Category: Animal House
hey all. i have just got a bunny rabit as a pet, and he's really cute. his name is gootchie. have any of you ever had a bunny rabbit, if so, can you give any good tips of how to look after them?. what do they like, and don't like?. do they mind the rain etc?. and how can i stop the cats eating him
Hi,
I know a lot about bunny rabbits. If you have any questions that I do not answer here, or if you'd like to get to know me, feel free to email me here,add me to your MSn, etc. I just tried posting a long comment and it didn't take, I don't think, so now I don't feel like writing the whole thing again. I'll give you a really good site though for bunny info. It's:
Http://www.rabbit.org/care/index.html
If you've the time, I suggest you read all of that site. It's helped me a lot and it's packed with info on everything you'll need pretty much. I have a rabbit, a netherland Dwarf and that site, plus a big livejournal group for bunny owners that I'm a part of, has helped me tremendously.
Take Care and feel free to ask me if you've any questions,
Dawnielle
Hi! I have had a bunny rabbit for three months as of tomorrow. As far as food is concerned they like hay, and their favorite hay to eat is called Timothy. You can offer them fruits like bananas, apples, but in small quantaties. They need a minimum of four hours exercise outside the cage. Keep in mind, to put the cables out of rabbits way if you can that's their chew gum.
All good advice. Be sure not to give the bunny Timothy hay if they're under a year old. bunnies under that should always have alphalfa. The same goes for pellets. Bunnies who are really young should not be having fruits and veggies either. That one, I learned the hard way,buy having a bunny die on me, because I gave them to him too quickly. After six months though, it's safe to introduce them to them. But stay limited on the fruits. Fruits are like candy and they don't need all that sugar. Just introduce fruits and veggies slowly at first. A couple of lettuce leaves at a time and then, once they're an established part of their diet, you can feed them a lot more. I could go on and on for a good long while here. Bunnies, do really need special care, but once you've got it down, it's pretty easy. again, awesome advice Kristen!
Take Care,
Dawnielle
yes. I had a rabbit once, and the pet store owner told me that if you give them vegies and all that before 6 months, you can kill them. I didn't know about the hay thing though, good luck, and injoy your bunny! oh yes. are you keeping it indoors?
Rabbits need their long hair brushing or combing quite a bit, but unlike guinea pigs, they don't need a bath. They like carots, but don't give them cabbage, or at least take it away after half an hour if they haven't eaten it all. Apparently it gives them a bad somach.
All great advice. As for keeping the cats from eating it: perhaps just keeping the bunny in a secure cage and only excersizing it on a leash and in a room closed off from the cats would be a good idea. If you can't see, then physically pick up and account for each and every cat in the house and deposit them in a closed room, cat crate or out of doors if they are out doors cats before bringing the rabit out of his cage. Be very very careful, you do not want that terrible mess and tragic happening if you grow careless and miss a cat. I had rats for a few years and they all died of natural causes, non cat related and we had between two and three cats depending on the year and my mother and are both blind and handled the rats. So, if you are very careful you should be fine.
Be aware of what your bunny is chewing on during his free time. I had a bunny in grad school that ate all of the wicker off the legs of my wicker furniture. It wasn't until he ran out of stuff near the floor, that I was at last able to easily see (feel) his damage up near the seats. That was a hard habit to break with him, but he did get better because I gave him appropriate things to chew on and because I supervised him more carefully. One time, my son left another bunny of ours out by accident and when we got home later we discovered that he had chewed through a power supply for our printer--he/we were lucky that he hadn't gotten electricuted--again, the moral of the story is know where your bunny is and what he is doing at all times for the safety of him and your stuff.
The wicker eating bunny learned to go to the bathroom in a litter box.
All of my bunnies loved to chew on the tubes that are the cores of paper towel or toilet paper rolls.
I had one pet bunny who had a hutch outside, with a big enclosed box on the back where he could get out of the elements and a huge wire cage on the front so that he could be out in the sun. I also have had indoor bunnies, who lived in a cage. On the bottom of the indoor cage was a plastic tray to catch the mess. I put the tray inside of a trash bag. Then, when I cleaned the cage, I pulled the tray out and inverted the bag to contain all the mess. Cedar chips and the like can be strong smelling to the bunny and can make a bigger mess to keep up with. I changed the bag everyday, because that bunny, his name was Alfalfa, was in a preschool classroom.
From the time that my rabbits were young, I handled them a lot, so they were very good with people and did not bite or scratch. However, the bunny I had in high school, the one in the outdoor hutch, did not get handled much when I went away to college. Dad fed and watered him regularly, but did not take him out much. Therefore, over time, when I would come home to visit, he was less than thrilled about being retrieved from his home. I actually had to wear work gloves to catch him, because he would bite. However, once I had him, he would relax and let me hold him and play with him, just like old times. In retrospect, I should have found him a new home or encouraged Dad to provide exercise opportunities for him. He had a huge hutch, but not an open area to hop and nose around and do other such bunny things. He would occasionally get out of his hutch (I remember one time he did in the snow and you could see his little tracks all over the yard), but he knew where his food was and would come back and fortunately wasn't preyed upon while he was missing in action. If your bunny does play in the yard either in a fenced in area or on leash, be aware of what is on the grass. Fertilizers and other chemicals could make him sick. Also, they can dig, so don't leave them outside in a fenced in area unsupervised, or you might return to find that your friend is gone.
I had a friend whose bunny died from lack of water. It was very hot out and the bottle just ran dry. So, particularly in summer, be careful with an outdoor friend that he doesn't get dehydrated. I found that the stem with the ball in it that came with a standard water bottle fit on a 2 liter bottle. So, I used that instead because it was much larger. Placing the hutch/cage in a shaded area is important, particularly in the summer too.
Bunnies need to be protected from freezing temperatures, but if they are out of the direct elements and drafts, they can keep themselves and their homes quite warm with their natural body heat. Farmers actually sometimes put rabbits in barns to help keep the barn warmer--trivia spot for a moment.
Oh, I just remember two other bunnies that I had when my kids were very small. I kept them outdoors and hung their cage from a tree to keep them safe from the cats and sheltered from the rain. The mesh of the cage was fine enough that their nails did not get caught, but wide enough that the droppings fell through. I bought a big batch of earthworms from the bait shop and tossed them on the ground under the cage. The worms helped breakdown the bunny droppings and the tree enjoyed the rich fertilizer.
I remember having a bunny in my kindergarten classroom. His name was Oreo, because during naptime, he would always knock over the cookie tin and steal a cookie. I guess that was wen I fell in love with bunny rabbits.
4 years ago, we moved from Texas to Arkansas. I had a bunny that had been in my classroom for many years. The moving van was loaded and rather than taking his big cage in the car, I had placed Alfalfa in a cardboard box for the trip. He was waiting for me in our empty house while I left to tell my neighbors goodbye. Someone, trying to be helpful, saw our dogs out and let them in the house. You can guess the rest of the story. Sweet Alfalfa didn't even appear to have been touched by the dogs, but they must have chased him until he died of fright or complete exhaustion. It is possible that the dogs picked her up and shook her without causing visible damage, but that did not seem to be the case. So, your concern about your cats may be a valid one. Keep them separate when ever possible and carefully supervise them if they are together.
I haven't gotten a new bunny, but I'm sure that one will be a classroom pet sooner or later.
Have fun and good luck with your hoppy friend.