Hello! Am I doing this right?

[aerina519]

Hi all!

My name is Erin and I have recently adopted my new bunny roommates.  I have to admit, bunnies are one of the few animals I have no experience with, but I have always loved them and have researched them for years.  On April 20th, we brought home King Leonidas (named by my boyfriend ) and Happy (named by my daughter ).  Leo and Happy are brother and sister…we went and visited them and the man told us they wouldn’t be ready until 4/20 as that is when they would turn 6 weeks old.  Today, I emailed the man for their exact birthday and he said they were born 3/12 – making them about 51/2 weeks old when we got them .  They are doing wonderfully, eating very well, incredibly spunky and  playful and they seem very happy.  We are feeding them Timothy Hay and unlimited alfalfa based pellets (18% fiber).  I know not to give them any veggies until they are 12 weeks old, but is there anything else as far as their diet goes that we should be doing?

Happy and Leo are 1/2 Flemish Giant 1/2 New Zealand, so they are going to be pretty big bunnies .  We have modified my German Shepherd’s crate into a home for them and are using the storebrand version of Yesterday’s News.  Good good, right?

Tomorrow they have their first vet visit – a check up and I would like the vet to educate us on trimming their nails.  To be perfectly honest, I’m absolutely terrified .  I’m so nervous they’re going to be stressed out.  We’ve had them for a little over 2 weeks and they love it when we scratch their heads and they’ll even let us pet them all the way down their backs to their little tiny hineys (sorry, I’m a mother so baby talk is my second language ).  We haven’t even attempted to pick them up, as I’ve read that bunnies don’t usually like to be picked up, so I’m afraid this whole experience is going to be stressful and traumatic (for them and me ).  I know to put a baby blanket in the carrier (I use a cat carrier to transport them for now, soon they’ll be too big for it though ), a little bit of hay, and a favorite toy.  Is there anything at all I can do to make this as stressfree as possible?  Any other advice or anything I’m doing wrong? 

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Nibbles_NZ]

Congrats! I know people who have flemish giants and they are referred “gentle giants”. I have a New Zealand Buck and he is very sweet!
What is thier gender? They live in the same cage? Right now, they may get along but when they mature, they may mate or fight. Rabbits are very social to eachother but 2 of the same sex will fight to the death (even if they are bonding great now). If they are male and female, you should seperate them. I know now they are little but you should just be cautious that they can mate and have babies at a young age. I have a New Zealand and have read that they can have 8-10 babies in one litter! You don’t want any surprizes like that. My advice is to seperate thier living spaces just until they are spayed/neutered. I have 2 unfixed rabbits male and female and they are seperate. They play yards are a few inches apart so they still see eachother and socialize from a distance. When they are fixed, I will start bonding. Another thing. I know you are reading that they don’t like to picked up but now is the time for you to handle them. Especially since there are two. You want them to bond with you too. Smaller breed rabbits are sometimes more skiddish then larger breeds (such as the flemish giant and New Zealands). While a lot of rabbits don’t like to be picked up, some do. Both of my rabbits like it. There are ways to do it. They can’t see you straight ahead or from behind so if you grab them there, they will get scared. Let them see you, if they run just make a clicking noise and let them know you are a friend by petting them and feeding them hay. You can pick them up, in fact, I would. Larger breed rabbits are more layed back. They aren’t as skiddish. When I got my New Zealand he was 7 weeks and so tiny! I held him a lot (on the floor so it isn’t as scary). Now, he is about 4 months old and comes running to my feet every time he hears my voice. He is a lap bunny! He loves to be pet. My other bunny is still only a couple of months old. She is a dutch so she won’t get quite as big as my NZ. I handle her a lot too and she isn’t affraid of me. I have to give her a little more space then my NZ but that’s okay. They will let you know what they are comfortable with. Handle them and seperate them. You will do fine!

[Nibbles_NZ]

Also, when you pick them up, hold them under the front legs and cuff one hand under thier bottom hoding the back legs. Rabbits can and will kick the back legs when picked up and if not picked up properly it can result in spinal injury for them. Picking them up is easy and not as scary as it sounds though

[Monkeybun]

Don’t be afraid to pick them up, they do need to learn to be handled even if they don’t like it. They need to tolerate it at least for the nail trims and wellness checks.

Definitely separate them as when they mature they won’t care if they are related, the mating urge will get to strong. They will have the be neutered before being rebonded as a pair.

Welcome to BB

[Nibbles_NZ]

I agree with the nail comment. When you handle them, touch thier paws. I had a heck of a time getting my rabbits nails trimmed when I got him. He had long ones and dug them into me when I tried. I just mess with his paws a little when I hold and pet him and now he is easy.

