Adopting a bunny....looking for advice

[Luv Bunnies]

Check out Rocket's "hidden bunny" on his face. His bunny face has a bunny face. The only way I could post his picture was by making him my avatar.

Rocket had his surgery a week ago Thurs. and is back to bouncing around like normal. He has calmed down some and is not territorial, nipping at us while he is in his cage like he did before. He loves to be petted and if you are holding him and stop petting for a moment he goes nuts. He starts digging us and then follows up with a sharp nip. If you are lucky he only gets your clothes. Hopefully he will figure out soon that people do not appreciate this behavior. Little guy has not had much socialization, so he still has a lot to learn

The kids enjoyed Easter with their Easter bunny. We even took him to my parents. Everyone is just crazy about him. Even the guinea pig is happy although still very cautious around him. He walks around Rocket's pen waiting to be noticed. Then he get's scared when the rabbit comes over to him. He will frequently just freeze. I'm glad he's getting more exercise now instead of just moping around in his cage. I've even spotted piggie popcorning (jumping for joy) again.

He's so cute and I love the little hidden bunny by his eye. Good news that he had his neuter surgery. Remember that it can take up to a month for all of the hormones to leave his system. If he's still acting like a dorky teenager, you should see that behavior decrease over the next few weeks.

We took in some foster bunnies at the end of August - 2 boys and a girl. They were about 10 weeks old at the time. Around the middle of October, they boys started spraying all over the place and chasing the little girl. We had to separate her to give her some peace and keep her from getting pregnant. The shelter scheduled their surgeries for early November so we had a few weeks with some really stinky, bratty boys living in our bathroom. We hadn't planned on keeping them past a few months so we told the shelter we wouldn't be taking them back after their surgeries. They were so overcrowded that they begged us to at least take the boys back for a while since they had a placement in mind for the little girl. We took the boys back after a week thinking we were in for more bad behavior. But, they came back as little gentlemen! They were cleaner, better with their litterbox and no longer spraying the walls. We moved them out of the bathroom and into an area near our two adult bunnies since they weren't stinky anymore! We ended up adopting them in early December and surprising our boys on Christmas Day with the adoption certificate! Now we're one big, happy, four-bunny family!

 

[Magic Mom]

add a lot a carrots and onions...some garlic salt is good if you like that...



oh wait...

"ADOPTING"!!!


....nevermind.

You're so wrong.

 

[Fly4free]

Luv Bunnies, That's so awesome that you adopted those 2 extra bunnies. I give you a lot of credit. That's a lot of fertilizer to clean up! My garden is getting an early start on being fertilized with bunny "pellets". Rocket is doing much better with only peeing in the litter box, but those pellets are everywhere. He used to drop several immediatley after getting into his play area. For every 2 I picked up he'd drop 3 more. He could keep it up for ever I think. After neutering he does not feel the need to do that so much, and usually doesn't pee on the blanket covering the floor. I noticed when the piggie is around he does seem to want to mark his play area sometimes. Like you said a few more weeks should make a difference.

I would love to foster another rabbit sometime. I'm still getting my DH used to this one. He was working out of state and when he came home Surprise, new bunny!
He actually really likes Rocket and holds him often, until the scratching/digging/nipping starts.

 

[kikids]

One question on the application was "How would you discipline your rabbit?" I wasn't sure how to answer that one.

Just thought I'd chime in on this one in case people were curious. I've had bunnies forever and the best advice I found on disciplining was this: Rabbits hate high pitched noises so when mine has his free time hopping around the kitchen and looks like he's getting into trouble, we simply shriek "eeek" (as though you've seen a mouse!). Not in his face or anything, but across the room. He immediately stops what he's doing and turns his head, distracted by the unpleasant sound and hops on to something else. He very much dislikes the "eeeek" sound. Only thing is, it doesn't work for my husband, his voice is too low to have any affect at all, and his voice just cracks when he tries! Can't take credit for this, I read about it in some rabbit care book long ago.

