New baby bunny

[hedif]

Hello everyone! I joined this website, because I just bought a baby bunny yesterday, it’s my first pet bunny, and I get worried about pretty much everything!

Of course I did a bunch of research before getting my bunny, but I am a bit worried about how he is acting.

I bought him toys, made him toys, he has hay and pellets, water, he ate a bit of baby spinach from my hand.

Problems are, he doesn’t seem to eat his hay and pellets..a few strands of hay here and there but not much..he drank a lot of water though. He won’t play with his toys, won’t even check them out, doesn’t move much, just sits in a spot, sleeps a lot I think, and also he hides a lot in his hole..I can pet him, he won’t run away, I did not try to pick him up yet, as I’ve read that they don’t like it..he didn’t try to get out of his cage yet, although the door is always open for him to get out… he just seems very much depressed and I am worried because other than eating a bit of baby spinach from my hand, he won’t eat anything.

I was wondering if this is normal, since he is very small, 2 months old, and there were a lot of other baby bunnies around him till I bought him, and now he is just depressed because he is alone, out of his pack? 

(ps.: I bought the same pellets he was eating at the animal store )

Thank you

[Crashley]

Your baby is still getting used to all the new things, he is probably nervous because he is in a new home, sit on the floor with him everyday and he will open up to you. baby buns shouldnt be eating vegetable till their about 4 months old, he should be on unlimited alfalfa based pellets and hay since he is still a growing bun. It could take a couple of days to a week or so until he opens up! My bun does not play with many toys, most buns do not. My rabbits favorite toy is CARDBOARD anything card board she loves it, I have built her a cardboard mansion and she loves it, she plays with rattles here and there. but not much for toys. Floor time is the best way to bond with your rabbit. When I first got Winnie I would sit on the floor while she played for a couple hours everyday and she just eventually opened up.

[Crashley]

Also rabbits love to hide! He is defiently nervous about the new place, a rabbit uses their hidey hole as a safe spot. Your baby is just nervous to be in a new home, new environment.

[hedif]

Thank you for your answer, it made me feel a bit less worried..after posting here I continued my research and found out that indeed I shouldn’t have given him spinach, thankfully I only gave him like 2-3 baby spinach leafs, but no more till his bum gets older!

Also, i just noticed that he has poopie stuck to his bum..so I searched around for that as well, and I was wondering if it’s due to me giving him the spinach today? or just stress maybe?

One more thing, should the hay be as well alfalfa ? Because I am not sure I can find it in any pet store in this godforsaken small town I live in..I also searched country based web shops and could only find alpine meadow hay, Prairie hay, orchard grass with apple or olive leafs, meadow hay…

[Crashley]

No problem, yes that very well be because of the spinach, keep an eye on him until his poop is normal. If the poop thats stuck to him is to bad to get off with your fingers, you can give him a butt bath! You should never bathe your rabbit unless your giving it a butt bath. They can go into shock or hypothermia(they dont dry off well, when wet). The reason baby buns cannot have veggies yet is because their digestive system is not strong enough to break them down and their tums dont handle it well. At about 4 months you can slowly start introducing veggies to them, start with one kind and slowly go from there. When Winnie was a baby she had timothy hay in her litterbox(she munches on sometimes) but thats the hay she uses the bathroom on. Winnie had alfalfa based pellets and she ate alfalfa hay. Though, if you cannot find alfalfa hay, your bun should be good with just the alfalfa pellets(you can order hay online I believe, in bulk). When bunny is about 6 months, you can start giving him timothy based pellets. Adult buns should not alfalfa, as they can get obese from it(for baby buns to bulk up) My bun now eats, all hays besides alfalfa. She is 7 months old now

[Bam]

As Crashley says, you don’t absolutely have to give alfalfa hay if you have good pellets with a high enough protein content. It’s actually good to introduce grassy hay like orchard or Timothy early, since that’s key to the adult bunny’s health. If they develop a taste for it as babies they get s great dietary foundation to build on.

[Beka27]

Congrats on your new baby! You will probably see him come out of his shell within the next week or so! Give him time!

Keep a close eye on his eating and pooping. And if you don’t have a qualified rabbit vet picked out yet, start researching ones in your area. You’ll want to get him in for an initial exam within the first month or so.

[hedif]

Thank you everyone for the answers! You guys helped me a great deal! I kept monitoring my bunny ( Ivan ) and he didn’t start eating his pellets nor the hay sadly..I gave him alfalfa pellets, exactly what they gave the bunnies in the animal store, so I was still very worried..we washed his bum a bit, thankfully the poopies weren’t stuck too badly to his beautiful baby hair ( I think his breed is a Jersey wooly, but I am really not sure just searched around on the interned for different bunny breeds ). So me an my partner thought about it a lot, and decided to get a brother ( or sister can not tell actually ) for him, because he really seemed super depressed, not moving, not eating, not doing anything..

So we got another bunny from the same animal store, so they know each other a bit. This other little guy ( or girl, nobody could tell us at the store..) is much more lively, jumps around, he is very very naughty ( adorable ) he started eating the pellets and hay right away, snuggled with Ivan etc.
After a little while Ivan started eating pellets and hay as well, and started walking around! Second bunny ( we named him Igor for now ) explored the cage right away, jumped up on the second floor, where Ivan has never been till now, and after seeing Igor, Ivan checked out the second floor as well!

Now they are regularly getting on the second floor, snuggling and eating, pooping normally as well! Igor actually poops a lot of tiny little balls, leaves them everywhere..as I’ve said he is a bit naughty, usually sits in the food bowl like a king (or queen ). Last night Ivan groomed him while he sat on the food, it was very adorable..I hope we made the right choice to get another bunny, Ivan seems much much better like this!

Ps.: I might be able to get alfalfa hay from my grandparents next week, could not find in the stores around here, asked around and nothing..

[tobyluv]

Since you got another rabbit, you will need to determine the gender, otherwise, you may be faced with a litter in a couple of months. The rabbits would need to be separated before they are 12 weeks old, no matter what their gender are. Even if they are the same gender and there is no risk of pregnancy, around 12 weeks of age is when their hormones kick in, they can start fighting. Rabbits can severely injure themselves if they fight. When they are 4 to 6 months old, you can have them neutered or spayed, then re-bond them. Here are two articles on bonding:
https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/9/PID/940/Default.aspx
http://rabbit.org/faq-bonding-multiple-rabbits/

It’s good that Ivan has a friend now and seems happier, but you do have to make some changes when you have two rabbits.

[Author]

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