Would love some advice..new bunny mom :)

[hugosmom]

Hello everyone! I am very excited to have found this forum. Our family got a new bunny addition 7 days ago. He is a one year old Holland Lop. He is a very sweet boy, and has quickly become a much loved member of our family .

I have a few questions about his behavior, as I have no previous experience with bunnies.

Hugo is a house bunny. He does have a cage, but we keep the door open for him during the day, so he comes and goes as he pleases. For the first few days he was here he was very cuddly and playful. He played with balls and tossed things around, he also ran around the house full speed jumping in the air…etc. for the last 4 days or so all he does is hop around the house rubbing his chin on everything, EVERYTHING…furniture, his food, us. He seems to have lost interest in playing and being petted. Is this a normal part of him getting accustomed to his new home?

He is also a little pig! I was told to give him 1/2 a cup of pellets a day, plus greens, and unlimited hay. He gobbles all his greens, eats a lot of hay and is begging for pellets ALL day. I have been giving him half the portion for breakfast and half for dinner, but he will literally sit in front of his empty bowl staring at me for an hour at a time till I give in and fill it with a few pellets. Should I feed him as much as he wants, or limit his intake? Seems like he is a bottomless pit really!

[LongLiveLoyalBuns]

He will be chinning for a while! Its just his way of saying “This is my home now”. I would not give him more pellets.. Half a cup is way more than needed.. I would recommend shortening it to 1/4 a cup if possible… Maybe adding more greens.. And full speed jumping in the air is called ‘binking’ He sounds adorable!!

[Ellekke]

Yea he does sound adorable!!!

And I know right…they are ALWAYS hungry! Yikes I mean those little devils can eat!!! Don’t be fooled by the fluffy faces and big eyes!!

While I type this one of my buns is begging me for food and I shout:”Be gone munching crunching devil!!”.
And while I’m shouting I give him a little pellet of my stash I keep short at hand, Hahaha! Yes I’m a sucker for smoochy woochy bunny wunny faces…*sigh*.

[Walter's Mom]

“Chinning” is the behavior you are describing. As others have said he is “marking” the house as his. In the wild rabbits do this to keep others out just like dogs urinate all over or bears put scratch marks on trees. Also when I had Hollands they ALWAYS gobbled their food down and begged for more. I also recommend cutting back his food to 1/4 cup of food. I fed my Hollands 1/4 cup and they always were fine. Enjoy your new bun!

[MoxieMeadows]

Hi! And welcome to the forum!

Like everybody has been saying, your bunny is “Chinning,” he’s basically marking his territory, saying that everything is all his.

My bun eats about 1/3 to 1/2 a cup a day, but the size of her breed weighs 7-10 pounds. I’m not sure how much your bun weighs. It also depends how active your bun is though. Mine is kinda lazy right now,

[LongLiveLoyalBuns]

Just saw the pics!! He is ADORABLE!!

[hugosmom]

Thanks everyone for the great advice! The lady I got him from told me to give him a whole cup of pellets but I thought that was to much so I asked a friend who knows bunnies and she said 1/2 a cup. Since you guys REALLY know bunnies…I will be cutting back his pellets to 1/4 a cup.

I have been giving him about a cup of greens (parsley is his fav!) and one baby carrot everyday…does that sound ok?

He weighs 4 lbs
  
Thanks!!

[MoxieMeadows]

I’ll post what they can eat, so you’ll have a delicious range of choices for your new and lucky bun!

