Hello!

[skibunny8503]

Hi, I’m new here and just wanted to introduce myself.  I’m Meg from Northeaset Ohio.  I found this site while combing through the web looking up stuff about bring home a new bunny.  I’m somewhat experienced in owning a bunny.  I have a 12 year old dwarf-mixed rabbit.  He looks exactly like Rucy.  His name is Mickey and he has a touch of brown in his face…you know how people get gray when they get older, my bunny got brown haha!  For as old as he is, he still has some spirit left in him.  I recently had to take him to the vet for them to look at his eye and what I thought it was, was true.  He has a cataract in his left eye and the dr. said he has an immature cataract in his right eye.  I gave him some drops for 10 days, like the dr. said and I guess it helped a little, I can’t really tell.  He’s to old for surgery and I’m too broke to spend that much, but rabbits mostly rely on their sense of smell, touch and hearing and he hasn’t had any trouble getting around.  I bought him back in 1996 (wow!) at a Petland store in the mall (that’s no longer there).  I never neutured him (is that bad?  Do you have to get that done or just if they spray?) and we never had any trouble with him spraying. 

I recently got married and moved into a home about 15 minutes from my parents house.  I left Mickey there because of his age, he’s kind of a family pet, and I’m afraid to change his environment since he’s been with my parents for so long.  Now I was about 11 years old when we bought him (I’m 23 now) and so I didn’t know a lot about taking care of bunnies and what I’ve read last night I probably should have done some things different.  Like his cage…he has a two story cage that is all wire, we put hay and a board on the bottom with his litter box (which we’ve been buying pine litter forever…that’s what they’ve always sold in the store, but I guess you’re not suppose to use that?) and my dad added a second story and built a small box for him to hide in.  He mostly spends his time in there these days.  He loves raisins and we’ve probably given him too many…spoiled bunny!  (one person would go down and give him one and later on someone else without knowing he had one already)  We also just take him out of his cage to run around but he usually stays there unless he’s taken out to play.  But with his age, he likes being in the cage because when i take him out now he just sits there.  Poor guy. 

Now X-mas is coming up and I’ve been looking into buying a rabbit for us.  I want to get two but I don’t know if my husband would like that…
 I feel kind of bad because I feel like I’m cheating on Mickey.  We still have a lot of cleaning up to do in our house and I am going to clean, clean clean this week if we do get one.  I was planning on surprising my husband for X-mas with it but I’d have to leave it at my parents house…but then I was reading up on the first few weeks of owning a bunny and maybe I should just surprise him early and introduce the little guy to our house first and not confuse him…what do you think?  Part of me says wait until we’re all settled in and everything but I’m home alone (I’m a “housewife”) and it gets rather lonely here sometimes and looking at all of your bunny pictures just made me want one more

I’m not sure where else to buy a bunny at.  There’s a Petland about a 1/2 hour away from me, there’s another pet store that’s 45 minutes (but they only have a few), a Pet Supply Plus is not to far but I don’t know about buying it there since they specialize in mainly supplies…and fish.  That’s pretty much it.  As for rescue places…Angels for Animals is by me but I’m almost positive they have all dogs and cats there.  We also have our local fair that sells rabbits but that’s not until next August and I’m alittle iffy on that since they’re older and are probably used to a certain diet. 

If you have any ideas let me know.  Looking forward to being on here!

[Sarita]

Welcome! I bet you do miss Mickey – bunnies are so addictive.

Where are you located (in northeast Ohio – I just saw that)? Perhaps we can investigate to see if there’s any local rabbit rescues near you.

[skibunny8503]

Thanks!  Yeah, I try to get over my parents and see him as often as I can.  He’s actually been very affectionate; recently I was holding him and rubbing his check by his bad eye and he started licking my hand like crazy; he’s never done that before!  It was so cute!  He gives me this “Don’t go!” look when I leave…

I live in Champion….it’s in Trumbull County.

[Sarita]

http://www.petfinder.com/search/search.cgi

I hope this link from Petfinders works…are any of these places that have rabbits near you?

