Help…Newbie

[MrsHuggies]

Hi There,

I am a brand new bunny lover.  I got a Holland Lop about a week ago from a breeder close by.  He is 3 mos old and not yet neutered.  I wasn’t very happy when I arrived at the breeder’s b/c he had at least a few hundred rabbits in small wire cages outside.  I had my 11 year old daughter with me and in that situation, there is no way I can walk away and say no to a rabbit that needs a home.  I know, I know, that fosters that kind of business but I’m sure you all know how it is.  Anyways, this breeder said he was feeding bahia grass which I had never heard of…heck, that’s what we grow in our front lawn.  In addition, since the rabbits were in wire cages, they were used to just pooping wherever and having it fall through.  So now here I am very frustrated…we have him in a usual cage with a plastic tub type bottom for now.  I am taking the top off of the cage during the day so he can come and go but he just stays in the plastic tub.  He is pooping EVERYWHERE in that thing, certainly not just in his litter box.  And in fact, is more using his littler box as both a digging and sleeping box instead…laying right on top of the poop.  Although, since he’s pooping everywhere, it doesn’t matter where he lays, he’s laying in it.  And he poops sooooo much that I’m changing the lining in the cage a couple of times of day.  Every time I put plenty of poop back into the litter box.  And of course, when we take him out of the cage, he’s pooping all over the couch, on our laps and on the floor.  He is a very friendly rabbit and will sit very contentedly in our laps and seems almost to pur.  I can hold him on his back and stroke his tummy and he’s fine with that.  So what up with the poop?  PLEASE tell me this will get better. 

I know you’re supposed to gradually change their diet and start with what the breeder was using but Bahia grass?  Anyways, I gave him some decent Timothy and the highest price pellet I could find until my stuff comes from Oxbow.  I am holding off on the veggies until we can get this poop thing under control.

And then there’s the urine…I started out with the recycled newsprint for bedding but he was making such a mess tossing it out that I switched to puppy pads for now.  He’s not chewing them at all which was one thing I was worried about with that.  But his urine stains are very very dark…brown almost.  And when he’s peed on the couch, I’ve noticed that it’s milky looking.  Is this OK?

And finally, I know the Oxbow hay is good but are their pellets specifically for rabbits a good choice?  I believe they have a pretty high protein ratio…I had read at first that 25% was good and I think that’s what they have.  But since I have read that 15-17% is better for a Holland Lop.  So now I don’t know what to think.

I have raised many animals including your usual dogs, cats, prairie dogs.  We currently have a house dog, a K9 dog (my hubby is a (K9 officer), a cat, 2 sugar gliders (talk about high maintenance), and now Cinnabuns.  And then there’s my 2 human children.

Any help would be greatly appreciated and I look forward to digging around this place for as much info as possible.

Thanks,

Lisa and…the gang.

 

 

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Welcome Lisa!! You’ll love it here! Any pics you want to share ?

First off, will calm you about the urine-bunnies can urine anything from brown to orange to red and even leaving white crystals sometimes. It really depends on what they are eating and shouldn’t be too much of a concern!!

Second, I think the oxbow pellets are pretty much the best as far as most peoples opinions. As long as they are timothy based and made for rabbits (not guinea pigs or otherwise, althugh ‘for rabbits and guinea pigs” I think is OK too).

Third…for litter training..What are you using to line the cage and what is in the litter box?

[babybunsmum]

hi lisa & gang!  welcome

funny… i just read through my vet’s bunny diet handout & she mentions that its best to introduce greens after the bunny has been established with eating a good amount of hay.  so your idea to hold off on the veggies is ok for now while he gets used to pellets & hay.  have you seen the ‘diet’ page here under bunny info for guidelines on how much to feed and so on?  it’s a great resource for sure!  you can try searching through past threads for info too, but of course every one here is very friendly & happy to comment / help when they can.

some one here recently posted detailed info on pellets… if i can find it i’ll post the link. 

oh and btw… what are sugar gliders?

