New bunny momma (as of last night!)

[zoologist]

Hi!

My name is Jessy and I live in Orlando, Fl. I’m a student studying environmental science. I have 4 cats, a turtle, a hedgehog, a snail, and now… a rabbit!

I know little to nothing about rabbits but this guy needed a home ASAP so I offered mine up as a foster home or permanent home if I can’t find him one up to my standards.

Tofu was abandoned in an evicted house with a dirty cage and no food/water. The poor guy hadn’t been handled at all and spent his life in the cage. A neighbor rescued him, but with a toddler and a couple of dogs she doesn’t have the time to keep the rabbit happy. Plus the toddler loved to chase the rabbit which kept the poor guy scared and nervous.

He seems to be fitting in well at my house. The cats leave him alone, and he seems more interested in getting to know them then they like. He runs and plays, he lays out in the open, he jumps on the couch and lets us touch him. This is all in less than 24 hours. I’m sure it can only go up from here.

I’m curious how to litter train. I noticed he doesn’t use any one corner of his cage to pee, and his pellets are everywhere in the cage including the loft where his food is. He hasn’t peed outside of the cage but every now and again I have found some pellets. I pick them up and put them in a corner in his cage.

also what kind of rabbit is he? I don’t know his age. I do know he likes to mount a plastic ball so I assume he’s sexually mature (and ready to be neutered? Is that necessary?)

Thanks guys!

 

 PS- can you guys explain why they eat hay but you can use it as a litter base too?

 

[bmt87]

There are a lot of helpful threads that will answer most of your questions if you use the “Search” menu (right above the forums topics to the right).

I would suggest lining a rubbermaid container with some sort of litter (you do not need to line the whole cage) and putting his stray poops in there. you can also put a little hay in the front of the litter box to encourage him to stay in there and eat and poop at the same time – this worked best for me and pretty much trained my bun instantly. also, i don’t personally use the hay as a litter base (and don’t know if anyone actually does….if not someone will correct me if i’m wrong) but putting some of the hay in their box just encourages them to be in there. if he isn’t neutered it will also make potty training him more difficult.

congrats on the bun! and thanks for saving him! welcome to bun life! I’d be surprised if you give him up because they tend to steal your heart.

[Deleted User]

Congrats! I would suggest finding a rabbit savvy vet to get him looked over. =] Just a precaution. You’re in luck though because there are several rabbit savvy vets near you. I hope you have fun being a new bunny mom. They are great snuggly pets to have and will love you like no other.

[bunnyfriend]

Hi, welcome to BB and congratulations on the new bunny! I would absolutely recommend having your rabbit alter, not only does it benefit their health but it can really help reduce or get rid of “bad”behaviors such as humping or spraying urine. Altered rabbits also generally make better companions. It sounds like you’re going to be a good rabbit owner, definitely come back here for information and if you have any questions. I would highly recommend finding a rabbit savvy yet and getting a general wellness check up, your vet could help you with age and make sure your rabbit is healthy.

Here’s a link to a page on litter training that’s here on BB: Litterbox Training

[CinnabunMom]

Welcome to BB! Sadly, I can’t see the pics to help with breed. Gotta get him neutered, for all the reasons everyone has already said. Unless he has a medical condition which prevents him from going under you’re not going to find a whole lot of people who think leaving him intact is a good thing.

[zoologist]

Thanks for the replies! I will definitely check out the search feature. I’ve been browsing around the site looking at different links and understand that my questions are super common noob questions. Thanks for taking the time to answer them anyway!

Skipper, where in Florida do you live? Do you have any recommendations for a good vet in my area?

I’m sorry the pictures aren’t working but he’s the guy in my avatar. He’s small, white with brown eye patches. He has blue eyes, short ears, and puffy cheeks!

I am going to rework his cage when I get home from class today. I notice he prefers to sleep on his plastic loft and uses the base of the cage for the rest room. If I just put the care fresh in one section of the cage as litter and use a cloth liner for the rest of the cage do you think he would get the idea? He didn’t poo at all yesterday when he was out of his cage!

Right now the only way I can catch him to put him in his cage is by rolling his ball by him, wait for him to mount it, then pick him up. He runs really quickly if he knows I’m trying to herd him back into his cage :/

[emkvet]

I wouldn’t put anything on the floor of the cage, and only put in a cat box with care fresh. It’ll keep everything contained and he won’t get confused between the cloth and the care fresh area. Also, you mention that he is in a cage with a “loft”; I think I know what kind of cage you’re talking about, because I got one of those when I was just a beginning bunny owner. I wouldn’t recommend that kind of cage – it’s WAY too small for a rabbit. I would get an xpen, which has about 4×4 of space, which is minimum for any bunny. It’ll let him get more exercise. If you want, you can attach the xpen to the cage, so he can still lounge in the cage but not be restrained in it. You might have better luck getting him back into the pen, too.