[skibunny8503]

All I know is Petland (which is where I got Mickey from but from another location) and Pet Supplies Plus but that store main speciallizes in supplies.  I’m looking at the site right now…nothing so far that is right by me but New Castle might be close by.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Welcome!! I had to leave our family dog behind when I moved out and it’s heartbreaking! But you aren’t really cheating on him-specially if your family loves him too.
If he’s going blind it’s probably very beneficial to stay in the environment he knew when he could see. I have a blind and deaf rabbit and he gets around well and seems quite happy. I wouldn’t recommend neutering your boy now, he may not do well with the drugs and being away from home (he’s twelve right?) and he’s lived a long happy life already so I don’t see any benefit from doing it now

Your best bet is to find a rabbit rescue-that way if you want two you can get a pair that are already bonded-a bigger PLUS you don’t have to spay neuter usually (it’s pretty expensive and it’s always nerve racking waiting for them to come out of surgery). I’ve had a pet store bunny, one breeder bunny and two shelter rabbits and I’d definitely recommend a shelter bunny!!

My US geography skills are sorely lacking but from what you’ve said are any of these shelters near you?

http://www.homelesspets.org/

Here’s a list of Ohio shelters (just scroll down) There’s actually two pages of shelters in Ohio on this link

http://shelters.theanimalnet.com/Ohiopets.htm

[kralspace]

Welcome! Mickey sounds like a wonderful bunny, I know you do miss him.

I would vote for bringing your new bunny directly to your home. I know from having 6 that each new addition caused an uproar, even when they couldn’t be seen, the other bunnies knew they were there. It might upset Mickey to detect a newcomer and at his age he’s earned the right to be KING.

look forward to hearing more from you. Kathy

[skibunny8503]

haha, oh no, I wasn’t talking about neutering Mickey..I was just saying in general, do you really need to neuter rabbits? Money’s a little tight right now with fixing up our home…hopefully we’re almost done with in the inside at least! I saw this adorable french lop bunny kind of near me but in the description they wanted you to neuter him or they would take him back.

Angels for Animals is the only shelter I knew of before you gave me that list, but I looked on their site and they only have dogs and cats….plus I’m not to crazy about them (I had a interview there and they weren’t to friendly)

Animal welfare league of trumbull county is another shelter but only has one bunny and he’s an adult. I really want to get a baby or young rabbit.

Do you recommend keeping a bunny in a basement or upstairs? Our house is rather small but the basement is big. Mickey is in our basement and we have a light set up on a timer so it’s not dark down there.

[skibunny8503]

Thanks Kathy!  I didn’t even think about if I had kept Mickey here and introducing him to a new bunny.

[Sarita]

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/spay-neuter.html

Here’s a link from the House Rabbit Society on spaying and neutering your rabbit – I advocate doing this.  A rabbit rescue will already have altered rabbits.  I applaud that person for ensuring that the rabbit they adopt out gets altered too!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Oh yes it’s very important to spay/neuter any rabbit even if you aren’t breeding them There are cases like Mickey where they get on fine, but it’s devastating if they don’t;

That’s a bonus to adopting from a shelter, as they generally come spay/neutered and you don’t have to pay for it

[Beka27]

welcome here! i am in Northeast Ohio too!!! North Olmsted (about 20 minutes west of Cleveland). i absolutely recommend that you look into adopting. if you adopt they will already be spayed/neutered. especially if you’re thinking about getting two, it is necessary that they both be fixed. male/male and female/female pairs WILL FIGHT if not altered. male/female pairs will obviously make babies (AND THEN FIGHT) if not altered…

i adopted my second bunny from a rescue in Youngstown, i highly recommend her. my first was from a petstore adoption program. we just found out that Petco will now be having rescues go into the petstore and adopt out buns, so maybe call your local Petco and see if they have that yet?

New Castle is in PA right? i think there is a gorgeous Red-eyed white bun there named Jack that i am dying for… but cannot have… ;o(

[skibunny8503]

Beka, what is the rescue place in Youngstown? Do they have a website?
I think for now we’ll just get one, unless I convince my husband to buy another one haha! I’ve looked all over online but I haven’t found anything close by that we like. Closest we found was an adult rabbit. We really wanted to get one before X-mas though. We went to Pet Supply Plus to price out cages. We saw a wire cage that was pretty big and a plastic cage that the bottom was like a big tub. They didn’t have any rabbits there though.
There was a bunny that I absolutely would love but it’s in the cincinatti area. :o/ We have friends in that area but don’t most adoption agencies want to met you and have all kinds of paper work?