[Gravehearted]

Hi Lisa,

Welcome to Binky Bunny! It sure sounds like those bunnies were not being well takes care of. 🙁
You can report the breeder to the SPCA if you think it is an issue of neglect.

Let’s talk about the litterbox first. It sounds like you’re going to have to train him from scratch – the fact that he’s in a new home and un-neutered are going to make it more of a challenge. Some bunnies don’t fully get litterboxing until they’re neutered. First off, I’d recommend adding a second litter box to his house. Also, add some hay to both boxes to encourage him to use it. Generally bunnies are pooping to mark the territory and it might be a bit overwhelming since he’s just moved in. If he poops on the floor, sweep it up and put it in his box – so it helps him understand. Most bunnies do like to use a box and hopefully with some time, patience and persistence he will too. It’s also a good idea to limit his roaming territory while he’s getting the hang on box training. Instead of letting him roam the whole room, start off with only a corner of it, then as his box habits improve, you’ll slowly increase his territory.

Diet – since he’s a young bunny, we generally recommend alfalfa hay and unlimited alfalfa pellets. It’s ok that you go timothy, you might want to mix in some alfalfa too. During the first 7 or so months, bunnies are still growing, so the do well with the higher protein. You can start introducing very small quantities of veggies, one at a time (in case of tummy upset)

I personally like oxbow pellets too and would recommend the 15/23 (alfalfa pellets) for him now and then transitioning slowly over to the Bunny Basic T when he’s about 7 months old.

The pee colors are generally caused by what he’s been eating. Seeing as the breeder was feeding him some ridiculous hay, she very well have been giving him poor quality pellets too. It may just be his adjustment to the new foods.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Yeh what is that hay Sarita? I’ve never heard of it!

[Scarlet_Rose]

Hi and welcome Lisa & gang!  Wow that certianly is a small zoo you have.  We used to have a member here (Pocketfaeries) that had sugargliders too but she disappeared.

Anyway, with the litterbox training, yes it should get better with time, if not there are more things that can be done: Line the cage with litterboxes & elminate one at a time as he stops using them, shrink his run space, too much freedom=lots of territorial poo! I noticed that you mentioned you put the poo in the litterbox but what about a urine-soaked paper towel?  Also, you might want to cover the litterbox with a layer of hay, that will encourage him to do his business in there and protect his feet & fur from soaking up the urine or he could get urine scald (it’s painful for a bunny as you can imagine).  For diggers and players in a litterbox I place a cooling rack or some hardware cloth (wire that has small squares in it)  imbeded slightly into the litter.  As for litter, a bunch of us use Aspen Supreme and it works great on odor!  A 50/50 mix of it with Yesterday’s News works well too.  Other bunny-safe litters are Care Fresh and even wood stove pellets and some horse stall bedding (We’ll have to check with other members for the name of the one they use I think it was Texas Star at Tractor Supply Co.??)

As for bunny pellets, there are several good brands to choose from, American Pet Diner, Oxbow and I know there are some others I can’t think of them off the top of my head.  We recently had a member, Alex who did a calorie comparison here:  https://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=54&forumid=1&view=topic&postid=25575 I’ll see if I can find the names of the other pellet food if someone doesn’t chime in here.

I am a bit concerned about the milky pee though.  Is it thick?  Because it can be a sign of something serious and a bunny savvy vet needs to check him out.  Often it is because there is too much calcium in the diet (alfalfa is high in calcium as with veggies like kale).  I would take it easy with changing up his diet and just start with the hay then when he seems to be regulated try one veggie at a time per week.  Start with the most tolerated ones like parsely and carrot tops.  There is a comprehensive list available here: https://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=144

Be sure to check out BUNNY INFO at the top of the page too! Ask away with any questions you might have!

[Lisa_43]

Hi Lisa and welcome! I see we have something in common, our name.

