Have adopted a rabbit.. so rabbit care Qs sorry!

Katie__Connie

Katie__Connie

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Have rescued my friends unwanted rabbit... so i need to ask a few rabbit care questions if you don't mind...

Does it need regular worming like a horse? (so sorry if this is a really stupid question
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Does it need something hard to gnaw on? (i heard they need to wear their teeth down? or something..)
What greens can it eat?

Think thats all... thankyou so much and hopefully someone on here knows something about rabbits! Oh and also... sorry if this is in the wrong place but NL gets the most replies...THANKYOU!!!
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Hello!! I am by no means an expert, but do have a fabulous house bunny called Elvis. I don't worm him (never been told i needed to...) but he does have jabs at the vet. He has wood gnaws that you can buy at the pet shop to chew on, and loads of hay (even though he never really eats it!) they are supposed to have access to hay all the time. Elvis loves Cabbage, curly kale, broccoli, carrots, apples....i don't think they are meant to have lettuce so i don't feed him that. As he is a house bunny i pick him grass in the summer which he loves. He has been to the vet once as his teeth grew a bit long and he had them clipped, but he is fine now.
I used to keep trying tp put him out in the garden in a run during the summer,but he hates it unless you sit out there with him. Last year he escaped and ran back in and hopped onto the sofa. I don't really bother trying now!

Happy bunny owning!!!
 
kept bunnies for 30 years, i always kept 2 together, they don't need regular worming, they do need something to gnaw on as their teeth continually grow. they love carrots,dandelion leaves, lettuce( not wet) cabbage, and special bunny food!! they do burrow(obviously!) so if they have a run on grass(lawn, paddocketc.)make sure there is wire on the bottom! for bedding i used hay, straw or shavings, and mine had a bunny water bottle. good luck to you- i love bunnies myself!!
 
Hiya i think rabbits may have to be vaccinated against mixi? i could be wrong though. think its more important if you live where there is a possibility of your rabbit coming into contact with wild rabbits.
I think their teeth are a bit like horses and continuously grow at a slow rate lots of hay and maybe a soft wood block that wont splinter.
I used to feed my rabbit all sorts of veg but i believe lettuce is not the best for them can cause an upset tummy again i could be wrong. they love kale, cauliflour leaves, cabbage, carrots, cucumber in small amounts, etc.
Best of luck i would like to have a rabbit again x
 
I have lots of bunny knowledge.

I have never wormed any in all the time I have had mine (15 years) so dont worry about that.

As long as the teeth dont have maloclusion (think thats the proper technical term, ie they are not disformed, they are normal), hay and rabbit food should really be enough to keep their teeth down. The occasional stick off a fruit tree also will help. The bits of wood at the pet shop are just a waste of money.

As for greens, tbh I wouldnt really bother. The odd carrot, or bit of fresh grass for them will be ok, but a lot of rabbits can be prone to the trots, and feeding them greens only encourages this!
 
I was worried about him/her being on its own but I didn't choose to have it really... its just my sisters friend got sort of bored of it and i felt a bit sorry for it so i took him/her on so i dont really want to buy another one...
Well im going to register him/her at the vets soon anyway so will ask them about jabs... he/she is called Smithy btw
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Thanks so so much for your advice... what would i do without HHO
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Just check with the previous owner if he/she did feed greens at all to your rabbit. If the rabbit has not previously been fed greens, it needs to be introduced gradually and built up at tiny amount at a time. Keep an eye out on the droppings. If the droppings suddenly go loose, then cut back on the greens and build up again gradually once the droppings are normal, hard and round again.

Unfortunately scours (diarrhoea) is one of the biggest killers of baby rabbits from pet shops. Many rabbit breeders keeping large amounts of rabbits feed only processed rabbit food and hay - no greens. They sell the baby rabbits on to the pet shops, but the pet shop does not necessarily know that the baby rabbit has never been introduced to green food. Person buys baby rabbit - stuffs it with greens - rabbit becomes ill etc. etc.