[Beka27]

here is the rescue i went thru. http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/OH621.html she only had 3 up for adoption right now. the Cleveland APL has a bunch, as do some other smaller rescues. definitely search petfinder by your area code!

i absolutely recommend that you adopt an adult rabbit! babies are cute, but they are messy, destructive and aggressive before they’re spay/neutered. adults are altered already, their personality is established so “what you see is what you get”, and you have added bonus of saving a life! rather than doing a cage which will likely be too small and too expensive, you might want to look into a dog exercise pen instead. this way you can use it for the whole life of the rabbit.

[skibunny8503]

Thanks for the site!  I looked at it but the one I liked; lopped ear, said it wouldn’t get along with other bunnies.  I’d love a floppy ear bunny, I think they’re so cute. 

I thought that was the fun part of having a young rabbit   I do remember those days of trying to get my bunny from under the couch and him trying to nip at me…fun times!

I did finally find a bunny named Archie in Geuga which isn’t too far from us.  http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=12396204

I emailed them about what all goes into adopting, how old he is (I just don’t want to get a really older rabbit).  It said he was “altered”, house trained, and is up to date with routine shots.  Another question…what routine shots do they get? 

Hopefully they’ll email me back soon and I’ll have good news   As for the cage…what about this?  http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751767  But then I’d HAVE to put it in the basement because we wouldn’t have enough room. 

[bunnytowne]

Well with an adult rabbit you know what kind of personality you are getting. And the bun is probably already litterbox trained.  You can go see if  you want a curious rabbit or an affectionate rabbit. Go see and check them out.

Also as you know an adult rabbit can live a long time so you would still have many years left with the adult bunny.

Baby bunnies you may have forgotten may chew a lot and when adolescents come become a totally different bunny. And may turn out not to have the personality you were hoping for.

However if you really want a young bunny go for it.  These are just things to think about.

Spay/neuter is very important.  The females have 80 % chance of cancer in reproductive organs by age 3. The males all they think about is well breeding. They will probably spray and run around your feet honking and biting.  That is breeding behavior. Though not all rabbits will behave that way the majority will.

The spay/neuter can be expensive from 100-300 per rabbit. I got l lucky and found a place for 40.00 then they raised it to 100.00   The other vets here go from 200-250.  The more expensive ones do blood test b4 surgery the least expensive place I went to didn’t do that. I just didnt’ have 200 at the time so I went with the 100.00 vet. She did have experience with buns too. Made sure of that.

There are some humane societys that may spay/neuter for 20.00 I know of one an hour or so away from here. Yu could also check that out.in your area .Or as previously posted you can find them at the shelter too some already neutered/spayed.

Also when they come into their hormones they may no longer get along and fight.  Then would have to be kept seperately.

The lop you like go ahead and go see.  HE may be just what you are looking for. Even though he doesn’t get along with other bunnies he may be enuf bunny for you.  As far as personality wise if he has the personality you like.

Also the bunny kind of chooses you. So be open to what  you find.

I like certain colors but I dont’ have a bun in my fav colors. But they have the personality I like. So thats what I went with. I am satisfied with them. They are delightful.

Please don’t take my post the wrong way.  If I sound harsh believe me that is not what my voice would sound like if I were talking to you in person. I am just offering suggestions from the experiences I have had and the other people here have had.

The choice in the end is up to you.  And I am sure you will make the right one for you.  I am happy you found us here and we welcome any questions  and would love to see pics too of your new bun or buns

[bunnytowne]

by the way I did not see the cage you were referring to.  Can you right click on it check copy  then come here right click and paste?

If it is too big you can try an xpen?  ?   That will also keep bun away from chewing your wires. Buns like to be part of the family so being in the room where the family spends the most time would be ideal for bun.

[skibunny8503]

Oh no, I didn’t take it the wrong way.  I understand completely and I think adopting is probably the best way so you don’t spend so much money spraying or neuturing them.  And sometimes when I want something I get a little to specific    We would probably be better off with an adult rabbit anyways.  I know I don’t want any really long haired bunnies.  I’m sure the right rabbit will come to us

Here’s the pen http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751767  I thought it was kind of nice because you could put the litter box in a cage but connect the pen so he can run a little. 

