Some questions from new bunny mom

[Aubrisita]

Hi everyone! I am a new bunny mom and I have a few questions I hope you can help with. Thanks in advance.

Some background:
Stache is a 2 year old intact male. He lived with a busy family who visited him in his outside hutch once a week to feed/water him. He was fed only pellets. He has an unknown injury to his nose that will never fully heal and he had a horrid ear mite problem, which is now gone. I adopted him three weeks ago.

Questions:
1. I originally bought an xl sized cage from petsmart for him. (He is now strictly a house bun) I thought it looked a little small, so I dug out my old puppy crate. It is the medium sized one. Stache can strech out in the middle of the crate and not touch either end. He can also completely stand up and his ears don't touch the top. Is this an ok sized cage for him? He weighs 6lbs. He is caged when I am not home, and he is out when I am.

2. I can not get him to eat hay. I have tried all kinds of loose hay to no avail. He WILL chew on the compressed hay cubes. Is this acceptable? I worry about his teeth and his digestion. I will continue to offer hay, I have three guinea pigs so I usually have lots of hay.

3. To neuter or not to neuter, that is the question. He has had zero behavior issues and is not aggressive at all. My vet wants to get him settled with me before we discuss it, I was just wondering what everyone thinks about it.

 

[missyscove]

1) The definition of an appropriate cage size really varies depending on who you talk to. My two buns share a 42 inch dog crate when I'm at school or asleep and are out when I'm at home. Some days that may only mean 3 hours (they used to get to be out even when I left my room, but someone chewed holes in my sheets so they've lost that privilege for now). As a general rule you want the largest cage/pen you can have for your budget and your space. If he's getting plenty of time out (especially around dawn and dusk when buns like to be active) then it's probably appropriate for him.

2) What kinds of hay have you tried? You might consider mixing in just a bit of alfalfa in his grass hay to entice him to try it. Is he eating any greens? How much are you offering in terms of pellets? If you decrease those he may be more likely to try the hay.

3) Neutering doesn't have as many health benefits as spaying does, but it definitely can have behavior benefits in terms of spraying, humping, litter habits, etc. If you ever want to get a second rabbit and bond them, you'll want him (and the second rabbit) neutered

 

[Aubrisita]

He is in his cage while I am at work. He gets 2 hours early morning (before 8am) out of cage time and then is out after 5 pm til I go to bed. He does eat greens, I feed him what it recommends on the pellet bag. It is oxbow. I tried alfalfa and he won't even eat that. I am scared to take his pellets away all together, I am worried he wouldn't eat. When he first came home with me his poop was solid but it was small and different shaped. Now, almost three weeks later, it is bigger and more uniform looking.

 

[PaGal]

I would keep trying with the hay. You can also try placing hay in more than one spot outside of the cage when he is out.

You could try stuffing some toilet or paper towel tubes with hay and lay those around.

I have spent a few moments while in the bun room braiding pieces of hay together for the buns to find.

How much pellets is he getting per day? How much greens? It could be that he is filling up on pellets and greens and so does not want the hay. I know if I fed my buns more pellets they would choose those over hay and that is why their pellets are limited.

 

[ladysown]

is he in good shape?

if so, why mess with his diet?

He's two years old so obviously the pellet diet worked for him. and he chews on the compressed hay.

I'd be happy and not mess with this too much.

 

[JBun]

Since his poop seems to have improved, the additional fiber he is getting from the hay cubes and veggies is at least helping some. If you have tried different kinds of hay and ways of giving it, and he still won't eat, some people have been successful with removing pellets, but there are some rabbits that still won't eat the hay even if there isn't anything else to eat, and a rabbit going too long without food isn't good. I wouldn't dare do it for more than half the day. I have a rabbit that had only been fed pellets too before I got him, and wouldn't touch hay no matter what I tried. I ended up buying a bag of hay pellets and that worked just fine for my bun. I still kept hay in with him and eventually he did start eating it, but it took a few months.

You can usually get plain timothy hay pellets from a livestock feed store, in 50 lb bags. Hay cubes are pretty much the same thing(compressed hay) but the pellets are easier for them to eat. Feeding the hay pellets or cubes is better than not getting any hay at all, but long stem hay is better, so just keep trying to encourage him.

 

[Aubrisita]

Update: He is eating orchard grass pretty steadily now and is picking at his timothy hay. I sat on the floor the past 2 days and hand fed him the orchard grass and he ate it. I leave a big pile of it out while he is running around and he ate it all. Is it ok if he eats that kind vs. Timothy hay? Also, when he was running around, he came up to me, dug at my pj pants and then climbed into my lap. He chilled in my lap for a bit. Does the digging at my pants mean anything? Thanks for all the help and advice so far.

 

[Imbrium]

ANY horse-quality (as opposed to "cow quality" which can have dangerous stuff in it for rabbits and horses) grass hay is suitable for bunnies. My girls have never in their lives been willing to eat timothy, so they get unlimited orchard grass instead .

Nala digs at my boyfriend all the time, hehe (and sometimes at me)... we've actually been vaguely working on getting her to do it on command. I'm not sure why they dig at their humans sometimes, but a digging bunny is a happy bunny so I just leave it at that .

 

[Aubrisita]

Lol. He certainly is a diggy bunny. He is starting to get more comfy here...I think anyway. He stretches out now and did his first binky the other day. He is doing well with using his litter box, he always pees in it, which I am happy about.

 

[Imbrium]

Binkies are the best!