New Bunny Mother, Lots of Questions

[LopLover]

Hey everyone! I’ve been stalking old posts on this forum for the last few days, and finally decided to join! 

Anyway, I’m a brand new bunny mother to the most precious 8 week old Holland Lop. His name is Igloo and he’s very sweet. I’ve had him home for about three days now, and he seems to be adjusting remarkably well. But, since he’s my first rabbit, I want to make sure his behavior is, in fact, indicative of a happy bunny. 

I’ve mainly noticed that he is very mellow, and because of his age I find this kind of strange. I’m certainly not complaining, but if what he does falls under lethargic behavior, then I want to get him to the vet ASAP. Most mornings I wake up between 8 and 10, and immediately set up his gate and let him out of his cage. Because he’s still so young, I don’t feel confident letting him have the run of his section of the room if I’m not awake. So basically, he has a medium sized cage, that houses his food, water, litter box (WHICH HE’S ALREADY USING CONSISTENTLY FOR PEE!!! )  and hiding place. I always make sure he has several small toys in there to entertain himself when he cannot have the run of the room. As he gets better with the litter box, and I continue bunny proofing larger portions of the house, I more or less intend to just let his cage function as a kennel would for a dog – just his kitchen and bathroom, if you will lol. I was wondering if anyone else does the same thing, and if it could be an living arrangement for his lifetime?

But, I digress, what I’m most interested in is hearing some experienced bunny parents weigh in on Igloos behavior and whether or not I’m letting him out enough, and any general advice you have on raising such a young bunny successfully. 

So, I work part-time at two different jobs, but I never usually work for more than 6 hours a day, in the middle of the day. Most mornings I wake up between 8 and 10, set up Igloos gate (It divides my very large bedroom in half, keeping him away from the areas that have a lot of cords and such), and open his cage. Usually he lazes about for a few minutes before deciding to come out. When he does come out, he usually goes and sits in his plush bed to groom himself. While he does this, I scoop his litter and refill his cage with fresh litter (I intend to give his cage a good scrub once a week, since I change his litter about twice a day). He doesn’t seem especially interested in any of his toys yet (he has a variety, including a crinkling tunnel, a ball with a bell in it, chewing toys, and other noise makers), though. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like he only ever lays around, but he does lay around A LOT. He usually ends up being out of his cage for around 12 hours a day, and he will intermittently leave his cozy spot to explore, find me, or cautiously investigate his toys. He also does do a fair amount of running, leaping, attempting to climb things (at which he’s been surprisingly successful). I suppose I just expected him to be a little more active because of his age. He’s extremely docile, and lets me do whatever I want to him (he doesn’t tense up like he’s scared, he’s relaxed and most of the time shuts his eyes). But still, I find myself sitting here wondering if he’s just docile or if something is wrong. I’ve read that babies this young can be very difficult to keep alive sometimes. 

I also wanted to know if clingyness is normal for rabbits or just for babies or not at all. Igloo follows me most places, and gets rather upset if I’m close by (say sitting on my couch) and he can’t get to me. Earlier I was distracted with my phone and he somehow managed to claw his way up a pillow, onto the couch and into my lap, where he laid down and stayed until I had to get up. However, my dad, who’s home all day and routinely checks to make sure my room is staying cool and Igloo is fully stocked, says that he doesn’t appear to get upset when I leave the house, he just goes to sleep for most of the time. He did mention to me, though, that he often hears the Igloo thumping and jumping around when my car pulls into the driveway. I love that he’s so cuddly and has bonded to me this well in just three days, but I’m concerned it’s not normal or could lead to problems down the road. 

ANYWAY. I’m sorry for this horrendously long post, but no one else I know has rabbits! Thank you guys so much, in advance, for all your input!!

[Bam]

I would put his somewhat subdued behavior down to him being very new to you and his new home. I think that will change in the near future, seing that he is active and exploring already and has already learnt to use the litterbox. The grooming is a good thing too, a bunny that is feeling well grooms himself. I’d say he displays all the really good signs of adapting very well to his new environment. Since everything is very new to him, he probably doesn’t need his toys yet for entertainment, he’s got enough to explore and find out about as it is.

