Posted By Syberchick on 9/30/2014 9:08 AM
Thanks! That’s a good idea. I’ll find her a box to dig and play in. I think I’ll try some kind of treat ball for her too… do bunnies like to play with those? I mean like, a ball with treats inside it? We’re a little nervous about giving her much in the way of fresh veggies/fruit right now. We’re afraid to overdo it and upset her tummy since she’s not used to them. I’m also nervous about overfeeding her with the bunny food. =p Not sure how much to give her. She has hay to eat though.
Hello and welcome!
– Consider getting her spayed once she reaches 5-6 months of age (once you’re 100% sure she’s this old you can look into having her spayed). This will help with behavior and attitude and also greatly reduce her chances of getting reproductive cancers, which is a high risk if she isn’t spayed.
– Many rabbits love treat balls! Some won’t know what to do with them or they won’t be interested, but many love them! It sort of will depend on her tastes and interests. What you can try before you buy a commercial treat ball is to make one yourself by getting an empty paper towel tube, collapsing the ends, and cutting holes in the sides. Put some healthy treats (eg. Timothy hay pellets) inside the tube and give it to bunny. See if she likes playing with it!
– You’re good to be worried about upsetting her stomach. Since you don’t know her age, the safest thing to do is to wait until you know for sure that she’s at least 12 weeks old. Once she reaches this age, you can start slowly introducing veggies into her diet. Once she reaches this age, you’ll want to be feeding her about 1 cup of greens per 3 lbs of her weight per day. Ideally you want at least 3 different types of greens in her “salad”. Check out the BB veggie list for which veggies you should consider. Remember that fruits should really only be given as occasional treats, due to the high sugar content. The same is true for carrots, which have high starch content.
– In addition to veggies, you’ll want her diet to be comprised of Timothy hay (or other grass hays such as orchard grass, botanical, and oat hay) available at all times, and 1/4 cup to 1/8 cup of Timothy hay pellets per day. You don’t want to give her any commercial “rabbit food” – this is junk!
As for your carpet-chewing concerns, if her behavior doesn’t get better over time, you may want to consider laying down a cotton sheet, blanket, vinyl sheet, or something to block off the carpet so that she doesn’t chew and ingest too much of it.