Newbie Questions

[Monique]

Our family had been contemplating getting a bunny for over a year now, I looked into different breeds, narrowed down our preferences & talked to a few local breeders before finally choosing the one. We’ve had our new fur baby about a week now and everything seems to be going wonderfully.  He Is a house bunny & we’re working on litter training.  I’ve read quite a bit on how to Integrate house bunnies Into family life, even so I don’t think  I’ll ever know all there Is to know…  I’ve read conflicting information on just about anything and everything that has to do with bunnies which tells me that just as every bun Is an individual… Their care must also be individualized,  kind of a daunting task for someone with no rabbit experience but I believe I’m more than up for the challenge!  

 

  We’ve been limiting how much he Is handled as I can’t imagine what he’s thinking going from outdoor hutch life to a new home with new people to be an Indoor single rabbit.  Even so, every day his personality blossoms more and more!  Each time I go by his cage I talk to him & occasionally reach In to pet him.  He now comes up to smell my hand as soon as he sees me.  I’ve been offering him a pellet each time I feed him or when I put him back In his cage after cleaning and yesterday he started taking them from me and gave me kisses (awww)  this morning when I was removing his water crock he butted my hand as though he were asking to be petted.  From what I’ve read these are all good signs that we’re on the right path for bonding.  I’ve been taking him out In the morning when I change his water & check his food & In the afternoon/early evening when I clean his cage.  Is that too much for a new young bunny?  Should I only take him out during the cleaning? 

 

  Since we’re trying to littler train him I’ve been completely cleaning his cage daily.  I have the bottom lined with newspapers & use wood pellet type litter In the litter tray.  I’ve been dumping the littler daily then taking the soiled newspaper from the bottom of the cage and using It as a base In the litter tray under clean pellet litter as I’ve read I’m supposed to put any cleaned up wet mess and stray poops Into the litter box to encourage him to exclusively use the litter box.  I’m optimistic with his progress but cleaning this way means I have no choice but to remove him from the cage… I’ve read you should leave a new bunny In his cage undisturbed for as long as two weeks for them to acclimate… Am I over cleaning?  Am I over handling?  Am I potentially over stressing him?  If so, any suggestions on how I can modify the current routine? 

 

I’ve read that up until he Is three months old he should be fed nothing but pellets and hay, but I see there are breeders that never use pellets and give hay and veggies and the occasional fruit snack from the beginning.  He has only had hay and pellets since birth.  Should I wait till 3 months & what are some recommended ‘first foods’ type snacks and veggies that are good to offer first when introducing little ones to foods beyond hay and pellets?  

 

I have some very healthy organically grown fruit trees in the small orchard on my property, apple, peach, pear and mulberry.  Would It be possible to use wood from any of the trees to offer as a chew option for our bun?  Would I need to de-bark or dry or smoke or bake the wood to sort of kiln treat It prior to offering It to our foo-man?

 

And lastly, (lol for now)  the lady we got him from said he Is a lionhead mini lop, his coat Is very long and dense over most of his body. His fur Is very soft and clean and free from mats but I’ve read lionheads need regular grooming.  How soon should I begin brushing him?  I’m worried about introducing It too soon and upsetting the progress we’ve made in this short time we’ve had him but at the same time, I don’t want a problem to develop that would require more extensive and invasive grooming to resolve… Any suggestions on how soon and how often to brush a long haired little one and what style of brush works best for his hair type? 

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!!    I look forward to any and all replies, even If they should vary in opinion or experience

[LBJ10]

Posted By Monique on 8/11/2016 3:05 PM

Our Family had been Contemplating Getting a Bunny for Over a Year Now, I Looked Into Different Breeds, Narrowed Down our Preferences & Talked to a Few Local Breeders Before Finally Choosing THE One. We’ve Had our New Fur Baby About a Week Now and Everything Seems to be Going Wonderfully.  He is a House Bunny & We’re Working on Litter Training.  I’ve Read Quite a Bit on How to Integrate House Bunnies Into Family Life, Even So I Don’t Think  I’ll Ever Know All there Is To Know…  I’ve Read Conflicting Information on Just About Anything and Everything that Has to Do With Bunnies Which Tells Me that Just as Every Bun is an Individual… Their Care Must Also Be Individualized,  Kind of a Daunting Task for Someone with No Rabbit Experience but I Believe I’m More than Up for the Challenge!  