[Karla]

Hello and welcome. What a cute couple.

It sounds like you got the hang of it and will be a great bunny mum. It’s a shame they were sold at such an early age, but at least they have each other and they are doing fine. I wonder why the man would lie at first and then tell you afterwards, but perhaps it was a slip of the tongue.

I hope you will get some great tips from the vet about nail trimming. That is the most horrible part of having bunnies in my eyes. My boyfriend and I do it together and the bunnies behave just fine through it all, but it is nerve-wrecking anyhow. Not sure why. I guess if you just relax and don’t think of it as more than clipping your own nails, it really isn’t that bad.

As for picking up your bunnies. Well, I think like you. I don’t pick up my bunnies either. I see no point in doing something that is so much against their nature unless it is necessary. So, they are only picked up in case of nail clipping, going to the vet et.c. They are perfectly relaxed about it. I think the key is actually that we don’t pick them up too much and that they always get treats, if we do. I think bunnies carried around too much will be much more stressed about it, but just my theory.

As long as they have each other on the way to the trip, they will be fine. Nothing more you can do really. And get the vet to try to determine the sex as well. There is a chance the breeder didn’t do it correctly if they were that young. You don’t need to separate them now, if they are opposite sex. You can definitely wait until they are 3 months. If they are of the same sex and are free roaming, you wouldn’t need to separate them, but definitely keep an eye on them, so they can get neutered as soon as they are ready – and to make sure fighting doesn’t occur. If they live in the same cage, you may need to work something else out. The smaller the area, the greater chance they will fight once they sexually mature.

Other than that, see you around in the various threads

[Lunar~Atticus]

oh they are very nice! i currently have a new zealand cross, maybe with a flemish but no one really knows. but i am getting a new zealand/flemsi cross within the week or so. oh, can you post pics of your dog crate, my buns stay ing dog crates cause well, cages for a bun that size cost a fortune! always looking for new ideas! they are very very cute! welcome to bb and dont be shy, make yourself knowen. this is an amazing site with wonderful bunny slaves on it and no on here is mean. all amazing and great to talk to.

[aerina519]

Thanks for all the replies!  The vet trip was much easier than I expected.  The buns were sooo good, all they wanted to do was explore the examining table!  As it turns out, King Leonidas is actually a queen .  The vet said she is 99% sure we have 2 little girls, but we’re going back in a month just to be sure.  She did say if Leo is a boy, we don’t have separate them right away, at about 3 months would be fine.  She gave some good tips on nail trimming and I’m not too worried about it now.  I’ve been trimming my German Shepherd’s nails for years and I find as long as you’re calm and relaxed the animal is too.  We’re going to get them both spayed when they’re old enough (that’ll run us about $500 ) but the health of our girls is totally worth it.

As for their age, I truly don’t believe the man meant to trick us.  He wasn’t elderly by any means but slightly older and I think he just got confused .  But everyone is happy and healthy so that’s what matters most to us.  I was hesitant on the whole handling issue but the vet recommended handling them as much as possible to make nail trims and vet visits as easy as possible.  So I think we’re going to start getting them used to being held on our laps and probably leave it at that.

I will absolutely post some pics of our dog crate as soon as I get some!

Thanks again for all the advice and I look forward to hearing from you all more!

[Lunar~Atticus]

hey i was just wondering where is it that you live??

[LoveChaCha]

I was very scared of handling my bun at first, but my vet showed me a good way to pick my bun up. My bun is okay with me holding her to my chest. it feels secure for her that way. But there are times that she does flail around and kick.

My bun has tried veggies, but she doesn’t like them. She is 5 months and I have begun to limit her pellets. I don’t think veggies should be tried for a while. But trust what the vet says

And Welcome ;D

[aerina519]

We are in Upstate NY.

We a little bit of romaine lettuce last night and they were a little skeptical at first but once they tried it they loved it!  I think for now we’re going to stick to the dark leafy greens and then explore other veggies as they get a little older!

[Nibbles_NZ]

I agree with Brittany. Bunnies should have unlimited pellets and hay only until they are 12 weeks old. I wouldn’t introduce greens or veggies until then. Even then, do it a little at a time.

Your bunnies are so cute! I LOVE the BIG ears! My New Zealand has really big ears as you can see in my avatar. Your bunnies will surprize you with how big they will get within the next month! I was shocked! Baxter (my NZ buck) tripled in size within 6 weeks! He is huge! Yours are females (they are usually larger than the males) and they are 1/2 Flemish giant! That’s going to be neat to see how big they get and how fast! LOL

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