...and then there was a rabbit!

[fivetails]

So.. dh came home with a bunny last Thursday ~ staying late at work, yeah RIGHT. Fetching a homeless bunny! Sneaking bunny into the house! Surprising us with a bunny on the kitchen table! :lol:

 

I've never had a bunny. Cats, I know cats. (Bandit The Bunny is currently learning about cats as well, since four of them live here!) ...bunnies, not so much.

 

If you know bunnies and would like to offer up any bunny-care advice, stories, or whatever you think we ought to know about the business of bunnies, please share!

 

You can see some pictures & a short vid here on my blog ~ ain't he cute? :D

 

(I've no idea what sort of bunny he actually *is* though!)

 

{ETA: We were told that his former owner (the one who abandoned him) bought him as a baby from a pet store in May}

Edited November 13, 2009 by fivetails
add info

[ChristusG]

Can I just say that I would faint dead away if my husband ever did this? He is definitely NOT an animal lover. That's cool that your DH is!

[fivetails]

Can I just say that I would faint dead away if my husband ever did this? He is definitely NOT an animal lover. That's cool that your DH is!

 

Yeah mine tries to pretend he isn't... it works until you catch him nuzzling a cat belly with his nose. ;)

[katemary63]

So cute! We love bunnies. We raise Lionhead rabbits for show and pet. They are such fun. Good luck with your new friend.

[Sunshine State Sue]

Aww! What a cutie.

 

We have 3 bunnies that live in our backyard. They have dug a mansion size burrow (we're sure) under our shed. It has 2 entrances at least. They also have another burrow under our pool. It only has 3 bedrooms.

 

One is an outdoor/guard bunny. She is out in the yard most of the time. The other 2 hide in the burrow during the day and come out mostly early morning and dusk. They usually come out if I call. I'm the special fruit/vege treat lady.

 

They are curious bunnies and will come sniff around if I'm doing yard work or fertilizing the orchids. Today, we had a huge tree cut down right next to the shed. They hid in the burrow mostly, but when the guys were on lunch break and the big machines were quiet, they came out and checked it all out.

[3lilreds in NC]

He is adorable! My dh would not be the stray animal rescuer... that would be me. I have yet to be inspired by a rabbit but if we ever get to a place with a bit more room, I'm open. :D I did tell my kids no rodents, but I might be persuaded to change my mind if I'm not the only caretaker.

[JudoMom]

So.. dh came home with a bunny last Thursday ~ staying late at work, yeah RIGHT. Fetching a homeless bunny! Sneaking bunny into the house! Surprising us with a bunny on the kitchen table! :lol:

 

I've never had a bunny. Cats, I know cats. (Bandit The Bunny is currently learning about cats as well, since four of them live here!) ...bunnies, not so much.

 

If you know bunnies and would like to offer up any bunny-care advice, stories, or whatever you think we ought to know about the business of bunnies, please share!

 

You can see some pictures & a short vid here on my blog ~ ain't he cute? :D

 

(I've no idea what sort of bunny he actually *is* though!)

 

{ETA: We were told that his former owner (the one who abandoned him) bought him as a baby from a pet store in May}

 

About what kind he is--he's the adorable kind, that's what he is!

 

Google the House Rabbit Society. Lots of good information. Bunnies make awesome house pets.

[Aurelia]

From my experience (I had a Mini-Lop in middle school): Keep his food and water as far away from the area he uses for a toilet as possible. If you let him roam in the house, keep an eye on him at all times as he will chew through things like electrical cords and on furniture if given half a chance. Give him plenty of "crunchies" to chew on, rabbits' teeth don't stop growing and they will get too long and make it difficult for him to eat otherwise. Make sure he has access to a salt lick (you can get them at a pet store) and change his water and hay pretty frequently. It helps if you have a cage with a removable tray on the bottom, so it's easier to clean.

[shalom22]

Bandit is very cute.

 

Your dh comes home with a bunny. The only thing that my dh has come home with was a baby Texas Tarantula.:confused: My dd wanted to keep it,:001_huh: she named it Charlie. But we made her let it go. I didn't want to have a huge spider running around my house.

[min]

Hi

 

He looks to me as though he's a Dutch rabbit. They're known for being a lovely placid breed. We have a tri-Dutch.

 

Litter training a bunny is easy and a great option. Basically you notice where he's going and put a litterbox there. :) Then if there are accidents elsewhere you clean then up asap, perhaps with a little vinegar to remove any smells and avoid confusion. We have a litter-trained house rabbit who is a lovely companion. As he gets older he's becoming more and more cuddly and affectionate.

 

Err, btw, do you know if he is a he or a she? It can be challenging to tell until they're more mature (though this one looks as though it may be there already). If you'd like to know more about this please PM me and I can run you through it.

 

Happy bunny owning!!!

