New Bunny owner Questions

[TLL]

Hello All – Great Site! I am learning a ton!

My daughter who is 6, just received her 1st pet bunny, By me (her mom) she has had a Guinea Pig for the past 4 years, and was GREAT in taking care of it, with my help of course…I have to admit, I just LOVE having this little Mini Lop in our home, so comical!

Anyway, I have never had a bunny before so I am constantly learning more about them everyday…

I brought this little girl home at 8 weeks old, she is now 12 weeks old, I did get her litter box trained, and I am going to be making one of the awesome wire crate cages as shown on this web page. A soon as I locate the wire crates, I can get the coroplast but not the grates, go figure..

My question is how do I get her to eat veggies? She eats timothy hay and pellets and loves yogurt drops, but every time I try to give her carrots or lettuce she refuses to even try it. As for the yogurt drops all I need to do is shake the box to get her to come running! Any and all advise is most appreciated!

[Hedi]

HI and Welcome!

Besides our great site make sure you check out the national House Rabbit Society page at http://www.rabbit.org. Anything and everything you ever want to know is there.

For a 12wk old rabbit their diet should consist of unlimited Timothy Pellets (check packaging, most commerical rabbit foods have seeds and other things that are bad for bunny and make them fat-if you see alfalfa listed as one of the first ingredients then it is like feeding your rabbit macdonalds)

. Also provide access to unlimited timothy and alfalfa hays. A great timothy pellet that is cheap is Purina Rabbit Chow. I dont know where you live but in OH it is $12 for a 50lb bag.

Be careful with giving your bun yogurt treats. Rabbits get addicted to sugar just like humans and it is very bad for them. Yogurt drops especially can be bad and most rabbit owners stay away from them and all other commerical treats. To be honest you are just wasting your money when you can use fruits that you and your family probably eat.

Healthy fruits have sugar and usually taste very good to a bunny. You can try blueberries, apple, strawberries, blk berries, rasberries, small slices of banana, raisins. NO cereals or carb type treats like bread. Buying frozen fruit and thawing for a weeks worth of use is always a great and easy idea.Carrots are considered a treat not a veggie so if she ever decides she likes them she should only be given a very small piece of carrot-like a baby carrot.

For a bunny that small treats should only be just a few small pieces a day because when a bun gains weight it is VERY hard to get it off.

As far as veggies maybe you just havent found one she likes? Here is a link to all veggies a bun can have: http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html

To see the whole list of how to feed your bunny here is a good link:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html#basics

Hope this helps!

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

Sometimes younger rabbits don’t develop a taste for veggies right away, but you should try introducing some one by one. Be careful not to give her too much variety at first, but one by one little by little just in case it upsets her stomach. This is also a good way to find out what she likes! Also, be careful to stay away from the light lettuces like iceberg, because they have no nutritional value and can cause diarrhea in some rabbits.

[BinkyBunny]

Welcome Twinkles!  

It’s great that you are also falling for this bunny!  Now, with better health and care, rabbits are living to be 10 years old and longer, and your daughter will be into her teens. Many times parents find that rabbits really do become the "Family" pet as their kids age.   They can make wonderful pets, and the fact you have gotten her litter trained is awesome.   Don’t be surprised though in the next few months if she seems to lose those habits or acts strange, or even a bit difficult, as she is reaching sexual maturity.  There are many solutions to those possible upcoming challenges, so be sure to keep us updated so we can guide you through.

Regarding veggies for a 12 week old. House Rabbit Society recommends "one at a time, quantities under 1/2 oz"  And you’ve already gotten the list and the do’s and don’ts.

Regarding the wire grates – here is a link the Cool habitats page – scroll down to the bottom and there will be a few links to places that sell them. 

[ubergoober]

aww congrats on the new addition to the family! Bunnies are great! I dont think I have much to add that hasnt already been posted. Just be sure to read up on spaying your bunn when she’s a bit older.

[skunklionshow]

I’m so pleased that your daughter is taking such good care of her pig and bunny!  I’m not sure if your in the US, but Target has the grate thingys on sale this week for $12.99 (enough for 6 cubes). 

My Jessi is currently overweight…AKA "chunky monkey".  I got a little carried away w/ giving Jessica treats b/c its the only time she gives me any love.  The vet said…"treats are not love!"  It made me laugh b/c for Jessica it is love. 