[MoxieMeadows]

VEGETABLES AND FRUITS USUALLY TOLERATED BY ADULT RABBITS HRS Classification I – Higher in oxalic acid, only one per day and avoid sticking to one kind, best to rotate. HRS Classification II – Lower in oxalic acid.  Fine to feed a variety every day as a staple of your bunny’s diet.  Bolded are high in vitamin A. (Can feed more than one kind a day UNLESS they double as a class I)
Alfalfa sprouts Anise Hyssop Apple twigs, leaves, and fruit, but not the seeds! Arugula (II) Asparagus Banana Basil (II) Beet Greens (I) Bell Pepper, Sweet Green Bell Pepper, Sweet Red Blackberry fruit, stems, leaves Blueberry fruit Bok Choy (II) Borage Calendula Carrot roots Carrot tops (II) Catnip/catmint Celery Chamomile Chicory (II) Cilantro/Coriander (II) Clover Collards Comfrey Cranberry Cucumber peels Dandelion greens and flowers (II) Daylily flowers Dianthus Dill (II) Eggplant Endive (II) English Daisy Escarole (II) Fennel (II) Frisee Lettuce (II) Grape fruit, leaves, and vines Honeysuckle Jasmine Jerusalem Artichoke Kale (II) Kolrabi Lemon balm Lemon grass	Lettuce, green leaf (II) Lettuce, red leaf (II) Lettuce, romaine (II) Lilac Lovage Mango Marigold Marjoram Melon Mint Varieties (II) Mustard greens (I) Nasturtium Okra Orange (no peel) Oregano Pansy Papaya Parsley (I) Parsnip Peach Pear Peas, snow (no dried or sweet peas) Pineapple Purslane Radicchio (II) Radish tops (I) Raspberry leaves (II) Rose Rosemary Sage/salvia Spinach (I) Sprouts (I) Squash fruit and flowers Strawberry Sweet woodruff Swiss chard (I) Tarragon, french Thyme Turnip Greens (II) Viola Violet Watercress (II) Wheat Grass (II) Willow
VEGETABLES USUALLY TOLERATED, BUT MORE LIKELY TO CAUSE SOME PROBLEMS IN VERY SENSITIVE RABBITS
Beet root Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Cauliflower Green beans Radish root Turnip root
VEGETABLES TO AVOID
Avocado Bamboo shoots  Beans, dried Beans, raw: lima, kidney, soy Bracken Fern Cassava Coffee beans and plant Whole corn kernels (can get stuck in intestines)  Grains Lettuce, Iceberg	Millet  Nuts Onions Peas, dried Potatoes, including peels Rhubarb Sweet peas Sweet Potatoes Tea leaves  Whole seeds
OTHER FOODS TO AVOID
Most house plants (toxic) Chocolate Refined sugars Yogurt drops Honey/Seed sticks ANYTHING MOLDY!!!
NOTES: Try to serve a mix of three or more vegetables each day. Any food that is high in sugar, such as fruit, should be served as a treat only: one serving per day, no larger than your thumb. Flowers from the local nursery probably have pesticides on them. Don’t serve them unless you know they’re organic. Most rabbits can handle vegetables that are high in calcium or oxalates, as long as the vegetables are served in moderation, and the bunny doesn’t have kidney or urinary tract problems. If you have a healthy rabbit, do not hesitate to serve her wonderful vegetables such as kale, just because they are high in calcium. Any food that causes diarrhea should be removed from the diet immediately!

[MoxieMeadows]

(these were all copy-pasted off of this website, hope it comes in handy!)

[LongEaredLions]

Welcome to binkybunny! Hugo is ADORABLE!

[michelleann31]

Welcome to the forum! Your baby is so cute! And my little girl bun loves her pellets too, man can she eat! We give her 1/4 cup a day and she’s 7 pounds.

[emm_renn]

Thank you Moxiemeadows for that awesome foods list! I will be using that! =)

[Cottontail]

Welcome to the forum!
He’s adorable.

[Flopsie]

1. As others have said, its chinning. But I wanted to add that I love chinning pics, it always makes my day.

2. my rabbits gobble her food. if she can have unlimited food/pellets, she’d eat until she burst

3. i’m just speaking in general terms here, but I think 1 year in humans seems to indicate infant or baby, but 1 year in rabbit is actually no longer an infant or baby anymore. So maybe that is what throws ppl off?

[litheandgraphic]

I think everyone here has given you some awesome input, so I’ll just say… welcome! And your bunny is so cute, I laughed aloud when I saw his face.

[Author]

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