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Posted by RabbitEducator on April 19, 2003 at 22:19:00:
In Reply to: O MY GOSH!! My Daughter brought home a Bunny!!!!!! posted by Marysdad on April 19, 2003 at 21:18:59:
Ahh.. and starts the Easter bunny craze..
This is a long response but it covers all the basics of house rabbit care. Please, please read all of it. If you don't, the bun will not have the right care that he/she should have.
First, if you didn't already, give the bunny a full visual check up. Look for scabs, long or broken nails, buildup of feces at the base of the tail and rectum, misaligned teeth, ear wax, etc. Make sure the bunny is alert, active and isn't too scared of people.
Second, call around and find a rabbit-savvy vet and make an appointment for a general check up. Once your bunny's bill of health is perfect, make an appointment to have them spayed/neutered. Whether or not you're going to bond them to another bunny, spaying/neutering is a *MUST* both for your bunny's health, and your sanity. Spaying/neutering a rabbit helps with litterbox habits, behavioral problems such as chewing, biting, aggressiveness, etc; also, if left un-spayed, older female rabbits are very susceptible to uterine cancer.
Third, time to go shopping ;)
-Large dog pen - Contradictory to most peoples' ideas of rabbit housing, rabbits should never, ever be kept in cages if possible. And please, for the sake of the animal, never house him or her in an outside hutch. Bunnies can get heat stroke VERY quickly and it can be fatal. Plus, what kind of relationship will you have with an animal that stays outside all day? Also, never buy popular "combo" cages (i.e. a guinea pig/rabbit/chinchilla cage). Every animal has certain requirements when it comes to its cage and inexpensive, pet store cages most (if not all) of the time just don't cut it. If it is absolutely, positively impossible to have even one room sectioned off for your bunny, buy a large dog crate with a slide-out tray. But with a cage, comes the responsibility to give your rabbit at least 4-8 hours of run-time outside of its cage. Also, if a dog kennel is too expensive, consider grids. No, that's not a typo. Grids. They come in boxes as ready-to-assemble shelves but, what you can do is build a pen/enclosure using just the cubes and electrical ties for a very inexpensive, rabbit-proof pen. (see links at bottom for more information)
-Litter box - That's right, I said litter box, folks! Like most small animals, rabbits tend to pick one corner of their enclosure as their bathroom. Simply put a litter box filled with rabbit-safe litter and hay in that corner, and the rabbit can be trained to use it. In some cases, the bunny takes to it like fire and you hardly ever have to clean their enclosure, just their box. On the other hand, there are bunnies out there who see litter boxes as optional. Sometimes, all it takes is a handful of their favorite kind of grass hay in their litterbox to make it more appealing. Hay in the litter box becomes something like a reward when the bunny uses the box - especially if that's the only place the bunny has access to it. Litter boxes should be cleaned daily. Not fully, but just where the rabbit has used it. The litterbox should be cleaned fully every 4-6 days. When it comes to litter boxes, the more the merrier. Especially if you want to have your bunny free-roam in a few rooms (or even your whole house!) On another note, get your rabbit a standard-sized litterbox, no smaller. Even if you have a Neatherland Dwarf. Rabbits tend to lift their tails very high when they back up, which can result in urinating over the side of the box.
-Rabbit-Safe Litter - Another misconception is that small animals should be kept on simple, pine/cedar shavings. WRONG! Pine and cedar shavings contain harmful phenols which you can instantly smell when you open a the bag. These phenols have been known to cause many serious problems in many small animals, especially if the cage isn't cleaned adequately. Some rabbit-safe litters are CareFresh (probably the most popular brand with house bun owners), EcoFresh, Yesterday's News and Critter Country Litter 'N Bedding. Another familiar litter safe for rabbits is basic wood pellet fuel which you can pick up at a local farm/feed store for a very inexpensive price (50lb. bag is usually $3-$10).
-Bowls - A rabbit should have two bowls/crocks for food and water. Rabbit's mouths are actually more fit to drink from a flat surface than say, a water bottle. Heavy ceramic bowls are OK as long as your bunny isn't in too small of quarters or they'll most likely knock them over or, even worse, break them and get themselves hurt. What I find works best are bowls that flare out at the bottom so that they cannot be tipped. The water bowl should be washed and refreshed daily and the food bowl, once or twice weekly.