 Lot’s of conflicting info out there!

  We’ve Been Limiting How Much he is Handled as I Can’t Imagine What he’s Thinking Going from Outdoor Hutch Life to a New Home with New People to be an Indoor Single Rabbit.  Even So, Every Day His Personality Blossoms More and More!  Each Time I Go By His Cage I Talk to Him & Occasionally Reach In to Pet Him.  He Now Comes Up to Smell My Hand as Soon as he Sees Me.  I’ve Been Offering Him a Pellet Each Time I Feed Him or When I Put him Back In His Cage After Cleaning and Yesterday He Started Taking Them From Me And Gave me Kisses (awww)  This Morning When I was Removing his Water Crock He Butted My Hand as Though he were Asking to be Petted.  From What I’ve Read These are All Good Signs that we’re On the Right Path for Bonding.  I’ve Been Taking Him Out In the Morning When I Change His Water & Check his Food & In the Afternoon/Early Evening When I Clean His Cage.  Is That Too Much for a New Young Bunny?  Should I Only Take Him Out During the Cleaning?

Since We’re Trying to Littler Train Him I’ve Been Completely Cleaning His Cage Daily.  I Have the Bottom Lined with Newspapers & Use Wood Pellet Type Litter in the Litter Tray.  I’ve Been Dumping the Littler Daily Then Taking the Soiled Newspaper From the Bottom of the Cage and Using it as a Base in the Litter Tray Under Clean Pellet Litter as I’ve Read I’m Supposed to Put any Cleaned Up Wet Mess and Stray Poops Into the Litter Box to Encourage Him to Exclusively Use the Litter Box.  I’m Optimistic With His Progress but Cleaning This Way Means I Have No Choice but to Remove Him From the Cage… I’ve Read You Should Leave a New Bunny In His Cage Undisturbed for as Long as Two Weeks for them to Acclimate… Am I Over Cleaning?  Am I Over Handling?  Am I Potentially Over Stressing Him?  If So, Any Suggestions on How I Can Modify the Current Routine? 

 The best way to build trust is to limit handling to “only when necessary”. Of course it’s a good idea to let them settle, but it’s also good to establish a routine with them quickly. He is still young, so he probably doesn’t mind being picked up when you take him out the clean his cage. Once his hormones kick in, that will likely fly out the window! It is literally like someone flipped a switch and they suddenly do NOT want to be handled. This is completely normal, so don’t when shocked when it happens.

I have to ask, what is his setup like? He’s just in a cage? Does he have an exercise pen? Many people find it easier to put the cage on the floor (they are all way too small anyway) and connect an exercise pen to it. You open the door and bunny hops out on their own to explore and play. You can then easily change the litter box and clean his area if he’s running around in the exercise pen area. Once he’s litter trained, you’ll probably find he is happiest with the cage as a “home base” that is open all the time and he has the exercise pen to roam around in 24/7.

Also note, once his hormones kick in, he might lose his litter habits until after he is neutered. Hormones make them want to mark their territory. But most bunnies that were good with the litter box before, return to being good with the litter box after neutering.

 

I’ve Read that Up Until He is Three Months Old He Should be Fed Nothing but Pellets and Hay, but I See there are Breeders that Never Use Pellets and give Hay and Veggies and the Occasional Fruit Snack From the Beginning.  He has Only Had Hay and Pellets Since Birth.  Should I Wait till 3 Months & What are some Recommended ‘First Foods’ Type Snacks and Veggies that are Good to Offer First When Introducing Little Ones to Foods Beyond Hay and Pellets?  

