Daily Routine

[EmersonsTale]

Hello! This is my first post on this website, and I just wanted see if there is anything I am currently doing that can be harmful for my rabbit. My rabbit is female (WE THINK, we had different vets give us different results) and she is about 7 months and weighs 8 lbs now. She has not been spayed and she is pretty much litter trained, she has little accidents now and then. Since I’m at college, I have her in her cage pretty often, but its big enough for her to lay down comfortably and have her litter, hay, food, and water available. I try to have her run around the kitchen since it’s tile because she is known to have her territorial marks all over my carpeted living room/bedroom. Here’s a small list of things I have started to do, please let me know if anything I’m doing is bad!

1. She usually runs around the kitchen about 2 hours on a bad day, Maybe 10 hours on a really good day. We can’t have her running around free all the time or I will be breaking my lease. 
2. I give her 2-3 stalks of Kale a day, once in the morning before class, and one before night.
3. I always leave a light on for her (it’s not bright, but I don’t want to leave her in the dark).
4. She gets a treat when I put her away (I change it up between little corn pellets, pretzel treats, yogurt drops for her tummy)
5. I have started to clap when she is behaving inappropriately. ie, trying to go behind the fridge.
6. I let her chew a little bit on the cardboard that I have in my recycling bin to keep her entertained.
7. I pet her on her head, stroking from her nose to her ears. (She doesn’t seem to mind it and “grooms” me afterward)
8. I use clay pellets for the litter and haven’t seen her eat it, which is a good since she always gnawed at the previous one.

And lastly, I have a quick question regarding her eating behavior. When I first got her, I always put hay in her litter box because it was convenient. My significant other noticed that she would always go to the bathroom on the hay and she would still eat. We decide to buy a holder for the hay and keep it nearby so our rabbit can lean over and eat the hay while in the litter box.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and offering your advice. This is my first pet ever and I really want to make sure that I’m taking care of her properly!!   

[Deleted User]

Everything sounds great! You seem to really love and want what’s best for your bun, and that’s awesome. One thing I will say, pretzels, corn, and yogurt drops (even if “rabbit approved”) are not good for a bunny. Even if they’re just once a day, they are not ideal treats because they tend to be high in sugar and more processed and bad for a bun’s sensitive tummy. Instead of those you could feed her a little piece of carrot or fruit. If you want an actual treat, Oxbow is the way to go, and I think most people on this forum would agree. They have a bunch of healthy bunny treats in lots of flavors. My boys are addicted to the cranberry flavored ones and the banana apple flavored ones.
Also, if she is female, you will need to have her spayed for health reasons. There’s a very good chance that unspayed females will develop reproductive cancer by the time they are 3 years old. If she turns out to be a boy, then there’s no imminent reason to have him neutered unless you plan on bonding with another bun in the future.
Hope this helps

[sarahthegemini]

Corn pellets, pretzels and yoghurt drops are not suitable for rabbits – despite being marketed as such. Fresh veggies and herbs would be a great treat or little pieces of fruit!

[EmersonsTale]

Thank you so much for the feedback! I will start a slow transition from the unhealthy treats to fruit ASAP! Luckily she’s almost out of her bad treats

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