[Beka27]

welcome here!  how exciting to have a new bunny!  i didn’t notice… is he your first bun?  so much of the training is just consistency.  you’ve got to keep at it.  some catch on quicker than others.  you may want to not allow couch time until he is littertrained better.  the best way most of us have found to interract with our rabbits is on their level.  sitting on the floor makes them more interested in you, and less in the couch.

[MrsHuggies]

Oh my goodness, thank yo sooo much to all who have replied. It’s going to be great to get to know everybody. Many of you have given me some wonderful ideas here that I’m definitely going to incorporate. I have been limiting his territory to where I have him in his cage but with the top off so he’s staying just in the tub. I have a piece of furniture right there that has a little cubby and he jumps into that and hangs out in there. Funny thing…he doesn’t poop in there.

Many of you have asked questions to better help me, so let me try to answer them as best I can…

Diet…I did in fact order some alfalfa from oxbow in addition to the timothy b/c I had read that the first 7 months they need more of that. I also ordered their brome, oat and orchard. Right now I’m kind of going with a mixture of the timothy and the alfalfa. I just got it all yesterday, so I didn’t want to get into the oat, brome and orchard until I know better what I’m doing. I also got the Timothy cakes and the alfalfa hay I got is called “alfalfa nibbles” which I just read is higher in protein and calcium for babies. This is the only kind of alfalfa oxbow sells. I had read about the calcium issue and the urine being milky so that’s why I decided to hold back on the alfalfa. So now I’m totally confused…go with the urine and limit the alfalfa…or go with the age and not? And since he’s only 3 mos, someone mentioned using the alfalfa pellets and then in a few months working up to the oxbow bunny basic, I just realized that is in fact what I got, the 15/23 alfalfa based. So again, not sure which way to go on that still but I’m thinking that since the pellets are alfalfa based, I should cut back on the alfalfa hay? As far as the veggies, I’ve only just had him a week tonight…I knew that I was making a drastic change in his diet already from what the breeder was feeding…I too suspected he was feeding inferior pellets since he was basically just mowing his yard for hay. Someone asked what bahia hay is…I live in FL and it is the most common grass used for our yards here. It literally is just a grass that grows here and I’ve never heard of being used as hay either. Definitely peplexed when he told me that. I’m going to see if I can find the nutritional makeup of it just out of curiosity. I just decided that it was better to just go with a quick switch and deal with digestive issues rather than feed him that crap. But after a week of the new hay and pellets, he should be adjusted, right? At any rate, that’s why I’ve also held back on the veggies. I have given him a carrot top or two and when I first got him I was giving him a small amount of parseley and some dark greens, but more as a treat. But since the pooping was so over the top I have held back to only pellets and hay for the last I’d say 4 days.

As far as the litter. Like I had said, I started with the CareFresh in the bottom of the cage and had some litter that was supposed to be safe from PetSmart. But now I have litter from Oxbow…it’s the stuff made from compressed straw and looks like pellets. If they eat it, it’s safe and actually would provide them with more fiber…but obviously I would rather he not do that. For right now, I have the litter in the litter pan and puppy pads on the bottom of the cage. I’m trying to make it a major difference between the bottom of the cage and the litter box to give him a clue. He is not chewing on the puppy pads at all. I have his hay in a wire ball that he seems to like and I’m giving him the alfalfa in a tissue box that I put in there a few times a day and then remove it again.

Soooo, first of all, is that litter from Oxbow OK? Should I put it in the bottom of the pan as well or should there be something different in the cage versus the litter box? I have aspen and did mix that with the Care Fresh at first just to make it more…I don’t know…”grassy” for him. But then he was scattering it everywhere so I switched to the puppy pads. Plus, I hated the idea of him lying in his own excrement and with the puppy pads I can see when he’s urinated. But like I said, I’m switching them out at least 3 times a day now. At least if I had some loose bedding in there, it would be less of an issue b/c it wouldn’t be so easy for him to lie in his poo. I LOVE the idea of using the mesh to keep the scattering under control. I have a big roll of that already that I’ve used for other animal stuff. So thank you to Scarlet for that great idea.

