Does she need shots or anything?

[GiggilyPuffBunny]

Hello everyone, 

     I’m not sure if this should go here or in the other ‘care’ section… but I have a velveteen, shes about two years and I occasionally take her outside. I have a little harness and leash for her and we go out back and she loves to run around whatnot. Should she get any kind of shots for any preventable whatever may be out there? I have a dog and cat and they both get flee  and heartworm meds  every month. A vet told me that she’s fine and doesn’t need anything but I just want to make sure. And what is she allowed to eat? She wants to eat the world but I only let her eat the occasional blade of grass but that’s it when we’re out there.What medical actions should I take (if any) if she’s going outside?

[jerseygirl]

In the UK their are vaccinations for Myxomatosis and Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease (Australia and other regions also vacc. against RHD)

I know in UK rabbits owners tend to do wormers more regularly too.
I think it should be ok just to treat your rabbit after evidence of intestinal or skin parasites.
Always check with vet on what to use. Some products that are safe for cats and dogs are deadly to rabbits.

[KytKattin]

Jerseygirl pretty much covered all the vaccine and parasite concerns. As for what she can eat: grass that has not been treated with any sort of fertilizer or pesticides or weedicides, or really any chemicals for at least a year. If you don’t know, assume the grass is not safe for eating or even playing in, as when she grooms she will lick them off. You should also avoid letting her play in grass that is used by dogs or cats to go to the bathroom on. There are some parasites that could be passed this way.
Most grasses are safe, as is dandelion and clover. Avoid all tree branches and such except apple and willow.

Also, be very careful walking her in a harness. If she were to be spooked by something she could try to run, which has caused some rabbits to break their spines after the leash goes taunt. Even rabbits that are very comfortable in a harness can be scared and mortally wound themselves. It is generally considered safer to keep them in some sort of a pen. If birds of prey are a potential issue, some sort of cover for the pen is very much advised.

[Bam]

As Jersey says, it depends on where in the world you are. In the USA there are not shots rabbits should take. In Europe there are shots against myxo and RHD, in Australia against RHD.

In some parts of the world it’s not really advisable to let a bunny go out. It depends on what parasites you have in your area f ex ticks, botflies, disease-carrying mosquitoes, intestinal worms etc.

Wormers are often not given unless there are findings of worms in the faeces (poop). Ticks must be removed ASAP.

If you say where in the world you are, perhaps someone here from roughly the same area sees this and can tell you how they protect their rabbits.

[GiggilyPuffBunny]

OOOH…well- haha then I don’t think she’ll be going out anymore haha. So much to worry about that I didn’t consider. I’m in east USA in a tropical area so I didn’t know what to do for her. My yard is fenced and plenty of trees overhead so there’s no crazy birds coming down but I didn’t think about her getting scared. She does like to dig in the dirt. I think I’m just going to get a $6 baby pool and get some safe sand for her. Does anyone do that? And what about a portable pin?? How much are they?

[KytKattin]

Even a cat on the fence could scare some bunnies (and definitely be a potential threat). It just really depends on the temperament of the rabbit. My current girl is rock solid, for a rabbit anyway. Not much scares her that wouldn’t scare just about anyone or anything. My former girl was a super scaredy cat who would get nervous seeing me bring her dinner. She was probably abused considering I found her dumped in a park, but some rabbits are just naturally more nervous than others.

I would be slightly concerned with sand. I mean, I guess kids play in it, but I would think it would be bad the breathe in? Someone else would have to weigh in on that.

I got an ex-pen for like $55 and free shipping on Amazon. That is for the shortest size they make, which is fine for my girl because she isn’t a big jumper. She actually has one for inside that makes up her “cage” and one for outside. They also have really nice lids if birds of prey were an issue.

One more thing I forgot to mention earlier was to make sure that you take her outside when the temperature between inside and out is similar, and don’t let her stay in the sun for too long.

