New Bunnies!

[Sadie]

Hi, I’m Sadie – I’ve been reading up on bunny care for the last few weeks, but only found you guys last night…

We just adopted two baby bunnies and brought them home today. They are only 5 weeks old, which seems young to me according to what I’ve read, but the lady said they were ready to go. We’re all set up with a cage and a bunny bed room (it used to be the kid’s play room, now I guess it’s a mini zoo.)

The bunny-lady we got them from was feeding them rabbit pellets and we’re giving them pellets and hay. I’m not too sure about the pellets she gave us, so we mixed them about 50/50 with pellets we picked out at the pet store. Thier litter box is a small corner box with yesterday’s news on the bottom and a pile of hay in the corner.

While I’m not in the play room with the bunnies, they are in the rabbit hutch we got from petsmart, but I put cardboard down over the wire grate (who wants to walk on wire?) And then every now and then we let them hop around the room, under strict supervision.

I’m so excited, and the kids are going nuts – so happy bunny-day to you guys, too!

[jerseygirl]

Welcome!
They must be adorable at that age but YES that is too young to be away from the mother. Please get them checked out by a vet. With the feed, although it may not be ideal in the long run, do feed them only what they have been used to for now. Introducing other feeds this young will lead to problems.
Have you had the camera out yet? hint hint

[Sadie]

so, no hay? just pellets? I can do that

oh, and there will very definately be pictures tomorrow when the sun is shining and we’re not all exhausted from bunny-supply shopping

[Sarita]

Oh no, do give hay! They need that and they were getting hay.

[jerseygirl]

Yes hay. But only give the pellets that they have been eating before for now. How long had they been eating these, do you know?  Was they from a breeder or someone who had a litter of kits from their own pets?  Also offer a bowl of water if you only have a sipper bottle set up. Some like to drink from a bowl.

Hopefully Sarita is still about… Sarita, do you think some acidophilus would be beneficial for ones so young?

[MirBear]

at what point should babies be weaned??

[jerseygirl]

8 weeks at least.

[Sadie]

not a breeder, just a lady who got a pregnant bunny from the humane society and put an ad in craig’s list for the babies. We were only going to get one bunny, but then that would have left the last little bunny all alone so we took them both. Now I feel bad taking them from their mamma, I hope they’ll be OK. I tried to find a HRS approved vet, but the closest one is over an hour away. The vet down the street seems pretty knowlegable, she takes care of our sugar gliders and I think she mentioned before that she has rabbits herself. I’ll take them in early next week, scouts honor.

I just switched out their food so they are only eating the original pellets. They are so dang cute. They are active and seem happy. The bigger one in particular seems to love running across the room at top speed doing little kicks and jumps.

 

[Sadie]

Oh, I don’t know how long they have been eating pellets, I can call the bunny-lady back and find out if it’s important, and they seem to do great with the water bottle. They’ve both been drinking well. Wouldn’t they get into a water dish and get wet/cold/messy?

 

thanks for all the great advice.

[MirBear]

the little kicks and jumps are binkies… bunnies do them when their happy soo cute

[jerseygirl]

Oh, if they’re doing well with the bottle then alls good. They do sound healthy considering. Activity level and appetite. Just keep an eye on their poop and appetite (this will be a life long thing for rabbits – poop watching lol). Poor lady, did she know it was pregnant when she took it?

[Sadie]

Actually, I think she was told it was fixed and she thought she was adopting a fat bunny.

The babies are eating their old food now. They weren’t too interested in the 50/50 mix but are eating like crazy now that they have the familiar stuff. So far, their names are “Gazpacho” and “Celery.” Gazpacho started out as “patch” because she’s got a lovely black patch over one eye. My husband thinks Gazpacho sounds too masculine for a cute little female bunny, but I really like the way our 4 year old says it, so I think it’s going to stick.

They are both femaies and the mom is only 5lbs so I think they are going to be pretty little when they’re done growing.

[jerseygirl]

tehe – cute names! They may turn out to be a different sex yet. It is REALLY common for them to be mis-sexed. It becomes a worry when they reach 3months of age (sometimes even younger) as they can start to breed by then. If I was that lady, I’d be really p’od at the humane society! Ok, they mightn’t have known she was pregnant but they certainly lied about her having been spayed!  I guess they could have been told this by someone who surrendered her….so I’ll bit my tongue now.

[Beka27]

Welcome! I responded in your other thread regarding the breeds. I’d love to see pics of them. Stick around on the site and please ask any question you may have as they come up. A baby bunny is a handful. 2 baby bunnies are… 2 handfuls? 2 baby girls? Woooo boy! Lol!

[Sadie]

so. much. poop.

 

OK, two baby bunnies may have been too much. I’ve vacuumed their cage twice now today, I can’t believe how much waste these guys make. I assume it’s way too early to expect them to use a litter box. They don’t really even seem to have a favorite corner. I have two litter boxes now in two corners, and then a dish with food and a water bottle in the other corners. Their cage has a seperate hidey-hole which they don’t seem to like much, I’m not sure what to put in there since they mess it up so badly. Is there a good disposable bedding I should use? 

[Monkeybun]

When I got my Monkey-bun, she was 7 and a half weeks old.. she loved napping in a box full of Carefresh bedding. You could try that, my bun still loves it

[RabbitPam]

It sounds like you’re taking good care of them. They’ll probably get a favorite corner soon, and if you keep the litter in the pan soft and different from the cage bottom, they will tell the difference and probably opt to poo and sleep in the litter pan. More than one is excellent.

