Am I ready for a bunny?

[Basil]

Hi guys!

This is my first post because I honestly I just need some advice! I am a nanny and the people I work for ended up getting FOUR bunnies for Easter – the mom and three babies. They all had fleas so I took one of them home overnight to take it to a vet and see what we could do (I couldn’t manage all four), and realized that the one I ended up with had an injured tail so I decided to keep it until the tail healed. Well, the other bunnies aren’t necessarily in the best conditions (a tiny hutch outdoors in the heat) and I didn’t have the heart to ever take this one back home. It is currently in a large dog crate in my bedroom, setup with a hide, towel on the floor, litterbox with paper litter and hay, and some toys. I change the towel every day because sometimes the bun pees on it, and change the litterbox completely every day as well. The bunny is on a diet of hay, pellets, and leafy greens with a salt lick and a dish of water. She gets let out in my room for a few hours a day with my dog and my cat and all get along (they are always supervised ofc). Anyway, I’m about to start law school and move into an apartment, and I am just super unsure as to whether I’ll have the time to give this rabbit what it deserves. I was planning on keeping her in an x pen in my bedroom with supervised free roaming a few hours a day. Is this enough? And how much time do people normally spend on maintenance per day? It takes me about 15 mins to clean the cage and I wash the towels every day. The rabbit is currently more work than my cat and less work than my dog. I’m not sure what other alternatives I have but I would
Just feel guilty having a pet that wasn’t getting the care it deserved, and I’ve never owned a rabbit before. Also, does it for sure need to be fixed? And when she’s out the rabbit poops on my floor in one corner even though I put an extra litterbox there, but she’ll go back to the cage to pee, does anyone know why and how to fix it? It’s a young rabbit, maybe 2-3 months old and probably 3 pounds. Very friendly but slightly
bossy to the cat and dog (I don’t mind though because she’s the smallest) TIA for any input!

[tobyluv]

It’s good that you got the bunny out of a bad situation and into your house. If these bunnies are 3 months old, the people who you work for need to separate them now, otherwise they are going to be faced with multiple litters. Some people don’t realize that rabbits can start reproducing as early as 3 months of age. Also, when rabbits reach that age and their hormones come in, the will likely start fighting and can inflict severe injury on each other. It doesn’t mater if they are siblings. I don’t know if that family would be receptive to your advice, but they need to know some facts about rabbits and they also need to know basic care.  For rabbits to be able to live together, they have to be spayed and neutered and go through a bonding process after their surgeries.

Keeping a rabbit in an x-pen with a few hours of out of pen time each day sounds like a pretty good set up. It sounds like she would have the room to herself, so that the dog and cat couldn’t be around her unless you are home. That is the way that a lot of rabbits are kept. Since your rabbit is so young, go slowly with feeding her greens. There is a lot of good information on all the basics of rabbit care on this site. Click on BUNNY INFO at the top of the page. You mentioned having a salt lick. Rabbits don’t need those.

Are you sure this rabbit is a female? It can be hard to tell. Even vets have been known to mis-identify young rabbits. If it’s a female, she should be spayed to prevent uterine cancer, which unspayed rabbits have a very big chance of getting. It will also help with litter box habits, and hopefully make it so that you aren’t washing towels that have been peed on any more. If it’s a male, it’s not essential that he be neutered, but unneutered males can spray and may start humping anything in sight, plus they can be very frustrated.  If you ever thought that you would get another rabbit as a companion for this one, your rabbit would have to be spayed or neutered as well as the other rabbit.

[Basil]

Thank you so much! 

I am not sure what the gender is – I didn’t even think to ask the vet to check when I was getting the flea meds. When can they be accurately sexed? 

I will try to get my work to separate the bunnies/rehome them. It is difficult to get them to do anything, but I will work on it. PS I am also in SC!

[Sirius&Luna]

It sounds like she’s in a far better situation with you than where she was! As Toby said, do try and get the other bunnies separated, and in larger hutches.

Just as another side note, her diet sounds great, but bunnies don’t need salt licks Is she eating lots of hay? That’s the most important thing for a healthy bunny.

Since this is your first bunny, it’s probably worth reading the BUNNY INFO section of this site, which has tons of great information. You could even print some off for the family you nanny for.

[Author]

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