House Rabbit Community and Store
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.
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.
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.
› Forum › DIET & CARE › Hoppy is a baby still…
Hoppy is 1.5 months old and I was told only pellets and hay till 6 months, that seems like a long time before feeding him carrots and other veggies and fruits. Is this information correct? I know pet stores are not the most accurate place to get information from…
I have him in a large dog cage with chicken wire around the sides and paper shreddings on the floor with a house, food dish and water dish. He is given hay daily and has chew sticks in the cage with him at all times. We let him out daily to hop around the house and is very good at going back in his cage by himself when he is hungry or thirsty. He loves all his room. What kind of toys can I put in his cage to keep him occupied when he is home alone and has to be in his cage?
Also, I want to make a 2nd level in his cage but I need to know what kind of wood is safe to make it out of? How should I put it together or maybe another kind of material I can use to make the 2nd level?
I am a new bunny mommy so I want him to be as healthy as possible since I have wanted a bunny for 20 years now. I will post pictures at a later time, I don’t have any on this computer yet since my computer crashed. I really appreciate any suggestions and will be looking at this site for information and I am sure I will be asking a lot of questions.
Thanks in advance
Cheri
I 4got 2 tell I hoppy is a netherland dwarf bunny…
Hi there Hoppy
Have you tried PLYWOOD? You can get it cut according to cage or any dimensions. I bought plywood scrap and got it cut to certain sizes for a 3 story condo I put together for my bunny.
Does your bunny have a litter box in its cage? Rabbits can be litter trained fairly easy. They tend to go in one corner. At the beginning, you may need to have more than one litter box (a cat sized one with no top, and paper pellet, pine pelleted, carefresh, or wood stove pellets are good litters) because Hoppy is a baby. You can put the stray poops back into the litter box. Rabbits are very smart and catch on If you fill bunny’s cage with all bedding, bunny will get confused where to use the bathroom. As long as you don’t have a wirebottom cage (which doesn’t sound like you do), she’ll be fine.
As for vegetables, I heard that 12 week is a good time to begin introducing vegetables. Try a little piece of romaine for a week.. and slowly introduce others (no iceburg lettce! it is poisoniou to rabbits!). It is good to start slowly as the rabbit’s tummy is very sensitive.
Rabbits have their preferences for toys Mine loves blankets (if yours does, make sure Hoppy doesn’t ingest the blanket), peeled and unpeeled willow balls, cardboard boxes (without tape or glue, I have a box cutter and I cut holes in the box!), toilet paper rolls. The Binky bunny store is fabulous for toys, and there is an extra gift that is sent just for ordering
Your baby is so cute! I have a Netherland Dwarf as well ! Welcome to BB
Thank u for ur response I am not sure if I want a full sized cat box in his cage but I will c what I can find for a box then get the correct litter for it hoppy already goes in his cage he wont poop or pee on the carpet he goes in his cage to do all that
Ok so I got a litter box for Hoppy and got Rabbit Litter from Petsmart… Hoppy still won’t use it all the time, I have been throwing all his stray poops into it but he still won’t do it all the time. I have seen him pee in there once this morning but then this evening after a shaving change he peed on the shavings so I added his pee to the litter box too. I got a litter box for a kitten so its smaller than a full size litter box but I don’t know what to do. I hope he does it soon cause now we are finding poop on the carpet and we vaccum every day. Plus he doesn’t seem to be eatting his hay anymore, he just spills it all over his cage and hardly eats any of it. I have tried to add fresh to the bowl and mix it together but still nothing unless I feed it to him by hand then he still only eats a little bit then goes back to his food dish and eats a little bit then digs the food all over the place. I know he eats and drinks his water but I am concerned he is not getting enough hay, it is ok that he doesn’t eat that much hay anymore? He is so funny to watch jump all over the place, we also found that he loves empty water bottles to play with, he chases them around in circles cause his mouth is too small to grab it to pick it up so all it does is spin around. Well thanks for any responses I receive. Cheri – Hoppy’s Mommy
Do you still have bedding on the floor of the cage? If you do, remove it and only have litter in the litter box. Bunnies tend to go anywhere there is bedding, because to them that means “toilet”. He’ll be more successful if the only litter around is in his litter box. Also, make sure to feed hay in the litter box as buns like to eat and poop.