[GiggilyPuffBunny]

Oh GEEZ, $55 for the smallest size? Oy, that’ll have to wait haha. Well I was thinking about something for her to dig in because she always digs in my dirty clothes -_- so I just thought she’d like that. Yeah I just moved back home for the summer and probably will be living here next school year (I’m in college) and my mom is taking about making her live outside…which I’m mad about and we’ve gotten into a lotoffights because i do not want her outside. I may not live home next year so it MAY NOT be an issue HOWEVER… if that were to arise what would you guys suggest for all that jazz? Does everyone here have their bunnies living inside?

[KytKattin]

Smallest in height, not, like, play space. They are all the same in that regard. I think 16 sqft if you make it a square. They really do last a lifetime though, and people often use them to make indoor cages. They are about the same price (or cheaper) as some of the larger rabbit cages sold in stores, but are a lot more customizable, and easier to store than those clunky store bought ones. Plus they provide more living space!

You know, she is probably just as happy digging in your clothes as she would be in dirt. If you don’t want her digging in your clothes specifically, you might look at getting her a nice blanket.

Is there a specific reason your mom doesn’t want her inside? I know my mom didn’t mind the smell/chewing/etc, but she HATES hay. If I so much as let one straw out of place she would have a fit, so I had to be super careful to clean up after I refilled the hay box.

If she is absolutely steadfast in her making your girl live outside you would need to do a fair amount of work. The first would be a large hutch that is completely predator proof. Find out what predators your have, but assume raccoons and cats at the very least. Keep in mind that even if the predator cannot get into the cage, rabbits have been scared to death by the presence of the predator and the inability of escape. Since you mention summer, you will also have to consider how to keep her cool. Depending on how hot it gets, you will need to provide cooling measures. A frozen soda bottle filled with water can go a long way, but would obviously need to be replenished as it melted. Anything over 90-100 though and your girl will start to have trouble no matter what. I live in California so it is always a dry heat. Someone who is more familiar with humidity would have to weigh in on how to keep a rabbit cool in hot and humid weather. This is a house rabbit forum, so I think pretty much everyone keeps theirs indoors. I think in most places in the US the weather is pretty extreme, but I know in England I have seen some really nice outside set ups! You might want to snoop around some forums for people who breed rabbits/keep a lot outdoors and see how they keep them cool. From the people I know who were breeders, they either went to great lengths to keep them cool (play house conversion with insulation and A/C), or simply expected a few casualties. Obviously the people I knew has various levels of caring as well… :/

[LongEaredLions]

I know nothing about rabbits living outside, but as a substitute for taking her outside you could fill a kiddy pool with natural soil and plant safe grasses in it. You could bring it inside occasionally and let her have a good dig and munch.

[Bam]

I don’t think sand is bad for them, wild rabbits live in sandy areas where they can build very extensive tunnel-systems. I don’t know how they manage to keep the tunnels from collapsing, but somehow they do. They don’t live where the ground is heavy clay.

I think you’d need some kind of pestcide like Johnson’s Cage and hutch Clean spray if she has to live outside. There are sprays that protect the rabbit from fly strike too. There are also spot-on products like Revolution that can be used to prevent the bun from lice and mites and other parasites, some of which are internal. I don’t know much about tropical areas since I’m in a very un-tropical area myself.

My bunnies dig in fleece blankets. That’s a cheap alternative and fleece is not so bad if they decide to have a nibble of it because it doesn’t have long threads like terry cloth towels etc.

[GiggilyPuffBunny]

Okydoky! Wow thanks for all the feedback! Yeah my mom doesn’t like the litter smell because of her urine. But everything else she is fine with. Becka has a 4 layer, huge cage that could comfortably fit 4 (which I’m not doing haha at least right now) and we have a patio out back in the shade and screened in so there’s no sun or bugs and we have a ceiling fan out there too but I still don’t want her outside… she’s my baby and imma spoil her haha. I’m probably going to just bring her cage outside and set it up and then have an extra litter box in my room and just have her live inside until my mom sees the empty cage outside O_o haha.
I guess my question would be…who here is able to mask the urine smell well? Because my mom can 1) smell anything and
2) blames EVERYTHING on Becka. Things that are not even related to having a bunny…ugh
Sooo, I was thinking about just cleaning out her box EVERY day…but what other simple measures could I take for eliminating odor? I have Kaytee soft granulated litter- smells FANTASTIC compared to other stuff I’ve tried.