Good luck!

[FrankieFlash]

Welcome to bunny slave-dom! You sound like a great owner so far if I may say so

Taking the time to learn all this is great and super important. As for the cage, does it have wire bottom? If so, that won’t be comfortable and that would be why he doesn’t prefer it. I would definitely get a litter box or Tupperware of some sort to use as litter box. There’s a thread I started with tips how to start a litter box in the habitat section on the top. You’ll see that every bun takes to something slightly different. He sounds like he might be easier to train though since he’s not having many outside of his cage. Neutering should cut that down too. It definitely help with behavior and my guy’s out of litter box droppings reduced significantly. (although he may leave one or two to say that this is his area).

If you’re planning on keeping him, I would invest in pen like emkvet suggested. Easier to clean than nic cube condos but that is also an option.

He looks adorable in your profile pic!

[IsabellaRobyn]

Yay you came!! (I’m the one who sent you the message on RR)
Welcome to BB, you’ll fit in great Personally I think he looks a little like a lionhead but he doesn’t seem to have much of a mane so he could be a cross (or entirely unrelated to a lionhead haha I’m not an expert on rabbit breeds I’m just guessing). I’m so glad you rescued the little man – how could anyone be so cruel to such a cute little face!!!

[zoologist]

emkvet and Frankie, I updated the first post with photos of his cage. It doesn’t have a wire bottom, and I agree it should be larger! He is only in his cage at night or when we’re not at home. With his amazing progress with knowing the cage is his bathroom, and watching him eagerly jump in and out of his cage at his own will, I wouldn’t be surprised if (as soon as I can convince the boyfriend) he becomes a full time house rabbit and is let out 24/7.

Called a couple of places about neutering…. holy cow! $340??? That’s a little steep. Especially for a college girl on a budget

[Deleted User]

I live in Spring Hill which is about an hour away from Tampa and three from Orlando. =p I do take my bun all the way out to Tampa though. =] I take her to Pebble Creek Animal and Bird Hospital. I used this site: http://www.bunspace.com/vets/vetsearch to help me search for a vet. I was also able to meet a bun parent on here that took her bun to the clinic. I would chose a vet that has been recommended by the House Rabbit Society. Just by doing a little search University Animal Hospital looks to have a good vet, Dr. Hobbs, who has been recommended by the House Rabbit Society. It never hurts to question the vet. Here is a good resource to look at: http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/vet.html It may take a while for you to find a vet you like. Which is okay. I would make sure to have a back up vet just in case your regular one is out of town. I hope you enjoy your bun! He’s totally precious!

[Deleted User]

I just saw how much they are charging you! My place is asking for $200 including the price for Critical Care, pain meds, a blood test, and the procedure. And that’s a little on the pricy side. I would talk to one of the bun rescues in your area to see if they can give you a good clinic recommendation that has cheap prices for neutering.

[FrankieFlash]

*squeee* he is so cute! I think that cage is okay for temporary purposes. Bunjamin had one that size when we started out.

[bmt87]

Called a couple of places about neutering…. holy cow! $340??? That’s a little steep. Especially for a college girl on a budget

That was my biggest surprise as a bun-owner!  I’m a grad student and thought the same thing!  $340 is slightly high but I had one place quote me as high as $450 (heckkkkk no!).  I ended up paying $150 at a House Rabbit Society vet and also got a rebate from my local HRS.  I would look into your look branch and see which vets they recommend and just be honest with them that cost is a factor. I was told it cost so much because how closely monitored rabbits need to be during their operation and the type of anesthesia used.  It just blew my mind that a dog cost under $50 (and sometimes free!) and a bun cost quadruple that. It’s VERY much worth getting it done though – it doesn’t change their little personalities and makes the living situation better for both you and them.  But the cost is part of the reason Lola’s bunfriend will be an adopted bun that has already been fixed. 

And – I don’t know if you took it this way but I just wanted to throw it out there – I didn’t mean to offend you by the whole ‘use the “search” engine’ thing…it just took me forever to realize it was there and now I use it all the time when I have a quick question.  

[Deleted User]

Haha! I thought it was just me. xD I literally just figured out there was a search bar a couple weeks ago and I’ve been this site for a couple of months now. I felt like a total dork.

I hope you find a vet you like Zoologist. =]

[CinnabunMom]

Yay the pics showed up for me finally! He’s so cute!!!

[zoologist]

Skipper, I will definitely check out a bunny rescue and ask for their advice. If that fails I just remembered the name of a WONDERFUL vet in Sarasota, Dr. Don. I took my male rats to him for neuters, and took my last hedgehog to him for a tumor removal. Absolutely amazing vet who really cares about his patients and his prices are so cheap it’s ridiculous ($50 for each neuter, $100 for the tumor removal, including pain meds!) And I found him on Bunspace so I guess he’s good to go!