And here’s the rabbit we emailed about http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi

[Beka27]

oh my gosh! you better get Archie or i might have to drive over there myself… lol! he’s so cute! good luck, hopefully you can meet him!

rabbits don’t require any shots in the US, so i wonder if that’s just their way of saying he has been vet-checked? that would be something to ask when you hear from them…

[BinkyBunny]

Welcome! I understand that if your other bunny is already attached to other family members and vice versa, (as you said he was more of a family pet) and has been living with your folks his whole life that him staying with the other family members that love him too may be best. Especially now with him being older – 12 years, it may be better for him and his immune system to be stress free and stay where he is most comfortable. (unless of course, he gets less attention there).

I do understand that cute factor of getting a baby/young bunny. So cute, but I know, personally, I most likely will not go that route again. So much work and they very quickly grow into adulthood – so the baby squeal cuteness doesn’t last too long. Now of course, that’s my own preference. Whatever you decide we’ll love to hear updates and help out.

Archie is so adorable!!

Also, maybe if you can’t decide yet before christmas, you can get all the goodies knowing that for sure you will be getting a bunny, but you will be just taking your time to find the right one for you and your husband. Get the pen, dishes, boxes, toys, etc. All in preparation for the special bunny you finally choose. That way you can still have the fun of getting a bunny, but not feel rushed to get a bunny on a deadline.

I know one guy came into the shelter I volunteered for and it was to follow up on the gift he wanted to get his girlfriend. He knew she wanted a bunny, so he bought all the goodies that she could unwrap, and then had an envelope which had photos of bunnies and appointment times to check them out. When they arrived at the shelter, there were several bunnies that she had the photos of, but she ended up falling in love with a different one. It was something fun that they did together too. So that is just another idea.

Keep us updated.

[Beka27]

that’s such an awesome idea BB! much easier to wrap pet supplies than a bunny! and then like you said, she got to choose her bun herself! i’ll have to keep that in mind (for what, i don’t know… lol.)

[skibunny8503]

that’s a great idea BB! I think I’ll take your advice and go buy a pen and everything for X-mas 😀 I found another one that’s right down the street from my parents named Honey Bunny, he’s a lop but he looks rather big. I liked archie because he was a dwarf lop and he won’t get that big. I might go check him out though.
Still waiting for an email from up there. I’ll update if I hear anything!

[Beka27]

i saw Honey Bunny on petfinder! that’s a cute bun too! most any kind of bun you can possibly want can be found at a rescue. my husband wanted a lop, and i fell in love with Max (my second bun) and we ended up driving 3 hours roundtrip to Youngstown to go get him! it was worth it tho!

[skibunny8503]

We’re going to go to the pet store tomorrow and buy supplies! My husband wants to go up by Cleveland on Monday to look at Archie and hopefully adopt him! So we kind of need everything if we do get him. Does the adoption process take long? Do you get the pet that day?
Any suggestions on supplies I need to buy? Cage, pen… bowl or water bottle? What kind of bedding should we get? I know pine isn’t recommended, I saw something the other day that looked like little puff things (have no clue, didn’t look at it that well).

[Addy]

It depends on the shelter when it comes to adopting. Some shelters make you come in, meet the animal, fill out the application and then wait a day or so. I drove like…a 6 hour round trip for Bella, so, no way did I do a rescue that required that. So yeah, definitely ask.

I have water bowls and water bottles for my buns, Bella likes to dunk her face into everything, and Addy likes the water bottles. Rabbit preference, I suppose. Pretty sure most shelter/rescue rabbits use the bottle. If you buy a food bowl, though, you can put water in it when it’s empty and see how your rabbit likes that.

For bedding, usually a paper-type is good, (Has anyone else heard of Cell-Sorb? I used to live by the stuff, haha) but I recently just bought a bag of wood stove pellets, which at $4.38 per 40lb bag–I’m in love.

[hophophop]

good luck with the adoption, skibunny. we’re sending you binkies from new york!