What kind of hay are you feeding? He might like another kind better. Also, does he have access to pellets all the time? It’s not unusual for baby buns to prefer pellets over hay and if he has pellets all the time he’s probably filling up on those. When Otto was a baby I fed him twice a day and didn’t leave food in his cage all the time. It was still about as much pellets as he could eat, but he had a few hours a day without food when he decided to eat hay.
Timothy Hay is what he is eatting, he does have pellets all the time, I did see him eat the hay this morning finally. I do have bedding all over the cage floor, I use shredded paper from my paper shredder. It works the best and is cheap or even free cause I just use my old bills that have been paid or just buy a ream of paper and shred it to use, one bucket of shredded paper covers the floor of the cage perfect. I just changed it yesterday so I wish I would have typed this before I did so that I wouldn’t have used my bucket of shredded paper just yet, oh well. I will be changing the paper out in the next 2 days anyways so I just won’t add anymore in there. Should I eventually put the bedding back in there or will I just never use bedding again? Thanks for your response.
I would suggest using newspaper shreddings. The ink from the bills isn’t good if it is ingested by bunny. I know a lot of rabbits enjoy ripping paper to shreds. Newspaper is soy based and safe.
Bedding shouldn’t be used to line the cage. I made that mistake and my bunny went everywhere as a baby lol!
Ok so now that I took out all the litter and moved the hay bowl in the litter box, he just pees and poops on the bottom of the cage, I have had to clean up bunny pee from over by his food dish, he won’t even go in the litter box to test it out, I even put his stray poops in the litter box but still nothing. How long does it usually take to litter box train a bunny, I guess I am expecting something fast since I have to work and can’t be here to clean up all the pee on the floor of the cage and I am not sure if my husband will clean up the pee while I’m gone. Please let me know if there will be a faster way and how to even get him to lay a foot in the litter box? I really want to train him cause I think it is cool to train a rabbit to use a litter box. Thanks for any suggestions you may have.
You won’t be able to fully train him until he is neutered, but you could try moving his food dishes into the litter box as well. Eating and going at the same time is a natural thing for bunnies. That may be the trick to getting him to use it.
You’ll never want bedding on the floor of the cage, most buns like peeing on soft stuff, so there’s no point to having it.
That what i do with Malachi. I put his food dish in the old store bought cage, I use that as his litter box in his 3×3 NIC. Malachi is not neutered. But will be in the future soon. I do get some strays but i just sweep them up and put them in his box.
Ok so next question, how about treats from the petstore like the yogurt treats & other store treats. I am not sure whst to look for in a treat or if he can even have them yet. I have yogurt treats that I give to my hamster & I saw ones for bunnies but are they ok for hi with his age of 2 months? Thanks again for everyones help its so nice to have all your help. Cheri
Oh & how about nuts like peanuts akmonds walnuts & stuff like that I wont do those till he is older but I wonder if he can even have them?
From what i know most store treats are not healthy, and any yogurt treat is NOT okay for them to have, at any age. I also don’t think nuts are good for them either… The type of pellet mix they should have is one with ONLY timothy or alfa alfa based pellets, no added raisins, seeds, nuts, corn kernels or anything like that.
Raisins can still be given as treats though, but yeah I think it’s best to wait till he’s a bit older.
I give my rabbit freeze-dried strawberry slices, blueberries and banana slices I buy at Trader Joe’s. Only half a slice or so a day, but I didn’t start giving them to him till he was somewhere between 4 and 6 months old.
I would suggest that whenever you see him pee or poop outside of his box, you either pick up the poop or soak up the pee and put the poop or pee-soaked paper towel in his box.
Having the litter only in the litter box should help give him the right idea, as should having his hay and food only accessible in the litter box. Once he’s neutered, like others have said, it should get better.
Sometimes you also have to try out different litter types before you find one your rabbit is okay with going on, but for now I think it’s safe to assume that the real issue for you with your bun is that he’s young and just starting to learn, not the type of litter that you’re using.
No nuts or seeds or yogurt drops. Pretty much no store treat except for ones like Oxbow timothy or strawberry treats. Fresh foods, like herbs or a tiny piece of fruit like apple or strawberry, or even raisins are much better for them. Plus, buying the fresh stuff is so much cheaper!
