new baby bunny owner must-haves?

[meow1]

I’m in the process of getting everything ready for my new baby bun, so when he/she is weaned and ready to come home, we’ll be ‘ready to go’!

I’m wondering if anyone can help me make sure I have everything that I need for starters

 

We built a cage (see attached pic)

I got a litterbox with the lowered part for the baby bun to get in (Marhsall high back litter pan), and I got the kayTee wood pellet litter (is this good?)

 

I have a water bottle, but after much reading, now know that I should have a water bowl on hand as well.

I ordered one of those Nut Knot Nibblers, woodland get-a-ways, a couple super pet grassy mats and a hay feeder.

other than food, is there anything else I’m missing?  Doe rabbits like to have something soft and snuggly to sleep in/on? The cage is covered with carpet, but do they like towels, blankets, or any of those beds such as the cuddl-e-cup beds?

I also noticed someone had a digging box. Can someone tell me more about that, and is it a suggested item to have, or just something extra?

 

Any and all auggestions welcome!!

[meow1]

[mocha200]

oh the cage is very very nice. but i have to warn you baby bunnies can fit through the the wholes so if it happens you can put cardboard or chicken wire a few inches up the edge of the cage. make sure your bunny is at least 9 weeks old before she/he comes home.

[Monkeybun]

I would wait on a diggy box until you see what you bunny likes to do. Some like to dig, some like to throw things, others like to chew.. all buns are different. Give them simple toys at first to see what catches their interest, definitely don’t go buy out a store’s inventory of bunny toys til you see what yours likes to do

Monkey, my nethie, loves her fleece bed. Moose prefers sleeping on the floor. Smudge loves her towel to play in.. all are different.

[LoveChaCha]

I would suggest having a water bottle and a bowl.

Most of the time, bunnies will grow out of a cuddle e cup. If you really want to, I would suggest a pet bed in the cat section.

Grass mats are loved. But some bunnies will go through the mats very quickly.

a place to hide in will help – a cardboard box, bunny plastic igloo.

[Otti]

 I think if the nic grids you used are the 1 inch ones, a bunny 8 weeks or older should not be able to get his head stuck in them I think, right? How wide are the squares in the grids you used?

 

My rabbit loves the simple (and cheap – yay) cat beds that look like round fleece mats with a pillow edge around them. Here’s an example:

 

[meow1]

The majority of the side grids are 2 inches I think, and then there are some 3 inches I had to use cause I ran out, but if need be, I will make it so that the bun can’t get out.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I do plan on getting a water bowl, and the woodland-get-a-way thing is like a wooden “home” that is chewable.

If I find a fairly cheap cat bed, I might give that a try!

I have another question though. When is an appropriate time to take my new bunny to the vet? I am wondering if the day I get it would be wise just in case there is something bad going on, like worms or something, or if it will be too stressful on the day I bring it home? What does a typical first vet trip for a bunny consist of?

[allegrabunny]

A broom. Seriously that hay gets everywhere, you may want to put a little cardboard around the hay area to keep it from getting EVERYWHERE!

[LoveChaCha]

I would recommend making an appointment when bunny has settled in. How old will your bunny be?
What usually happens at the appointment is – the vet will check out bunny’s body to be sure everything is healthy. Also weight will be done. This is the time to ask about nail trimming. Rabbits require nail trimmings every month or so (i’m not sure about babys) because there is no way for them to sharpen their nails down.

If you have questions for the vet, be sure to write questions down and ask!!  I went to my first vet appointment with a memo pad and pen!!

It is an excellent idea to just get a check up when you get your bunny to be sure he/she is in 100% good health and nothing is wrong with bun. I wouldn’t recommend as soon as bunny gets home, as bunny will need to get used to the new surroundings.

Do you know of any rabbit savvy vets around your area? A thing to ask is how often the vet sees rabbits. It is extremely important to find a vet that has very good knowledge of rabbits. Rabbits are considered to be exotic animals.

[meow1]

LOL about the broom! Yes I have one, but thanks for the advice about putting cardboard down!

Brittany, thanks for all of the vet info. That makes sense to wait until the bunny has settled in. I don’t want to add anymore stress on moving day than I have to! At this time, I don’t know exactly which vets around are esp. good with rabbits, but I am at least going to contact the vet I see first (I have a great dane and a cat), and I really love the vet I see, but I do understand that rabbits need special care, not just doggy and kitty vets.