[Beka27]

i use cell-sorb. 40lb bags are 25 bucks and it lasts about a month with two litterboxes. cell-sorb is a pressed recycled paper pellet. for a litterbox, i’d recommend a medium size cat litterbox. they are cheaper than the critter boxes and a bit bigger so you can put their hay in there. you will need heavy bowls for food and water (or a water bottle). i recommend a pen instead of a cage, you can get a scrap piece of linoleum for flooring. you’ll need timothy hay and timothy-based pellets. some petstores (like petsmart) are now carrying Oxbow products. that’s a great food and it’s what many of us use. for an adult rabbit, you would want to purchase the bunny basics T. if you can’t find that, you can check out the diet section for the nutritional requirements.

i wouldn’t spend any money on petstore toys, treats, vitamin supplements, salt/mineral licks, or hidey boxes. vitamin supplements and licks are not necessary. you can make a hidey box out of cardboard, treats should be very limited anyways and the petstore ones are unhealthy, and the best toys that will get the most use can be purchased online.

[skibunny8503]

Thanks so much! I’m going shopping in the morning and when my husband comes home we’re going up to fill out all the paper work! I hope they accept our application. I called up and asked if he was still there and they said yes and they also said that if we’re accepted we’ll get him that day.
When I get the pen, can I also use extra carpet instead of linolium? We have a bunch of extra carpet we just brought in. But I can always drive over to home depot and buy a little piece.

[skunklionshow]

How exciting!!!!  BB:  I love that idea about the adoption process, that’s absolutely briliant.

The pen is the way to go, especially since your doing remodeling.  Cages are NO good!  I think most of us prefer xpens and NIC cages.  I think its great that Mickey has become a happy hoppy senior citizen, that’s very encouraging.  Binkies to Mickey and your new bun!

[dlscanne]

I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this yet (I tried to skim everything!), but you should check out this site for cages

http://www.guineapigcages.com/index.htm

Its mostly about guinea pigs, but they have a whole other section about rabbits too.  The cages are a FRACTION of the price of pet store cages, but a whole lot bigger.  Also, you design  and make it yourself, something I personally love.  I attached a picture of my cage…I started with that little green store bought cage, which I still used for my young rabbit, for before he was litter trained.  He now lives in the entire big cage while he is getting over his destructive stage (hence the mess of toys).  I used this system too with my older bun, and she is now totally house trained.  It’s also easy to let them out for romps.

I’ve been moving around a bit the past few years, but the cage breaks down easy and folds flat in my car, while the buns ride in the green cage. it then literally takes 5 minutes to set up again.

I highly suggest trying this! You can also always add on and change your plan.  I added a top, which folds up, so they can’t jump out of the ledge.  One of the front panels swings open to let them out.  I can even fit in there with them!  the website explains how to do all of this.

 

 

Hope this helps!

1121595367558.jpg

[dlscanne]

ok, sorry just saw some people did talk about this!  but hopefully this will help too

[skibunny8503]

That is great!  Well I never did find a pen I was happy about (and some we just to much money for me), so I bought a pretty decent sized cage (sorry guys!) because the pen I was going to get wasn’t high enough. 

Ok, today I went and bought all the supplies I needed and drove an hour up to Gueaga to look at Archie.  He’s been here since Halloween, they found him in a back yard (or someone else did).  He did have an infection by his privates and they gave him some medicine and it’s been cleared up since Nov.  He is such a friendly bunny!  We stayed in the room with him until the woman came and told us his background.  They don’t really know how old he is but the vet assumes young adult.  We loved him so much and he was so adorable that we signed the papers and he is now resting in his cage.  He’s still getting used to his surroundings though but I left the cage door open and he made his way to the living room but has come back to his cage and flopped out.  The woman also said he goes in his litter box 99% of the time.  He’s well behaved (besides finding a cord I missed just a little bit ago and trying to nibble at it).

I have noticed that he’s been sneezing every so often.  He’s not really dirty but he seems like he needs a good bath.  I’ve seen bath stuff for bunnies at the store; but what do you guys use?  Maybe that might help his sneezing?

He’s bigger than I thought he would be but he’s not huge like a regular lop, which is great because right now he’s harder to pick up than my dwarf mixed rabbit.  They also said he keeps his cage very clean. 