Pellets and hay are best until 12 weeks if he did not have them before. Their gut needs to mature before veggies can be introduced. Starter veggies are simple things like romaine lettuce.

I Have some Very Healthy Organically Grown Fruit Trees in the Small Orchard on my Property, Apple, Peach, Pear and Mulberry.  Would it be Possible to Use Wood from Any of the Trees to Offer as a Chew Option for Our Bun?  Would I Need to De-Bark or Dry or Smoke or Bake the Wood to sort of Kiln Treat it Prior to Offering it to our Foo-Man?

Everything is safe, except peach (anything with a pit) wood needs to be dried for a least a month. Does anyone want to comment on this?

Bark is fine.

And Lastly, (lol for now)  The Lady We Got Him From Said he is a Lionhead Mini Lop, His Coat is Very Long and Dense over Most of his Body. His Fur is Very Soft and Clean and Free from Mats but I’ve Read Lionheads Need Regular Grooming.  How Soon Should I Begin Brushing Him?  I’m Worried About Introducing it Too Soon and Upsetting the Progress We’ve Made in this Short Time We’ve Had Him but at the Same Time, I Don’t Want a Problem to Develop that would Require More Extensive and Invasive Grooming to Resolve… Any Suggestions on How Soon and How Often to Brush a Long Haired Little One and What Style of Brush Works Best for His Hair Type? 

Start brushing now while you can! Baby steps are the way to go. See if he will let you brush him a little bit while he’s eating. Work your way up to longer grooming sessions. I always set mine in my lap and comb/brush for as long as they will tolerate. They tell me when they’ve had enough.

Thanks So Much for Taking the Time to Read This!!    I Look Forward to Any and All Replies, Even If they Should Vary in Opinion or Experience

[Monique]

His Cage is 4 Feet Long & 2 1/2 Feet Wide, The Top Has a Peak Like a House Roof that is Just Over 3 Feet Tall at the Center, it’s Quite Large for Such a Little Bun. This Afternoon He was Jumping Up & Kind of Twisting & Kicking his Back Feet Out a Bit Several Times in a Row From One End to the Other… A Binky Perhaps?? Who Knows but He Seems Pretty Content So Far. There are Shelves with Ramps at Either End & his Litterbox & Food (hay rack & pellets in a side attached food dish) Is Under One Shelf With a Box Under the Other That’s been Modified Into a Hide Hut (though he seems to be more interested in tearing it up & pushing it around then hanging out in it-looking into better alternatives) It Has Two Large Doors. I Do Have a Run that Can Be Attached to the Cage but He has Shown No Interest in Coming Out on his Own. His Cage is Currently In the Kitchen Which at Times Can be Somewhat High Traffic so I Had Thought He May Just Still be Adjusting or it Could Be the Door is a Bit Higher then he Wants to Hop to Go Exploring… But Each Day he gets Braver & More Outgoing so I Believe it Will be Soon. I Also Have a Large Fenced Area Outside that has been Rabbit Proofed that we have Not Yet Utilized… It Is My Hope that He Will Be a Free Range House Bunny with the Outside Area Used for Supervised Exercise Time but it’s been Blazing Hot Here the Last 2 Weeks… Plus With Him Being New and Young I Wasn’t Sure if I Should Bring Him Outside Just Yet or Not??

Just as I Thought… Time to Buy a Bunny Brush… Any Recommendations on What Style of Brush Works Best with His Coat Type?

His First Vet Appointment is Scheduled for Monday After Next, I Plan on Asking About His Teeth & Recommend Care & Hopefully Set Up an Appointment to Have him
Neutered, Beyond Teeth and Testicles Is There Anything Else I Should Keep in Mind or Question During His Vet Visit?

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[tobyluv]

For some great information on all the basics of rabbit care, click on the BUNNY INFO link at the top of the page. The diet info will be especially helpful to you. There are lists of veggies and greens and which are better and which can be given more often – when the time comes to start veggies.

