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Hi all, I’m Alicia and I recently rescued 2 males mini lops around a year old. They’ve had a pretty rough start to life – but are getting to know what it’s like to be spoiled now!
I have a ton of questions, so trey to bear with me as I learn all I can about being a good bun owner. I’ve been reading non stop since I brought them home almost 2 weeks ago. I posted in the bonding section about them seeming really bonded and liking being together even though they are unneutereed males (they will be neutered by the end of the month – it was hard to get an appointemnt at a vet that does exotics/small animals). They groom eachother and cuddle but even when they are gated in the kitchen and dining room for several hours at a time they seems to mainly hide under the table or in a corner. Hopper-Hoppers (my 3 year old named him) is larger and shy and subordinate – he likes to hide his head in Dragonfly’s (my 6 year olds name choice) side when he is feeling particularly shy. Um Hopper-hoppers I can see you you are twice Dragonfly’s size!
Anyway – we brought them home on really short notice – they were being given away at a moving sale and a womna with rabbits saw them and took them but she couldn’t keep or really afford the added expense so I took them. That said all I managed to scrounge up was 2 wire bottomed cages. I laid grass mats and large stone tiles (which I take out and refridgerate) on the bottom of the cage. Is this okay? They don’t seem to eat the grass mat and they certainly like to lay on the chilled tile. We will be building/buying them a better cage once all get settled in. I was thinking of attaching the 2 cages and maybe cutting wood to fit the bottom and having an x-pen off of that. Does that sound reasonable?
Also how quickly can I introduce different kinds of greens? So far they have had romaine and kale – and numerous small amounts of herbs from our garden – they do not care for mint – but it sure makes their cage smell nice – pretty much every time they throw it out of their way or step on it!
Lastly (umm for tonight) I bought them a high bac corner litter box. Dragonfly pees in it pretty much all the time but doesn’t poop in it. Hopper- Hoppers well not so much – infact not at all ever. I have yesterdays news in there then a little softer recycled paper bedding and a bunch of timothy hay on one side. Any other tricks to enticing him to join the cool kids and pee in the box? Is it sort of hit of miss until they are neutered?
Oh and a little more about me in general. I am married with 2 daughters. We live in the North East. We also have 3 rescued cats and 2 adopted Shiba Inu’s oh and one black moor goldfish. We have managed to work in a lot of pets in not a lot of spcae! We are officially the home of the never empty lap.
Thank you all in advance for your help!
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I am a new owner too! I just acquired a 6 week old holland lop from my local grain&feed store. The whole thing is just overwhelming&exciting!! I love my daisy so much and I’ve only had her for about…ohh.. let’s say nine hours? And considering my brother is allergic to fur, poor Daisy is stuck in my shed. It’s 2:00 am where I am, and I can’t stop worrying about her being out of my sight, hence why I’m up in the first place… it’s good to see some one who’s new at this too
but i’m getting off topic
..anyway…. about your cages… itshould be 4x the rabbits size, from what I’ve read. Attaching the two you have sounds reasonable, and with the wire cages, it sounds good to me. I’ve read that some people don’t recommend them but the people I got Daisy from said they were the best, as the droppings and the pee fall through the wire into the tray at the bottom, making cleaning easier& the whole experience less well… crappy. no pun intended
But one thing they stressed was having something for your babies to lay on besides the hard and uncomfy wire. The cool rock is a great way for them to cool down too! They do not do well in the heat!! Good luck with Hopper-Hoppers and Dragonfly!
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For litter training, I suggest a large cat litter box, usually the corner ones are too small, and often too uncomfy for bunnies. Mine all love their boxes, and Smudge often takes a nap in hers
Neutering helps a ton, don’t expeect perfect results before then For greens, intorduce slowly, maybe one new kind a week.
Do not, I repeat, do NOT use wire bottom cages. They damage little bunny feet, and are a pain int eh rear to keep clean. Most store bought cages are completely unsuitable for house buns. Both in size, and in the case of wire bottoms, unhealthy. 4x the buns size is still too tiny.
All of mine have at the minimum a 4 foot by 4foot exercise pen live in, the girls also have a 4 story condo, and Moose has half the computer room. They need tons of room to run, to stretch those legs. They aren’t built to be stuck in tiny cages, its just not right. Also, wire bottoms inhibit litter training. If you want happy bunnies, get them a solid bottom cage, attached to a pen, and let them run around the house often.
Indoors! Outdoors is not safe for bunnies to live 24/7. Too many predators, insects, weather, etc. Would you want to be outside living like that?
Sorry if I sound all cranky and such, I just wanted to stress the points. Pet store owners know nothing!
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I worry about the dogs too – but Niko the one who is mainly interested in them, has been really good! After his inital sniffing and quivering he has pretty much lost interest in them. If they hop or run quickly he gets reinterested, but overall he really seems to know that they are pets and not prey.
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