New Bunny

[knightingale]

I have a bunny question:

 

So my boyfriend bought me a bunny because I am always wanting more critters.

 

We went to a pet store today and bought a lop eared lionhead bunny (we think she's a lionhead, it's hard to tell right now). She is precious and we bought a bunny starter kit with the works--huge cage, igloo, bowl, water dropper, drops to prevent diarrhea, hay, pellets, stuff for the bottom of the cage etc. There is a chance we will be getting a bunny condo for her to live in during the day outside (with ice bottles during the summer, of course). I thought I had read online before getting a bunny that bunnies like to be alone, unless they are wanting to mate. Now I am finding conflicting information online. I would hope the pet shop people would have told me if she needed a companion. Does anyone know exactly what would be best for her? She is only about 8 weeks, maybe a little older, and I plan on getting her fixed when she is old enough.

 

Thank you for your help. Here is a picture of her for your trouble. Her pending name is Talulah:

 

image removed

[bulletproof]

She is very cute!

 

I used to have a rabbit. We never got him a companion and he seemed to enjoy being around people, because he was mostly loose around the house during the day. We also never got him fixed since we knew he wouldn't be loose outside and therefore couldn't mate.

 

Here is a good site: link removed

 

Congratulations, rabbits really do make very sweet pets. And they're quiet!

[knightingale]

Well, we are nervous about letting her roam TOO freely, since we have a dog that likes to bark and I don't want the bunny having a heart attack. We plan on introducing them, but I don't know if I will ever trust the dog enough to not try something--even if it's just play rough. Sweetest dog, but doesn't know her own strength. And even the sweetest dogs can become hunters on a whim.

 

But her cage is in a semi-vacant room upstairs and we plan on letting her out throughout the day to hop around in "her" bedroom. That's why I was also considering the bunny condo outside--fresh air and plenty of room without risking her life.

 

Thank you for your help! That website is great.

[eggplant47]

I have worked as a vet tech. & for the Humane Society which networked a lot with Rabbit Rescue. I have always heard that rabbits are happier with a companion. When I rescued 1 bunny, he seemed content enough... until I rescued a second. Then all the sudden I noticed he would do these leaps into the air where he would kick his feet- turns out this means they're really happy

 

Also, not to be preachy- but if you do get a 2nd rabbit why not consider adoption? There are a lot of rabbits sitting in shelters & rescue groups who could really use a good home!

 

Until you decide to get a bunny condo, you could just get a pen. A friend of mine had 6 rabbits when she was younger (her dad rescued them from a vacant apt.) and they went to Walmart and bought this collapsable outdoor puppy/child pen. It opened up into a circle and was about 2 ft. high. It was perfect for letting the rabbits romp safely in while they gardened, BBQ'd ect...

[knightingale]

If I do somehow convince my boyfriend to get another bunny (I am more than happy to have more!), should I get another female or should I get a male? I have heard females become aggressive with other females, but this could be from rabbits that are not fixed. Would a male bunny try to hump her, even so young?

 

Thing is, they said it was hard to tell with her so young if she is ACTUALLY a female. They said she appears to be but we will know for certain once she is a littttle bit older. I think this is odd. So...Should I wait until we are sure before getting a companion? Or should I get one while she is still young, aim to get one as close to her age as I can get and just make sure they are both fixed before it can become a problem?

 

I will definitely go look at rescues.

[greywolf]

omg that is the cutest thing ever!!!

 

sorry, i know that wasn't helpful... =/

[knightingale]

omg that is the cutest thing ever!!!

 

sorry, i know that wasn't helpful... =/

 

Haha, that's okay! You are welcome to look at her.

[eggplant47]

Wait until your sure of the sex- it shouldn't be long. I do think that a male bunny will hump her regardless of her age... I've even seen a male rabbit try to hump my friend's male pomeranian!

 

A lot of rescue groups will actually take care of spaying or neutering a rabbit before it leaves the shelter to cut down on over population. They would probably be more than happy to advise you on what sex/age ect. is right for you!

[greywolf]

Wait until your sure of the sex- it shouldn't be long. I do think that a male bunny will hump her regardless of her age... I've even seen a male rabbit try to hump my friend's male pomeranian!

 

A lot of rescue groups will actually take care of spaying or neutering a rabbit before it leaves the shelter to cut down on over population. They would probably be more than happy to advise you on what sex/age ect. is right for you!

 

Our rabbit would hump the male cats all the time. =/

[RedDress]

Yeah... sorry... I really needed to post as well just because that bunny is SOOOOOOO cute! OMG. And your avatar had me laughing too. Love, love, love this post!!

