introducing Benny Boop and Flash

[boopandflash]

 Hello All!

My name is Sara. I am a brand new member here! I have two buns. Benny who is my senoir, he is 5 years old English Lop white with grey ears and spots and grey around eyes. He Weighs 6 pounds. we adopted ben from our local humaine society three uears ago and he is sooo sweet!

Next up we have Flash, our speedy 6 week old we were given because the original owners wanted a puppy instead! we have had him for three days now… things are progressing but we have never raised a kit before. Any advice is greatly appreciated because i am worried we arent doing it right. email me please experienced bun lovers!

Thanks all!

 

sara… mama to boop and flash!

[Valkyrie]

Haha I did the same as you; got a kit while I still had my rescued senior! It is definitely an adventure! My senior Merlin was the perfect house bunny (now an angel bunny) after he settled in to my home. He was completely litter trained and never chewed anything; I would let him have free range of the house. And then I got Bromley at 5 weeks old… It was quite the experience to have to go through the training from scratch! Here is some advice off the top of my head:

1. Handle constantly. Make sure you take Flash out regularly and hold him. Bromley is a boobie bunny, by that I mean that whenever I held him he would climb onto my chest and cuddle in there. I used this to my advantage and would walk around the house doing light chores with him held to my chest. I would also sit at the table or on the couch and keep him there. Flash might not be ok with you walking, but try to get him used to it while he is young. Once Brom grew he started preferring to run around then be carried, but he still climbs onto my chest for a cuddle break when he is racing around. Also turn him onto his back and hold him like a baby at least once a day. Try to get him used to you checking his teeth too. Start slow by rubbing his muzzle and work towards lifting his lips. It will make vet trips and care so much easier down the road. I made sure Bromley was human socialized like this and the vet and I are so thankful! He doesn’t struggle when I check his neutering incision and the emergency vet was able to reseal it with glue after he blew the stitches with ease. And don’t get me wrong, he is fighting me when I give him his pain killers and antibiotics by tossing his head, but nowhere near as much as my rescue bunnies did!

2. Keep Bitter Apple or another brand of dog anti-chew spray on hand. You never know when Flash will decide something you don’t want him teething on is tasty! You can also use it to spray wires as a precaution if you can’t get them out of his reach. Just be aware that some bunnies (and dogs) like the taste.

3. Start introducing him to Benny’s scent and vice versa early so that he is not so strange when you try to bond them after neutering. I would pet one up and then immediately start petting the other one without washing my hands in between. I would also exchange hay between the two so that the scent was always in their cages. I did introduce the two before Brom’s neutering, but barely. I would sit with one of them on my lap and let them sniff eachother a bit. I was able to let them eat hay together and be out together too eventually, but Merlin was an extra sweet bun and Brom’s hormones hadn’t kicked in yet. I say I was lucky because neither bunny was neutered yet (I wouldn’t neuter Merlin at his advanced age because of the risks and Bromley was still too young). But I think having their cages side by side and me making sure they knew eachother’s scents also helped.

4. Patience and persistence! Especially with the litter training. I was changing Bromley’s cage (but not his litterbox) daily so that he would learn that the poop belonged in the litterbox (since that was the only place that still had poop in it).

5. Don’t let Benny think that the new baby is getting all the attention. It is never nice to hurt your old friend’s feelings. I always made sure to spend time with Merlin before Bromley came out. His energy level wasn’t what it used to be so he would usually tire out and go back to his cage after a good session on the floor together and then I could let Brom out. The other thing I would do is put Bromley on the couch with my husband and I would sit on the floor with Mer and let him have free range.

6. Have fun! He won’t be small forever!

[Author]

Messages