As far as neutering is concerned, definitely on the “to do” list and I’m glad to hear that will help. At what age is he ready for that to be safely done?

And finally….sugar gliders…they are in the possum family and kind of resemble flying squirrels. They have a gliding membrane and well…can glidem albeit with a pretty clumsy landing. They are the cutest little things ever and very very social. But they are also very very nocturnal so you have to be a night person. They do best with more than one…I have a pair, boy and girl with the boy being neutered. They are marsupials so they raise their young in a pouch. They are native to Australia and Tazmania…I think Indonesia maybe as well. Their diet is very complicated. They eat better than my human children. Their diet must be very balanced and they must get lots of Ca or they develop hind leg paralysis. Soooo, long story short, I buy tons of organic fruits and vegetables, chop them all up and mix them into different combinations that ensure that each combo has the right balance of nutrients, esp. calcium. Then mix it with some other very healthy things to make what looks like an uncooked casserole. Freeze each combo and they get that each night, along with plenty of different insects (did I mention I have to raise those…mealworms, crickets, etc., so those would be included in my zoo), a homemade nectar, and some pellets specifically for gliders plus vitamin supplementation. I have a camping tent in my house and at night we get in the tent with them to give them time to jump and glide all over us. During the day they sleep in a pouch in their huge cage (has to be really tall since they live in trees). We also have pouches with zippers and screen windows that we wear around our neck and can carry them around during the day while they sleep. They will even sleep in your bra. They get very very bonded with their human family mostly by scent. They would never dream of nipping at one of us but if a stranger dares stick his hand in their pouch while they’re sleeping, they FREAK OUT. They make this crazy sound that sounds like an out of control electric pencil sharpenener that any idiot would know means “you’re getting ready to get bit”. Pretty funny but scary for such a little thing. Anyways, that’s what sugar gliders are…I bet you wish you hadn’t asked. I think I tell so much b/c pet stores put them on display as if they are hamsters. Obviously, that’s completely false. And they live in captiivty for up to 15 years. So it makes me so angry when people buy them on a whim thinking they can put them in a little cage and forget them. I should mention that I am a biologist so some of this zookeeper nature of mine makes some since and ya’ll don’t think I’m looney tunes. I am also a teacher, teaching college biology, anatomy/physiology, and zoology.

And that leads me to this breeder. What should a breeder’s conditions look like? These wire cages were hanging from a barn type roof, but the roof was the only real structure. The rest was chicken wire. I think what disturbed me the most was the shear number of rabbits (no way he could give any of them attention) and the fact that the cages were all dripping with cobwebs. I absolutely will report him if anybody will do anything about it. I don’t know what they consider “abusive”.

Whew, so sorry…I normally won’t go on like this, I promise.

Thanks again and I look forward to hearing your responses about the diet and the bedding.

Lisa

[MrsHuggies]

Oh, and yes, this is my first bunny. 

[MrsHuggies]

Yeah, so best I can find, common FL bahia hay has about 10% protein.  Unbelievable he’s feeding this in a breeding program, huh.  It’s considered an invasive weed grass.

Lisa

[skunklionshow]

They had sugar gliders at our main pet therapy site.  I thought they looked like small bush babies, especially with those big eyes.  That’s kinda cool that you can walk around w/ them in pouches.  I had a disabled anemic foster kitten.  She was so tiny and so anemic that she could no longer regulate her body heat.  I would keep her w/ me in a "fanny back".  Also, she was way to tiny and defenseless to be left alone w/ the big cats.  I loved bonding w/ her.  Everywhere we went people fell in love w/ her.

