New fluff

[GlennTheLionhead]

We have adopted a new fluff from a rescue! We are very excited about her. She came from terrible conditions with little human interaction so we have a long road to gain her trust. Shes the most nervous bunny we’ve met, she hides and shakes in the presence of people the poor baby! But we have a pet cam so we can see shes actually got a nice little personality when were not around.

She was spayed a couple weeks ago so we will give it 3-4 weeks before we start the bonding, hopefully this will give her time to warm up to us.

Shes super cute, and so fluffy that the rescue had to shave her face before we picked her up, lol.

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[DanaNM]

Awwww new fluff! She’s adorable!! Does she have a name yet?

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[prince dorian the bun]

Aww what a cute fluff! Glad she has a good bunny home finally.

[Bam]

Oh, she’s adorable! How lucky she is to get to be part of your family! 🥰

[GlennTheLionhead]

Thanks everyone!

Not sure about a name yet, me and my partner can’t quite decided on which one suits her best.

She wont really let me pet her yet, runs, thumps and hides if I try to pet her, but if I sit in the room for long periods of time she will anxiously start to forage around her pen, groom a little and eat some cecals as long as I make no sudden movements. I hope that she will eventually warm up to us, she wont even take food from our hands yet bless her.

[DanaNM]

Aww I’m sure she will! My best advice is to play “hard to get” and basically ignore her for a while. 🙂

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[GlennTheLionhead]

Thanks for the reassurance!

I played hard to get last night, i was sat in the room across from her pen and left her pen open, just sorta ignoring her and she came about half way up to me and stared at me for a minute, I could tell by her body language she was very curious! And this morning I gave her pellets and she went straight over to them to gobble them up as they were pouring out of my hand! Two pretty massive things for her!

So we have a name! Me and my partner have been calling her nervous Nellie for these past few days and have actually decided that Nellie is a cute name for a bunny and we both think it suits her.. So Nellie it is!… Im not 100% sure if I would like to call her Penelope and Nellie for short or if I should just stick with Nellie in all it glory! Thoughts are welcome on which of the two names you guys like but it will be some from of Nellie 😊

[Bam]

It seems you are making progress 😀

I think Nellie is an adorable name for her! She could of course be officially called Penelope, possibly with a title such as Countess Penelope or The Honorable Lady Penelope, since all buns are nobility, but be known as Nellie for everyday purposes.

 

[DanaNM]

Nellie!! <3 Love it!

So cute! And that’s definitely progress!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[GlennTheLionhead]

So we decided Penelope on paper and Nellie for short and @Bam I love the idea of giving her a title – so cute, my partner not so much though, so not on paper but just for me shes officially called Duchess Penelope “surname” lol.

Well the little Duchess is currently recovering from a dental at the vets and had cost an expected £600 already in vets fees after just 5 days of having her here! I guess we are essentially cleaning up the mess her previous owner left… She was on a nugget only diet before so I’m suprised she made it this long without a dental to be honest. Its just a shame she couldn’t have waited for her insurance policy to kick in before getting ill….. Canned meals for the rest of the month for me lol

Hey ho, the main thing is she appears to be on the mend!

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Oh, what a beautiful girl! I hope that Lady Penelope will feel at home with you soon ^_^

 

[Bam]

Oh wow 600 $$$ 😖

I had a dental bun before, and no bun insurance here covers dental procedures, so it did become very expensive. He was an older bun already when I got him though. Do you have any idea how old Nellie might be? (I think it’s a clever idea to keep her ladyship’s title somewhat secret, it’ll help keep the paparazzi at bay 😉).

[DanaNM]

Oh goodness! I’m sure she will start feeling much better soon! I wonder if her tooth issues were related to her skittishness? Pain often causes fearful behavior in buns.

Since you just adopted her, I would talk to the rescue, they may be able to help out with the recent vet bills! Some rescues do this!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[GlennTheLionhead]

Hey

So I have a little health question, she is recovering from her dental – which also caused a bout of stasis before she had the dental – hence the high cost of vet fees lol. The statsis was treated nice and early and she had a little input and out put before her anesthetic and dental. Since her dental its been the same, little input and output on her own along with a bit but not too much CC as she is nibbling. One thing I’ve noticed though is for now she is almost exclusively eating fresh dandelion flower and leaves and fresh grass from the garden – but mainly the dandelion flowers, woman is obsessed. I cant seem to get her to eat much else on her own though yet.

So my question is how much is too much? For a recovering bunny I expect I can be a bit more lenient as eating crucial but how many fresh dandelions flower and leaves would you allow a recovering bunny thats only eating that?