Edit: I would stop giving the yogurt treats to the hamster too, not at all good for them either!
Well he did start using the litter box when I put the paper shreddings in his litter box. I loves the paper in his box and goes in to pee in there now, he won’t poop in there but he pees in there. I put newspaper in the bottom of his cage where his food and hut are but its not shredded. He has pooped and peed on the carpet a few times but mostly every time he does it in his cage so I am happy. He is a good bunny. I bought him a walking vest with leash but he hates it so I am sure I will never use it. I put it on him and he started to thump so I took it off he ran around like crazy while he was wearing it. Oh well the vest only cost $2.50 at petsmart on clearance.
sounds like you are doing all the right things! I can honestly say that it will all pay off! But I noticed a SIGNIFICANT positive change once my Nilly was spayed. After that her potty habits got much better even though she did the best she could to make sure it was in the litter box. Your bun is absolutely gorgeous! Congrats
Hoppy looks just like my Pepper!! Too cute….
He looks adorable!!!
When you do start introducing veggies to him, a warning, carrots are a treat, not food. I gave my bun full sized carrots to munch on and she ended up with a lot of problems. I had to rush her to the vet. Her pee was red, it wasn’t blood but at the time I thought it was and it scared me to death!
Collard greens, parsley, cilantro, romaine lettuce (theres a longer list on the information part of the BinkyBunny site). Broccoli may give him gas, carrots and bananas are good for very tiny treats (just a little slice every once in a while) as well as strawberries. A lot of owners give their buns Craisons or raisons as treats, but just one or two at treat time. They really don’t need many treats but they do need lots and lots of hay, not just for digestion but to keep their always-growing teeth ground down.
Good luck with him!!! Congrats!
As of right now he is eatting organic celery and organic carrots, I didn’t know carrots are for a treat only so I will make sure not to give them to him as a food source. I am getting ready to add a new veggie to his diet but which one has the most nutrients in it that he needs? I tried spinich leaves but he won’t go near them and didn’t go near them for a week. The hamster loved them though and so did my daughter so they ate them instead of hoppy.
Thanks
Romaine.
Try slowly introducing a new veggie weekly or bi-weekly. I was snubbbed veggies many times until my bunny was 6 months.. lol.
Oh he eats carrots, celery, cilantro, and I am now introducing baby bok choy. He doesn’t like the bok choy yet but its only been a few days. I don’t want to go back to spinich yet but will again later. I am trying foods off the safe list from this site. He just loves celery though and cilantro. Carrots I give as a treat daily but a small amount. I give him some then the hamster some the hamster is enjoying having all the fresh veggies too. I don’t want to try fruits yet cause I don’t want him to get use to having those since they have natural sugars in them. He is doing so good, I even think I am getting another baby bunny maybe on Friday. If I do and they share the cage how do I keep the baby away from the fresh veggies since he won’t be able to have them right away? The cage is big enough for 2 bunnies and since my bunny is in his cage only when its bed time and so will the new bunny if I get him cage size is not that bad, its for a 100 lb+ dog. Thanks
If you get another rabbit, Hoppy and the new rabbit should be housed separately until both of them have been spayed/neutered for at least a month. You can house them next to each other so they get used to the other’s scent and presence, but hold off having them live together until they are more mature. Even if baby rabbits get along, they can start fighting when they approach sexual maturity – you wouldn’t want a scuffle to happen while you’re not around. Also, since baby bunnies are often mis-sexed, it happens quite often that a rabbit owner is housing “two girls” or “two boys” together, only to wake up one morning to a surprise litter. If you want to bond them eventually, housing side-by-side is a good start. Also, this should solve the fresh veggies problem.
Ok so next question is… Hoppy has become stinky, is there a way to give him a bath? Is there something I can buy? Keep in mind he is just starting to become friendly of people so I would need ideas on how to bathe him too. He is just starting to jump up on the couch with us, not sit with us yet but jump by us on the couch, just see whats up there and then chew on our clothing but not lay with us yet. If we touch him to pet him he lets us for about 20 seconds and then jumps back to the floor. Anyways, ideas on bathing him and what to buy would be great.
I know this has nothing to do with my topic but I am having problems accessing the binky bunny store, is it down or something?