 

[Aristomommy]

Congrats on your bunny! We adopted a bunny last May and it was a wonderful decision. I wanted a full grown bunny so we would know exactly how big he was going to get. I also looked for a bunny that did all its "business" in the litter box. Our bunny "Dash" (wanted to name him Bolt but that is our cat's name) is wonderful but we have to watch him around cords as he loves to chew. We bought a dog crate for him to give him extra room and DD takes him in the back yard on a leash. At home he can roam around freely when someone watches him. It's funny how he has a preference on family member, I am the least preferred, DD and DH are at the top of the list.

 

[Simba22]

Congrats and THANK YOU for adopting!! I've been a volunteer for a rabbit rescue here in CT for 4 years and it makes me feel so good to here that people are starting to pick up on adoption instead of purchasing from pet stores!

Good luck with Rocket and if you don't already know about it, check out bunspace.com!

 

[Fly4free]

Thanks for all the good advice. We really appreciate the advice on how to deter unwanted behavior by "screaming" eeek. This seems to work better than anything else. Although we can't start giggling after or the bunny will really be confused.

We let Bunny and Piggie roam around outside of their cages today and the piggie was following Rocket around, but he did finally give up. Rocket is so funny he'll just turn around 180 and leap right over the piggies entire body.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Thanks for all the good advice. We really appreciate the advice on how to deter unwanted behavior by "screaming" eeek. This seems to work better than anything else. Although we can't start giggling after or the bunny will really be confused.

We let Bunny and Piggie roam around outside of their cages today and the piggie was following Rocket around, but he did finally give up. Rocket is so funny he'll just turn around 180 and leap right over the piggies entire body.

I would be very cautious how I screamed around a rabbit, they can literally be scared to death, especially loud noises. I believe the Hose Rabbits Society recommends spraying them with a little water from a small spray bottle, or a light tap on the nose and say "no".

Here is a link to the most valuable resource I have found for all you need to know about rabbits.

http://rabbit.org/


Suzanne

 

[Daisy&Max]

We are on our 2nd house bunny (first one had a stroke and had to be put down ). Our bunny thinks she is one of the family. She jumps up on the couch to be petted, she will nip you if you ignore her, and she thumps when she doesn't get her treats. We give her fresh vegetables every night...she loves kale (it has a low water content) and parsley. We give her carrots occassionlly but she just started eating those. She had always turned up her nose at them. She gets the run of our den but we make sure all the cords are up and out of the way and any paper we won't left in tact is not where she can get it. We call her our shredder.

Someone mentioned preferences of people...she knows my mom is her care taker and feed provider and my son is her petting buddy. My son will lay down on the floor and Pinky will rush out at him and snuggle right up to his chest to be petted. Anyone else in the family can lay down on the floor and she'll ignore them, my oldest DS...he is a bunny magnet.

We have a cage for our bunny but it is pretty good size, with hay on the bottom, a cat "house" to burrow into, and two levels to climb up on. Pavlov would love her too. She knows where to go to get her treats and she can tell time. As soon as it hits 11 pm she jumps in her cage and waits (rather impatiently) for her "salad".

We love having a bunny and think she is the greatest kind of pet...lots of fun, not really messy, and very quiet!

have fun with your bunny!

 

[blanq]

mmmm. hossenfeffer...

Oh, so totally mean, kirbsam. But if you are going to throw it out there in a conversation about bunnies as pets, at least get it right. It's hasenpfeffer. I was subjected to this meal as a child, by my German grandmother.

 

[mking624]

Congratulations on your bunny!!

As a strong guinea pig advocate, there's one thing I have to advise if this isn't already being done...
Please, oh please, oh please do NOT keep the bunny and piggy in the same cage!!

That's not to say they can't play together in a separate penned area or something (since the two species are known to get along quite well), but there's a very specific reason why they shouldn't actually live together in the same cage: diet. They need different types of food and though one is good for a rabbit, it's definitely not for a guinea pig. This is specifically relating to alfalfa. It's great for rabbits and highly recommended. However, unless the guinea pig is under a year (and quite honestly, I limit it to 6 months) or is a pregnant sow, alfalfa is not healthy for a guinea pig. It has way too much calcium and is likely to cause bladder stones. Unfortunately, way too many "guinea pig" foods list alfalfa in their ingredients...just steer clear from it. I highly suggest Oxbow, which has a line of products for guinea pigs that are timothy hay based...which is MUCH healthier for a guinea pig. They also have a rabbit line which does include alfalfa.

