as well as a couple veggie lists. Oh, and when you bring him inside, watch out for your electrical cords. Some rabbits really like to chew on them.

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html
http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html
http://www.3bunnies.org/feeding.htm#greens
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thank you so much for the info!

the lady was nice enough to send me home with a large bag of pellets he was eating, and he had been being fed apples and veggies regularly ( with out the apple seeds )
She also threw in a large bag of hay until i can buy him some next month with my pay check. ..

the poor guy i swear half of his size is pure mated fur ..but its so thick he got hot really fast in the house and we had to take him out pretty quick.

..he went under a table by the couch where a wire was in his way and while watching him he picked it up and flipped it out of his way and stretched out to lay down.
I have been doing allot of reading and we keep a close eye on him in the house, we have a few cats..they all were very interested in him and he wanted to cuddle with them!
he even tried to climb up on my dogs back when we introduced them ..she is very tolerant but we didn't let him get to cozy yet as he is new and we want to get them used to each other a bit more. ...been pouring threw this site..tons of great information!

and ill keep an eye on his dropping...he let a few go in the house and they were dark and firm.
 
woahlookitsme said:
I almost want to say he is a French angora. They are known for not having much wool on their faces. Other breeds have tassels on their ears except for satins. Here's the list of angora breeds with pics and descriptions
http://nationalangorarabbitbreeders.com/angora-rabbit-breeds.htm
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thank you for this!

he does seem to have ear tufts..i think he is just in poor condition so they are on the thin side he us unable to clean him self very well due to all the mats. but he is due to be seen by the vet and have them shaved off in 6 hours..^_^ shaved pics to come.

and yes..leaning french angora but he would be on the large side of that breed if he is.
 
In thanksgiving for your great and heroic rescue of him, I'm sure he will produce you many ounces of fabulous angora wool :D You should learn to spin yarn!
 
ok everyone.. brace your self!!

he was wonderful for the vet and even calm with all the clippers going!...and when we started we were all so amazed on how bad he really was..the mats in some places were 3 inches thick!!!

..he is a little under weight, but given a clean bill of health as long as he puts on a few lbs ..he is 7.35 lbs currently!...any good tips on how to get him to gain? ..foods that might help?

ok here are some pics..i will get better ones with my camera tomorrow, these were with my phone.

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the vet was able to leave most of his tummy and legs with fur, but his back side..even his little tail is shaved down the matting was so close to his skin the vet said he would of died from infection or heat stroke by summer!! :( poor baby. his sneezing is due to his bedding currently and i was told to keep an eye on it.

here he is all shaved down with is Mohawk!
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and lounging around at home
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he was so happy when we got home he was zooming up and down the halls and threw the living room! ^_^ such a sweet heart, he still gets over heated pretty quickly in the house, so we have a heat lamp in his hutch and wool blankets wrapped around it under the tarps....we will keep an eye on him as the night goes on and we will bring him in if he shows any sighs of being the slightest cold.

he has some brushing still to do to get out some of the smaller mats but he seems to feel so much better...he is 1/2 the bunny he used to be!! but feels so much better.
 
That is a ton of fur! Wow. Great job saving him, it sounds like he made it to a great home!

PS. rabbits do very well in the cold. I would say that as long as he is free from drafts and has blankets and hay to snuggle in, you probably don't need the heat lamp. I know with my chickens i don't use one(i know chickens are different than rabbits) but if they get used to the temp of the heat lamp then it goes out in the night, they wind up colder than they would have been with no light. Does that even make sense, lol. I use a rice heating pad for my bun who lives in my freezing kitchen. It gives her the option to lay on heat or not. She's little so i filled a baby sock with rice and microwave it for 30 seconds, it keeps heat for a few hours. But it probably gets A LOT colder in Washington than it does here, so whatever you're comfortable with is best! :)
 
whitelop said:
That is a ton of fur! Wow. Great job saving him, it sounds like he made it to a great home!

PS. rabbits do very well in the cold. I would say that as long as he is free from drafts and has blankets and hay to snuggle in, you probably don't need the heat lamp. I know with my chickens i don't use one(i know chickens are different than rabbits) but if they get used to the temp of the heat lamp then it goes out in the night, they wind up colder than they would have been with no light. Does that even make sense, lol. I use a rice heating pad for my bun who lives in my freezing kitchen. It gives her the option to lay on heat or not. She's little so i filled a baby sock with rice and microwave it for 30 seconds, it keeps heat for a few hours. But it probably gets A LOT colder in Washington than it does here, so whatever you're comfortable with is best! :)
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Thank you and we are trying our best!!

and for the heat lamp, it was freezing and pretty icy last week and it seems to have warmed up and everything is thawed- so the heat lamp is only in there if it gets to cold, we have yet to plug it in but we will check up on him gain shortly to see if it is needed tonight.

I was told canned pumpkin and pineapple might help him gain weight?
 
That IS a ton of fur! I bet he feels so much better now. His little mohawk is pretty cute :)

So do you know what bedding is causing the allergies? Changing to a new bedding may help.

Usually you can just increase the pellets a little to help him put on weight. Have you already started to transition him onto a new pellet? As long as he doesn't have bladder sludge problems, keeping him on an alfalfa based pellet will also help him to gain weight. Just make sure to always increase pellet amounts gradually. I don't think pineapple would help with weight gain, and too many sugars in a rabbits diet can start to cause serious digestive problems. Canned pumpkin is usually more used when a rabbit has digestive problems, as it's easy to hand feed and has fiber in it. Increasing pellets a little and sticking with alfalfa pellets should help him put the weight back on.
 
the lady who took him in before me was using just hay for bedding..so im going to switch him to straw and shake it out really well before putting it in his hutch, he is still on the pellets the lady gave us for him for now, been giving him salad mix, peas, carrots and bits of apple and plenty of hay so far, next month on pay day ill be buying some better quality pellets.
he seemed to of stayed warm just fine last night, we put cardboard around the sides of the hutch to keep out drafts..never used the light but still have it just in case it starts to freeze again, we gave him a big pile of shredded news paper but he seems to put it in his potty spot and peed on it..he sleeps on top of the hay not curled in side of it so im guessing that means he is staying warm enough?

he looks so silly but he seems to feel so much better got him a little more groomed out today..he has to much energy to do to much brushing yet but we are working on it..he tried playing with the cats today but they just want to sniff him and stay away^_^

here are some more pics....where would be a good location to start a genral thread about him to post updates other than the introduction thread?
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..his cute little tail is all bare!
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You did a good job of grooming him. He looks nice and fluffy now, well, at least what's left of him to groom, lol. He probably feels more comfortable in the house with his shave job, and not so hot. Do you bring him in the house much? He seems so relaxed and comfortable, especially considering he probably came from completely different living conditions. Is he litter box trained? Just curious if you've ever thought about making him a house bunny?

That's so funny that he's the one that wants to play with the cats. Usually it's the other way around. The cats want to play with the rabbit and the rabbit either gets freaked out, or doesn't want to have anything to do with them.

A good place to post regular updates on your rabbit, is to start a blog about him in the bunny blogs. I hope you do start one. I just love seeing your cute bun and hearing how he's doing in his new home :)
 
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