I’m not exactly sure at this time how old the lil bun will be when I bring him/her home. I should probably find out this weekend. These rabbits are not “house rabbits”, they come from a family who have a real working farm-(goats, chickens, horses, etc), it’s really nice, but they are not inside “house” bunnies. (Dunno if that makes a different). Mother is a Holland Lop, and unsure exactly what the “dad” is. If I remember correctly, I believe they were born on the 6th of September, but I will soon get confirmation.

[Alina]

Wrap the the in chicken wire! I didn’t realize it, and when I brought home my 8 and a half week old bun I woke up with the morning there was no bunny in his cage. Luckily he was in a cardboard box nearby, but be sure if there is a way out that bunny will find it! My bunnys favorite toys are the ones I made. A diggy box with cardboard and newspaper, a jellyfish toy made out of more of the same. I stapled carpet down around his cage for him to dig too.
The other good purchase I made was raisins with absolutely no added sugar or other ingredients. I let him roam around, and when he goes back to his house without me having to herd him he gets a raisin. Now all I have to say is “PJ go home!” and he runs in his house to get a treat

[Beka27]

There is no difference physiologically between an outdoor and indoor bunny. An outdoor bunny can easily be integrated into a household. All you have to do to make an outdoor bun an indoor bun is “bring them inside!”

I would carefully screen any prospective vets. Some dog/cat vets will “see” a rabbit (check ears, teeth, temperature) and charge you for it… but you have to wonder if they would know what to do if a serious illness occurred. You might have to go to a different vet than you use for your other pets, but it’s so important they be experienced in rabbit health. Seeing the wrong vet for a rabbit can waste time, money, and potentially cost you your rabbit’s life is if the wrong info/meds are given.

Have you been on the House Rabbit Society site yet? Under their vet info, they have a list of questions to ask to “interview” a potential vet.

[meow1]

Thank you for the info. I just checked the House Rabbit Society site, as per your suggestion.  Unfortunately, I saw no vets on their list of recommended vets, nor any that attended te last conference, BUT I did go over the page about what to ask potential vets and how to choose one, so this week I will get busy on that! 

[Kyoshi]

Im not sure if i might have skipped over this, but you should seriously consider getting the bun spuetered at the right time. A Speatured bun is much nicer and much happier! The spay can cost lots, so at least have 200 bucks availible. And save a good 100-200 dollars for vet trips.

[Otti]

Also, you should definitely either get smaller grids or wrap the cage in chicken wire not just because the bunny can escape (as other’s mentioned), but also because as the bunny grows, he’ll get to a stage in which his head will be just the right size to get stuck in the 2inch, and then in the 3inch grids…. you want to make sure that until his head is big enough that he can’t push it through either, he doesn’t have that option.

I initially bought a large dog-type xpen for my rabbit (the gold ones) not realizing he was still too small for them. He couldn’t get all the way out but really enjoyed popping out of the pen with the front half of his body to scare the living daylights out of me… As soon as I saw him halfway in and halfway out I put him back in his old pet store cage and went to get a different type of pen for small animals.

So in general it’s really important that when a bunny is still young and as he grows, he is never in a habitat in which, depending on what size he is, he can escape or get any part of his body stuck.

[meow1]

Posted By Kyoshi on 10/02/2010 08:09 AM
Im not sure if i might have skipped over this, but you should seriously consider getting the bun spuetered at the right time. A Speatured bun is much nicer and much happier! The spay can cost lots, so at least have 200 bucks availible. And save a good 100-200 dollars for vet trips.

I’ve read online that ~6 months is about the right age to get spayed/neutered? Is that the general concensus?

Also, I have a great dane, so I know how expensive things for pets can be….I”m sure (or at least I HOPE) that the cost of a rabbit will not supercede the cost of a great dane! shew…it seems unfair that the bigger and heavier your dog is the more they cost for everything! meds, bedding, food, etc …it is unreal

 

[meow1]

Posted By Otti on 10/02/2010 01:10 PM
Also, you should definitely either get smaller grids or wrap the cage in chicken wire not just because the bunny can escape (as other’s mentioned), but also because as the bunny grows, he’ll get to a stage in which his head will be just the right size to get stuck in the 2inch, and then in the 3inch grids…. you want to make sure that until his head is big enough that he can’t push it through either, he doesn’t have that option.

