New owner looking for advice!

[beaumont]

Hello, all!

Yesterday, I went and picked out my beautiful bunny and brought him home. He seems to be adjusting pretty well and isn’t completely petrified. He allows me to pet him and is eating his food. However, as a new bunny owner, I still have a bunch of questions about the whole process.

I got my bun from a really awesome lady who breeds show bunnies. She was really helpful about the whole process and cared about my concerns. All of her bunnies seemed really happy and playful, and really are as gorgeous as they come. I normally read, however, that rabbits should be fed almost completely hay and a bit of pellets. The pellets she makes are comprised of ground flaxseed, manna, and vitamins, and my bunny seems to really like it. She said that at least for a little while there is no need to feed hay at all with it, but I just want a second opinion on that. What do you guys think?

His housing is another thing I’ve had on my mind. I couldn’t find a cage anywhere, so in the meantime I got a pen which allows for a good, spacious chunk of room for him. In the pen I have his litterbox, his food and water bowls, a few toys, and a cardboard box for him to play in (he seems to love it.) However, is this a bad method? Is a cage really ideal in general? I ordered one online the other day, but is it worth replacing the pen over?

Next, his litterbox. He is only 8 weeks old so I know it will likely become easier with time, but I still am hoping I can get him on it sooner rather than later. I laid down a few puppy pads below him which has been a godsend, but his poops/pees have been pretty sporadic. He doesn’t poop in a single mound, but rather drops them over a wide area over a few minutes. With pee, he pretty much only pees on certain surfaces (i.e. the bed I tried to give him.) In his corner litter box, I have a layer of bedding and food in the corner, with his food bowl accessible as well. I pick up all of his droppings and place them in the box, and wipe up all messes and place the paper towels in the box. Regardless, he doesn’t seem to use it much. What can I do to incentivise him to start using it? I want to let him roam the apartment free eventually so I really want him to be consistent about it!

Lastly, I just want to make sure his behavior is okay. When I give him room to play, he occasionally sprints but stops right after, often to sniff something. He likes to nibble on a lot of things (other than the wood block I gave him, of course!) and loves to inspect everything.None of this seems wrong, but I am just worried his lack of running is bad for him! Am I doing something wrong? He seems a bit bizarre sometimes. At points he will just sit there completely unfazed for minutes at a time, wide awake. Sometimes he nibbles crazily on the bars despite being in a slew of toys and playthings around him. Sometimes he will nibble on his bedding! I don’t think any of this is catastrophic, I just want to cover all bases. Also, while he doesn’t like being pet on the ground, I think he likes being pet when on a pad in my lap. I will stroke him for hours at a time and he will place his head down and let me stroke him. When I rub his cheeks, his teeth shake quite a bit, but I can’t tell if that’s a good or a bad sign. He seems to relax a lot when I do it, but I am not sure if that is just him too petrified to do anything to fight off. He rarely initiates the cuddles though! Will that come with time?

Anyways, sorry for the spam of questions! Just hope you guys could give me your two cents. The past two days have been incredibly overwhelming for me and have been filled with tears over how badly I fear messing up or hurting the little guy. I am scared to even leave the room without him. I am scared that I am going to train him wrong. I am even too scared to name him because I feel like I am going to injure, or worse, kill him and I just can’t deal with that trauma. Am I overthinking this? I just want a happy life for my sweet little guy. 

Much love

[tobyluv]

All rabbits need hay. For their complex digestive systems and for their teeth. I assume this is a young bunny, so he can have alfalfa hay. You could also go ahead and buy some timothy hay or other varieties of hay to mix in with the alfalfa. I’ve never heard of homemade pellets, so I don’t know if those are providing all the vitamins and minerals that he needs.

If you have a good, safe, spacious pen for him, there is no need for a cage. He is being kept inside, correct? It sounds like you have a good setup as far as what you have placed in the pen.

It can be difficult to fully litter box train a rabbit that hasn’t been spayed or neutered, so you might not have a lot of success with that now.

Bunnies love to sniff, explore and nibble on things. They aren’t constantly on the move and will sit or rest a lot of the time. Make sure that any areas he is in are bunny proofed, so that he can’t chew on wires or anything else that you value.

Having a new rabbit or any pet can be a bit overwhelming.  There is a lot of good info here if you click on the BUNNY INFO link at the top of the page, and we are always happy to answer questions.

