t’s been an interesting week

[Emmie]

And I think my bunny is alot older than I originally thought. Firstly I’ve weighed her. She’s 1.5lbs.

Secondly. she’s started running circles around my legs which I’ve read is a sign she’s looking to mate? Is that true? She’s also started to lick herself down there recently. Now I figure she’s just cleaning herself.

She’s also started making these squeaking noises today? Firstly when she was eating. And then she was lying down and she made it again? Like, a sneeze or something maybe? Sounded like a rubber duck being squeezed. She’s running about as normal and playing, so I don’t know if she’s sick or what?!

[peppypoo]

1.5lbs is still quite light for a little bunny…Peppy was about 4.5lbs at 6 months, considering that her fully grown weight is just over 5 lbs. Zelda’s ears don’t look like true Netherland dwarf ears either, in comparison to the size of her head (look up pictures of Netherland dwarves online and you’ll see what I mean), so I’m guessing that she may still have a good bit of growing to do. I’m just taking a guess though…in any case, the vet should be able to tell when you take Zelda for a visit.

Circling is an affectionate behavior, which yea, a lot of time means looking to mate. However, even after being spayed, some bunnies will still do it. I just assume it means they really like you .

No idea about the squeaking o_O. Bunnies do make kind of a lower “honking” vocalization for a variety of reasons, but if it’s high pitched then I’m not quite sure what it could be.

p.s. You should take some more pictures of Zelda…she’s so cute

[Emmie]

Hahaha, my facebook is full of em! Here’s my fav so far!

Yeah, she made the noise twice. Once eating hay, the second time while she was resting. It defo isn’t that rabbit scream I’ve read about, that was horrible. I’m sure I’ll find out this week! She seems fine though, but I’m keeping an eye out for anything and everything!

She’s also taken to following me around everywhere. And I mean everywhere! It’s pretty funny. She’ll nudge me with her nose, but when I go to pet her she’ll pop off. Maybe she wants to be chased? I dunno. These rabbits be crazy!

Em, she does shake her head alot too, that’s nothing to be worried about either, right?
Also had her insured today, so feeing more relaxed now!
 

[Helenor]

I’ve heard that netherland dwarves mature pretty quickly. Some nethies stay really tiny too. My Lago is barely 2 pounds at 1 year. Panko is 2.2 pounds and doesn’t really have the dwarf ears. I know he’s not a mixed nethie, but his ears are longer than the standard.

I’m not exactly sure about the squeaking. Her head shaking could be mini head binkies. They do that sometimes.

[Emmie]

Hmm, well she is a little quieter today, but is alot more affectionate. I guess it is early days and she could just be getting used to the place.

Also, she seems to be scratching a good bit. I don’t know if that’s part of her grooming or not. How wil I know if there’s something wrong?

[Emmie]

Just to add to this, she’s been sleeping a whole lot more today. She’s flopping down beside me and sleeping. If I make a loud noise she’ll bound right back up. She’s eating and pooping normally. Reckon I’ve something to worry about?

[Sarita]

No, she sounds like a normal rabbit. My rabbits snooze all day long.

[Emmie]

Ah good to know. I think I’m worrying over nothing!

Thanks!

[Elrohwen]

1.5lbs sounds about right – Otto was that weight at 8 weeks and is now 4lbs. He stopped growing at 5 months though, so small breeds grow very quickly.

Sleeping all day is also perfectly normal! My bunnies can’t be budged between 9am and 7pm.

[Emmie]

Posted By Elrohwen on 04/19/2011 10:25 AM
1.5lbs sounds about right – Otto was that weight at 8 weeks and is now 4lbs. He stopped growing at 5 months though, so small breeds grow very quickly.

Sleeping all day is also perfectly normal! My bunnies can’t be budged between 9am and 7pm.

Hmmm. Maybe she’s 2months old then? I guess we’ll find out tomorrow. Calling the vet was hilarious.

Them: “How old is the rabbit?”

Me:”Hmmm. Not sure!”

Them:”Male or Female?”

Me”I *think* he/she is a she, haha!”

Them”Haha, okay.What kind of rabbit is it?”

Me:”Errrrr. I think a dwarf?!”

Them:”Do you know what color it is?!”

Me:”This I DO know! White. AND black!!”

[Elrohwen]

You can call it broken black if you want to be fancy! A broken is any color broken up by white. Though I don’t ever use the term with my two broken bunnies, you can make the vet think you sort of know what you’re talking about 😉 If you want to get even fancier you could consider her a “Charlie” – these are bunnies who got two broken genes (one broken gene will give a color like my bunnies) and have a lot of white and little color. So broken black Charlie 😀

For age, she definitely looks young to me. Maybe not quite 8 weeks, but definitely not older than a few months. Unless she’s going to be very small, around 2lbs or so, and then she might be older than I’m thinking.

[LoveChaCha]

Well, dwarf rabbits DO mature quite fast. My bunny when I got her, was about a pound. She is what breeders call ‘false dwarf,’ and she lacks the typical traits of a dwarf bunny. At full growth, my Chacha is a 4 pound Nethie Yes, 4 pounds

[jerseygirl]

She’s also started to lick herself down there recently. Now I figure she’s just cleaning herself.

She’s prob eating her cecotrophes. Are you familiar with those yet? A quick 101: they’re the soft “droppings” they produce and reingest to get vital nutrients and vitamins. It also helps establish good gut bacteria. Kinda gross but really clever at the same time.
I only learnt recently  that they start producing these from a pretty young age. I had thought they’d be older then 8weeks but the little one I have now was doing this at est. 4wks old.

To be honest, Zelda sounds like a content little bunny. : ) And VERY cute. Some make little squeak noises now and then. When eating or sleeping. I remember when I heard my 1st bunny making that soft hum noise when hopping around too. “hmm hmm hmm” I couldn’t work it out. I thought it was her bones creaking! lol
 

She’s flopping down beside me and sleeping.

Aww! I love it when they do this. I could stare at them for hours. A couple times, the little one has done 2ft popcorn binkies (straight up in the air) over my legs then flops besides them to nap.

 

[Monkeybun]

Smudge likes to grunt at things, its cute

[Emmie]

Haha, excellent! She is amazingly cute though. I just watch her groom herself and when she grabs her little ears… omg, sooo cute!

To be honest, I wouldn’t be half as good at making her happy as I am without your help, guys! When I took her to the vet today we found out that she’s about 2mths old, she’s 700g/1.5lb(Americans, LOL ) and the vet is 95% sure she’s a she. Apparently she’s still too young to be 100%. I’m having her vaccinations done next month too and then a spay in a few months time.

Also, the little squeaks were probably hiccups! I was freaking out about nothing! I just love her to bits so I over-worry!

[Author]

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