As I side note…I found this site when I got my first bunny Jessica, over 1 year ago.  I was freaked out over every little thing.  I feel that I’ve got my bunny routine down now, so I’m much more confident.  I also love pee pads.  I use them in the bottom of the cage and cover w/ carefresh.  In my primary litterbox, I use newspaper on the bottom & care fresh on top w/ hay in the corners.  Jessica’s box habits completely improved once she was spayed.  Leo has litterbox issues, but it’s not as bad as it could be (i.e. poops & pee everywhere).  He gets neutered next month so I’m hoping his box habits get way better. 

I’m thinking that bunny breeder was not good….why would you put bunnies in hanging cages if they prefer to be on the ground?  Bunnies often hate to be picked up b/c they are prey animals and it reminds them of the swoop and eat.  I’m thinking they hang from cages, so no one eats them.  Which leads me to believe that this was a technique the breeder "learned" get what I’m saying.  I also think that using the native grass is probably cheap!  Sorry I’m judging.

Best of luck to your zoo!  Remember that bunny pee is thick unlike cat/dog urine, which can be freaky if you’re not used to it.

[Beka27]

you don’t necessarily have to have anything in the bottom of the cage if it’s a solid bottom.  i think it might be more confusing having bedding and stuff in there.  i would try just leaving the plastic bottom and getting him a grass mat or washable rug.  the only thing tho, is if he pees, you need to be around to clean it up ASAP so it doesn’t get all over him.

[MooBunnay]

Welcome MrsHuggies!

Congratulations on your new family member And just to respond to your original posting – yes things will get better! When you first move your bunny into a new home they always have an adjustment period where they want to mark everything, and they don’t really “get” the system yet so they don’t know where the litterbox is etc. On top of that, since he’s also un-fixed and at the point where he’s hitting puberty, he’s also marking “overtime” and not caring as much about litter training. I know this period is always a bit difficult, but realize that it is a phase and with a bit of work he’ll be off to being a fantastically behaved rabbit.

There is already a lot of good information in this post. I think your timothy/alfalfa mixture is a good idea. How long has he been on this diet? He may just need a bit of time to adjust to the new healthier diet. I can’t BELIEVE that breeder was feeding them his grass – it makes me want to cry I’m so happy that at least one lil’ bun has found his way to a quality home. I’d recommend sticking with the diet you mentioned of timothy and alfalfa hay with the pellets in a limited amount – perhaps about a half cup a day? Is that what he is getting now? If that is, then perhaps reduce it a bit more.

Bunnies have quite a bit of difficulty dealing with change, so one the best things you can do for him right now is try to keep things as consistent as possible. Keep regular feeding times, exercise times etc. And keep his pen as clean as possible while putting his stray poops into his litterbox to help (as you mentioned) differentiate the floor from the litterbox. Make slow changes to his diet if you feel the need – he’s already got a diet that is 200% better than before, so you are already helping him out a lot. Now its just a matter of making some tweaks to fine tune his diet to his specfic needs.

Its great that you are going to get him fixed, at about 3 months they are old enough to get fixed, so you may want to get in touch with a rabbit savvy vet to get that set up. It will also help with his litterbox problems

[Gizmo_Fluffybutt]

If the breeders conditions made you uncomfortable and you feel the animals were being neglected, then go ahead and report him to your area’s Humane Society, animal control, or animal shelter. I assure you they take all calls seriously and will make a trip out there to investigate. If they deem his practices to be unacceptable they will do whatever they feel necessary for the situation. If it’s a case of neglect due to a lack of knowledge of proper care, they will educate him and then they may tell him he has to fix this and that and will check back periodically to make sure everything is OK.

Unfortunately, though, no one can or will mandate that he pay them any attention or provide what we would all deem to be the best care for the bunnies. They’ll only be concerned with if he feeds them appropriately, keeps them in proper enclosures, etc.