Be very careful if you take him outside. There are parasites such as fleas and ticks to contend with, a rabbit can also get worms if they eat vegetation where another animal has used the bathroom. There may be plants that a rabbit shouldn’t eat. Predator can come out of nowhere, hawks flying in or dogs or cats or wild animals getting into even fenced yards. I know of rabbits that have been injured (and worse) by predators coming into a fenced area, even when a person was nearby.

[MrBun&Daisy]

welcome to the world of buns! they will certainly steal your heart! as for taking him out while you clean- a buns cage should be a safe place for only them. that being said you do have to clean it. it seems like he doesn’t mind your company so when you clean his cage out just make sure he has access so he can come in while you do so. they usually will come see what mom is doing to their house. as long as he doesn’t feel threatened he’ll get used to it. I use a small hand vacuum to clean our buns house (he’s potty trained so I really am only cleaning stray pellets and hay) and he has even gotten used to that. just let him see what you’re doing and he’ll be fine. I usually don’t clean right then if he’s eating or napping so he still knows its “his space”

as for him not wanting to come out of his cage that’s totally normal. if you have a bit of free time try sitting on the floor near him for a while. leave his door open so he can come out on his own. just sit and read or do something but don’t pay him any attention. you’re right in thinking the high traffic is probably putting him off. if you (and anybody else that is always around him) just sit there and allow him to come to you without you immediately trying to touch him (hard to do I know) he will get more comfortable and eventually come over to you for attention once he is done exploring.

as for outside I know there are many people who let their buns outside but please be EXTRA careful. buns (especially smaller young ones) can get through VERY small places. make sure there are no gaps that he can get through. like toby said fleas and other bugs can be a problem and especially other predators. you have to watch him every second.

neutering – be prepared for the post neuter craze- almost all buns experience this in some way since their hormones are flared and do not settle for up to a month afterwards .(my bun who was completely potty trained went territory crazy and started peeing and pelleting EVERYWHERE after his neuter) this craze can also affect their personality (nice, mean, biting etc) but be patient and know he will settle down after about a month. my baby was such a snuggle bun with me but after the neuter didn’t want anything to do with me unless I had food! he is now settling and starting to snuggle again (happy mommy right here!)

oh and yes, it does seem like you saw a binky!!

[BB Administrator]

Monique – I changed the case of your original post to normal sentence case. The capital letters for most words was challenging for members to read.

Helloworld!!

[MamaRet]

Hi Monique, 

We just adopted a 10 week old Holland Lop little girl and I have TONS of questions. I’ve been watching youtube videos and reading everything I can on the internet about adjusting the rabbit and beginning to bond. The thing is — I have two young kids. One is 4 1/2 and the other is 16 months. So far the girls are behaving well around the rabbits cage but we do have an x-pen blocking off the hutch so that they can’t even touch the cage. However the rabbit is preview to the chaos that kids bring. Which leads me to the first questions – should I have her (the bunny) in our main living space or move her to a more secluded part of the house?

We currently have her in a large guinea pig cage with a kaytee brand high corner litter box, cardboard box (that she is hiding in), hay manger, along with a timothy hay mat, fleece, hanging toy and water bottle. We are currently constructing a large exercise pen downstairs in our basement where she will hopefully get to spend a few hours of the day hoping and jumping around while I am working from home. 

I appreciate all that you’ve written because I’ve gotten a lot of good advice from it! 

I am now concerned with the kaytee brand high corner litter box – is it too small?! 

Any recommendations for getting rabbit to adjust safely and bond with my young daughter. I am not going to let me 16 month old near her for obvious reasons. But my 4 year old is dying to pet her and kiss her. Any advice with this would be much appreciated! 

Thank you ladies! 

[Monique]

Apologies, I am dyslexic & the caps assist with accuracy & speed. I will try to avoid using them in the future-but I learned this tool 20+ years ago in college & may on occasion slip.

[Author]

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