I’ve noticed just this hour as I’m watching him, that he goes to lick “himself” and he comes up chewing it…is that normal to be eating his own droppings?  He ate some of his pellets and was munching on his timothy hay.  The woman also said he loves yogart bites….is that good to give him?

Everyone was so nice there and they were so happy that Archie had a home before X-mas. 

Here’s apicture I took of him….it was very hard he is very camera shy and kept hiding from us!  They gave us the little iglo thing because he loved to sit on it.  Oh and I will definately go on the link and order a pen later on, they look pretty cool!

[Beka27]

oh YAY!!!!!! he is so sweet! i’m happy he has a home too! and i think it’s great you were able to rescue. it’s a drive sometimes, but it’s so worth it to give a sweet bunny a second chance.

bunnies really don’t need baths unless they have poop or urine on their fur. they’re meticulously self-cleaning, just like a cat. buns have a very hard time drying off, and can get sick if they’re not dried thoroughly after a bath. what you can do rather than trying to do a bath is give him a good brush every 2-3 days. as you work out the loose fur, his coat will become shinier and he’ll start to look better all around. this will also let him get used to you handling him a little bit. what i do is rub my buns down with a damp (and wrung out) paper towel after grooming. this will also pick up some loose fur but it does not saturate their fur.

sneezing is not uncommon. it is usually caused by an irritant in the environment, so dust, hay flakes, even some air fresheners/deodorizers can do that. you want to watch that it’s not accompanied by discharge from the nose or eyes. watch this carefully. if you do see discharge, he’ll need to see a vet.

rabbits will eat cecotrophs (cecals) daily. these are nutrients that they have not fully digested. so they come out at certain times, and they go right from bottom back to the bunny’s mouth. if you ever see any laying about, they are stinky, mushy if picked up, and look like a mini cluster of grapes. ideally, you should not ever see them tho. if he starts leaving them around, that usually indicates that his diet is too rich and you might have to adjust what he is taking in.  here is an article from rabbit expert Dana Krempels about bunny poop… http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

yogurt bites are not good to give him, neither are seeds, honey treats, corn, cereal pieces, or crackers/cookies/bread. petstores sell all kinds of treats that are not healthy for a bunny. some good treats are plain raisins (no more than a couple a day), a tiny bit of fruit (apple, banana… but no more than 3x a week), herbs like mint, rosemary, or a teeny tiny bit of carrot. with carrots they need to be limited to a couple matchstick carrots no more than 3x a week. matchstick carrots are the little slivers (like the kind you find in salad mixes) not the baby carrots.

since you’ve had a rabbit, you know that diet is the foundation for good health… here’s the BinkyBunny diet info link… https://www.binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/Diet/tabid/60/Default.aspx
and the link to the safe veggie list…
binkybunny.com/Default.aspx

this is a favorite diet article, this one also touches on treats… http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html

you’ve got the right food and hay, so you’re on the right track. after he settles in for a few days, you can start introducing veggies one by one. did the rescue say if he got any regularly? those might be the ones to start with. some favorites are romaine, parsley, green leaf lettuce.

again, i’m so happy for you guys. he is such a cutie-pie and i think it’s great that he’s going to have a loving forever home with you. we’re always here skibunny, so you know you can just post a new topic if you have any other questions, or you just want to share stories or pics of your sweet guy.

[skibunny8503]

Thanks so much for the advice and the links!  I did ask what his daily feedings were and the woman said they don’t usually get rabbits there so he would always get a piece of apple since they have those all the time and she said they’ve fed him romaine and he’s had carrots before.  I’m going to go out this week and pick up a few veggies.  What’s nice with the herbs is that when we moved into our new home, the previous owners had a huge garden (we took most of it out since we don’t eat that many veggies) but I left the herb garden they had.  It has mint, rosemerry, parsley, all kinds of stuff.  I don’t know much on herbs, so I’m hoping they grow back next year. 

I let him out last night (bad idea since I wanted to go to bed later and he was too stuborn to go back in his cage!) and let him out this morning but had to put him back so I can make cookies.  He’s slowly going into different rooms and likes to climb over everything, no matter how hard I try to block it off

He’s still not used to us yet and does not like to be picked up at all.  So it’s hard to try to get him back in his cage sometimes; plus he’s a lot more powerful than my other bun. 