So, although your rabbit is not coming from a pet shop, I can't stress enough the importance of checking that it is accustomed to being feed greens.
 
Faro.. thankyou so much for that... wouldnt have occured to me... i know they gave it the occasional bit but not a lot... yesterday I gave him/her some lettice... and his/her poos went a bit soft... but still little balls
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he/she hasnt had any more since and poo is back to normal
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Oh and i wasnt sure it was supposed to eat hay but glad thats normal
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(As you can see i know very little about bunnies
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Also... i carried him/her in a towel yesterday... and he/she started eating the towel??! Maybe he/she wanted something to gnaw on? I will get on of those speical gnaw stick things...
 
Shouldn't be necessary to buy things to gnaw on, you can make your own? Some people I know gave their rabbits dried bread (not mouldy, but left somewhere warm and dry until it became completely hard) to gnaw on, and also occasionally some small branches. Root fruits may be nice as well, as long as they are used to them.
 
Rabbits dont need worming unless there is a problem,,and that very rare
but vaccinations for Myxamatosis(sp?) and VHD are advised and can save heartache in the future esp if the little guy is going to get a chance to come into contact with wild rabbits.

....hay or grass should make up 80 percent of the diet.
(they eat some types of their poop to take in more vitamins they didnt digest 1st time round so dont really need rich foods)
ours lived out in the run all summer and never touched the food left out for them when they had grass and hay

Otherwise use a rabbit mix of food most tend to be of good quality...just check that there not just being bulked up with lettuce
....fresh greens are a good for variety in the food but try to avoid giving lettuce as it can give them the runs and has very little nutritional value..cabbage is better for them.Dandelion carrot brocclli cauliflower etc all go down well

mineral blocks (if your feeding just hay as a base) and wood blocks that dont splinter easily are usually a good mix to gnaw on..otherwise they will eat the side of the hutch...hell sometimes they will do that anyway....we had to replace our front door twice when Lugs decided he like that wood more than his blocks!The other guys were happy enough with the blocks though..

you might need to keep an eye on the rabbits teeth to they sometimes get overgrown and need clipping... same with the nails on there feet they can give a nasty scrape..

Outside runs are great if you have a garden..and easy to make if you have someone handy at diy...just remeber to made one that is completely closed in top and ottom bottom to stop bunny digging out top to stop predators getting in


Good luck with your new bunny!They are great fun!
 
The only thing I will add is keep an eye out if it stops eating. Rabbits get something called gut stasis (sp!) If they stop eating and it can be fatal. Obviously don't worry about it, but useful to know, we lost a rabbit that way and had we known we would have had her to the vets pronto when she stopped eating, but just assumed she was feeling abit off colour that day - it can be quite quick.
 
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We have an inside run and hutch and an outside run...
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Sounds like a lucky rabbit!

I worked in a pet shop for a while when I was younger and it was shocking how many people were happy to just buy the smallest hutch for two rabbits and no outside run...i got good at giving the DIY advise seeing as the runs in the shop were a bit of a rip off...most people saw the sense in it too luckily..

well done for taking him?or is it Her on?
 
Hi, I'm a veterinary nurse who works at a practice specialising in exotics. All the advice above is good, and maybe it's because I've seen so many rabbits with worms at work, but I do worm mine regularly. Even just doing it once a year is a help. There is a bunny panacur for the job. Myxi vacc once (or twice when it's bad) yearly is essential as is VHD. Would love to see some pics when you get a chance!
 
Does it need regular worming like a horse?
*Nope. Just mixi and VHD vaccines (ask vet about any others.)

Does it need something hard to gnaw on? (i heard they need to wear their teeth down? or something..)
*Yes. Fruit wood (eg branch of apple tree) is good (or google for toehr safe ones) and for the toast someone mentioned you cut it into sticks and dry it in the oven for ages until really hard (but not browned much).

What greens can it eat?
Grass is the best one. :-) Lettuce they like but isn't good for them at all. As others have said kale/carrot/apple/swede are great.

