Any Rabbit advice ?

~Chameleon~

katiejayne wrote: »

This thread is brilliant for advice! I decided to go with the names Alfie and Bailey! Both have settled in brilliantly, eating well etc. They are 8 1/2 weeks old so i'm going to leave it until they are 12 weeks old and take them to the vets to be neutered. At what age do they need to be treated to stop fleas etc?

It's very uncommon for pet rabbits to get fleas unless you live near a colony of wild rabbits. If that's the case you will need to treat your rabbits with Advantage (never use Frontline, can be fatal) as rabbit fleas carry myxomatosis.

You might also want to think about having them vaccinated against myxomatosis and VHD. These must be carried out separately at least 2 weeks apart so they could have the myxomatosis one now and the VHD at 12 weeks old. The vet can also examine them then to see whether their testicles have dropped and book them in for castration.

katiejayne_2

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

It's very uncommon for pet rabbits to get fleas unless you live near a colony of wild rabbits. If that's the case you will need to treat your rabbits with Advantage (never use Frontline, can be fatal) as rabbit fleas carry myxomatosis.

You might also want to think about having them vaccinated against myxomatosis and VHD. These must be carried out separately at least 2 weeks apart so they could have the myxomatosis one now and the VHD at 12 weeks old. The vet can also examine them then to see whether their testicles have dropped and book them in for castration.

Ah okay, thank you! I will ring the vets and get them booked in.

I put plenty of straw in their hutch for bedding, and got a holder to put hay in, but i've noticed they seem to be eating the straw and ignoring the hay! Is this okay for them to eat the straw?

amy104

I put plenty of straw in their hutch for bedding, and got a holder to put hay in, but i've noticed they seem to be eating the straw and ignoring the hay! Is this okay for them to eat the straw?

It wont do them any harm but it doesn't have as much nutritional value as hay. Lots of bunny like to munch on hay whilst they are doing their business so they may prefer a pile in their litter tray instead of a hayrack.

thatgirlsam

bizywizy wrote: »

as long as bunny gets plenty of hay and exercise it will be fine.

seeing a bunny being able to binky around and charge around a garden is really a lovely sight.

this is what peter has been doing this morning !

he looks so cute , my ds said look mum peter thinks he is superman

what do you mean by binky ?

peter has been leaping around like a loon and sort of jumpimg up and kicking his legs .. is that it ?

cos its really funny and REALLY cute

amy104

what do you mean by binky ?

peter has been leaping around like a loon and sort of jumpimg up and kicking his legs .. is that it ?

Thats it. They kinda twist and kick their legs out to the side. It means he's very happy.

indiegirl_2

Time to bump cos I'm a new bunny-owner-to-be, or will be soon!
We are picking up 2 Netherland Dwarves in a couple of weeks, and I'm quite scared! They'll be 9 weeks old and weaned from mum (buying from a BRC registered breeder) and we're having two males from the same litter.

I hope they'll be OK together, obviously they'll be neutered at the right time, as I don't want territory wars!

They're going to be house buns; we have a 1.2m cage and plenty of toys and things for them to do during the day. I am quite nervous though as I haven't had rabbits since I was a young child and that was mostly left to my parents to sort. We work most of the day so I'm worried that they'll be restless or bored without us.

We're going to introduce them to us and their surroundings very gently and carefully; I don't want them to be shocked at the changes. This thread's brilliant; I've read through all the pages but I'm sure I'll have more questions as we go along so I may pop back from time to time!

Oh, and as for names: one's black and will be called Marmite, the other's a chinchilla and is being called Scrumpy (as a nod to my OH's South Western roots :-D))

bizywizy

congrats on finding the thread

lovely to hear you are getting two buns. have to confess I dont know much at all about having 2 boys togther so will leave that to someone knowledgeable.

love the names. Hope you can post a piccie up so we can see too when you have them home.

My bunny doesnt play with any toys - he does get them but is just not bothered by them at all. prefers is comb handle to chew if I havent moved it.

good luck
x

viktory

bizywizy wrote: »

Would very much recommend getting the (kids shoe polish style) treatment from the vets. Its not cheap but well worth it as fly strike is grim.

Don't buy from the vets - mine vastly overcharge. Cheaper online. Personally though, I do daily bottom checks, plus good hutch hygiene as opposed to covering the bunnies in chemicals. Works for us.

amy104

we're having two males from the same litter.

I have actually just bonded 2 unrelated neutered males, so a pair of males can work, but I must advise you it is one of the hardest pairings. You will need to make sure both are neutered as soon as their plums drop (approx 14-16 weeks) or they will almost certainly fight and cause each other serious harm.

Netherland Dwarfs are totally mental bunnies. They might be small but they are super active so try to give them as much space as possible.

Goodluck with the new bunnies, if you have an question feel free to pm me. A word of warning though they are addictive, I now have 9!

Personally though, I do daily bottom checks, plus good hutch hygiene as opposed to covering the bunnies in chemicals. Works for us.

Ditto this.

bizywizy

amy104 wrote: »

Goodluck with the new bunnies, if you have an question feel free to pm me. A word of warning though they are addictive, I now have 9!



Ditto this.

Ive managed to resist having more than the one but it does mean we drive around rabbit roundabout counting bunnies quite a bit LOL.

I do all the same things about hygiene ect - I do use the other stuff too though to make sure - plus if they go into holiday care they need to have been treated.