Care guide for the rabbit’s bun sitters. *rough draft*

[NewBunnyOwner123]

 Care Guide for Harley and Sally

Treats:

 Craisins– Harley likes them; Sally not so much,  only ONE craison a day.

Oxbow Digestive Support– they both really enjoy these cookies; offer them each only ONE a day

Oxbow Simple Rewards Banana chips: Salle loves them; Harley not so much, only ONE a day

Reason: Buns can’t have too much sugar so it’s rather important you follow this guide  

If you notice they don’t eat the treat, please tell me. 

FEEDING:

 

Oxbow Adult Pellets: Sally and Harley are on limited pellets. I give them ONE (shared) handful into their bowl in the morning. And then ONE (shared) handful in the evening before bed. 

Side Note: They go crazy for their pellets so if you see them not interested in them, please tell me. 

Oxbow Timothy Hay: This one is easy. They get UNLIMITED Timothy Hay. If you notice  the pile  is getting low, feel free to give them a nice big handful and place it into their litterbox.

Veggies:   only give them these types as I haven’t introduced anything else:

Romaine lettuce, Green leaf lettuce, chicory, kale, cilantro, parsley, Red leaf lettuce, radichio.  NO ICEBURG!, it’s dangerous for them; so make sure you stick to this very particular veggie list, please. 

Water: It’s pretty basic, just make sure they have clean water in their crocks at all times. They drink more than you think! Also, if there is hay in the water or it’s dirty they tend to not drink so make sure you check regularly to make sure it’s clean. They can be quite picky sometimes!

 

Getting to know the buns:

Harley:  He is much more easy going than Sally. He has much more energy than her and tends to enjoy getting lots of human interaction! He tolerates being held and carried if you do happen to need to pick him up. He is the outgoing one and isn’t really afraid of anything so if you do happen to let them out, watch where you step; he won’t get out of the way. 

Side note: If you need to pick Harley up pick him up quickly and hold him against your chest.   But it’s best to not pick him up unless absolutely necessary. 

Sally: Sally is the brown and white lop. She is friendly and isn’t skittish, but only enjoys pets on her own accord. Try rubbing her ears… she LOVES it. She is far from being a lap rabbit. Do NOT pick up Sally! She will scratch the s**t out of you. If you need to get her from one place to the other it’s best to just coax her with your hands pushing her in the right direction. Sally isn’t afraid of feet so please watch your step if you have them out. They sometimes have a tendancy to get right in your way.

Pointers: 

If you notice one of the buns haven’t eaten or pooped within 12 hours please call me immediately. 24 hours and it’s an emergency. 

 

When you need to get them into their cage for the night, shake the bag. They will come running to get their nightly meal and then just lock the cage behind them. It’s much easier than having to chase them down and catch them. 

The buns LOVE their treats, if you notice they do not take their treat, something is wrong. Call me. 

 

*the end*

 

 

And of course I have the contact information on a different page. This one is about the feeding guide and what not. It looks better in the original format and easy to read. But I just copied and paste so the format is a little messed up  

Any pointers or things I should add please share! 

[Deleted User]

Looks really good! =] I would just suggest that instead of saying a handful, I would provide a measuring cup for the exact measurements of the pellets. Everyone has a different handful size. =]

[NewBunnyOwner123]

We have the exact same sized hands! I went over to her new apartment the other day to scope things out. She is a friend of mine But I guess I will throw a handful of pellets into a measuring cup and see what it measures out

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Looks good!! I also say i.e. ‘when you come, offer a treat, if they refuse the treat, observe for signs of eating-i.e. offer fresh hay and veggies. IF they don’t eat it, they need to go to the vet’ and then put my regular and emergency vet contact info immediately after that line.

I also make another end page with just contact info at the very end; my contact info, my families contact info and both vets (Reg and E) repeated again. lol I leave about four pages of notes I figure they want just a quick page to find contact info

[NewBunnyOwner123]

I’m just afraid that if I make it too long it will be a difficult read. I tried keeping the care guide 1 page and then the contact list and numbers on a separate page.
But good pointer that if they don’t take the treat to observe for other signs that they are eating. I will have to put that in

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

That’s a good point!! I fear my four pager makes heavy reading

[Beka27]

Looks thorough! What is the situation, are they staying at your friend’s apartment?

I prefer to make things absolutely fool-proof. When we’ve gone out of town, I have pre-washed and wrapped the veggie ration on paper towels, one bunch for each day. I have pre-measured pellets into a ziploc baggie, one baggie for each feeding. I have pre-filled a clean litterbox so the old one just had to be taken out.

In my experience, if you give to many things to do, something is going to get missed, so I’m a big fan of simplifying everything.

You should be measuring pellets with a measuring cup. This way you know for certain what they’re getting each day.

[NewBunnyOwner123]

The situation is that they will be watching them May 26-29 (4 days) so that round I can pre measure stuff for them and get their veggies squared away for each day and they won’t have to go buy more.

But then they will be watching them July 2nd- and I go pick them up late on the 23rd. So I will leave them extra money for veggies. I was going to go take her with me on the 1st to where I get the veggies and do some shopping so she can get an idea of where we go, and what we get and average cost.

I was hoping this 4 day baby sit will be a great trial run for her. During their 4 day stay I told her it be best to just get the grove of care taking and not let them out and when she watches them for the 3 weeks she will already better understand care taking and can then have them out to play. I was going to come over before leaving them in July and help set up an exercise area. They have a completely empty spare bedroom and was thinking that was where they can play Or the hallway but I told her the livingroom should not be accessible because they have too many things out and lots of boxes scattered because they are still in the process of unpacking. * not to mention, her husband isn’t the best at making sure his handy electronics are put away and that could leave a VERY unhappy husband if a bun decided to chew on his cords*

 

Edit to add: They will be staying at HER apartment. They aleady got to go ahead from the land lady  

[MoveDiagonally]

NBO123 – I was going to suggest you take her shopping and have her watch you do the prep before the shorter sitting but I see you’re doing that already. Has she watched them before? Maybe you could have her come over a day early and “nanny” the bunnies while you’re there so she can get a feel for it and can ask whatever questions before you leave? (have her practice picking them up just in case, etc)

It all looks really great! All this info will be really helpful when I have to leave my rabbits for a longer amounts of time…. Maybe I can go on a vacation this year without fretting too much. >.>

[mocha200]

Looks good! I always try to measure out every thing before I leave too as I have had a mistake of not doing anything and I think they got overwhelmed.

[Baxter n Boos Mom]

Nice list. As Beka said – for the 4 day period, I would also pre-measure grains/veggies and treats into zip lock bags for each day. That way – there is no confusion. But the shopping trip/prep time together for the longer stay is a great way to help her feel comfortable with the routine. You have a nice friend!

We board our buns at the vet, with pre-measured grains/veggies/treats and instructions….and they still sometimes get it wrong…like not giving the boys their blanket 🙁 But at least at the vet, I know I’m leaving the boys in good hands. In fact – the nurses miss our boys, and get excited when we bring them in.

[NewBunnyOwner123]

Thank you guys so much for the great tips on measuring out their portions for this 4 day stay! I have the baggies packed and ready to go! We are dropping them off this evening and then leaving to go out of town Sunday morning! I hope everything goes smoothly.

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