Min

Edited November 13, 2009 by min

[Closeacademy]

Bunnies are so much fun. The best site I found for information is:

 

http://www.rabbit.org/

 

There is a ton of information on the site that will help you with having a house rabbit. We keep ours outdoors in cages but they come in quite a bit--one comes in every day.

 

We also have cats and pretty much the cats are afraid of the rabbits. They will sometimes watch or sniff at the rabbits but pretty much they run away.:tongue_smilie:

 

This is another fun site for rabbit lovers:

 

http://www.bunspace.com/

 

:001_smile:

[fivetails]

katemary63 ~ I googled the Lionheads - they're awesome looking!:D So there are 'bunny shows' just like dogs & cats?

 

Sue in St Pete ~ Aw, that would be so cute, having a bunny mansion right in the backyard! Ha, I can just picture them coming out, all nosy about the guys and machines. :lol:

 

3lilreds in NC ~ We've actually had some 'rodents' before.. rats & gerbils mainly - rats make great pets... we can't have them where we live now though because (as crazy as this sounds) Alberta claims to be a 'rat free province' ...must be those little fences at the borders... :tongue_smilie:

 

JudoMom ~ I googled the site & added it to my faves, thank you! Ha, and I agree - the adorable kind. :D

 

Aurelia ~ heh, I need to read your reply to HIM because he keeps throwing his little metal food dish into his plastic litterbox thing --- he actually grabs it in his mouth & flings it! :001_huh: ...I'll look for the salt thing - we don't have much variety for pet supplies where we live (isolated community), just walmart and a small pet store that everyone hates. The cage doesn't have a removable bottom, it's just a normal large cage... know what I mean? Opens in the front & the top... it came with him. It's the biggest you can get, I think. I've been changing out the shavings in the litter area everyday and taking out the dirty stuff in other areas when I see some.. he's pretty good about mostly just doing his business in the plastic litterbox thing in the corner.

 

Tbog ~ I think this little guy is trained, or at least when he's *in* his cage... he goes mostly in the traingular shaped litter thing...I don't know if he'd go back to the cage to use it if he was running around -- he doesn't want to come out and roam yet (he's nervous ~ it's only been a week since he came to this slightly-chaotic house with us and no doubt he was already pretty upset about having been abandoned by his owner.. I'm just letting him make his own choices about when he feels comfortable coming out to roam the bedroom.... ha, I have the funniest image in my head now, from your description of the dog 'stairs' :lol:

 

shalom22 ~ Oh I would totally keep a tarantula! :w00t: (my dd would be the one yelling for it to leave the house LOL)

 

min ~ I googled dutch rabbits and he does look a lot like them! He's a little.. fluffier? (not a lot, just a bit).. especially around the head -- he's got some long hair there in places and it looks like the dutch ones are very silky smooth? I'll have to look at some more, thanks for the breed suggestion! As far as male vs female - I haven't actually gone looking :lol: but I was told that he was a boy... he was bought from a pet store (nothing to do with me) by his previous owner sometime in May, so..depending on how old baby bunnies have to be to leave their mother... he could be 7/8 months or thereabouts? .....He hasn't been roaming out of his cage yet - that's been his choice, nervous in a new place I think.

 

Closeacademy ~ That first site, I have it fave'd now - you're right about a tonne of info! I'll be reading through there over the weekend, for sure. Where we live, bunnies couldn't live outdoors like that -- waaaaay too cold in the winter! I've heard of people in warmer areas with huge rabbit houses in their yards though. Heh, 3 of our 4 cats are curious about the bunny -- the 4th cat, who just happens to be the oldest and BIGGEST.... is scared of him LOL...Silly cat! He's twice the bunny's size -- ha, funny thing is that they look alike, same fur colours! Oh my goodness, just opened the other link -- hahahaha, it's like a myspace for bunnies!! Neat! Aw rats, smiley limit reached and I didn't get one in your reply! ~ Here then: >^..^< (it's a cat...I don't know how to make a bunny LOL)

 

 

Thanks everyone! ~ Oh and, I was replying with the thread showing below the reply box and only screen-names show up... if you have your actual name in your sig, sorry! I couldn't see the sigs while I was writing!

[Wendi]

He's adorable! Looks like a Dutch/Lionhead mix. (Dutch markings, with Lionheard hairdo.)

 

There's good info about bunnies on this website: Brambley Hedge.

 

Make sure any parts of the house he goes to are bunny-proofed, especially until you get to know his behavior. (One of our bunnies chews on everything - books, electrical cords. The other one is exceedingly well-behaved, and could have the run of the house like a cat with no worries.)

 

Most bunnies will use the litter box. Some need some training and take time. A few never seem to get it.