I initially bought a large dog-type xpen for my rabbit (the gold ones) not realizing he was still too small for them. He couldn’t get all the way out but really enjoyed popping out of the pen with the front half of his body to scare the living daylights out of me… As soon as I saw him halfway in and halfway out I put him back in his old pet store cage and went to get a different type of pen for small animals.

So in general it’s really important that when a bunny is still young and as he grows, he is never in a habitat in which, depending on what size he is, he can escape or get any part of his body stuck.

Thanks, that is great advice. I will certainly try to make his/her cage as safe as possible (to my knowledge)

 

[Otti]

No problem!

You should be able to get your bunny spayed/neutered as early as 4 months I think.

[meow1]

I got my litter pan delivered today. I’ve read some people put some sort of screen or grid thing in there to keep the wet part of the litter seperate and at the bottom. Do any of you do this or recommend it? If so, what do you use? my litter pan is 12×10 I think.

[jerseygirl]

Putting a layer of hay on top can help with that. A screen can help and also prevents digging. The Binky Bunny store has a litter screen. store.binkybunny.com/litter-box-scr…-p111.aspx

Another type that might be suitable is something like Leith Pet Werks Wire Cage Floor Mat. Not so harsh on bunny feet.
 

[Moonlight_Wolf]

I’ve read online that ~6 months is about the right age to get spayed/neutered? Is that the general concensus?

Yes six months is the age to get your buns spayed/neutered. If I understand correctly you can get boys neutered earlier, but it is best to wait till a girl is six months to spay her.

Sounds like you are doing a good job trying to learn everything you can about bunnies before you get yours, good job!

To make the cage more bunny proof Wrapping chicken wire around would work, you might want to get the chicken wire that is little squares rather than the hexagons (or circular shape kind) just because it looks neater in my opinion. You could then just ziptye this to the cage and it would look great! Also you could get “rabbit wire” which has little rectangular openings and is thicker. But it is more expensive and harder to mold and shape.

I use a grid, At the moment I use the one they sell on Binkybunny and it works great! They sell different sizes so you might want to check them out. Previously though I used Lighting Diffuser, it is like a white plastic grid type thing. This worked great but I found it got dirty easily and was a pain to clean. I found that at home depot.

For other accessories for your cage, well I have a water bottle and a bottle, but I use the bottle more because I am often too lazy to fill up the bowl daily and I feel that the water in the bottle stays cleaner. The bottle I have is called the “water buddy” it uses a valve to release the water instead of the ball on the tip. This makes it less likely to leak and I can fill it from the top rather than taking the whole thing off the cage. Some other things I have in my cage and pen (I have a condo attached to a pen that my bunnies live in) are:
Cardboard boxes
Maze haven (from binkybunny)
A fleece blanket/bed thing I made (it is fleece with some of that flat stuffing you put in blankets to make them puffier- forgot the name of it)
Dried pine cones
A slinky
The jellyfish (see toy test on binkybunny)
A quick tube (from home depot- it is used to form concrete pillars)
Hay rack above their litter box
Litter box with grid
Bowl for pelleted food
bowl for lettuce
Some outdoor rugs inside their pen
And that is pretty much all in their cage at the moment. I hope it gave you some Ideas.

I know you said you had carpeting in your cage, but you actually might want to take that out to help litter train your bun. Because if she pees on the carpet it will be a pain to clean and it won’t bother her because the carpet would just soak up all the pee. If you have no absorbent stuff in there though when she pees outside the litter box it will get on her feet and she will not like that so will be more likely to pee in the litterbox. Some bunnies get it right away and don’t need you to take everything absorbent out of their cage but my boy bunny was a pain to train and he lived in a bare cage for weeks until he was trained. (which he eventually was).

Also to help contain the hay I have my hay rack above my litter box and I have my litter box in the cage and the cage has a high rim around it so it is hard for the bunnies to track hay everywhere. I find this is actually very effective in containing the hay.

Good Luck and I hope I helped.

