Hi and Welcome

It’s great that you are doing so much research before hand. Will try to answer all your questions as best I can.

-Alfalfa hay is really only for babies or bunnies who can’t keep weight on (like seniors). Any grass hay is fine (Timothy or Orchard.)

-I prefer water bowls as opposed to bottles. Bottles can stop working without you noticing. It’s also more natural for a bunny to drink from a bowl.

-A baby can be more work with regard to litter training, not to mention the cost of spay/neuter. It really just depends on your preference. Some people like the idea of getting a young rabbit that can grow up with them, while some people like the idea of giving an adult bunny a home. I’ve gotten both babies and adult buns and I really don’t have a preference.

-Never use clumping or clay litter for you rabbit. It is very dangerous if ingested. I use Yesterdays News. Pelleted paper litters are very popular for rabbits.

-Living quarters- You are right that the kennel is pretty small, especially for a Flemish. You could definitely use that cage as a base and then expand with NIC or an Xpen.

Hope I was helpful.

For the hay I’d recommend a small horse or rabbit hay bale, Vienna gets through 1 about every 6 months ( topped up with excel barn dried forage ) but a flemmie would probably eat it quicker. I store mine in the garden, maybe a big plastic storage box thing? . Maybe you could surround the crate with a big x pen, the crate could just be a sort of feeding area. I don’t want to force you into getting him/her a friend, but it could be something to think about, size doesn’t matter in rabbit bonding, you might even be able to bond with a netherland dwarf . Go meet the babies, or just wait, rescues get bunnies in all the time.

Regarding baby vs. adult adoptions…

To me, of the biggest downsides to adopting a baby bunny is the “teenage phase” that many of them go through from the onset of puberty to about 1 year of age, even post-spay. Destruction, naughtiness, frustration…you name it. Although baby bunnies are absolutely adorable, I probably wouldn’t adopt one again given the choice, just to not have to deal with that phase. Personally, I think the main benefit to adopting a baby is that you get to watch them grow up – although as you mentioned, even a baby that didn’t grow up with you can bond with you just as well.

Also, when you pick up a baby bunny, their personalities have not come out yet and you never quite know how they will turn out. In contrast, with an adult, you can get a pretty good idea of their temperament with some interaction. If you are open to the idea of different breeds, I encourage you to go shelter “shopping” and meet some bunnies in your area who need homes. I know there is a lot written on the internet about personality differences in breeds, but really, many of us here can tell you that our bunnies are very much individuals that often do not conform to what their breed is “supposed” to be.

Before I adopted Nigel I planned to use a large dog kennel much like the one you purchased. I quickly realized it was going to be too small so I purchased some cheap baby gates at walmart and dismantled them. I then took off the rear panel of the kennel and zip tied three baby gate panels to the back to extend it. I then used the end panel of the kennel and the fourth baby gate panel for the ceiling. It worked really well, however he is only 5 pounds. Using 4 baby gates might make it large enough.

As far as age I adopted Nigel as an adult and he is very bonded to me. After doing my own research I realized I just didn’t want the stress of a teen bunny or the worry and expense of neutering a rabbit and hoping the surgery goes well. I was able to adopt Nigel from a shelter for $42.00 and he came litter trained, microchipped and neutered. He was past his chewing phase and has settled in really well. Within 5 months he was cage free.

hi welcome!! baby bunnies are soooo messy. my boys were a ton of work at first!! After their neuter a month ago, they are 100% easier, cleaner, and sweeter! if I ever got another bunny, I would definitely adopt a bunny that was altered and out of their teenage stage! I use a water bottle, but I know a lot of people use dishes. mine would definitely pick up a dish and throw it!! hahaaha!! I bought a exercise pen off of amazon that you could put around your crate for more room! it’s an iris 39″ tall I think with 8 panels. it is american made and is awesome!! I use horse pine pellets from tractor and supply for litter. it’s $5 for 40 lbs., you could use it for the cat too but it’s not scoopable! but it is cheaper! good luck with picking a new bunny! very exciting! make sure you post lots of pics!!

After learning about horse stall pellets on this forum, we switched our cat (for the lack of a bunny) over and she took to it just fine. It does as good a job as any cat litter you can buy at a pet store, it’s MUCH cheaper and perfectly safe. Same goes for wood stove pellets (without accelerants).

However, you should not allow your bunny and cat to share a litter box, it’s not healthy for them to be around each other’s waste. So even though they can use the same type of litter, you will have to keep the bunny out of the cats litter box, and vice versa.

I second Hazel on the kitty litter. Keep your bun away from the cat litter and keep the cat out of the bun litter.

