We just got a bunny!

[Rexxar]

We picked him up from the pet store yesterday evening. We were wondering what breed he is, just out of curiosity, can anyone tell me?

He must only be a few weeks old, with how small he is, should we keep anything special in mind with a bunny this small? When might he be ready for litter training? He doesn’t seem to have a preferred spot to poop, but just does it anywhere and everywhere….

He seems to be breathing oddly, too, it looks like he’s taking really short, quick breaths.

Last question, I promise! I feel like a paranoid new parent, geez..

He seems to have what might be called a tic if it were on a person.. Every now and then, his lip twitches so fast it’s almost vibrating. It doesn’t look like it’s a reaction to anything, and I’m not entirely sure he even notices it. I’m probably worrying for nothing

 

Cheers!

[LoveChaCha]

Hi there and welcome

Your bunny looks really.. really small. Perhaps maybe even too young to be away from its mother It is a shame that stores get rabbits that young

You can begin litter training asap. I would take away the bedding in his cage, and put the bedding only in his litter box. By having litter all over the place, it is confusing to him where to go to the bathroom. Litter training may take a while, as he is a young one.

If he is breathing slowly, I would definitely get him checked by a vet. That does not sound normal
Here is a list of vets: http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html
It is not uncommon to have to drive more than 30 minutes to an hour for a rabbit vet. They are hard to come by.

I hope he gets checked up soon. Keeps us updated.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

He poops everywhere because you have shavings all over the bottom of the cage, if you poke around in Habitats you’ll see a few good examples of cage setup to litter train properly

You also need to find an exotic vet, and take him in for a Well Bunny as soon as possible

[RabbitPam]

It’s going to take him several days, up to a week, to get used to his new surroundings and his new family. Baby bunnies instinctively become litter trained with just a little help, and their behavior can go from skittish and fearful to daring and adventurous in a few days, depending on their basic temperament.

What I’d suggest is that you go to the green banner at the top of this page and read through the drop down menus, particularly Bunny Info. Also, the habitat section will be informative. You will be providing him with some basics in his cage, but he will soon outgrow some items and some habits, usually for the better. So get him a litter pan that is big enough for him to sit in or even lie down in comfortably, and set it in whatever corner you see that he has already peed in. The remove the litter on the rest of the cage bottom. Do not use wire bottomed cages, but otherwise he will not have a problem with plastic or another solid surface. If he pees in another spot, just wipe that with a paper towel, put it in the litter pan, and slide the pan to that new spot. He might prefer it.
Be sure he has water, greens, unlimited hay and a small amount of pellets daily. Let him out if he wants to explore, but don’t let him farther than one room at first so he can know the smells and sights gradually. Sit on the floor and let him explore you, too.
It will take a while for you to learn about him, also.
He is very adorable, and I suspect he’s a lop, but we won’t know until he gets older and his ears do or do not drop.
Find a vet that works well with “exotics” and get him a check up asap. You want a baseline exam to make sure he’s in good health.
Decide on a name, and call him that. He will learn that, and lots of other things, quickly, but a baby makes mistakes like we all do, so it takes time. He’s going to be with you for an average of 10 years, so time is on your side!
Breed: don’t know but he reminds me of Mimzy. Mimzmum is another member here, so she might be able to chime in. I really wasn’t certain about my bunny until she was a year old and fully grown. It’s a fur, size, weight, ears sort of thing.
Congratulations!

[Rexxar]

Okay! The bedding’s gone, though it doesn’t seem to have made much of a difference. We’ll keep trying though! I pulled a sprig of thyme from my garden, and he seemed to love it!

How much should we be feeding him, anyway? The bag of pellets and this site say 1/4 to ½ cup of pellets per 6 pounds, but this little guy hardly weighs one!

[Stickerbunny]

http://www.rabbit.org/care/index.html

That is a good page to read for new bunny owners.

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

Has some basic info about how to feed at what age etc.

He’s adorable!

[Ashley&Bing]

I thought he looked like an angora too! All that fur everywhere. I have a rabbit encyclopedia that I bought at half price books and he definitely looks like a least an angora mix.

Also, when I got Bing as a baby, I gave him toys. That protected my house because he only chews on his toys that he started with a year ago. There is a toy section on here for ideas!

[KatnipCrzy]

Others have given great advice. I am no expert on breeds- I only have had Lops- Holland, Mini, English. But I think your little guy looks like a Lionhead- fluffy fur and short ears. Take a look online for pics of baby Lionheads and compare the fur,head shape and ears and see what you think. And Lionheads are a small breed.