They *are* social animals but mostly two boys won't be great together and two girls are best if they've known each other for ages. one of each has other problems (and they need splitting up before the babies come anyway)! So, I'd keep it intact if it isn't pre-snipped (little animals don't always come back from the anasthetic so well and it wd be a shame) and as long as it gets regular access to a run and some interaction with you it'll be fine :-)

Re: chewing towel. They general don't actively like being picked up or snuggled. They prefer to sit near (or maybe on) you and have the top of their noses stroked/be fed toast & carrot so it could be a stress reaction/escape tactic.

Have fun with your new little bouncer!
 
Added onto everything above... If you have one of the rabbit water bottles wrap it in bubble wrap to help stop it freezing..wont work in the -20 we have been having but it helps!
Also old coca cola bottles with warm water in is good at this time of year, they love snuggling up to them, or just putting them in the bedroom bit will warm it up
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have fun!
 
Rabbits should ideally be wormed (panacur do a rabbit wormer)
They also need vaccinating against Mixi and viral haemmorhagic disease!

Feedwise, brocolli, kale (sp?), carrots are alright but not a major part of the diet! cabbage etc are all fine! Lettuce commonly gives rabbits diarrhoea!
The BEST green you can give your rabbit is fresh cut grass! Or turning the rabbit out in a run on the garden
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(as others have said wire on the bottom to stop burrowing, but grass must get through!
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Best feed for them are the specially designed rabbit pellets. Not the ones that are different colours and shapes etc as they all contain different bits and taste different and rabbits are very good at picking out the tasty bits (which are often not the good bits diet wise!) so the uniform pellet diet is the best complete diet to feed.

Chews, yes their teeth continuously grow and so they need nice hard chews to keep them down! wood is good..... but just be careful on types and any wood treatment that may have been put on it etc!
 
I don't know if its a he or she... didnt want to stress it out by trying to look and apparently its not that easy to tell? or that might be total rubbish?!
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Ahh i see so thats why its eating the towel... we have only picked it up when necessary... i.e. moving into run
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Good advice above, i also have kept and bred rabbits for over 15yrs.

Please make sure your bunny has a run, as big as possible, rabbits are born to RUN! Imagine the outrage if someone kept a cat in a small hutch....

Females tend to dig more than males as a rule (they are the ones that make burrows in the wild). Males do dig the odd hole but no where near as bad in general.

Rabbits do prefer companionship, but are very teritorial so it has to be done graduly. Good combinations are neutered male and a female. Always introduce the rabbits on unknown territory to start pm me if you need more info!

Rabbits love greens, and personally as they are designed to eat grass and greens i find it hard to think of them not having any, but as above introduce graduly. Mine have everything from fruit to swedes! Rabbits adore bananas!

Good luck with your bunny!
 
Hi, my rabbit uses a litter tray in his hutch & so cleaning him out is very quick & easy. He never messes his bedroom & it all stays dry & warm.
 
RSPCA do a comprehensive rabbit care booklet that it's worth getting. I'm pretty sure that they recommend only hay for rabbits. Their teeth grow constantly and soft foods don't wear them down enough. Check teeth/mouth regularly because rabbits can easily get tooth related abscesses and they are a bugger to clear up because giving rabbits antibx is not for the faint hearted as they depend so heavily on their gut bacteria. Also, watch in the summer for the squits. A rabbit's bum can get fly strike when flies lay eggs in the gungy bum and poor bunny has 10 zillion maggots feeding off it in no time. Just for info, myxamotosis is carried by rabbit fleas and other biting insects so your rabbit doesn't need to be actively associating with wild rabbits. If you decide to let him be a house rabbit take great care, they still love nibbling things. My friends rabbit sat for me one summer. They knew Hannibal (he needed encouragement when he was tiny) was allowed to hop round in my house so they let him do the same in their house. About 2 months after he had come back home, they turned their stereo on and there was an almighty bang and a humungus shower of sparks. He had chewed through the electric cable. Stupid death-wish rabbit did the same with my lawnmower once! Lucky for him it was turned off at the time!
 
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