The vet may not even be able to sex them at this age, so be prepared for anything. I would have a second cage, or an x-pen ready for a few months from now when they will need to be separated until one is spayed. Eventually you will need to do both, but that’s about 5 months off.

They are obviously happy and healthy since they are doing binkies! Pix please.

[Sadie]

Presenting….

 

This is Noah and Celery. I think you can guess which is which.

Gazpacho is shy today, so no descent pics yet. Sorry to keep you in even more suspense.

[MirBear]

adorable!!!!! she looks so sweet!

but she looks like she has some dutch in her??  too cute

[Sadie]

This is an old pic of Gazpacho (on the left) with her big sister. Gazpacho was the littlest one of the litter and the other bunny in the pic was the biggest.

 

How big do dutch bunnies get?

[Monkeybun]

Celery sure is an odd name for your son.. hehe.
Adorable babies!!!!! *snugglesnuggle*

My dutch boy Moose is about 4 pounds right now, and he’s just shy of a year old now, so he should be full grown.

[Sadie]

Actually, one of the reasons I named the bunny Celery is because my sister has been threatening for years to name one of her children Celery. She says it’s a pretty word and would be a nice name for a little girl. I thought if we ‘wrecked’ the name by giving it to a bunny she’d be less likely to torture her future child by naming her that. It’s clearly a bunny name, right?

[Monkeybun]

It’s definitely more of a bunny name than a name for a little girl! That would just be… weird. Not to mention, the kid would get picked on tons all through school.

[MirBear]

LOL AWEE POOR BABY :p AND DUCH’S ARE QUITE SMALL

[MirBear]

sorry, caps lock

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Sadie on 03/15/2010 02:49 PM

Actually, one of the reasons I named the bunny Celery is because my sister has been threatening for years to name one of her children Celery. She says it’s a pretty word and would be a nice name for a little girl. I thought if we ‘wrecked’ the name by giving it to a bunny she’d be less likely to torture her future child by naming her that. It’s clearly a bunny name, right?

Lol ! It does have a ring to it…but so true, she would get teased terribly.

Ok, so I was “Awww-ing” as soon as I saw your boy even before I scrolled down to the bunnies. What a CUTIE!  Baby buns cute too!  Gazpacho definately has the harlequin colouration there.

 

[Sadie]

Thank you. We really are in cuteness overload around here.

[Beka27]

They are precious!

[TARM]

I got my bunny boys when they were almost 5 weeks old and I didn’t have any problems with them. I got really lucky. I sexed them myself at the house of the lady who had the oops litter and I was relieved that I guessed right that they were both boys…lol

Your bunnies are adorable! Your son is too! Congrats on the new additions!

[Lion_Lop_Lover]

I would like to note that you can wean at 6 weeks old, and several years ago I purchased a lionhead female who was just over 4 weeks old who had been weaned (from a breeder who’d been in the business 20 years).

So 5-8 weeks is weaning time.

[MirBear]

hhershey was weaned at i think 5 weeks if im correct but she wasnt sold untill 8, just so the breeder could make sure she was ok plus in her 8 weeks she had 2 vet checkups

[Beka27]

While it’s true that baby bunnies do begin eating solid food much younger than 8 weeks, it is not recommended they be away from their mother before 8 weeks.  I base my opinion not on what breeders say, but rather on what is scientifically based.

 

From Dana Krempel’s article on baby bunnies (about halfway down):    http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/surpriselitter.html

Step 4. Make sure mama has a varied bounty of unlimited food and water.

• Feed mama unlimited pellets, leafy green vegetables and grass hay, and be sure she always has a plentiful supply of clean, fresh water.
• The babies will begin to nibble at solid food as early as two weeks of age. However, they must not be weaned for a FULL EIGHT WEEKS AFTER BIRTH!

   

• As rabbits begin to wean (between the ages of four to five weeks), they begin to ingest bacteria that will eventually become part of their normal gut “flora.” At the same time, the pH of the intestine is changing, and the babies are ingesting many potentially harmful bacteria.

   

• Mother’s milk is designed to provide the babies with antibodies to kill pathogens (disease-causing agents) they ingest, and its pH changes as the babies get older. It is perfectly balanced to allow safe weaning.

   

• Babies who are weaned younger than 8 weeks suffer a very high risk of enteritis (inflammation of the intestinal lining, resulting in fatal diarrhea), especially when stressed (as by the separation from family and introduction into a new home!). Don’t subject the babies to an early death simply because they are “cute” at four weeks, and more appealing to potential adopters. A serious adopter will not mind waiting until the baby is fully weaned and ready to start life away from mama.

 

 

I am neither a biologist nor a nutritionist, but I can certainly understand the physiology behind this explanation.  It is possible for babies to be taken away from their mother prematurely, but I can not figure out why anyone would want to risk the long-term health of their rabbit by doing this.  This is the same reason why we spay and neuter.  We care about the quality of life and longevity of our animal companions.  I would encourage you to share this info with your “breeder friend” and as always, if still unsure, you may want to seek out the opinion of an experienced rabbit vet.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Welcome to Binky Bunny and congrats on your newly acquired status of bunny slave! They are so adorable! Can’t wait to see LOTS more pics! (you may have noticed we LOVE pics here)

[skunklionshow]

After my recent losses & such, you made my day.  Your babies (all 3) put such a smile on my face–they are all so gorgeous!  I hope you have many years ahead of fun & excitement.  Don’t expect much quality litter training at this point.  Rabbits have a way of learning/ un-doing/ relearning/ wreaking havoc & vengeance/ being on potty point.  So it’s likely to be messy for a while.  You may want to use towels or rag rugs that you can easily launder when they get super icky.

[Author]

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