Thanks
Bunnies do not get dirty and stinky and do not need to be bathed, since they spend so much time grooming themselves. When they near maturity, their scent glands start producing a strong smell, which will only go away when they are spayed or neutered. Bathing can be quite stressful for bunnies…please do not bathe Hoppy unless he has a medical condition.
Bathing will frighten and possibly kill a rabbit due to the water temperature. Rabbits are not stinky, as peppy pointed out, it is the turning point into teenage behavior..
Ok guys thanks for the replys. I guess I need to ask now… Hoppy has poop stuck to the bottom of his foot with litter stuck to it and he has not cleaned it off in a day now, how can I remove that without cutting out the poop from his fur? If I can’t bathe him what should I use to clean his foot off? Its also time to save up and get him neutered, I called 1 vet and they wanted $400 but another vet wanted $160 and he does it by laser. My daughter was holding him so I could see his poopy foot and I saw his thingys so I know they are there now so in May he will have to get neutered. I guess my question for you guys who have already done this is how long will he be away from home for this procedure? I will hate him not being here for even an hour so how long will he be away from home? Thanks for everyone’s responses so far and I appreciate all responses I receive for further questions I may ask. I am a new bunny mommy and don’t want to do anything wrong.
Use a warm damp cloth to get it off his foot. Any bath should only be done if he can’t clean himself for whatever reason. Usually they can take care of themselves just fine.
Some vets keep buns over night, some let them go home the same day. My 2 girls were home that day, about 8 hours after I dropped them off. You’d have to ask your vet what their likely to do
Well an update on what veggies Hoppy eats…
Carrots and tops, cilantro – which is his favorite he goes crazy over it, dandelion greens but can he have the dandelion (yellow part), Parsely, mixed lettuces (all dark leaf) and Radicchio which is expensive but he loves it too so I keep giving it to him. He didn’t like bok choy, kale, raspberries and strawberries. What kind of fruits can I give him that he may like. I know fruits are important too. I did notice when he eats a lot of cilantro his pee is orange, I was scared at first then I did my research and found that orange pee is fine so I was better.
Fruits are more of a rare treat than a staple, here’s a link to foods safe for the bun, when Samson is old enough I plan on printing it out and putting it in my wallet.
https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/Diet/VeggieList/tabid/144/Default.aspx
The Bunny Info-Diet also has a ton of great information on what and how to feed your bun and introduce new foods
Fruits should be a rare treat. It is high in sugar and could make Hoppy a bit chubby.
My rabbit snubs certain fruits too
I know they are a rare treat but I wanted to know what your bunnies like as a fruit. I did find that he ate a small piece of banana but he will only get a small piece of that per week but what other fruits did your bunnies like that I can try? I won’t be feeding it as a staple of his diet as I am giving him a lot of fresh veggies. He really loves the cilantro and radicchio he will eat those all day if I keep giving them to him. I eventually want to get him on all fresh veggies and hay minus the pellets but I know he needs those too till he is older. I sometimes thinks he eats better than we do. Oh well he is just so darn cute I will give him all the fresh veggies and hay he wants.
Oh and he will be getting neutered soon probably in the next 2 weeks, I can’t wait for that cause he keeps marking us as his territory. He pees on my husbands foot all the time and circles him while he walks, I am afraid that my husband will step on him one of these days.
Well Hoppy had his pre surgy appt yesterday, he is scheduled for his neuter Thurs June 2nd… Im nervous… I have to work all day so my husband will be taking him. Wish him luck & think about him on the 2nd… Thanks
Hoppy had his pre surgery appt yesterday, his surgery for his neuter is scheduled for June 2nd… Wish him luck please…
Sorry about the double post, it didnt show it posted right away so I didnt think it went through…
Good luck Hoppy! Neuters are pretty easy for a rabbit-savvy vet so try not to worry!
Good Luck Hoppy! Both my buns are going in 1st thing tomorrow morning for neuter and spay! They will have to stay overnight….
Super nervous! :/
Well tomorrow is the day, hopefully everything goes ok…
Everything will be perfect! Neuters really are so easy these days! Give lots of loves! Good luck!