[meow1]

Okay, I covered the majority of the cage with galvanized hardware cloth. That stuff is pretty bad, I scratched myself up pretty bad, and I’m sure there are still some places I’ll need to trim sharp edges off still.  It also doesn’t look as nice, but I keep telling myself that in time, I will be able to remove it, right?lol

I also put together the litter box to see how that would work out. I found a couple of things I could use to separate the litter from the top, and once I get the bunny, I will put some hay on top. There are KayTee wood pellets under there right now. I got this 25 lb bag for like 20 bucks. Today I saw some Equine Fresh natural pine pellet bedding 40 lbs for only 6.49! I’ll be sure to remember that when it’s time for more!

I also got a small water bowl that is attached to the cage to prevent spills.  I also got a bowl for pellet food.  There is a hay rack hanging over the litter box, as well as a water bottle.  The hay rack came with a salt wheel. Is this ok for rabbits or should I remove it?

 

[Otti]

That looks really good with the hardware cloth, should definitely be safe you definitely will be able to remove it once the bunny is bug enough, but depending on the breed you’re getting and how large the bunny might be in his final adult size, you might still have to switch out the larger grid cubes for ones with smaller grids… It’ll depend on if they’re still large enough for your rabbit to stick his/her head through as an adult.

For the litter box, I would honestly suggest training your rabbit without that white plastic separator first. I imagine it might make it more confusing for the bunny since it’s plasticy but I’ve never used anything like it for my bunny, so someone else might be able to shed more light on that.

You look like you’re doing a fantastic job preparing! you’ll be a great bunny mom!

[jerseygirl]

You are so prepared!!

I agree with Otti on the litterbox. It will depend on the rabbit in question of course. At first, try just a layer of hay over the pellets. You can stir the pellets around to mix the wet stuff with the dry then do a complete clean when it’s all soiled. If you want to keep the plastic layer in there you could just add a layer of hay over the top. It looks like you have 2 pieces in there? I think you’ll find the urine will pool on top and end up soaking into your bunnys fur. One grid would allow it to drain through better.

I used things like this when I first got a rabbit and she adjusted to the changes well, though I believe I just used paper litter in the beginning and introduced a grid later.

Hope this helps. The habitat looks great! Just needs a bunny.

[Beka27]

I agree to allow the bunny to use the box without the grid at first. Why are you wanting to use a grid specifically? I think the majority of bunnies don’t require a grid at all. It helps to potty train when they can feel the litter. This way they learn the difference between carpet, floor, blankets, and litter. Only the litter is for pottying.

[meow1]

Yes there are two grids in there right now. One is like a rubber-y dish drainer thing that is flexible but has little nubs to keep it in place. The one on top is a litter grid thing that is flimsy and bends easily in the middle, so that’s way I used two. BUT I will try to not use any, at least at first, and if I do decide to use one, Ii will use only one. Thanks for your advice! You all have really helped me! I have some oxbow food pellets and hay on the way. I didn’t end up going to visit the bunny over the weekend, but I plan on going sometime this week, and I will report back here for est. date for he/she to come home!

[Beka27]

Grids can be useful if the bunny digs the litter out of the box or is eating the pelleted litter, but beyond that, I don’t see much point. They are really hard to keep clean b/c of all the small openings and can get yucky very fast. If you use them, you’ll need to get some type of scrub brush to clean them.

[Nibbles_NZ]

I agree with Beka. You are going to find that they mess things up very quickly and you would just be adding to the list of things you are going to have to clean You are way more prepared than I was! You are giong to be a good bunny momma. What breed is your bunny?

[The Rabbit]

Very very nice cage! How did you make the ramps?

 

I’d suggest a small, cheap stuffed bunny. My Bun loves his, and it brings him comfort. He’s bonded now, so he doesn’t play with it as much though.

 

Something snuggly like a pet bed or a blanket(nothing made out of yarn, some buns will chew it) is definitely a good idea. I think you pretty much have everything down. A good soft bristled brush is also a god idea, to keep your bun clean. Sound slike your bun will be a happy Bun!

[meow1]

I was told that the mother is a holland lop, but am unsure about what the dad is.

It’s hard to make out in the picture, but there is a small purple stuffed elephant in there. I couldn’t find a bunny lol

I also got one of those cheap baby brushes, I read where some people on here suggested to try that.

Thanks everyone for all of your help!

[Author]

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