If this is something you already know about and do...major kudos to you!!

Again, congratulations on your new addition!!

 

[Fly4free]

We are not housing the 2 together. Their cages are side by side though, and I've noticed the piggie lays on the side of the cage close to the rabbit. We had another male piggie that used to be Piggies cage neighbor and he was really missing him since he died. The rabbit is not all that interested in him, but the piggie is so happy to have a friend again. He follows Rocket around until he gets tired. I let them both roam loose a bit each day.

Rocket learned today that he can easily jump up onto the couch. My DD just ran to grab the phone and Rocket just chased her out of the room. I think soon he'll end up like a naughty dog chasing us and jumping on the couch when he thinks no one will notice.

Someone had mentioned about not scaring the rabbit when we scream. We are not really screaming just making a high pitched eeek noise. It doesn't need to be loud and it doesn't actually scare him. It just distracts him from whatever he is doing and gives time to distract him with something else. It's easier than carrying around a water gun (tried that too).

Tonite he is the king of binkys!

 

[Fly4free]

Is anyone else's bunny shedding like crazy? I didn't realize my normally minimal shedding guy would suddenly be an explosive shedder. I have tried 2 different brushes for small animals and they are not removing the hair. Petting him still seems to work best, but I have fur balls blowing thru here like hair tumble weeds after

I had a sheltie that would shed like this seasonally as well. I think that is why I liked an animal that couldn't roam thru the entire house leaving a trail of hair. Although I'm surprised by the area and heights that this rabbit can reach. Sometimes he reminds me more of a cat the way he jumps up on the furniture and walks along the high back of the couch like it's nothing. The entire time he will be watching me to see what I am going to say or do. I just try to remember to keep blankets on the good furniture while he's roaming.

 

[PrincessBree]

I used to keep bunnies all the time and absolutely loved them. I have also owned ginnies, but not at the same time, but I have been told they get along really well together. I read a pp about them not living together and I never knew that they couldn't, good to know as a lot of places around here house them together all the time and it has been recommended to me.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Is anyone else's bunny shedding like crazy? I didn't realize my normally minimal shedding guy would suddenly be an explosive shedder. I have tried 2 different brushes for small animals and they are not removing the hair. Petting him still seems to work best, but I have fur balls blowing thru here like hair tumble weeds after

I had a sheltie that would shed like this seasonally as well. I think that is why I liked an animal that couldn't roam thru the entire house leaving a trail of hair. Although I'm surprised by the area and heights that this rabbit can reach. Sometimes he reminds me more of a cat the way he jumps up on the furniture and walks along the high back of the couch like it's nothing. The entire time he will be watching me to see what I am going to say or do. I just try to remember to keep blankets on the good furniture while he's roaming.

Yes, bunny shedding season is here! As the weather warms up, bunnies will shed their winter coats so they'll be cooler in the summer. You definitely want to brush bunny and get as much loose fur as you can so he won't swallow it and get a hairball. After brushing, I like to run a lint roller (the sticky kind) lightly over their backs to get any loose fur that's left behind.

I have tried several combs and brushes but there are two that work best. One is the Hair Buster -
http://www.forotherlivingthings.com/hair-buster-p-481.html

The other is the Furminator: http://www.amazon.com/FURminator-de...1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1274828027&sr=8-1

There's no specific Furminator for bunnies so I use the small one made for cats. You have to be gentle with it. Just brush it lightly over the bunny and you'll get tons of fur off of him. I always brush my bunnies in the bathroom with the door closed so all the fur stays in there. I usually sit them on a towel on my lap and keep a waste basket near by for the wads of fur. You want to brush from front to back and concentrate on the area above the tail. My bunnies have huge amounts of loose fur in that area. You can use a lint roller or lint brush on the furniture if bunny leaves a pile of fluff on it!

 

[cntrygal]

add a lot a carrots and onions...some garlic salt is good if you like that...



oh wait...

"ADOPTING"!!!


....nevermind.

you also need potatoes, celery, burgandy

I was gonna say when your ready for the rabbit stew recipe let me know, i make a preaty good one.