 

Thanks again, you guys for your advice!  I really appreciate it!  If I have any more questions, I’ll let you know with a new topic

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Oh congrats on your new bunny!! He looks exactly like my Chuck-so he’s very cute IMO

[hooty22]

You can easily train him to go back into his cage. At least I know Felony was easy to train. I started by giving him a few raisins daily while he was in his cage. I always crinkled the bag and said “Felony, bed time”. Then once he would come running over at the sound, I moved up to letting him out and whenever it was bed time, I would do the crinkle and the call while standing next to his cage. In the beginning I sometimes had to push his butt into his cage, but he’d always get his raisins. Now he’s gotten to the point where all I have to do is walk near where the raisins are stored and he jumps into his cage and pushes his face through the wire.
I guess all those psychology and learning behavior classes I had in college really were useful.

[Quantum]

No words of sage advice (there’s lots of folks here to provide that), just a big WELCOME!

[skibunny8503]

Posted By hooty22 on 12/16/2008 9:34 AM
You can easily train him to go back into his cage. At least I know Felony was easy to train. I started by giving him a few raisins daily while he was in his cage. I always crinkled the bag and said “Felony, bed time”. Then once he would come running over at the sound, I moved up to letting him out and whenever it was bed time, I would do the crinkle and the call while standing next to his cage. In the beginning I sometimes had to push his butt into his cage, but he’d always get his raisins. Now he’s gotten to the point where all I have to do is walk near where the raisins are stored and he jumps into his cage and pushes his face through the wire.
I guess all those psychology and learning behavior classes I had in college really were useful.

Cool, I will have to try that!  I’m just afraid to pick him up since he freaks out and I don’t want him to get hurt.  So definately will try that

[Alicia Conklin]

I do something similiar when it’s time for them to go to bed.  I clean their litter boxes right before bed and then they get their fresh hay and that’s also when I feed their pellets so there’s a lot of commotion going on over there, it gives them enough time to realize what I am doing and come around to the cages.  I usually do the litter boxes last and then put those back in.  Normally they hop right into the litter box and then I just close the doors to their condos.  They sometimes look sad so that’s also when I give them their papaya…through the grids so that they don’t sneak back out!   I actually think they look forward to bed time now because of all the fun stuff that happens then!

[skunklionshow]

Congratulations…he’s adorable.  I’m happy that he got a home for Christmas.  I used clicker training for getting my (formerly) evil bunny Jessica back into the cage in a hands-off manner.

Have you considered making your own pen out of NIC panels?  It would be way cheaper and you could control the space you need.  I also recommend looking into pet insurance so you can financially be ready for anything.  Is he neutered?

[skibunny8503]

Yup he’s neutered.  I called up a local vet right down the street from me but they said they don’t specialize in rabbits so I’m going to stick to the one I know about 15 minutes away.  They said since I’ve been there before they’re sure they can work something out and they’ll accept the coupon for the free visit.  So he goes on Thursday. 

[BinkyBunny]

Yeah!!!! Congratulations!! That’s just so great!! Not only do you give ONE bunny a second chance, but you actually give TWO bunnies a second chance as Archie’s space will now be available for another bunny.

So happy to hear this great happy ending.

I’m sure it will take Archie a bit of time to get comfortable and fully warm up, but from his description of being a friendly bunny, I bet he will be back to that in no time. 

Keep us updated.

[KatnipCrzy]

He is so cute!  I love the markings on his face.  Are you going to keep the name Archie or re-name him?  Does he seem to respond to his name?

Julie

[skibunny8503]

Posted By KatnipCrzy on 12/17/2008 9:38 AM

He is so cute!  I love the markings on his face.  Are you going to keep the name Archie or re-name him?  Does he seem to respond to his name?

Julie

We’re going to keep the name Archie    He hasn’t really responded to his name yet, but he does follow me a little now and has come up to me and put his head on my leg to be petted

[BinkyBunny]

Awe! It sounds like he’s settling in fine. How are his litterbox habits? I know that once he gets comfortable, he may start marking a little bit, but shouldn’t last. Just wanted to check in with that part as I know that can sometimes change with a new location.

[skibunny8503]

So far so good in the litter box    He acted a little naughty today; but I’m gonna post that in another topic. 

[Author]

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