# rabbit advice



## littleangel01 (Jul 3, 2011)

im not normaly in this section 

but im getting a new bunny. 

i havent had a pet rabbit since i was about 13 and as with the rats im sure every thing has changed. so im looking for any advice on rbbit care. 

she wont be coming home till the 23 of next month but im getting pics every so often and am beond excited  she is a mix harlequin. mom mix breed with normal ears and dad a lop. so no idea what her ears will be like. 

she will be an indoor rabbit altho because of the dogs she will be living in the small bedroom (dog free zone) at the moment i have a puppy pen set up. whats the best thing to put in for a bed? not set up but i also have a litter tray ad litter food bowl water bottle hay rack and toys. thinking about a tunnel or box to. 

when shes older its warmer ect she will have a run so she can go out side. 

so questions are.

whats the best bed? thinking somthing enclosed a box maybe? 

whts the best food? - past rabbits were just fed rabbit mix and maybe some carrots. 

is it best to get two? will she be ok on her own or should i get one the same age or bit older? 

again my chldhood rabbit lived in a shed on his own. his nme was hannable and he hated everyone. very bad temper but he ws free from the local paper. 

never had a bunny so young befor is there anything i should no about babies?


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## Guest (Mar 15, 2013)

littleangel01 said:


> im not normaly in this section
> 
> but im getting a new bunny.
> 
> ...


My answers are in red


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

you can get alsorts of beds, but most rabbits wont use them as beds, cardboard boxes are great to chew on, you can get pop up tunnels and tents, and little dog style soft beds, some rabbits love them, some will just chew them 

best food, you need an all in one pellet with atleast 17% fiber such as alan and page naturals or science selective, they should be fed around an egcup to a shot glass full of pellety each a day, which should make up 5% of their diet, 80% should be good quality grass hay such as meadow or timothy, 10% should be leafy green veggies, too many carrots are actually bad for rabbits, and the remaining 5% is then left for healthy treats.
however if your bun hasnt been fed veggies before you get her, then you need to refrain from feeding veggies till they are 4months old, and then introduce them slowly

two is always best, rabbits are highly social animals who crave company of their own kind, they will however need spaying/neutering as they come of age, intact rabbits are very hormonal and frustrated and will spray pee every where, and lunge at people. intact does are also at a huge risk of developing uterine cancer, 80% of all intact does will develop uterine cancer before they reach 5 years old


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## littleangel01 (Jul 3, 2011)

thanks for the advice,

im looking at diffrent pet sites and seeing what food they have on offer. also looking at some more toys and somethings for teeth 

i hve a very small plastic kennel that someone gave me for the cats but they dont use its only got a small door would that be ok as a bed/house? also what bedding should i put in? 

so im now looking at another, poss another female (both will be spayed) would it be best to get one the same age or slightly older? 

also she will be 10wks when i collect her.


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

Hi Angel welcome to the rabbit section 

If I'm honest rabbits can be extreamly territorial and don't always bond well to new rabbits (i had a sleepless week bonding my 2).

In my oppinion you would be best getting 2 already bonded and spayed/neutered rabbits from a rescue centre. Financially rescuing saves you a fortune the annual vaccination is £30 minimum and to spay is £60-100 depending where you go and a bit cheaper for males. At rescue centres they check the rabbits teeth while there under anaethetic which gives you a good idea that there teeth will be ok or not. even with so called pure pedigree baby rabbits they can develop teeth problems. 

But it sounds like you've got your heart set on this girl 

looking forward to meeting your new arrival/s


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## littleangel01 (Jul 3, 2011)

emzybabe said:


> Hi Angel welcome to the rabbit section
> 
> If I'm honest rabbits can be extreamly territorial and don't always bond well to new rabbits (i had a sleepless week bonding my 2).
> 
> ...


i did try to go to a local rescue first but 5 of the ones i tried were great at first happy they would be house rabbits but then once they found out i have two lurchers they wount allow me to adopt  rabbits and dogs will never meet but it doesnt seem to mattter.

then i looked at privet rehoming then saw this litter from a friend of a friend and fell in love with this little one


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## hippymama (Jul 26, 2012)

ah good luck with your new bun  , is there anyway you could get another from the same litter ? that way they would be bonded all ready ?


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## littleangel01 (Jul 3, 2011)

hippymama said:


> ah good luck with your new bun  , is there anyway you could get another from the same litter ? that way they would be bonded all ready ?


have messaged the lady and just waitin to hear if she has any left


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## sskmick (Feb 4, 2008)

emzybabe said:


> Hi Angel welcome to the rabbit section
> 
> If I'm honest rabbits can be extreamly territorial and don't always bond well to new rabbits (i had a sleepless week bonding my 2).
> 
> ...