 

Alright. Not too helpful... but I had a bunny. Just the one. He seemed happy enough. I took him out of his cage and cuddled him often.

 

My 2 pieces of advice:

 

1) Don't underestimate how much they poop. They are tiny poops, but if you are going to let it run free in your house, I don't know how you'll control the poops everywhere. And there WILL be poop everywhere. They are not like cats who will go back to the litter box...

 

2) In the meantime, if you don't get the bunny condo, I used a harness. A little one for very small cats with a very long leash. The challenge with the leash is that you have to stay outside with them and kind of keep an eye on them... but my bunny loved it!

 

Oh. I never got him neutered. Can you even get that done? I suppose so... I didn't even know it was an option to be honest.

[knightingale]

I think I will let her be alone for a few months, until after she has been spayed, and then attempt to get a neutered bunny to be her friend. With a play pen (great idea, by the way) and plenty of "playing" until then, I think she will be happy.

 

Thanks for the help! I really appreciate it. Despite all researching bunnies before getting her, I still feel like I have a lot to learn about raising a happy, healthy bunny!

[knightingale]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

 

I plan on litter box training my bunny, once she is a little bit older. Pooping all over the house is how they mark territory, so she needs to know that her litter box is the only place for that. I heard it's not easy, but I will get it done. I definitely plan on getting her a harness when she is a grown. They recommended not trying it before then.

 

Neutering/spaying for house bunnies is always recommended. It makes them calmer, less aggressive, happier, healthier and they live longer lives. The tricky part is finding a vet that can do it. They are harder to fix than a dog or cat, mostly because their digestive tract is very different, so you have to find a vet that either specializes in it or has had a 99% success rate when it comes to fixing bunnies.

 

I don't know why I just became the Fact Fairy.

[eggplant47]

 

Oh. I never got him neutered. Can you even get that done? I suppose so... I didn't even know it was an option to be honest.

 

 

You can get it done. I've even seen them nueter hampsters! Most pet owners don't because the animals aren't likely to escape or roam like a cat or dog. But usually rescue groups are particularly vigilant about making sure you don't adopt an animal to use it for breeding. I guess the only way to be sure is to snip the little guys!

[Pinnsvini]

Not really got any advice but she is the sweetest thing!

[knightingale]

Not really got any advice but she is the sweetest thing!

 

Thank you!

 

 

I have another bunny question...

 

So we went out and bought her a playpen and have the hatch door going down like a ramp into the playpen so she can come and go from her cage as she pleases. However, I know that it is important, in order to gain her trust, to allow her to approach you and leave her cage, not always just reach in a grab her--since she will see that as a predatory action. BUT THE ONLY DOOR IS GOING INTO HER PLAYPEN NOW! This is getting complicated... I guess I am asking what I should do about it all.

[sophie274]

Can't you just move the play pen away from the door when you want to interact with her? Move the play pen to the side, leave the door open and wait for her to come out and see you if she wants?

 

I haven't read the whole thread (the title bunny just caught my eye!), but my few pieces of advice would be:

- don't underestimate how big of a cage bunnies like to be in. I don't know what you meant by huge, but it really is the bigger the better, and it's also important for the cages to be tall so that the bunny can hop freely. When I was looking into getting a bunny I went to a special bunny breeder/store, where the owner owned a bunch of rabbits, and she said that the cages they sell in standard pet stores are way too small.

- Did anyone mention litter training? You can set up a litter box in an area of her cage so that she can teach herself to go there. Apparently rabbits tend to go in the same spot, so see where she is going in her cage, and put a litter box in that corner. That way you'll minimize how much cleaning you have to do.

- This same rabbit pet store owner person mentioned above also recommended to me that I not fill a rabbit's cage with the usual hay and fluff they sell. She just put a towel on the bottom of the cage for her bunny, and the litterbox in a corner. The difference between the two surfaces also helped the bunny figure out the whole litterbox thing. Apparently the bedding is not important to the rabbits, and it is a huge pain to clean up and keep clean.

 

She is adorable! I was dying to have a rabbit and did a ton of research about them and about how to take care of them, a few years ago, but I was never able to actually get one. I'm super jealous. I love love love bunnies.

[jengh]

blahhhhhh. I can't comprehend words right now--she's just so freaking cuuuute!