Frankie, Bunjamin is such a cute name! Do you think Tofu will get any larger?

Thanks for the explanation, BMT! I was wondering the same thing… so cheap for cats/dogs. Doesn’t make sense that bunnies were so expensive (now it does). And I didn’t take offense at all I am on a bunch of forums and always tell people to use the search function….. sometimes it’s not in a nice way like you did.

[zoologist]

Success! Dr. Don will do the neuter for $100 setting up an appointment for next week!

[bunnyfriend]

Good! Wilbur’s spay costed me about $400!

[bullrider76543]

It cost me almost 400 for Blue to get neutered, but I found another vet that was a lot better priced and knew more about rabbits and Baby is getting spayed on the third for only $75.

[Furbrats' mum]

Welcome to the world of rabbit-slavery…hehe..soon he will have you at his beck & call (if they can speak)….
Your bunny looks like a lion-head..based on that pic you posted..the chubby cheeks & that ‘soon to be fringe’ below his ears…he looks adorable…my lion head looked like yours when he was a baby…
Don’t worry about not knowing how to take care of him…with alot of love & patience (god knows that they do push thier limits), you will soon know how..

I didn’t know a thing when I 1st had mine, and still don’t know after all these time, but he’ll ‘teach’ you how to..

Sorry i cant help you with info on being neutered as I live in a totally different part of the world, it cost me 70 dollars (after currency conversion) and it’s so difficult to find a rabbit-savy vet in my country as people don’t really bother much about rabbits, a vet told me that his patients are about 70 dogs to 1 rabbit.. *gasp*

Good luck!

[Cristina]

OMG! Your Tofu is absolutely adorable!!! YAY for you opening your home to him and LOVE the new btw! I’m new to BB as well and I adore it here. Everyone is SUPER helpful and they don’t treat you like your a goober for asking questions. So seriously ask away! Everyone on here knows their stuff! =)

$340 also seems way ridiculous to me!!! Holy crap. $100 is much better and its a vet you know and trust which is super important! I am getting my Toby neutered in a few months. He’s only 14 weeks old so we still have to wait a while. I’m on the hunt for a place to get it done at to. I’m going to take him to the vet I took my other bun to, but I’m not sure she does neutering. I know Spay Houston charges $80 for male rabbits, and it includes a vet examine BEFORE you book the procedure so they can check out the bun. I believe the meds are extra but they said only about $15 or so. I’m sooo happy that it’s a reasonable price. Whew!

[Monkeybun]

Usign hay as a litter base as well as food can be fine, as hay doesn’t absorb the urine. Just put newspaper under it so it doesn’t slosh. It will require changing more frequently though, just reuse the good hay

[jerseygirl]

Welcome : )

I agree with the suggestion he’s a little lionhead bunny. Some grow their manes in closer to one year if age and some are called unmanned lionheads. I think the blue eyes come from the Vienna gene. He’s pretty darn cute! I’d love to see close up if these blue eyes.

Right now the only way I can catch him to put him in his cage is by rolling his ball by him, wait for him to mount it, then pick him up.

hahaha! That’s a novel approach.

Rabbits are classed as Exotics so the vet you have sounds promising. Especially if he’s neutered rats and operated on hedgehogs.

[ripley294]

i have the same cage exept a little bigger cute rabbit some litter boxes come with directions but basically you put litter in the box not cat litter i would recommend wood pellets spout $5 a bag for fifty pounds then put hay down on top of it

[LittlePuffyTail]

Welcome to BB. Tofu is absolutely gorgeous! Such a cute name for a bun. I adore the pic of him with the little ball.

[zoologist]

here’s an up close of his eye

and i loveeeee his dirty bunny feets

[Mimzy]

I definitely see lionhead as well but I’m thinking a mix. I personally see a little bit of a hotot rabbit in there, anyone else? Check out some pictures of some hotot bunnies online and see Maybe a mix of both!

Whatever breed he is, he’s super cute! I love those chubby cheeks hehe. Welcome to BB!

[IsabellaRobyn]

Posted By Mimzy on 08/28/2012 12:48 AM

I definitely see lionhead as well but I’m thinking a mix. I personally see a little bit of a hotot rabbit in there, anyone else? 

I thought he was a lionhead hotot cross as well.  His shape past his head isn’t as lionheadly and he has the pretty eye-liner like hotots have.  Also it looks like he has longer fur around his neck (not as much as a mane but the hint of one) so he could be a single maned lionhead cross still waiting for the mane to come in, or the mane will never come because of the cross.  Regardless of what breed he is though – he’s such a cutie!

[Deleted User]

Tofu is just too cute! =3

[zoologist]

He got neutered today, yay! I’m excited for less hormones and less stray poops. The vet said he was over a year but other than that couldn’t tell me an age.

[LittlePuffyTail]

What beautiful eyes!!!

Glad the neuter went well.

[Author]

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