Jess is a netherland dwarf about 4.5 lbs, anyway, the vet tech said to give no more than a baby carrot every other day.  No more than 2 raisins a day, she likes craisins (dried cranberries), limit to 2 pumpkin seeds a day.  1/4 cup of pellets (oxbow is recommended) and unlimited hay and greens.  Jess doesn’t really like hay!  The vet suggested the Orchard hay instead of Timothy b/c its obvious that she has a sweet tooth! 

Jessi will start her diet after her food intake and sluggishness seems better.  She got spayed last Friday and she’s been a bit off since then.  We’ve had to syringe feed her….baby food (carrots & veggie blend). 

[TLL]

Thank You Everyone!

 

Skunklionshow – I am in Illinois, I will go to Target to get them, but according to what I have found they are only available thru the internet and it is almost $30.00 in shipping for 2 boxes!!

Also, to clarify, our little piggie passed on…Which is why my daughter has a rabbit. Our piggy was 5 years old and had been euthanized due to a respiratory infection that had progressed beyond treatment.

And I did get rid of everything due to it possibly being comtagious…..

 

[Hedi]

Im guilty of giving into my buns too….

My minirex was almost 2lb overweight at the age of 2 and the vet was very stern with me. I was giving her alfalfa based food because she refused to eat the timothy pellets. He told me that if she was hungery she would eat it. And she did!

So, we all have done something bad or wrong in our existance with bunnies. It is a learning curve. Like I always say- You dont know what you dont know! I was ignorant at that time about a lot of rabbit stuff. The internet has been a great help!

Im glad you are enjoying your bun!

[MooBunnay]

Hello Twinkles and Welcome!!

Everyone has provided such great information that I’m not sure what else to add….When I was a new bunny owner one of the first questions I had was about exercise.  I was not sure how much exercise a bunny needed, and then I found out that letting Juli out of her pen at least on hour a day was best.  I got her very well trained, and now she enjoys up to 4 hours of out of the pen time each day.  This is the most fun part of my day because its the time I get to see BINKY"s!! Of course, nothing compares to a Bitty Bunny Binky, have you been seeing some of those from your new family member?

Also, a fact I found surprising when I first got rabbits was that they are "crepuscular" meaning that they are most active at dawn and dusk (and then sleep…a lot….makes me wish I was a bunny, sleeping in a big comfy fur coat all day!)

Let us know if you have any more questions!

[skunklionshow]

I was at Target today….the cubes are 12.99 a box, they come in black, white, asst colors.  You can find them in the storage furniture section, usually near their hardware area.  They usually sell build it yourself particle board furniture in that section, so not the regular furniture.  You can also get the zip ties in the electrical/ light bulb section.  I had to get some more ties for when Jess is able to climb again in her cage (I had to remove her leaping shelf). 

I think your daughter will have a great time building the cage w/ you.  I know the hubby and I had a lot of fun pretending to be architects.

[TLL]

Well I  guess I am going to Target! Thank You! I have been very anxious to make her new home…

There are so many ideas and examples I do not know where to start!

Thank You Everyone! I am sure you will be seeing more of my posts since I am already addicted to this site!

Whoever posted this website info on Craigslist, THANKS A BUNNY BUNCH!

[Lucy]

Twinkles- I’m in IL also, in Chicago actually. I found the cheapest place to get the cubes was bed, bath and beyond. You can go with with either a 20% coupon or a $5 off coupon that you get in the mail. They should be cheaper now, and in stock, because it’s college season.

[TLL]

Just another Thank You!

I did go to Target and bought 2 boxes of the crates! I only used 1 box for now, I went 2 levels high with a platform for her, and put linoleum on the bottom as well! She loves it! So do I!

After she is fixed, I will add a 3rd level…She has plenty of out of cage time, usually 6 to 8 hours, if not the whole day!

I am going to post pictures eventually, I just have not taken any yet! (My Bad)

And to my fellow "Chicago Neighbor"…I am in the west suburbs! HELLO!

 

[Lucy]

hi back! there’s a few of us here from chicago… We usally post if there is something bunny related going on in chicago.. so maybe the next time there is a spa day @ red door shelter, maybe you can stop by!

[Gravehearted]

that’s great Twinkles, glad she’s enjoying her new home! can’t wait to see pics.

[Author]

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