– Alfalfa, as stated, is for young bunnies. It’s very high in calories and a mature, adult bunny would get pretty fat off of it. It’s not a bad treat, though.

– Baby and adolescent bunnies are known to be a bit tough. When their hormones kick in, they can become quite destructive and aggressive. As a first time bunny owner, you might want to get an older bunny. Not a senior, but at least a year. It’s good for experience and you can bypass all of the territorial drama. And on top of that, you’ll be rescuing a bunny that had a lower chance of adoption because of age!

– Definitely get a water bowl. You might want something that secures to the side of the enclosure, or is very heavy, because bunnies might decide that their bowl is just an irresistibly awesome toy and they’ll have to flip it! My boyfriend and I were visiting a pet store and they, of course, had bottles for their bunnies. There was a bunny that was obviously very thirsty, and we realized that the bottle had somehow tilted backwards (away from the cage) and something was preventing water from coming out when they bun would lick the little “ball.” We tried to fix it, but realized the design of the cage and everything was so poor, that it wouldn’t stay up. We ended up holding the bottle up while the bunny furiously drank for about 3 minutes straight. So sad. I’m sure this wouldn’t happen to anyone’s house bunnies, but in general it’s easier for a bunny to drink from a bowl, and it’s more natural anyway.

– Cat litter is made to clump which is VERY dangerous to bunnies. They like to nibble, chew, and even ingest their bedding/litter. Just like kittens that decide to do this, bunnies would be in danger of having the litter create a giant clump in their stomach, which would become an even bigger health problem. Yesterday’s News and Feline Pine are cat litters that are safe for bunnies. They’re made from safe products and aren’t made to clump. An extremely cheap and effective alternative would be wood stove pellets. They’re made for stoves, but are highly absorbent and have great odor control! A 50 lb bag (which could last anywhere between 1-3 months depending on the size of your box, how many bunnies, and how often you clean) is under 5$ at any hardware store! Just make sure that the pellets clearly state that they have NO accelerants. Also, it wouldn’t be necessary to transition your cat if you didn’t want to. Because of how toxic cat waste can be, you should be keeping the bunny away from wherever the cat box is, meaning you wouldn’t have to worry about the litter anyway.

– I have extremely high standards, but that cage is terribly small. It wouldn’t be bad for the first few days that your bunny is getting acclimated, but I would look into getting/building something much bigger. A bunny needs a cage/pen/hutch that allows it to hop a few times in all directions and stand up to its fullest height. That being said, I would go every bigger than that if your bunny will have to spend extra time in his/her enclosure. Also, absolutely no wire bottoms in any enclosure you choose. A soft flooring – carpet or a blanket – is ideal, but not required.

Welcome here. Everything you’ve asked has been covered well, I think.

I want to really encourage you to pursue adoption, even if you don’t end up with a Flemish Giant. There are tons of buns that fall into the “large rabbit” category that aren’t flemmies. A giant is a huge undertaking, especially for your first bunny… and from what you’ve said, you don’t have enough space for one. That kennel is not large enough for a giant, even temporarily. A 4×4 xpen would work as a TEMPORARY cage, but much more space will be required long-term.

Look into french lops, New Zealands, standard rexes, etc… These buns can be about 8-10 pounds: A big bunny, but with more manageable cage requirements and a lighter food bill.

You’ve gotten some good advice. I want to echo what Beka mentions as well about being open to different large breeds like Standard Rex, New Zealands, Californians, Large Breed Mixes, as well – they are often overlooked at shelters and rescues because people want a specific breed and they make great pets and great first rabbits.

Bowl vs bottle may depend on the bun, especially if you are adopting and what they were used to at the shelter. I use both by putting a bowl under the bottle. One bun prefers the bottle while the other one prefers the bowl. In terms of cleanliness, I like the bottle better but it tends to drip based on how my buns drink; I often find hay and poo in the water bowl even though it’s no where close to either their hay box nor their litter boxes. I have used the bottle solo and have never had any problems with my buns getting water from it. It does take a some time to figure out the best tilt. As a bonus, you can start hearing the ball hitting the sides when it gets low, well before it’s empty, to know when to refill. If going on a short vacation, I’m more comfortable with having a large bottle than a bowl.

Since you are open to adoption, I urge you to just go to the shelters and spend time with different buns. You may actually find yourself falling for a different kind of bun based on their personality rather than breed.

I also give both a water bottle and water bowl. Both buns drink out of both, but they have different preferences. The bowl has to be dumped and refilled twice a day because it gets “furry”. I like knowing I have a bottle backup.