Aside from that we have some grooms and flops followed by confusingly loud purs?, i say confusing as she will eat, flop, look relaxed but then chomp her teeth so its a bit hard to tell if thats pain or just a big relaxation chomp. Like i say shes floped and her guts are on the move, shes also on pain meds so it might just be part of her recovering.

Also @DanaNM thats a good point! We have been in touch with the rescue about this and it does look like thsy might be able to help partially with payment 😊

@Bam – Nellie is about 4-6 years old so shes seen some days

[Wick & Fable]

To my knowledge, dandelions aren’t super high in sugar so there isn’t a concern like overfeeding treats… that being said, dandelions flowers aren’t going to provide much of anything (I imagine) into daily diet unless it’s a significant number, and I personally would opt to see if the hunger motivates her to eat something else instead of dandelion flowers. Fresh grass seems like a better “bridge” into hay. Ultimately, if she is objectively not eating a lot on her own, you want most of what she’s eating to be the Critical Care or pellets, since those are going to provide her the nutrients to stay strong and continue recovery (relative to dandelion leaves, flowers, and grass, which nutritionally hold very litter). For precautions on feeding grass, see here: https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Grass

 

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[DanaNM]

Dandelion leaves are really nutritious and good for bunny tummies! I would say if she’s eating the leaves, you can offer up to the amount you’d normally feed in a salad. I’m leaning towards the same answer for the flowers, but I don’t honestly know the full nutritional content of the flowers… As a more “natural feed”, weeds are more nutritious than domestic lettuces etc. I would try and intersperse them with hay and keep giving critical care until her hay consumption is better though. It’s better to err on the side of feeding a bit more critical care than is needed, because extra won’t hurt, but too little could slow recovery. Fennel is also really good for buns that are recovering from stasis as it helps with gas, I used to gather lots of wild fennel for my buns in CA, they loved it.

Fresh grass is also great, because it’s water + fiber, which are essential for gut function, and softer on the mouth.

As for the loud tooth chattering, it’s hard to say. If it’s coupled with a more relaxed body position, it could be happy purring. If she’s looking more hunched or uncomfortable, it could be a sign of pain.

I’m glad to hear the rescue is going to help out a bit!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[GlennTheLionhead]

Thanks for the advice both! I applied it yesterday, giving her dandelion leaf mainly interspersed with lots of encouraging grass and some pellets, I also gave her a tiny bit of fennel! I tried a bit myself when preparing it and was surprised to find it tastes like licorice lol.

She appears to be doing a lot better now and has bounced back quite quickly and eating has returned to normal 🙂

Also I feel like shes just a super loud purrer/tooth chatterer as she will have a munch of some hay, do a big body shake, flop down then crunch her teeth super loud and continuously for about 30 seconds to 1 minute then fall asleep. I have never known a bunny be such a loud chatterer before. Glenn does do big chomps sometimes but it will be for like 3 seconds then reverts to quite chattering… Though she is also a very loud chewer, it sounds like twigs breaking when she eats hay lol

[Bam]

I just wanted to add that buns can have the dandelion stalks as well as the leaves and flowers. The stalks have very good fiber. People wouldn’t eat them because theyre very bitter.

The roots are actually very healthy too.

Dandelion is a diuretic and can color pee orange-red, so dont be alarmed if you see that.

I had a loud purrer, the bun in my avatar (Bam). His purrs could be heard across a room 🥰

[DanaNM]

I’m glad she is doing better!

And yes fennel has a licorice flavor! I don’t care for it very much myself, but the bunnies love it! I wish when you bought it in the store they didn’t trim all the tops off, that’s their favorite part.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Bam]

My Bam absolutely loved fennel! I grow herb fennel myself, it’s a variety that’s all tops and no bulbs 😃 Bam loved bulb fennel too, though. When the price was good I used to buy several kilos, cut the bulbs upp in slices and dry them. They made great healthy treats.

 

[DanaNM]

oooh i’ll have to look into that variety!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[GlennTheLionhead]

Oooh perhaps I can pull the whole root out too then!

That a good point about home grown herbs, I am planning on getting some equipment so I can home grow some things for the buns! My buns have always prefered veg from the farmers market over supermarket veg!

Side note, Nellies appetite is through the roof, her hay eating especially so her teeth really must have been bothering her.

 

[DanaNM]

That’s great! Poor girl must feel so much better!

If this was her first dental, she may not need them that frequently. Around age 5-6 buns bone density shifts a bit and they can need a filing or two to get them back on track, but may not need them as regularly as buns that have dental issues from a young age.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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