 

He will need playtime outside of the cage every day. I've found the best way to get to know a new bunny is by laying on the floor and letting him approach you. If he'll let you, lay down by him when he's relaxing on the floor, and pet him. (The back of the head, beneath the ears, is the softest spot on a bunny!) Bunnies (especially young ones) like to play with toys. Some of your cat toys (little balls) might interest him. They also like to play with and chew empty toilet paper rolls.

 

There's a lot of info about rabbit behavior and how they communicate with us at Language of Lagomorphs.

 

They need grooming, and their nails need trimming like a cat's.

 

Have fun!

 

Wendi

[fivetails]

Tbog ~ aw, sounds so cute to watch! :D

 

Wendi ~ Thanks! I've fave'd those sites now too and will try offering him some of the cat toys to play with - we do have a lot of plastic balls and such around here. Oh my heavens, the ears on that fella at the Brambley hedge site - middle one at the top of the pics! HUGE ears! So cute! I'm guessing that's one of your bunnies in your av? Very sweet! :D

[katemary63]

katemary63 ~ I googled the Lionheads - they're awesome looking!:D So there are 'bunny shows' just like dogs & cats?

 

Yes! There are rabbit show and they are tons of fun. We have been showing for years. My girls have won many awards, ribbons and trophies with their Lionheads.

 

Funny thing, Your rabbit happens to be part Lionhead! The longer hairs around the rabbits head are typical of an animal that carries one copy of the gene that causes a Lionhead's mane. Here is a picture of another rabbit with similar tufts of hair.

 

http://images04.olx.com/ui/2/04/78/22069678_1.jpg

 

Or you can google, "single mane lionhead" to learn more about it. A purebred Lionhead will have two copies of that gene and have a nice full mane. Yours is definately part dutch also, but not purebred that either. He's just a nice, mixed pet rabbit! Usually the best kind to have.

 

edited: I just noticed Wendi called it too! Dutch X Lionhead

Edited November 15, 2009 by katemary63

[Wendi]

Tbog ~ aw, sounds so cute to watch! :D

 

Wendi ~ Thanks! I've fave'd those sites now too and will try offering him some of the cat toys to play with - we do have a lot of plastic balls and such around here. Oh my heavens, the ears on that fella at the Brambley hedge site - middle one at the top of the pics! HUGE ears! So cute! I'm guessing that's one of your bunnies in your av? Very sweet! :D

 

Brambley Hedge is where our two bunnies came from. We volunteer with them, and I worked there for a year as the main bunny caretaker. (The bunny with the crazy long ears is an English Lop. I know a few people with English Lops.) They do have a lot of good info.

 

The bunny in my avatar is our "old man", Oreo. (He's about 9 years old.) Our other bunny, "the princess", is a two-year-old Lionhead Lop (tawny colored). They are a sweet, cuddly pair, and really love each other.

 

You'll find some info online about feeding. The main thing is that the rabbit's primary food source is hay (timothy is the most popular, but there are others). Don't feed alfalfa hay to an adult bunny; it's very fattening (so it's great for baby bunnies). Feed them a good basic pellet food, like Purina Rabbit Chow or Kay-Tee Timothy Complete. Avoid the ones that contain seeds; some bunnies develop digestive problems which can be fatal when fed these products.

 

They also need fresh veggies (romaine lettuce - not iceberg, fresh herbs like cilantro, parsley, basil, dandelion greens, carrots - not too much, cucumber, bok choy, etc.). Fruits are a nice treat; most bunnies love banana, berries, grapes, etc. (One thing you might notice is that when you give a bunny a sweet treat like a slice of banana, his back may twitch while he eats. It's hilarious!)

 

One thing to teach your kids is how to hold the bunny; always support his hiney with one hand, and hold his body close to you with the other. He'll feel more secure, and if he kicks he's less likely to hurt himself. (Bunnies can kick hard enough to break their own backs, and have fragile skeletons that can be injured if they're dropped.) Many bunnies don't like being carried around, anyway. It's better to interact with them on their level. Remember they're a prey animal, not a predator, so being scooped up off the floor and carried off can be pretty scary and unpleasant for them.

 

Wendi

[min]

Hi

 

I forgot to mention it, but do you know that clumping litters are very dangerous for bunnies? In order to maintain their gut health, bunnies have to eat some of their droppings (there are two kinds of droppings, it is only one kind that they will eat - it is mostly produced at night and the will generally eat it at night, so you may never see this). When eating the droppings they'll almost inevitably eat some of the litter also. The clumping litter can clump inside them, with dreadful results.

 

Also, we once had a litter that had "odour-reducing pellets". Our bunny ate the pellets - they did look a little like large feeding pellets - and died. They can't vomit, so they have no way of getting poisons out of their systems. :(

 

Rabbit experts here seem to recommend the recycled newspaper litter that look like grey pellets. We've used that for years with no problems. It also has the advantage that it is lightweight and doesn't scratch the floor if (when!) it ends up there.

 

Sorry this post is a bit of a downer, but I thought this was important.

 

Miranda