Yeah I suppose I don’t mind her digging in my stuff but I just didn’t know if she needed to dig to fulfill her bunny needs haha.

OOOH and my mom does have a cat that kills EVERYTHING and doesn’t really know Becka exists sooo he’d see her outside…
That’s a no no no no.

I’ll have to look into those small fences though. Because I think those would be handy. Ebay perhaps?

And I feel SO bad because I have a friend that is keeping three bunnies outside and I was getting on her for that and now I might have to do that too 🙁
Actually I’ll just move out if it comes to that haha

[LongEaredLions]

Have you tried wood stove pellets? I find they are very good for odor control.
Is your bunny spayed? Spaying can help with odor too.

[KytKattin]

LongEaredLions is right, wood stove pellets are great! They are also the cheapest option I found. Got at least a 6 month supply for like $30. Since Eclipse lives in my living room, I can’t let the box go as long as I did before, or even as long as my mom left it. I change it about twice a week now, and there is no smell until the last day. However, it wouldn’t even be crazy expensive to change it every day, or at least scoop out the soiled parts every day. Also, putting a fresh box of baking soda next to the cage will help. You would have to change the baking soda once a month I think, and make sure she can’t eat it! If she ins’t spayed, that will have a huge affect as well. The urine is a lot less potent in spayed/neutered animals. Of course it sounds like your mom is just against your bunny for whatever reason, so it might not matter what you do. Unfortunately a lot of people see them as disposable animals, or simply farm animals, not as house pets.

She will definitely be happy digging in anything she can find. My girl just likes to dig in a corner with nothing there. Bunnies are strange. o_O

For the ex-pens, try Criagslist. People tend to sell them after they are done with puppies and such. Shipping is going to be terrible on e-bay unless you are lucky, so if you can find them local, try doing that first. Amazon with the free shipping was the best price I found otherwise. Basically, just try to avoid paying for shipping on them, or check to make sure it won’t be like $30 at least on top of the cost of the pen. Also, there are a lot of cheaper, smaller pens that are sold, but they can often be chewed through, or easily jumped over. I would say that the minimum height should be 2ft, but if you have a jumper, look at pens that are 4ft. I have to use the taller ones for my really small dogs… Go figure.

[GiggilyPuffBunny]

Yeah, she’s spayed…and a really ridiculously high jumper -_- she jumped up to my bed that is about a little over 3ft tall to eat my papers *sigh*. I’ll see how tall i can go without going broke… SO I will definitely try those wood stove pellets. What brand should I get anything particular? And should I put those under my other litter or just use that alone? And ohhh I could put baking soda on the floor of her box? Or just next to someplace where she can’t reach it? 

MAN OH MAN what would I do if I wasn’t apart of BB?! O_o

[LongEaredLions]

Any plain pine pellets will work, as long as they are not treated with anything. You can use them alone. I wouldn’t put the baking soda in the box, just somewhere she can’t reach it.

[GiggilyPuffBunny]

 I’m definitely going to get those pellets and baking soda. So here’s her outside cage -_- because my mom is stupid haha. So worst case scenario and she has to be out here while my mom’s home. What do you think? You can see the screen on the left that I put down so there’s no direct sun light and there’s a ceiling fan. I’m in Florida though so it may be hot out. But I’ve gotta couple hundred ice packs and ideas to keep her cool. What do you guys think? 

[GiggilyPuffBunny]

She’s inside right now though lol

[KytKattin]

The very bottom isn’t wire is it? It doesn’t look like it, but I can’t tell. Other than that, be careful using anything but water for ice packs. Some of the store bought packs have things other than ice, and if she were to chew it open it could be very bad. Best to stick with soda bottles filled with frozen water. Obviously you want to avoid having her out there, but as long as you can keep her cool enough it should be ok since this is a temporary situation.

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