Would love for you to comment! NEW BUNNY OWNER

[Britny]

MY NAMES BRITTANY & MY BUNNY'S NAME IS MELTON

I just want to share what I am currently doing and would love any comments or advice on what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong. Any and all feed back is welcome.

My bunny is a male lionhead about 10 weeks old.
I currently feed him four ounces of vitamized rabbit pellets & unlimited timothy hay & water.

He has free run of the house excluding bedrooms for about 12 hours a day & only goes in his cage when no one is home, I leave him out when we are sleep as well but he is confined to the dining room during that time. He has not been outside yet because, I am looking into what vaccinations he may need.

I do not use bedding in his cage he has a blanket, and I use shavings in his litter box. ( he is liter box trained) I lucked out with him, he has used his box since the first day.Which is why I let him have free run of the house.

I have twin 3 year olds who are allowed to groom and play with him for about an hour a day when he is confined to the dining room.

I am currently changing his box twice a day.

He drinks out of a bowl instead of a water bottle.

And lastly he doesn't actually have a cage yet, we have him in a huge plastic container with the lid off, we will be cage shopping soon ( I am in college and work plus the kids, so I figured while he is young he should be ok in his box till, I get free time to shop he has a salt lick and wood chews as well)

Oh and he makes weird noises at me lol

ANY ADVICE OR FEEDBACK IS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED

 

[kmaben]

What shavings are you using? As long as it's not the pine or cedar shavings he'll be all right. There's some debate over the aspen but nothing solid. A lot of people recommend the horse stall pine bedding because you get a lot of it for a little bit of money. Those pine pellets are ok because they're kiln dried and burn away the harmful phenol chemicals.

I wouldnt worry about a salt lick. Toys are a must! You can make them or buy them. Most of the time a card board box to chew or an old phone book to rip up will do the trick. The dollar store has great stuff for rabbit toys like cat balls and mini slinkys. My giant actually enjoys the dogs puzzle toys.

Bowl is fine. Whatever he prefers. It does help if he atleast learns how to drink from a water bottle in case you ever have to travel with him. And you probably will at one point or another.

Haha dont worry about the plastic tub for now. I traveled home once and the cages were too big to fit in the back of the explorer. My frenchie got stuck in a sterilite container for six hours. There are these need grid things you can zip tie together. They're called Neat Idea Cubes (NIC) lots of people around her build there rabbits NIC condos. You can find them at home depot, lowes, office max (I have no idea where you're located). It's pricey to start but I'm always finding something to use them for and we move around a lot.

Make sure he only gets pellets. No veggies or fruits until he's about 5-6 months old.

It doesnt hurt to have an ER kit available either. Simethecone gas drops are a must, canned unflavored pumpkin, some critical care, and some 3ml syringes without the needle. Also a good vet on stand by. Shopping for a rabbit savy vet sucks big time.

 

[Britny]

Thanks so much for the input!i have been using aspen shavings, Looks like I have a shopping list to put together! I live in WI, I just recently went to the humane society to ask about neutering my bunny ( They have done a great job with all my other pets) but unfortunately they do not do bunnies anymore So I have been dragging my feet about finding a vet, I trust. I have called a few but am worried. I had a ferret growing up and when I took him to the vet to get vaccinated, the vet stabbed the needle through his neck! So since then, I have learned when it comes to small pets it is almost best to find a vet that specializes in small pets!
The NIC's, sounds pretty cool, will be looking into that as well.

 

[PaGal]

You can use pine shavings if they are kiln dried as well.

You may want to avoid buying a pet store cage. Most of the time they are over priced and do not provide ample space for a bun. I know yours has free run but a time could come when you would have to keep your bun in a cage for extended times and you would not want something too small.

The NIC cages a lot of people like and are fairly inexpensive but you have to build them yourself. Although there are people on ebay selling them but I'm sure there is still some assembly required.

Myself and others also use dog pens for their buns. I have an extra large that is 4 foot long and paid $60 including shipping through ebay. It was brand new and delivered in 3 days. Much better than pet store prices.

Others use an X pen which is an exercise pen. I have a cage built with one of those as well. Mine is 4 foot tall so too tall for the buns to jump out of and made a cage 7foot by 28 inches. It gives them plenty of room to run and binky. I can't remember but paid between $70-85 for the Xpen and then $13 for a sheet of coroplast to make a bottom with.

 

[Tauntz]

Still a newbie bunny mom but shouldn't Melton be eating alfalfa hay yet since he is only 10 weeks old? Pardon me if I have my info incorrect. Just trying to add helpful advice in my limited capacity as a still learning bunny mom. Also, I would recommend the xpen (also called exercise pens) for a cage along with either linoleum or coroplast for the flooring. Would appreciate input on my alfalfa question for Melton. Wishing you & Melton a long happy, healthy life together!