All baby animals lie about A LOT. They need lots of sleep for their development and growth. Few things are as demanding on a brain as learning new things, and since everything is a new learning experience for him, I would assume he needs extra sleep for his brain, f ex for new synapses to form. It has been shown in experiments that mice that are exposed to a stimulating environment sleep a lot more than animals that are not getting a lot of new, interesting input.

Bunnies in general lies about a lot when they get older too, because they are crepuscules, i e most active at dawn and dusk.

My bunnies are free roam all the time, but my bunny Bam has a cage at my mother’s that’s always open, when we go there to visit, he uses the cage as his “home-base”. He goes there to eat and drink and sleep, but other than that he moves about in the house. So he has litterboxes in two places outside the cage, since it’s rather a big “territory”.

I wish you the best of luck, you seem to be doing very well as bunny-parent, and I’m looking forward to hearing more about Igloo and you and your developing relationship!

[LopLover]

Bam, 

Thank you so much for your response! It’s comforting to know that all the things he’s doing are signs of a healthy, happy bunny. I’m still a little curious about his clingyness, though. Do you happen to know anything about velcro-bunnies? Because he always wants to be near me when I’m home, or at least be able to see me if I’m in a part of the room that he’s not yet allowed in. 

[Bam]

I don’t have any experience with velcro bunnies, but very young mammals can be clingy because they are helpless on their own, for biological reasons. Human babies are because they soon die without their caregivers. Puppies don’t want to be left alone. This should change as the animal reaches sexual maturity.

Imo, the best way of dealing with this is to supply the young one with lots of attention and proximity. It is a need, not a choice with them. I think this is the best way to handle puppies (and babies) too. Many people try to train their all too young puppies to be alone all too soon, and they very often get destructo puppies that pee and poop inside, destroy furniture and may take to howling incessantly when left alone. These things then tend to stick.

With bunnies, many baby bunnies f ex like to be carried around. Then their owners are surprised when suddenly their little super-cuddly baby reacts badly to being picked up, maybe even with aggression. We get rather a lot of people asking about those situations, wondering if the bunny doesn’t like them anymore. But it’s just that the bunny is coming into his/her teens and it’s natural for it to become emancipated. Cuddliness may then come back as as the bunny becomes more mature, but while the hormones are raging, they may be difficult.

I hope I’m making some sense here. I’m sure others that have raised baby bunnies will come to this thread. I have more experiencies with young dogs than with young bunnies since both my bunnies were strays and not babies when I got them.

[kirstyol]

I have had Bramble since he was six weeks old, and while I wouldn’t say he was clingy as such, he definitely wanted to spend more time with me than he does as a year old bun. He does still like attention though and will go a bit mad when I get up in the morning or come home, he wants out of his cage/pen (he has a dog cage attached to a big pen for when we are asleep or not in). Bramble also learned to climb, which is something none of my previous buns have ever done, I still feel the need to watch him like a hawk when he is free roaming, partly because of the climbing but mostly because he still chews things he shouldn’t.

Bramble still lies down a lot more than what I think other people’s buns seem to, I guess its just him. He is very active when he wants to be but also quite happy to lie in a corner somewhere or on his blanket. He also still shows absolutely no interest in toys other than his cat tunnel which he quite likes hopping through.

I always thought that Bramble realised that he was no longer with his mum and siblings (he was brought to my house with his siblings so literally had been with them right up until he went in his cage at my house) and that I was his primary care giver now so he would come to me for cuddles, food or just to feel safe when he got a little scared.

I think your bun sounds happy, just adjusting to his new environment. Congrats on the litter training by the way – I was lucky with Bramble too but I have heard people have terrible trouble litter training very young buns, Bramble has peed the floor exactly twice in his life, both times when he was sick.

I am sure I am not the only person on here who has raised a baby bun, but feel free to message me if you have any questions.

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