[ThorBunny]

Hello!

Yes all rabbits need hay, no matter if they are young or not. It should be the majority of his diet! Not sure about the pellets, but if they come from the breeder they are probably high in calories for growing bunnies and moms with kits. You may be able to keep him on them for a bit, but in the end it would probably be better to transition to a commercial pellet so you can be sure he is getting the right nutrients! I feed Oxbow pellets, there are several other good brands as well.**edit: when transitioning pellets make sure to do it slowly to avoid disrupting his digestive system, over the course of a few weeks slowly increase the amount of new pellet while decreasing the old one**

His pen sounds perfect! Rabbits don’t really need cages, mine is free in the apartment and just has an area that is hers for the litterbox, hay and toys.

For his litter box, you might try moving it to areas where he tends to pee already (like where his bed is ) to help him get the idea.

I also think the behavior sounds totally normal! My bun only runs for a few minutes a day, most of the rest of the time she hops about or lounges. Its great he lets you pet him The tooth shaking is called a tooth purr, it is how bunnies show they are content and enjoy the petting, consider it a compliment Thor does the tooth purring as well when I rub her cheeks <3

Good luck with your little bun! We’d love to see pictures

[beaumont]

Hey! Thank you both so much for your advice. I cannot tell you how much it helped to ease my anxiety and make me feel so much better as a bunny papa. I ended up settling on the name Beaumont for him, and I think it suits the little guy well.

A little update: I just got back from the store and covered all the bases. I got him countless new toys, two different types of litterboxes, alfalfa hay, a new feeder, and a salt lick. I just gave them all to him and already see a difference! He is happily munching down the hay I gave him, and even eating more of the pellets than I have seen him eat since he got here! I placed a second option for a litterbox, and while he hasn’t used it yet, he seems to be getting closer with each accident! I took away the puppy pads because he was gnawing on them a little too much and I started to worry. I also worried about the odors staying in them and confusing the litter situation!
Because he kept making a HUGE mess of his first litterbox, I decided to add a wire bottom to it so he doesn’t make too much of a mess. He seems to much prefer it, but I worry since he sits there quite a bit and I don’t want him to hurt his little feet! Once he is pretty consistent about his bathroom habits, I plan on taking away the wire floor, though. Is it cruel to give him a wire floor for the litterbox? I hear a lot about it being bad online, but most of the bunny trainers I have spoken to said it’s more than fine for a learning rabbit.
Just in case, I ordered him a new cage to see if he enjoys it a bit more/if it will make my room a bit more space efficient (I live in a studio apartment, so it can get a liiiittle cramped sometime! If the pen is okay, though, I have no problems with it. I just worry about him nibbling the paint off the bars (he did a little bit yesterday.) Also, while it is not really accessible, it is somewhat near an electrical outlet (no wires in it!) so maybe a cage will help rearrange him a bit farther away.

This is his current setup: http://imgur.com/a/k1Xz8 thoughts?

This is the happy guy himself: http://i.imgur.com/hurwocE.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Ks6nRj0.jpg

He is a harlequin dwarf lop and is the child of two show winning rabbits! I’ve noticed the pellets do give him quite the shine, so I am glad he is more interested in them now

Also, PS: I like my room nice and chilly at about 60-64 degrees at night. Is that too cold for a bunny?

[ThorBunny]

Aw he is adorable! I love the “tiger” stripes on harlequin rabbits.

His setup looks very nice. The only thought I have is some rabbits don’t like hardwood floors since it is hard to get a grip on them (rabbits, unlike dogs, don’t have those pads on their feet it is just fur down there). I’d suggest throwing down a blanket or towel so he has something to sit on if he wants! Many people prefer fleece blankets since they can’t be chewed up easily, plus they are cute and soft

Wire bottom on the litter box shouldn’t be a problem unless he spends a ton of time in there. I personally have a wire screen on my litter box since Thor loves to dig in it (yuk). It is known to be a problem if rabbits live full time on wire, since it can cause foot injuries from standing on it too long, again because rabbits have no paw pads.

Glad to hear he is eating hay! His toys sound great. I don’t think rabbits need salt licks, but maybe someone else knows more about them?

And 60F is perfect for a rabbit, they generally run a little hot. When you are comfortable your rabbit is probably a bit too warm. Its good to keep in mind since they don’t handle the heat very well, we start worrying about heatstroke when temps get above 80-85F

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