I don't know the bottom figure for spaying/neutering but Betty is going to cost me £120.00 Barney's neuter is going to cost £100.00, to be fair this particular vet is a world leading vet on rabbits based in Harrogate. In view of the travel they are going to keep them hospitalised until they are eating, drinking, and toileting, which is an additional £15 per rabbit per night. The consultation/ assessment fee prior to their operation is £27.00.

tbh knowing what I know now I would have definitely got my grandson two bonded rabbits from a rescue. They have already been neutered/spayed too.

As the original poster has mentioned she has chosen the one she wants and to be fair you need to have that desire to want that one - to able the bond between you both to grow, as these little pets needs a lots of care and attention throughout their lives.

I gave up teaching karate on an evening when Barney came to stay. I didn't have time after work to let him out to have a run round the garden clean him out then get ready to go to the club.

We have since recently moved which has cut down on travel time so we are opening up another club in May.

Can't wait to see photos of the little one.


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## littleangel01 (Jul 3, 2011)

have already spoken to my vet and they charge £10 to see the vet and dependin on how big she growns im looking at around £50 to spay her and then £30 for the vacs so not to bad  

the pen i have is very big and i can divide it into two. would it be ok if i got a male and put them in a pen each but untill they are spayed ect would that help towards bonding? the lady onyl has males left. so it would have to be from a male if from the smale litter. 

woudl i be able to bond her to an older rabbit if i looked for a rescue? 

have attached two pic from when she was couple weeks


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## hippymama (Jul 26, 2012)

littleangel01 said:


> have already spoken to my vet and they charge £10 to see the vet and dependin on how big she growns im looking at around £50 to spay her and then £30 for the vacs so not to bad
> 
> the pen i have is very big and i can divide it into two. would it be ok if i got a male and put them in a pen each but untill they are spayed ect would that help towards bonding? the lady onyl has males left. so it would have to be from a male if from the smale litter.
> 
> ...


a brother and sister would be fine  we had a brother and sister pair and they got on brilliantly if you get them spayed and neutered at the same time they shouldn't need to be separated for too long either


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## littleangel01 (Jul 3, 2011)

thats great  

will get the divider for the pen down from the loft just in case i get boy. 

some more pics  

shes getting big. any idea on her ears? mom normal dad lop. is it just wait and see or is she more likly to be a lop? or will she have the weird stick out to the side thing?


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

I would say chances are she will have the helicopter ears being a uppy x lop 
There is no real reason why you couldnt bond her to a young male bunny who is already neutered


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## Guest (Mar 17, 2013)

littleangel01 said:


> thats great
> 
> will get the divider for the pen down from the loft just in case i get boy.
> 
> ...


Be careful as rabbits have been known to breed through bars before so make sure there is a big enough gap 

As for her ears, no one will know until she grows a bit more, lopping is all to do with the crown width


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## geordiegaviino (Mar 26, 2010)

littleangel01 said:


> i did try to go to a local rescue first but 5 of the ones i tried were great at first happy they would be house rabbits but then once they found out i have two lurchers they wount allow me to adopt  rabbits and dogs will never meet but it doesnt seem to mattter.
> 
> then i looked at privet rehoming then saw this litter from a friend of a friend and fell in love with this little one


Rescues are their own worse enemies... I have two dogs a GSD cross and a GSD. I also have seven cats !

My GSD x is great with the Rabbits and my GSD is never allowed in any room the Rabbits have access to. All my cat's are great... the four oldest ones watch the Rabbits from afar but my three youngest cats who are all under two years follow them around the house. Storm (my youngest male cat) cuddled into my male rabbit and they both slept on my lap and Esme (my one year old cat) even attempted to play with my Giant Pap like she does with all the other cats... it didnt go down well when the Pap give her one knock into the wall lol

Rescues need to accept that 99.9% of owners are very vigilant and would never leave their rabbits alone with any cats or dogs no matter how well they get on. Mine may have access to each other daily but I am always close by to ensure nothing happens !


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## Guest (Mar 17, 2013)

geordiegaviino said:


> Rescues are their own worse enemies...