[knightingale]

Her actual cage is biggish, but her play pen is very very very big, and plenty tall. I am planning to litter box train her, yes. There is one in her cage, but I read to wait until she is a little bit older until I start training her. I will definitely consider just using the towel idea. I have the fluff liner in there now, but the towel seems easier for several reasons. Thanks for that tip. And, um, things for the oh-so easy solution of just moving the cage...Would it freak her out, moving the cage like that?

 

Why can't you have a bunny??

[knightingale]

blahhhhhh. I can't comprehend words right now--she's just so freaking cuuuute!

 

Haha, I will let her know.

[sophie274]

Her actual cage is biggish, but her play pen is very very very big, and plenty tall. I am planning to litter box train her, yes. There is one in her cage, but I read to wait until she is a little bit older until I start training her. I will definitely consider just using the towel idea. I have the fluff liner in there now, but the towel seems easier for several reasons. Thanks for that tip. And, um, things for the oh-so easy solution of just moving the cage...Would it freak her out, moving the cage like that?

 

Why can't you have a bunny??

 

I think part of my problem is that I'm not 100% on what a bunny playpen looks like! Can you not move the playpen instead of the cage? I think slowly sliding the cage back a bit - a foot would be enough for her to get out and you to pet her - would probably be fine. You're clearly wanting to do everything just right and being super cautious, but I don't think sliding the cage will traumatize her if you do it slowly! Can you interact with her while she's in the play pen? I think we really just need more pictures .

 

Great to hear she has a ton of room! (Oh and I agree about the leash thing too that someone else posted. Something else that I did when I babysat a bunny would be to take the top part of the cage off (the wire cage), and go outside with that and the bunster, and place it above a patch of grass with the bunny inside so that the bunny could have the outdoors experience but still be inside a cage! The bunny I babysat LOVED it.

 

Yeah the towel is a great thing for the owner - so much less stuff to clean up - and the bunnies seem to like it plenty. And if the bunny is litterboxed trained you're not washing pee-soaked towels every day either. I think the cage fluff is good if you have a rodent or something that can't be litterbox trained.

 

Basically I've been in college for the past five years - at a school where everyone lives on campus (there's basically NO off-campus housing) and where pets are not allowed in the dorms. I wanted to have an illegal bunny but my parents were worried it would end badly. And I am graduating and dying to get a pet - I love many furry creatures - but I am not so settled on what I'm going to do in the next few years, and since there's a fairly high probability that I'll go abroad in an arrangement where I couldn't have a pet, I don't think it would be fair for me to adopt a creature now. I'm dying to have a pet, but I want to make sure I can guarantee it a happy loving home (with me) for its entire life, and I'm just not there right now. So instead I drool over other people's pets and threaten to pet-nap them! So more pics of your new fluff ball, please!

 

Oh, and in case you're not sure about the name (although I like it), I've always thought I would name a female bunny Henrietta - Hetty for short. It just feels like it works, to me.

[knightingale]

Thank you!! Yeah, I want her to be the happiest bunny in the world, but I also just want her to like me. I can't find my USB port for my camera, but as soon as I do, I will post more pics.

 

link removed the playpen we got her, and the little picture at the bottom is how it is set up. We bought a blue liner for the bottom of it, though. I tried the moving cage thing last night, and she didn't seem to freak out too much. Once she gets used to it as a routine, it probably won't bother her at all. I laid down on the floor and she jumped in and out of her playpen and would come over to me and smell me. If I do this a couple of times a day, hopefully she will trust me soon. I will definitely do the towel thing.

 

We went with the name Tallulah, but I think she will probably be referred to as Bunny more often than not, haha.

 

 

I hope you get to have a bunny someday soon! Thanks for all the advice. I will post more pics of her as soon as I can.

[SamiJayne]

I've had rabbits for years.

Flopsy and Sooty (boy and girl) live together.. since they were 2, they are now 4 this year. Fudge lives alone since he was 10 wks old, he used to live with Sooty until they went to the vets and they came back fighting. I tried to get them to be nice to each other. But finally gave up after both have lost bits of there ears. =( Vet bills suck!

 

Fudge is a happy going lazy rabbit. Loves anything. I do think he would like company but is happy alone. Which I'd rather as he always tries to hump Flopsy when there together which gets Sooty all "grrr" Fudge likes our friends Dog, he chases him around. =/ bit odd

 

So really its your choice if you want a companion. But you should take your rabbit after its spayed/neutered to shelters or something. let your rabbit choose its friend. Otherwise you may end up in a situation like I did when you have 2 cages but 3 rabbits that don't want to live together.. so I had to go out that day to get a new cage =/