 

[whitelop]

There is much debate for alfalfa hay as babies.

I think its recommended that they eat alfalfa hay as babies, because it has higher protein and higher calcium. But if the pellets are alfalfa then there shouldn't be a problem with the timothy hay.
If you want to put Melton on alfalfa hay, I would just add a little bit to his timothy. To do like a half and half mixture. If you do add alfalfa into his diet, you'll want to do it slowly because sometimes alfalfa causes stomach upset if added too quickly. So like a pinch at first then work up to however much you want to feed him, over a week or two.
He would get alfalfa until he was 6 months old or fully grown. Sometimes its hard to transition them from alfalfa to timothy, so a mix is what I would do.

But there are people who say that you don't need to feed alfalfa hay with alfalfa pellets. Timothy usually does just fine. To be honest, as long as he's eating the hay I think he's okay. I only gave my baby bun alfalfa for a few weeks and mixing it got on my nerves, so I started giving her an alfalfa pellet and kept with the timothy hay and she did just fine.

 

[Britny]

Thank you all for the input. I did find out the pellets are alfalfa. IM SO EXCITED I bout two packs of NIC's today! each pack has 6 cubes!

 

[Britny]

Oh & I forgot, I found a vet ! Well my mom did but they are really reputable & surprisingly decent with costs! They specialize in small animals

 

[majorv]

Given your bunny is young, I wouldn't recommend a flooring that has a slippery surface. If they don't have good traction then as they grow their legs can become cow hocked or splayed. Yes, he's fine with timothy hay since the pellets are alfalfa based. Glad you found a vet! In the US, rabbits don't need to be vaccinated for anything but it wouldn't hurt to get him checked over.

 

[LiloandChiefsMom]

I love my lion head to death but they can be an onry breed! Mine girl is territorial and doesn't like being handled. They are known to be independent as they get older (Lilo is almost 2). But she's sweet if you let her come to you and she rarely bites (just nips). We had some difficulty bonding her with our Dutch because lion heads are like lions, dominate, proud, and independent. Of course every bun is different but those traits are accurate in mine.
Definitely make sure you have toys and something to chew on to file down their teeth.
PS They LOVE old phone books and boxes. Don't waste money on expensive toys, they're just gonna get torn up anyways. Homemade ones are fun, easy, and cheap.

 

[cwolfec]

Your Melton looks just like my Big Bunny when he was a baby!! Awww he is SO cute!

Your NIC cage (I'm assuming it's the one in your profile pic) looks fantastic! Unlimited hay, timothy and/or alfalfa is super important. Get him used to enjoying eating hay. It will save you a lot of digestive probs in the long run. My Bug Bunny likes to drink out of his bowl rather than a bottle as well, but if you can get him used to both, it's easier to have the bottle in a travel cage for when you have to transport him.

Also, get him used to being handled! I didn't do that good enough when mine was young and it's such a hassle to clip his nails, etc. It might not ever be his favorite thing, but if he can tolerate it, it'll make your life easier!

He doesn't need to be neutered until 4-6 months at the earliest, if I'm not mistaken. Glad you found a good vet!

Good luck with your sweet bun!!!

 

[Britny]

I really lucked out with a lover bunny ( I hope he won't change !) He does that trans thing when I put him on his back which has made grooming and clipping his nails SUPER easy
Thanks for the advice I actually had to pull his pellets today because I noticed he had not touched his hay in a little over 24 hrs! He did this once before and I did the same thing and it got him back on the hay.

I did not know I could wait that long to neuter him! That's even better by then I can afford the laser surgery ! (waiting on a bonus

 

[Britny]

trance*

 

[JBun]

If he's not eating any hay when he's getting pellets, he may be getting too many pellets. With my babies I fed twice a day, and I fed enough pellets to last til about 3 hours before the next feeding time, then when they ran out of pellets they would start eating their hay. This way they were still getting the nutrition they needed for growing, but also getting hay for good digestive health. So maybe try cutting back on the pellets a bit, and feed twice a day if you are only feeding once a day.

 

[Jayombie]

Sounds like you have given the rabbit all a loving owner could give to there bunny.

Similar to us, we let the rabbit have fall use of the living room, and only goes back to her pen when we go to bed. (due to some cables about, and she has had a go at the wall paper on occasion)

I was going to say she is very good with her litter box, but only 10 mins ago she climbed onto the sofa and started to clamber over my laptop so I gently pushed her off for her to then pee next to me as a defiant grudge for spoiling her fun !

I find news paper in the tray is much easier to maintain and manage.
(and cheaper).

Ours only drinks from a bowl, completely ignores the bottle.