-Carpet - If you're going to have your rabbit on carpet anyways, go ahead and skip this paragraph. Like most animals, rabbits enjoy things that are soft on their feet (especially since rabbits are susceptible to sore hocks from wire flooring or being overweight). Squares of carpet are always appreciated. Towels and other linens should be avoided since bunnies have a natural instinct to chew and I don't think you want your Grandmother's quilt ripped to shreds. Head to your local dollar store and see if they have any. Something else that bunnies love are straw mats. both for lounging on and satisfying their urge to chew.
-Toys - Yes, bunnies need toys too! Rabbits need mental (and physical) stimulation, which toys help give. A favorite among rabbits is simply, a toilet paper roll stuffed with timothy hay. Other favorites are bird toys with bells, wood blocks, etc. Other toys are balls with bells inside, pieces of cardboard, cardboard houses, plastic baby keys, wooden spoons, tunnels and so on.
-Pellets - In actuality, a very small part of their diet. Even if you might not think so now, the brand of pellets *does* matter. Rabbits need a certain amount of fiber and protein. Brands such as Kaytee, L/M, 8 in 1, Nutriphase and so on, have very low quality pellets. Besides the inadequate amounts of protein and fiber, they also only use alfalfa hay in their pellets - which is not needed nor should be fed to mature bunnies. Besides that, the pellet bags usually have a bunch of stuff in them not needed in the rabbits diet - nuts, seeds, color dyes, etc. Two of the best pellet feeds you can get are Oxbow Hay's Bunny Basics/T which is HIGHLY recommended and American Pet Diner's Timmy Pellets for Rabbits.
-Hay - And not any old hay! GRASS hay! Which comes in the forms of timothy hay, oat hay, orchard grass, brome and bermuda. The most commonly used and most recommended hay is timothy hay. Once again, brand *does* matter. Kaytee and HayKob make 15oz. mini-bales of timothy hay which looks like its been sitting in storage for a year. The best hay you can get is from Oxbow Hay (link at the bottom) which you can order online and have shipped to you.
-Veggies - Rabbits should be fed a salad once a day (sometimes two times) consisting of 3-4 different vegetables with a small portion of fruit. Some bunny favorites are romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce, cilantro, parsley, dandelion greens, red leaf lettuce, carrots, carrot tops, etc. Never give your rabbit corn, in any shape or form, or iceberg lettuce - which is basically just water. Depending on the size of the rabbit, give about 2 cups of chopped vegetables per 4lbs. When it comes to fruit, which is a bunnies form of desert, only give about a teaspoon-size amount. Fruits that bunnies particularly enjoy are grapes, strawberries, peaches, nectarines, pears, papaya, etc. Please avoid feeding your bunny crackers, cookies, chocolate, bread, cereals, pasta, and anything that comes from animals (meat, milk, etc).
-House Bun Books - The book in which house bun owners live by is, The House Rabbit Handbook, written by Marinell Harriman. Along with other great books such as The Rabbit Handbook, Karen Gendron; The Rabbit, Audrey Pavia; Why Does My Rabbit...?, Anne McBride; etc.
-Bunny-Proofing Supplies - Rabbits have a natural urge to chew. And nothing you do can deter that (although spaying and neutering helps a great deal). Bunnies seem to favor, unfortunately, electrical wires and phone cords. I can't even COUNT how many times the phone mysteriously cut-off while I was talking to someone! So, how to keep both your house and your rabbit safe? Wire wrap. It comes usually in 10ft packets at local hardware stores, already slit down the middle. You push your cords into it and for some reason, rabbits have no wanting what so ever to bother it. Or, simply move the furniture around to make sure the cords and wires are hidden. Rabbits also have a natural impulse to dig and tunnel. And no, bunnies don't care to tell the difference between dirt outside and your carpet. Most of the time, they pick a certain spot (75% of the time, a corner) and dig and chew the carpet there. Simply block the area off. You can also try something called Bitter, Bitter Spray or Bitter Apple Spray; spray the place where your bunny likes to chew, and hope that they don't find the spray delectable - some bunnies do! What you can also do is divert their attention to something ok to chew on - card board, chew tunnels, paper rolls stuffed with hay, basket of hay, etc.
Links:
House Rabbit Society (LOTS of info) - www.rabbit.org
Oxbow Hay Company (pellets, hay) - www.oxbowhay.com
American Pet Diner (pellets, hay) - www.americanpetdiner.com