[angelicvampyre]

With food make sure he has hay avaialble to him at all time, you can not feed your rabbit to much hay. What pellets are you using? Make sure they are good quality and are for baby bunnies not adult bunnies. Also check the food list and then start introducing things slowley. I was lucky when I had my baby because I also had a fully grown male so i would cut up his dinner and then just take bits and pieces out of his to feed her every day and now she is a real veggie monster.

[Rexxar]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I found a vet in town that knows rabbits, so I’ll take him up there when we find him a companion, which should be in the next week or so, get them both checked out at the same time. I just wanted to share a couple of observations, he eats a LOT. His food bowl is almost the size of him, and I’ve already had to fill it twice! Also, he sleeps with his eyes open, which is really creepy..
He seems to have adjusted well; he purrs sometimes when we pet him, and I’ve seen him execute what I suspect is a binky a few times. Last night he crawled up on my boyfriend’s chest and licked him right on the lips! Adorable.

[angelicvampyre]

Can I advise against doing that. First you should quarrantine your little guy from any companion that you might get for him, the reason behind this is unless you have full blood work and a vet check done one or both of them could be carrying something nasty that could spread to the other. So I would recommend that you keep them seperate for at least 30 days after a well rabbit check anyway. I have lost to many aniamls die to quarrantine issues over the years and still get people calling me (I run a bird shelter) asking why this or that happened. Now days no matter what the animal is they get a good 30 days in isolation after the vet check before being introducted to any of my animals be it a rabbit, chicken, bird, cat or dog

[KatnipCrzy]

Why are you wanting to buy a companion rabbit now? You will not be able to house them together- and they won’t be truly bonded until after spay/neuter and bonding sessions. I would highly recommend starting with one bunny and seeing how that goes- they are cute and cuddly as babies but they soon turn into teenage bunnies that are territorial and many owners count down until they are old enough to spay/neuter- and 2 rabbits are twice the work as one- it is not as simple as just cleaning the litterbox more often, etc. Bunnies are more high maint than cats.

[Beka27]

How sweet!!! He is so fluffy! My first thought on breed was also lionhead. They tend to have shorter, broader ears.

I also agree that you should wait to get a second. I believe you said this was the first bunny you have had, so it’s a good idea to get to know bunnies as pets first, get him neutered, and later when the time is right, you can get a second. Bonding two rabbits is a tricky process, so I would wait. Plus you are looking at double costs for everything (vet care, food, litter, housing, supplies).

You will need to start doing some research on housing. Someone above mentioned the cool habitats gallery on this site, and also check out rabbit.org for info on housing options. The cage you have will be okay for him for the next few weeks, but after that, you’ll need something (minimum size!) of 2×4 feet… and larger is always better. Many people use a dog exercise pen which is 4×4 feet and would be the only housing the bunny would need for the remainder of his life. Rabbits require large litterboxes (cat size boxes), space for sleeping (they love hidey houses), space for food, water, and toys, and enough room leftover to be able to hop around and stretch out.

[LoveChaCha]

I agree with the others

I have my first bunny, and I did not realize how much work it really is. It is a big responsiblity, but totally worth it. Raising a baby bunny requires a lot of patience. Teenage rabbits are a handful and require a lot more patience than you may think. They are babies and may tolerate things right now, but when they start getting older, they are a lot different.

I would enjoy having one for now, until you get him neutered. There can be a lot of unexpected things that can happen between now and then.

[angelicvampyre]

IN all honesty if I had my time over I would just go for adult rabbits, Bugz and Rufus where a lot easier to deal with and I knew what i was getting when Anya has been a mixed bag.

[Rexxar]

I just gave Coan his first check over (yay bunny coma!) and while I’m not an expert, it looks like he has a pretty bad malocclusion. His bottom left incisor is about 45 degrees off to the side, and the right one tilts back and goes as far into his mouth as I can see!! It must be poking the roof of his mouth! I’m taking him to the vet tomorrow, definitely. Poor little guy, I thought he was acting funny..

[Beka27]

A tiny baby shouldn’t have (visible) malocclusion already. It can take months for the teeth to grow like that. I am wondering if it could have been some type of trauma? Please keep us updated!

[Rexxar]

Posted By Beka27 on 07/06/2011 09:41 AM
A tiny baby shouldn’t have (visible) malocclusion already. It can take months for the teeth to grow like that. I am wondering if it could have been some type of trauma? Please keep us updated!

 

I thought that was strange, too. His mouth is really small, so I couldn’t see in all the way, but what I could see of the errant tooth looked about 1-1.5cm long. I’m just thankful I found this before it got bad enough for him to stop eating. It really did surprise me, he’s been eating just fine, both hay and pellets. Maybe he’s older than he looks? I’ll ask the vet tomorrow.

