Me too eating question ^^

[Ralph]

Hi, please allow me to introduce myself … I’m Ralph Dutch Native living in Seoul South Korea for 8 years now. Got myself this great rabbit some 6 months ago…

I had some questions about eating and the coming winter.

My rabbit loves pellets, and he also loves dried grass but he is a very picky eater.
He eats all the alfalfa and freshest grass first and seems to leave the rest to rot.
Then He is always ready to receive the pellets and anxiously places his paws on top of the
cage (open at the top) to see the delicious pellets coming upon him.

Question 1: Is it OK to keep feeding him pellets ? I don’t give him much as it is. a small handful.
Question 2: What should I do about the grass he doesn’t like to consume and leaves it, should I throw it away?
Question 3: The cage is pretty much empty , I saw things like Willow tent, and tunnel , where would I find items like this , and could I make them myself? If I put cardboard boxes in the cage he just destroys them right away.
Question 4: My buck is not castrated , is this really necessary ? and why is it done? Question 5: What is the best way to keep my rabbit warm during the cooler autumn nights and freezing winter nights, I wish to prepare for it adequately.

That’s it for now , I’ll be coming back here , thank you

Regards,

Ralph

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[Spacehopper]

He is gorgeous! Looks like a beany baby.

[Sarita]

Welcome, what a beautiful rabbit.

1. Yes, a small amount of pellets is fine – are they timothy based pellets or alfalfa based pellets? If you can get timothy based pellets that is better.
2. You might try giving him smaller amounts of grass hay twice a day maybe that will help with the waste – if the hay is soiled you would want to dispose of it.
3. I’m not certain where you would find the willow toys in S. Korea but you do have to be careful that the willow is untreated or any type of wood is untreated. I will have to let others answer this question better. Cardboard boxes and toilet rolls are great fun – they do destroy them quickly but they are inexpensive toys and rabbits do like them.
4. If you can find a good vet it would be recommended – I wouldn’t let a vet without any experience do this though. It is good because it helps with litterbox habits and possible behavior problems in the future (he may be fine though without being neutered if you don’t find an experienced vet).  Neutering is definetly prefered though.
5. I would definitely bring your rabbit inside to a secure location where he will be kept warm and safe. Inside is the best thing to do for him – can you bring him inside or is he already an inside rabbit?

[MooBunnay]

Hello there! Welcome to you and your beautiful bunny!  Here are some answers to your questions

Question 1: Is it OK to keep feeding him pellets ? I don’t give him much as it is. a small handful.
       Yes, bunny’s can have about 1/4 cup of pellets per day generally – you can also check http://www.rabbit.org for the recommended diets for bunnys, as well as the diet link on this page.  
Question 2: What should I do about the grass he doesn’t like to consume and leaves it, should I throw it away?  I usually give my bunnies fresh hay once a day, and I clean out their litter boxes and their cage once every three days, so I throw away the uneaten hay when cleaning their litterbox and their cage.  This is a good idea so that hay does not get rotten, or mildewy and make your bunny sick.
Question 3: The cage is pretty much empty , I saw things like Willow tent, and tunnel , where would I find items like this , and could I make them myself? If I put cardboard boxes in the cage he just destroys them right away.  I usually get my bunny items from http://www.busybunny.com, or from this website, however I don’t think they would ship to you.  I have heard that Japan has lots of bunny lovers, and tons of fun bunny items, perhaps you can get them from there? I’ll try to research a bit and see if I can find anything.
Question 4: My buck is not castrated , is this really necessary ? and why is it done? Neutering is done because it calms a bunny’s hormones, and will prevent your rabbit from developing habits like territorial marking, and spraying.  It is highly recommend for rabbits both behaviorally and health-wise.

Question 5: What is the best way to keep my rabbit warm during the cooler autumn nights and freezing winter nights, I wish to prepare for it adequately. Is your bunny indoors?  I’d highly recommend your bunny live indoors, you can see the "habitat" gallery for lots of great ways to house your bunny indoors.  A rabbit is usually comfortable down to 60 degrees at the very lowest.  You could give your bunny some fleece blankets in the cage, and maybe someone can recommend some warming items that are safe to put in a rabbit cage?

Hope that helped get you started – feel free to ask for more information or more questions!

[Deleted User]

Back when Coney was an outside bunny I went to the pet shop and I found these beds (for dogs) that have this weird foil looking pad that inserts into the bed. What it does is reflect the animals body heat back up to them to make it warmer. I stuck this in his igloo and he would snuggle on it. I also put a lizard heating lamp aimed towards the hutch but not directly into it and I think that it helped quite a bit with heat. It gets to hot to be to close to the cage so I kept outs about two feet away. Can buns really not be in cooler than 60 degrees MooBunny?

[Floppy]

Looks like you got some really good advice already! : D

[MooBunnay]

I’m not sure if 60 is the lowest a rabbit can tolerate – I had just heard that the ideal range for a bunny is between 60-80 degrees, as well as they can’t handle extreme temperature swings very well, so that is one of the many reasons that rabbits are recommended to be indoor pets. I’ve seen those arctic hares and all kinds of bunnies in the snow, I’m just not sure if a regular house rabbit would be able to handle temperatures like that!

[Sarita]

Here is also a link to a retail distributor for Oxbow hay in South Korea

http://www.oxbowhay.com/link.sp

[Ralph]

SARITA,

Thanks for the feedback, great search on those Korean websites.

The pellets I have read on the back , alfalfa , so is it safe to assume that they are not timothy pellets, (What are those by the way) ?

Thanks for complimenting my rabbit on his looks, any idea what breed it might be?

So what is the main TOP 3 reasons that people neuter they rabbit? I haven’t noticed any reason for me to do it yet …

I will keep you tips in mind as for the other tips , much appreciated

I’ll coming back soon ,

Have a great Fall ,

Regards,

Ralph

[Sarita]

A few good reasons for neutering – it could keep the rabbit from becoming territorial and possibly spraying.

It can help with odor control – neutered rabbits urine is less musky smelling.

Sarita

[Deleted User]

I forget who but someone gave me this website since I am in Germany with my bunnies, and it has a 1 korean pet store that is for bunnies, hope this helps.

Might have been Sarita that posted it to me…I just remember a black and white bunny avatar

http://www.americanpetdiner.com/intl_locations.html#Germany

 

just scroll down and you will see south Korea.

 Good luck with the bunny.

Spaying can also extend the life of rabbits, are you ever planning to get another male, b/c if so they could fight with eachother if not spayed. Also it can decrease their hormonal craziness.

[Author]

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