Any Rabbit advice ?

thatgirlsam

as of this afternoon we are the proud owners of an 8 week old baby bunny :j

we have everything set up for him as per advice from pets corner .. he has a beautiful new hutch , i haven't bought a run as i have a very safe secure garden and plan to let him out everyday for a run around , i also would like / am happy for him to enter the house , i have french windows which are open a lot and wooden floor downstairs

i got one of those corner litter tray things and the lady in pets corner said put a bit of sawdust in there, hopefully he will go in it when indoors ?

has anybody got any other advice for a newbie rabbit owner ?

thatgirlsam

and what shall we call him ?

i like peter

bizywizy

Congratulations.

My bunny lives indoors now (couldnt bear him being outside in the end LOL)

He is now 5. Has an indoor cage and he is let out when Im around - He can go in the garden.

Make sure your french doors are wedged open so bunny doesnt get squished.

They do poo and wee - Poos sometimes just fall out so dont be disgusted LOL - easy to sweep up with a dustpan and brush.

Mine will squeeze a wee out when he goes in our dining room which is a pain but luckily all floors are tiled!

Obviously your little bundle will be well loved and the more they spend time with you and you become boss then they will hopefully be more accepting to cuddles ect.

Mine tolerates cuddles but isnt that keen but will nudge you to be stroked -

You can also train bunnies to do things like

give you a paw for their food - its so cool. oh and ours does high fives as well LOL.

He has to go on his bed then paw for his dinner.

Ive always had mine vaccinated. There are 2 different things they get done for and its just under £20 a shot. One gets done annual and the other is 6 monthly.

We ended up having him 'done' because he was spraying us - as he got to teenage years *(about 6-12 months) he got a bit naughty with the spraying or jumping onto my lap and doing it. NOT NICE. still sometimes does the bit on my lap which is not fair as its usually when Im in my dressing gown. TMI!!!!

Bunnies are fantastic animals - mine is a lionhead - he moults alot too - something I hadnt banked on it must be said.

Mine doesnt play with hardly any of his toys. He only likes his tunnel which is great as it folds up and can be put away when we want too.

Look forward to you popping some piccies up of your new edition please xxxx

bizywizy

Ours is called Hugo

dont know why but it just fitted.

thatgirlsam

aww bless , i know that i will panic that he is cold in the winter

my mum said ' oh my god sam it will end up sleeping in bed with you '

i do have a garage though so maybe his hutch could go in there when its really cold ..

the spraying thing !!

i didn't know they do that , i will cross that bridge when i come to it !

someone told me that you can't tell if they are male or female yet anyway ??

the lady who is selling him says he is male though

are there any plants that are poisonous to them do you know ?

fluffymuffy

Don't give rabbits lettuce - it has too much water in it and gives them the squits.

thatgirlsam

fluffymuffy wrote: »

Don't give rabbits lettuce - it has too much water in it and gives them the squits.

thank you :beer:

no lettuce for peter

i was so worried he would have a heart attack in the car .. poor thing looked frightened ..

his mum and brothers and sisters have been eaten by a dog :(:(

he is in his new hutch now .. should i leave him to settle in for a while , how long before we handle him ?

and what am i going to do when it rains ??

i can't bear the thought of all the rain going in his hutch and making it wet , should i put something over it when it rains ?

Wicked_witch

Yes, they don't actually want a huge amount of veg other than fresh grass! I made mine ill at first because I was so used to piling on the veg for my guinea pigs.

The site www.rabbit.org is excellent for finding out about rabbit behaviours. I was worried recently because my boy started nipping at me for no obvious reason and their advice about that was a lifesaver (basically it's a communication device) as I was worried about holding him etc after that.

He is called Kit Timothy Jensen btw as we couldn't agree on one name :-)

And yes, you can get special hutch covers if you like, check out ebay for decent prices rather than pets at home etc. And don't forget his bunny toys, they are sooo cute and funny when they play!

I'd say leave him til tomorrow before holding, but more experienced people will know if that's right. 8 weeks is ever so young, so make sure he has lots of hay to snuggle in and keep warm.

Also, pics????

Wicked_witch

Also, litter tray wise, if you put a few of his poops and little bit of wee'd on paper (I know,yuck) he will probably come to use it quite quickly as rabbits like to go in one place each time. They like to eat while doing it (!!) so a bit of hay in it will also attract him. You can use it in his hutch too if it's big enough.

mcmanlyn

Hi,

If your bun is anything like mine he'll choose to eat the 'bad' plants Never seemed to do him harm, but we've removed them all now. You're best getting a book or a list of all the good & bad plants - it's a fairly heft list!

As for the litter tray they're really easy to train - especially if you get them done. Scary moment taking them in, I was scared to death!! But it was totally worth it - now he doesn't spray, isn't as aggressive & humps my slippers much less
I recommend those wooden cat litter pellets instead of sawdust, it's less messy & it seems to absorb the smell too.

Mine is 5 and called Jack. Peter is a great name - I love animals with people names