[babybunsmum]

i’m very glad i asked about the sugar gliders lisa… so cool!  it really amazes me how much work caring for some of these little critters takes.  i share your anger with people who pick up pets on a whim without understanding proper care.  i’m even angrier with pet stores that sell them.  thats how i got my first bunny… i was looking for a pet hamster or rat and fell in love with a wee lop bunny.  the store owner told me "rabbits are simple to care for.  just buy this here wire floored cage, a water bottle and some pellets and thats all you need".  grrr.  i even bought a book on rabbit care that backed up what he said so i thought i was doing the right thing.  of course i was more than willing to change when i learned what i was doing wrong, but i still feel so bad that my first sweet bun didn’t benefit from my better knowledge.

anyways… with the amount of care & attention you give your sugar gliders you’re already an outstanding bunny mum!  there sure is a lot of info to sift through.  good luck & hey… post some pics of your furry friends!

[Scarlet_Rose]

Lisa (MrsHuggies) –

Wow what a post! Sugar gliders are too cute and that was a great snapshot you gave us of your life with them, thanks for sharing!  It’s also good to know we have a biologist here too!

As for the alfalfa thing, you can feed just alfalfa pellets or alfalfa hay, it is not necessary to feed both and in fact I have also been told that regular pellets and regular timothy hay is just fine too.  The straw pelleted bedding is just fine (straw has no nutrients though, just fiber).  You want to be really careful with making any drastic changes in rabbit diet as it can cause GI stasis which is a very serious condition in rabbits and it can be fatal.  Here is an article where you can read more about it: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html. It would be worth noting that unlike cats and dogs, rabbits are not able to throw things up, like a hairball, so anything that goes in must be passed along in the GI tract and out, careful attention is to be paid during heavy shedding.  So fiber, fiber, fiber. : ) Rabbits needs access to unlimited hay to keep their GI tract moving.

Also, depending on your view, a lot of bunny owners (myself included) give my rabbits papaya tablets specifically for rabbits.  They do not get rid of hairballs, however the belief (and I do beleive this myself) is that the papaya enzymes break up the mucus that binds the fur together that can cause a blockage.  Even if this is not true, it does make a nice treat for them.
 

[MrsHuggies]

But Scarlet, isn’t milky pee a sign of too much calcium…and isn’t alfalfa higher in that than timothy?  So you still think he’ll be fine if I go with an lfalfa only based diet?  I’ll supplement with some timothy?

Thanks so much for all your help…it’s obvious not only do you love bunnies but that you have done a lot of work to learn so much.  You are very informative and kudos to you for spending so much time passing on that knowledge, especially to us newbies.

With all the animals I have and have had, I have come to the quick conclusion that it is the people who have experience with raising and loving them who  know more than the vetrs.  So you guys are the people I turn to with all my questions, take it all in and go from there.  But I’m confident that is better than just going to a vet and taking what he says at face value just because "HE’S" the vet..  Vets are who you go to when something;s medically wrong and you need them to fix it.

Thanks again…Cinnabuns and I will get there.  I noticed today that  finally has seemed to pick a corner where he is obviously frequently more often than anywhere else for his relief.  Of course, it’s not the corner wher his box is.  Should I move the box to that corner right away or let him get accustomed to using that corner first so that when I do move the litter box to that corner it will be so ingrainedin his brain that he’ll be his place of choice.

Lisa

 

[babybunsmum]

lisa, my bun had 2 corners in her room where she liked to pee, in one of them is her litter box and in the other i stuck a corner litter tray after my attempts to block the corner / re-train her had failed.  i don’t have a clue why she’s so insistant to use this corner as well, but she seems to be fine with using the extra litter pan.   does cinnabuns use the litter as well?  if yes maybe you could try what i did?  i read somewhere that moving the litter can be met with needing to re-litter train, but i think thats more applicable to when the bun is very very used to a particular litter location. 