SOME rescues 

Just because one rescue has said no, doesn't mean all rescues will say no.
I know a few that take each case on it's own merits


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## geordiegaviino (Mar 26, 2010)

B3rnie said:


> SOME rescues
> 
> Just because one rescue has said no, doesn't mean all rescues will say no.
> I know a few that take each case on it's own merits


Yes i should of said "SOME" and I do apologise to any rescues that considers each home differently 

Its not just Rabbit Rescues that can turn good owers away though. My friend adopted a America Bulldog recently from a local cat and dog shelter and because she mentioned in passing comment that her friend has a dog that will now enjoy having a walking buddy. The Cat and Dog shelter demanded that the two dogs should meet before she was allowed to adopt the American bulldog. Even known the dog she was adopting would never be in the same house as the her friends dog. She had to argue that if the cat and dog shelter wasnt sure if the American Bulldog would be ok with dogs while on a walk in general then why are they having her adopted out?

My friend's friend refused to bring her dog to the cat and dog shelter out of fear of known they didnt vaccinate all the dogs that they have there. So my friend had to almost beg the cat and dog shelter to let her adopt her dog.

My friend paid £100 quid with a signed contract stating she had to get the dog's injections and she had to get her spayed.

Why the hell a 9 month old dog was up for adoption and on show in the kennels without even the most basic of Injections and unspayed. I will never know !

but now back on topic lol after my rant... I can't wait to see pictures of the bunny in her new home


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## Guest (Mar 17, 2013)

geordiegaviino said:


> Its not just Rabbit Rescues that can turn good owers away though.


I fully agree with this, a friend of mine was turned away because they had an entire cat.....

Lets forget that the cat was entire because she wasn't old enough to be spayed yet and they were looking to adopt a spayed bitch


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## littleangel01 (Jul 3, 2011)

helicopter ears - thats the word i was looking for  

can sort of understand the rescue thing because lurchers are bred to chase rabbits but abit annoying as any dog could harm a rabbit. 

anyway i now have a slightly diffrent problem.

i got told by a friend that a friend of hers was offering her rabbit free to good home as she had started fighting with the other female. however she was advertised as 'good for breeding or breeding project for reptiel food' so long story short i now have a 12month old ginger rabbit  

the problem is she keeps stomping at me and running of. i no shes unsure scared dout shes been handled ect so what do i do? iv spent about 3hrs on and of through the day sitting in the room with her and she has let me tough her with no biting. 

new baby is coming home in a few weeks so i would like this girl to be spayed and if poss a bit happier to be round me so i can concentrate on bonding them ect. 

have i taken on to much?


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

She sounds very hormonal and very territorial, poor girl.
The best way to win her trust is to sit on the floor with a book and ignore her. Put some yummy treats on and near you aswell. She will see that you are not a threat and curiosity will get the better of her. Dont try to pick her up, 95% of rabbits hate to be picked up and it will just make her wary of approaching.


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## littleangel01 (Jul 3, 2011)

have sat in with doing some work on my laptop. opened the ped up so she had run of the room but couldnt get under nything - not much in there. 

she pretty much just sat in the corner  moved if i moved but thts it. she wont take food or treats yet. 

wht are the chances of bonding her and baby? 

also needs a name.


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

I would say fairly good once she is spayed, how they are with people is not an indication of how they will be with another rabbit. My worry would be that her and the other female were fighting but it could, and probably is purely hormones. 

Just keep sitting with her and let her do it in her own time, its all new and its all scary at the moment and you - as far as she is concerned - are a predator who may well want to eat her 
As I say, she doesn't have to be friendly with you in order to bond


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

Ooooh, names.... hmm, you say she is ginger? Geri springs to mind lol. 
What sort of name are you looking for? Have you got your babys name picked yet?


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## littleangel01 (Jul 3, 2011)

thats what i was worried about how ever from the sound of it they were kept in a very small hutch which may have been the reason for the fights. 

not sure on a name lol i like unusual names tho and nope no idea on name for baby either. 

will see if i can get a pic.


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

I like Kaia/Caia, Lyra, Sidra, Tana, Lara, Nikita 

Lots here: Unusual girls names..? - Yahoo! Answers


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## littleangel01 (Jul 3, 2011)

i like lyra  

from what i can see some of her foods gone which is a plus. 

i said ginger but she looks brown in the pic lol this is her

edit - the newspaper in the pic is what was in the box she came in im slowly taking it away when i can get to it with out spooking her.


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

As hazy says - 

Just give her time to settle and get to know you aren't a threat - in fact you bring treats. Don't pick her up any more than necessary - but you may find, in time, that she likes nose rubs.

Aim to have her spayed asap. Then her hormones will gradually die down, and you will find her true nature. Do make sure she is up to date with vaccinations too.


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## littleangel01 (Jul 3, 2011)

im told she is but im not really sure if i could trust that its true. 

i didnt go to the house howevver im my friend told me she had about 15 small-med size hutches with at lest two rabbits in each apart from two males who were in indoor cages (in the shed) on the own.


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