Well this vet does it by laser so it is safer I guess, he said he doesn’t have to fast so I know he knows what he is talking about and he is very knowlegable about bunnies. It makes it a little easier but still sucks for Hoppy. Oh well I know he is in good hands… I will let everyone know when we are home with him. Are the pain meds they will give him pills or liquid, how do I give them to him? I am sure he will tell me but I want tricks if what the vet tells me doesn’t work.
Oh interesting!
The pain meds *should* be in liquid form. I think it would be hard to give them pills! Hoppy might like the pain meds and thus, think that it’s a treat. If not, you could mix with a small amount of baby food.
(((Healing vibes for Hoppy!)))
Well he is home, they didn’t give him any pain meds but they did give him an antibiotic which I have to give him with a little pineapple juice, he has to go in for a follow up next week. He has no external stiches and seems to be doing great. He seems happy to be home now, he is laying around and already pooped in his litter box. He probably hasn’t eatten at the vet and he has been there since 8a.m. and just got home at 4:45p.m. so I just gave him all his favorites but won’t eat them just yet, oh well he will eat when he wants. I’m just so happy he is home and it is over with and it was $15 cheaper than expected so that was great too. It was only $161 so I was happy the quote $176. Well thanks for all the good luck wishes for him I think they helped me more than him cause I was so scared.
no pain meds? my rabbit was at the vet for 3 days and wasn’t given any pain meds. I read how important they are to a rabbit on here, and it made me feel really bad. I hope that you’ll give them a call to get some, because rabbits do feel pain.
Well its been over 24 hours and he has eatten very little and won’t take his antibiotic. I called the vet this morning cause he had diarrhea and his butt and tail are covered in it. He is cleaning himself very little. They just called me back about 30 minutes ago and he has an appt tomorrow at 9am to have him checked out. I can’t get him to take his medicine with the dropper and I even squirt it in a piece of banana and he just won’t eat anything so I have no idea how to give it to him. The vet said to wrap him in a towel but he is just hiding behind the couch and isn’t coming out. I know he needs his rest but I also got to get him to take it. The vet said the diarrhea was normal after surgery but now that he isn’t eatting he isn’t pooping either so I don’t know if he even still has the diarrhea. I am so nervous for him. I was trying to clean him off a little before work, my husband held him upside down on his lap and I wiped him with a damp wash rag but he actually started to kick after about 3 minutes so I hardly got him clean. I was concerned though, his things were still there, y is that? Will they go away, do they actually just take out the sacks or remove them completly? I guess its like a dog and they just remove the inside sacks, he has internal dissolving stitches. I just want to get him cleaned up somehow, hopefully I can get the vet to clean him up some. When I was wiping him there was something hard but I am sure that was his penis, I couldn’t even find his anus which concerned me that there was so much dried poop there that he is blocked or something. I guess I am glad he has an appt tomorrow just so I can be at rest. I guess I will let u all know how it goes tomorrow. Hopefully everything is ok and he will be better soon.
Ok well Hoppy is doing great after his surgery finally. I was worried cause he was hiding all the time and covered in diarrhea. He has since cleaned off the diarrhea and is back to his old self, I have to schedule his post surgery appt tomorrow to have the vet check him out. He is eatting again and pooping normal again. I am so happy. I found a way to get him to take his medicine too. I squirt it on some Radicchio in the a.m. and by the end of the day its dried on it and he eats it with the medicine dried up on it. I guess it works since I couldn’t get him to take the medicine with the dropper. Well thats all for now. I will let you know what the vet says when we get the appt.
Help!!!
Hoppy has started to attack me mostly when I am feeding him and cleaning his cage. I am to the point I am scared to touch his cage when he is around. He bites me, the broom & dust pan. He has been neutered 2 months now & this just started 2 weeks ago. Any suggestions PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!
Don’t put your hands in his cage when he is in there.
Otherwise, he thinks you are invading his home. I would do the cleaning/feeding while he is not in his cage. Some rabbits are cage territorial.
What ChaCha said Thankfully my 2 are okay with me tending to their cage, though Miss Attitude (ie needs to be spayed asap) has been a bit crabby about it lately.
Even if im doing the cleaning when he is in the other room he hears me & comes running to attack me. I just hate having to worry when I change his cage or even give him food it drives me crazy.
› Forum › DIET & CARE › Hoppy is a baby still…