Hi! That is awesome that you rescued her . She is so cute! I’m not familiar with breeds, but for healthy weight gain definitely try alfalfa hay. I buy recycled paper bedding for Luna, but if dust is a concern, wood stove pellets without chemicals are a good choice (just make sure she doesn’t try to eat them like my bun did).

You can try giving her some fresh grass and see if she likes it. My bunnies love it.

She is adorable! You could also try sticking a small litter box in one side of the cage with wood stove pellets, like Luna suggested, and then put fleece or cotton blankets in the rest of the cage. If she starts to chew on them, you’ll have to take them out, but if not, it would reduce the amount of dustiness in the cage. Alfalfa hay is a great idea, and you can also mix in alfalfa pellets with the timothy. It might encourage her to try the pellets. She might have some dwarf in her, since she is small, but her ears are a little large for a dwarf rabbit. She might be young. How are her toenails? Often, young rabbits have very thin, sharp nails. They get a little more dull as the rabbit grows.

She looks 7wo, +/- a week potentially. Definitely a dwarf. She doesn’t look full-fledge Netherland Dwarf (like Wick), as her eyes are not as large and her head doesn’t look as squished, so potentially she could be a lop? If he ears fall, then you’ll know, haha.

For diet, since she’s obviously young, I’d hang back on the veggies a bit, as young rabbit digestive tracts aren’t fully equipped to handle veggies too well yet, and you want to instill good dietary habits. Her diet should be majority pellets, with unlimited hay (alfalfa hay; more dense in nutrients which is needed for a young rabbit). The pellets should be alfalfa as well, not timothy. Oxbow sells “Young” rabbit pellets. Oxbow generally is the best brand for everything. Following the instructions and information on the back is highly advised. Now all the alfalfa may cause excess calcium to exit through urine (cloudy/powdery pee)— the occasional is fine, but if it becomes frequent, switch the alfalfa hay to timothy, or alfalfa pellets to timothy. Some rabbits are better than others at getting out excess calcium, and if there’s too much, it literally forms a spherical calcium ball in their GI tract, blocking everything. When she gets older (mark your calendar for her being 6mo, assuming she’s about 7wo for now), you can transition her to limited timothy pellets (only about 1/8 cup if she’s less than 2lbs, which I predict she will be) and unlimited timothy/oat/orchard hay (can be one, two, or mixed. Depends on your purchasing desires and her taste). An adult rabbit (aka 6mo or older) diet should be 70-80% hay. This is because rabbits have very sensitive digestive systems, so we need to encourage a mainly-hay diet so the hay fibers and clean their gut accordingly. Whenever anyone posts anything about their rabbit being sick, everyone flocks to ask how much hay they’re eating. At 2-3mo, (aka now-ish) you can do vegetables, but in small quantities. For most rabbits, hay is the least preferable food item when pegged with pellets, veggies, and treats (anything with sugar, like fruits, carrots, etc.). This is problematic, so as owners, we need to do our best to encourage hay diet in the adult years by being a bit routine in our feeding schedule (Rabbit knows he/she only gets fed veggies in the morning, so he/she should eat hay during the day/night when he/she is hungry, rather than begging for veggies). At your rabbit’s current age, pellets should take up a good portion since they’re nutrient dense, but if you see poos that are really small, mal-formed, not solid/dry/formed, cut down on pellets and encourage more alfalfa hay. Typically, rabbits like hay fresh out of the bag more than hay that’s been sitting out, so rotate through hay, mix old hay with new hay, etc.. to try and encourage eating.

In terms of her leg (admittedly skimmed those parts as I’m not personally experienced with it), I’d say if she ends up not being able to use it, her maneuverability should still be all right. As she gets older, weight distribution will be important on 3 paws, so monitor her nail-length to make sure they’re in tip-top shape to handle the weight shifting. You’ll want to observe how she does jumping, climbing, etc., to see if you need to default with just ramps for her (running up to higher levels) or if she can do steps (jumping up to higher levels). Defaulting to ramps only isn’t a bad idea, nor does it mean your rabbit isn’t a rabbit.

You don’t actually need bedding, but you don’t want a wire-cage floor. Some people purchase or knab flooring samples from stores and use those. If you get a smooth floor, you’ll want to add some timothy mats or something so she can get a grip. Other options can be cloroplast. Pretty much any flooring is fine outside wire mesh. The cozier, the better for her, but the more likely she’ll pee there. It’s a balance thing.

… Rabbits learn routine very quickly, so the food expectancy is not surprising.

Is your vet rabbit-experienced? That. is. vital. for having a pet rabbit.

— And as for snuffles, chest wheezing is worrisome. If her nasal discharge ever becomes colored (not clear), see the vet to get antibiotics, as it means it’s a URI (upper respiratory infection). The earlier treatment is started, the better. If you find the Baytril is not helping her symptoms, let your vet know so he/she can try a different antibiotic.

Oh, keep with the water bowl (if that’s a water bowl in the picture), not a water bottle. Rabbits need to work harder to get water out of a bottle, so a rabbit with a bottle will naturally drink less than a rabbit with a bowl. Bowls may tip, so get a heavy bowl, or one angled so it can’t be thrown. Best to do two bowls, jsut in case one gets emptied or soiled. You can add a few drops of apple cider vinegar with the mother in the water to nullify urine smell and potentially help GI health generally. The mother in apple cider vinegar has great natural bacteria for rabbit stomach tracts.

I’m glad the vet you found worked out! Please keep us updated with how the second splint attempt goes . I agree with Wick about the bowl, but a water bottle in addition to the bowl can come in handy just in case Rose manages to somehow tip over her bowl or gets bedding or soiling in it. The water bottle will give her a second water source just in case . And if you can, try to find a heavy ceramic bowl as opposed to glass. While the glass bowl is unlikely to break, accidents do happen, and the thought of broken glass is scary!

Thank you for rescuing her! She does look very young, so she needs the nutrition from pellets, especially since she is thin. If she isn’t eating pellets, you may need to get some Oxbow Critical Care. It’s normally fed to rabbits in a syringe, but a lot of rabbits don’t like to be force fed. You can try mixing up some and putting it in a dish. You can mix a little plain canned pumpkin or baby food with it to make it more enticing and she may eat it on her own. If you don’t have Critical Care (some vets carry it or you can get it online) you can crush some pellets and mix them with water, but the Critical Care is easier and has more nutrition.

Yay! She’s so lucky you found her and are giving her the care/love she needs .

I’m very sorry about the loss of Rose. It is so good that you rescued her so that she would know love and receive the best care possible after all that she had gone through.