[Beka27]

if possible i would stick a box in each corner… until he makes up his mind where he wants to go.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Milky pee can be a sign of too much calcium and often is, but not always so it is best to have a vet check it out to be sure there are no underlying problems like bladder or kidney stones. I am betting that the breeder fed the bun alfalfa based pellets in an unlmited quantity which is not good for them. An occasional handful of alfalfa is what is normally done along with the unlimited timothy hay. When you say the pee is milky looking are you talking about the consistency or color? If it is white, it is not O.K. and I’ll defer you to have a vet check it out (as mentioned could be too much calcium) and it won’t hurt to have him looked over. It was Osprey and/or Sarita that mentioned at one time sticking with and adult-type diet without the alfalfa seems to suit young well too, so to play it safe until you get him checked out, you could just opt not to offer it for now. Which would be your best option right now.

[MrsHuggies]

OK, update…I have been out of touch due to medical issues resulting from a car accident.

Cinnabuns was neutered about 2 weeks ago and did great. He has finally figured out the litter box and I only have a few scattered poos on the bottom of the cage and a mountain of it in the litterbox.

Funny thing about favorite corners I discovered. It seems that it’s all about north, south, east, west. His favorite corner faced south. Then I moved his cage to be closer to where the family sits which put his favorite corner facing east. Well, guess what then became his favorite corner? So now the litter box is back in the east corner and we are in good shape.

OK, here’s where I need some help. It’s time to re-order food. Currently he is getting alfalfa pellets from oxbow with a mixture of timothy and alfalfa hay free feed. I do also give him those papaya tablets. The vet said his poop looked great so whatever I was feeding him was good. Yeah, the vet said he has perfect poo…what a proud bunny mom I am. I emailed Oxbow and they said at his age (exactly 5 mo) to keep him on the alfalfa based pellets. But he has had a couple occasions of white pee. Heck, one time his pee looked like chocolate milk…I kid you not, JUST like chocolate milk…what up with that? So do I continue with the alfalfa pellets for a few more months or go ahead and switch to the timothy based one?

And what about all these other hays oxbow offers…bunny brome, orchard grass, and their new one called botanical…here’s the description on that one:

Ingredients
Timothy Grass Hay and three of the following herbs depending on seasonal changes: Chamomile, Lemon Verbena, Hibiscus, Lavender, Rose Hips, Comfrey, Borage, Red Clover Blossoms.
Guaranteed Analysis
· Crude protein – min 8.0%
· Crude fat – min 1.50%
· Crude fiber – max 32.0%
· Moisture – max 15.0%
Feeding Hay
Grass hay is absolutely vital to the health of small herbivores. It provides not only fiber, but environmental enrichment that mimics your pet’s natural habitat. As the caregiver, it is your responsibility to offer your pet hay every day.
Instructions: Offer Botanical Hay daily by blending with Oxbow’s Orchard Grass Hay, Oat Hay and Brome Hay.

For variety and enrichment, should I offer those mixed in with the timothy with the timothy making up at least 75%? Offer it as treats? Or not offer any of it all?

Thanks for everything,
Lisa

[Gravehearted]

oo no, i hope you’re on the mend. I’m happy to hear Cinnabuns was neutered though. Often neutering really helps with improving litterbox skills, glad that’s been the case.

generally it’s recommended to switch from alfalfa pellets to timothy at around 7 months old. Since bunnies are very picky, it’s highly recommended to switch the pellets gradually over a few weeks. Does he get a lot of veggies with calcium? Some especially high ones: carrot tops, kale, dandelion greens, turnip greens, collard greens. Does he currently get any of them? If so, you may want to opt for veggies with lower calcium amounts.

buns enjoy variety. the botanical hay is timothy hay with some tasty additions – but it’s nice to offer a variety of hays. you can either offer a mix or a few days a week offer something different. timothy, oat, orchard grass and bunny brome are all healthy grass hay choices and can be free fed. it’s the alfalfa that’s only to be offered as a treat – for now I’d skip it if you’re seeing chalky colored pee.

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