Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum DIET & CARE my bunnies act like they’re starving

Viewing 2 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • Frey&Louise
      Participant
      6 posts Send Private Message

        Hey, 

        I’m looking for some advice from more experienced bunny-owners.

        20 days ago I adopted 2 new adorable litlle sweethearts, they should be around 9 to 10 weeks old now.

        I don’t know their exact breeds, but they’re both dwarfs 

        The plan is that they’ll become full-time outdoors bunnies in a few weeks. We have an enormous yard and I have a nice big pen set out for them where they’ll be able to dig their own burrow an play like bunnies should. But for now they can’t move in yet for multiple reasons: the grass in the pen still needs to grow, the bunnies are still a litlle too small (we have lots of stray cats strolling around) and I’d like too wait till the weather clears up, … . 

        So for now they stay in a medium sized carrier at night, during the day I let them outside in a pen. On rainy days they stay inside and get a small pen in the garage. It’s not perfect, but it’s only temporary 


        every day my bunnies get a full 1l container of food. with a selfmade a mix of mostly hay, a bunch of veggies, an egg cup of pellets (I must admit the pellets aren’t of the best quality ) some fresh grass and weeds or leaves from our yard. and a tiny amount of ‘surpise deliciousness’ like carrots, small pieces of fruit, …. 

        I give them around 3-4 extra handfulls of my own selfmade hay during the days and they always have hay laying around everywhere they go (but this is kinda old, not so tasty hay) 

        I use small pieces of romain lettuce as treats during bonding-time 

        they spend atleast 6h /day outside in a pen with grass 

        they also get branches from our aplle tree and I made a litlle hut of weeping willow branches that I put in their carrier as hidingplace + chewing toy. The hut got absolutely destroyed within 1 week, so now I made them a willow tunnel. They’re litlle chewing machines.


        And now for my question: 

        everytime I bring my bunnies any kind of food they act like they haven’t eaten in a week. Even when there is still some food leftover in their cage (obviously their least favorit food) or while they’re outside, surrounded by grass. 

        They also act very enthousiastic when I come to play with them without having food on me, but it’s a different kind of enthousiasme. 

        When I got them they where really skinny, the smallest one was really just bones with furr. 

        They feel and look a lot healthier and happier now, so they have been gaining some weight 

         Now I’m wondering wether I should give them more food (because they act like they’re starved) 

        Or if they get enough and are just a litlle greedy (since they are gaining weight) I don’t want to overfeed them either. 

        Or maybe I should just change something in their diet? 

        I hope somebody can give me some advice on this (or maybe some general advice?) 

        I owned bunnies before, but I must admit I was a pretty terrible caretaker, they had a fun, but unhealthy life, I was only a child tho. 

        This time I really want to take good care of my sweethearts


      • tobyluv
        Participant
        3310 posts Send Private Message

          I’m not sure about your feeding question, but unless the pen you put your rabbits in outside is totally predator proof – secure fencing on all sides, top and bottom (so that they can’t dig out and no predator can dig in) they will not be safe. Building a structure like that is not easy for the normal homeowner.  Rabbits can even injure themselves when they go into a panic if a predator gets near them. That is one reason why it’s recommended that rabbits be housed indoors. Outdoors, there are also parasites to contend with – fleas, ticks, and you sure don’t want to chance fly strike.

          Also, in just a few weeks, when your rabbits start becoming sexually mature, they will need to be separated and spayed or neutered, then after a recovery period, you can re-bond them. Rabbits can be sexually mature as early as 12 weeks, which is why they should be separated soon. It is sometimes hard to identify the gender, which is why people end up with surprise litters. Even if the rabbits are the same sex, they should not be housed together until they have been spayed or neutered. Once rabbits mature, they can fight and severely injure each other.


        • Frey&Louise
          Participant
          6 posts Send Private Message

            The pen is the same I used for my previous bunnies, so it’s been thoroughly tested and it’s digging proof. the top is not sealed off,  I don’t live in a country with big predatory animals, My previous bunnies lived outside for more than 5 years and were never bothered (they were the same size categorie as my new ones). Keeping them inside really isn’t an option, My mother is allergic and we really have no isolated room were they could stay longterm without bothering her. I also don’t want to keep them stuck in the litlle carrier, that’s no life for a bunny. 

            Do you have any tips to protect outdoors bunnies from parasites? 

            My 2 bunnies are both female (I got it dubblechecked) and grew up together (tho they’re not from the same litter, the breeder just put them all together).

            Is it absolutly necessary to get them spayed? my previous bunnies were also 2 females and lived peacefully together without being spayed (they were mother and daughter tho) 

            I really would prefer to avoid surgery since I don’t really have any vets around that are used to working with bunnies, but it is a possibility. Is there a chance that they could get along like this? and if so, how big is this chance? 


        Viewing 2 reply threads
        • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

        Forum DIET & CARE my bunnies act like they’re starving