Remind me

[CrymsonRed]

Oh God, it’s been so long since I’ve had rabbits that I feel like I might need a refresher course…

Wasn’t there talk a few years back about giving the buns a diet of just hay and veggies? Possibly with a very (limited) amount of pellets? I live in farm country so hay is pretty abundant and cheap. My understanding is that you’d use the horse grade hay.

To remind ya’ll, I have two buns- Mini lop and possibly a mini rex? Todd is most definitly male but Bon-Bon is still kinda up in the air as she’s a bit too young to tell. They both love their hay and I’m currently growing organic herbs in my garden for them to munch on. 

I’m looking into getting him fixed at the vet that I got Sir Thumpsey done at but that’s now a three hour trip, but I honestly don’t trust any up here. Due to being a smaller area, vet visits run much higher than in the city and I have no issues driving down and visiting my family.

After which, I plan on bonding them. Ultimately, I’d love a trio but we’ll see how that goes. They are already very friendly with one another and when they are out he seems to protect Bon-bon. It looks promising. 

[Sirius&Luna]

Hi! Congrats on your new bunnies! A good starting point is the BUNNY INFO section, which is full of useful information about diet, bonding etc.

But I’ll try and give you a quick overview:
Diet – a rabbit’s diet should be 80-90% hay, with 10% veggies, and 5% pellets. Horse hay is fine, but make sure it’s not got alfalfa in it, as alfalfa should only be given to young buns as it’s quite fattening. The veggies should be mostly leafy green veg, but it can be supplemented with a small amount of other veg like celery, bell peppers, broccoli etc. Pellets should really only be so that they get the added vitamins, rather than a staple of their diet. I personally give my 1kg bunnies a tablespoon each, but up to 1/8 – 1/4 cup per 6 pounds of bunny is an acceptable amount.
Try to keep non-hay feedings to 2 or 3 times a day, so you encourage them to eat hay throughout the day. If they know they’re always about to get a veggie treat, then they often don’t bother with eating enough hay

Things like small pieces of apple, carrot or banana, or a berry can be given as a treat a couple of times a week

At this stage, they shouldn’t be allowed to spend time together, as rabbits can get pregnant from a very young age, and it can be very dangerous for them. Unneutered and unspayed rabbits are also likely to fight when hormones kick in, so its best to keep them separate at all times.

[CrymsonRed]

So to clarify, the small amount of pellets is a normal thing- not a oh crap, my bun is overweight thing?

I had just learned on here that male buns can launch their sperm and I had never heard that before…

Their cages are the spare room and then I let them out for run time one at a time but he goes over and licks her through the cage. He’s always keeping an eye out for the cats too. Snowflake thinks they are “her” babies. Hugo took a little bit to get used to them but he seems to have warmed up to them.

Thanks for you input S&L. Sir Thumps has been gone for four years and it was time to move on. “She’s” laid back and just enjoys laying around and Todd- well he’s a little stinker.

[Sirius&Luna]

Yes, current thinking is that adult rabbits should not have unlimited pellets, as it makes them fat and discourages hay consumption. The advice from the HRS is 1/4 of a cup of pellets per 6lb of bunny, but many of us here, including me, only give our buns about a tablespoon of pellets. Kind of like humans would take a vitamin. Last time we went to the vets, I was told my bunnies were a perfect weight

The exception to this is baby bunnies, who up to 6 months, should have access to alfalfa based pellets. In theory, ‘unlimited’, but again, if it inteferes with hay consumption, it should be reduced. When I’ve had baby buns I’ve give them two 1/4 servings a day, which they didn’t start to finish until they were at the 4 month sort of mark. Once they started gobbling them all up in one go, rather than nibbling throughout the day, I started to reduce.

Be careful with them interacting through bars – rabbits can mate through bars as you’ve now found out, but they can also give nasty nips through bars – i found that out the hard way myself!

[CrymsonRed]

The pet stores around here actually don’t carry alfalfa pellets so they’ve already been started on the “adult” pellets. He’s pretty much a teen but she’s younger- She still has baby bun fluff…Should I give her a bit more. They both love their hay so that’s never been an issue.

Thinking of the pellets as more of a supplement is really helpful.

I’ve read on here that the perfect duo usually consists of a wild one and a calm one. So I think they’d make a good duo at some point. As far as a third, I don’t even know, I may just have to get two more buns ^.^ I just gotta get better at identifying gender before balls drop or dewlaps form….lol

We have an extra large dog crate for them when they are bonded (after he gets neutered and “she” gets whatever-ed), my fiance is trying to work out how to put in an extra level. An ideas?

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