 

EDIT: Argh, all the doctors are gone until next week. Got an appointment, anyway =\

[angelicvampyre]

Keep us updated, I know how hard it is to deal with a rabbit with teeth issues so my prays are with you and this little one

[Rexxar]

Because of the angle of the bottom teeth, one of his upper incisors has worn down to a nice point, and I think it’s hurting his gums. Is there something I can do for him right now? The vet appointment isn’t til Thursday, and if he’s hurting..

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Welcome and congratulations!!!

You can’t do anything until the vet appointment-except perhaps try other vets to get in sooner. If he’s eating he’s ok to wait,but shoud he stop just show up at the vet clinic-they’ll often accomodate emergencies-as the top banner says 12-24 hours wihtout eating is emergency time. Just keep a close watch. Don’t attempt any home dental stuff {{Vibes}}

As for breed-I think you might have a lionhead or some mix of lionhead-he looks especially fuzzy and very much like how my Kahlua looked when we got her-for sure a longer haired I’d think

Also I’m not sure anyone answered your question on how much to feed, but babies can be freefed so use your judgement on that (i.e. if baby eats all the food in the bowl or stops when full).

Keep us posted!!

[Rexxar]

Coan’s been pretty listless the last two days; he’s only left his cage to sit in another litterbox, and I don’t think I’ve heard him eat any pellets (he’s very loud about it) since 11 or 12 this morning.   The appointment at the vet is at 9:20 tomorrow, so I put some pellets and banana in the food processor and I’ve been syringe-feeding him that for the last little bit. He doesn’t really seem to mind it, I hope he’ll be alright

 

It’s 10:00 here, and I have no idea where an emergency vet is, and I really don’t have the money for that. And since the appointment is just in the morning… I hope this was the right course of action. *worried mother*

[Lottama]

Feeding him soft pellets is good but not with the banana. Too much sugar!   He needs some good Timothy or Alfalfa Hay.  If you have to feed him one piece at a time.  He also needs plenty of water.  Do not give bunny lots of people food or sugary foods;  bananas, raisins, craisins, apples,  and carrots. 

As for litter training.  I had Snuggle Bunny trained right at 7 weeks.  You put food in one corner, water in another corner and he will chose one to potty in and one to sleep in.  When you get a littler box be sure to put some of the poops and peed-on litter in the box to let him know it is his place to potty.  I even rubbed it on the edges of the litter box just for good measure.  It was fairly easy.

Good luck with bunny.

 

 

[Rexxar]

Okay! Back from the vet. She certainly knew what to do with a rabbit., which is always a good thing.

She trimmed his teeth, but when he still wouldn’t eat anything she gave him sub-Q’s, and gave us some syringes to feed him with if he didn’t start eating today. She estimated that he’s at most 4-6 weeks old, so she also gave us some kitten milk to suppliment him with.

Poor little guy. Just to think, if we hadn’t taken him from the pet store, no one would have noticed him not eating, and he’d have died

[TaraMichele]

sounds like you’re doing great and caught a big problem before it got worse! I hope he’s doing better after the vet and Im really happy to ready he’s being put on kitten milk. Being a bunny owner is definitely a tough job ( Im a first time owner of two myself) but sounds like youre catching on quick! good luck and keep us updated

[KatnipCrzy]

Does she think this bunny will have chronic teeth problems if the teeth had to be trimmed this early? Does the jaw not line up properly or are the teeth crooked?

[Rexxar]

Posted By KatnipCrzy on 07/14/2011 07:18 PM
Does she think this bunny will have chronic teeth problems if the teeth had to be trimmed this early? Does the jaw not line up properly or are the teeth crooked?

She said that he had an underbite, and she was very concerned that he was having toothproblems at his age. She mentioned the possibility that it’s a genetic proble, or some sort of infection, or just injury that caused this problem. She didn’t say anything about his jaw being misalligned, and as far as I can tell, it’s just his teeth being crooked. We have to go back periodically to get his teeth trimmed.

 

After he got over the shock of the vet, he seemed to have more energy than when we first got him! I bet he’s happy that his teeth aren’t bothering him And, he’s gotten the hang of his litterbox; he’s only peed outside his cage once this week, and that was because I was cleaning out his litterbox. He still poops -everywhere- though, how do I get him to stop that?

[SugarbearNPepper]

Glad everything worked out for you and buns! My boy bun, Sugar has an underbite too! You really have to keep an eye on it, they grow super fast! I had his teeth trimmed when he was neutered and about a month later, I had to take him back. I didn’t realize until I saw him yawn and noticed they were soooo long!!

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