Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

funkyfish — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:29:45 GMT

She's loverly!! I love lionheads!

A client had an accidental litter of beautiful brown and white ones, well socialised etc, was v.tempted but our ark is full!

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Steph Phillips — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:49:09 GMT

[quote user="Bouncyfi"]they don't have shovels in the wild [/quote]

haha - very true!!

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Fiona Leathers — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:21:00 GMT

For the pellets I would feed about an eggcup twice daily, then the rest is mostly hat and green leafy veg, avoiding lettuce. We work on a pyramid amount so 5% pellets, 20% green leafy veg & 75% grass & hay. If you ever notice that her hay has finished, then you're not giving her enough. Make sure you distinguish between bedding hay & eating hay cos bunnies don't tend to eat what they sleep on!! If you're going to the expense of buying dried herbs - why not try to grow some?? It would be much cheaper and better for her to get the goodness out the fresh ones. Personally I would stay away from carrots, as they have quite a lot of calories & sugar in them. Ideally you want to think back to the wild, and look at what a wild rabbit would eat (they don't have shovels in the wild so rarely eat root veg)

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Steph Phillips — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:03:42 GMT

[quote user="Vicky SVN"]

[quote user="NickyVN"]I would definitely recommend stuff from the naturals range too, especially the dried herbs - healthy treats! [/quote]

Mine have a bowl of the herbs, they love them! Burns also do dried herbs, i order them from centaur and get cost price, so cheaper than pet shop. I'll have a look at the bunny bazaar site...although fear it may encourage me to spend lots!!!

[/quote]

Lol.. me too vicky!! gonna have a browse me thinks :)

She seems to eat quickly too... I make sure the hay is always provided for her, but ideally, how often should they have food/veg topped up?? once or twice a day? she's only small - aprox 6mths old.

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Vicky RVN — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:48:28 GMT

[quote user="NickyVN"]I would definitely recommend stuff from the naturals range too, especially the dried herbs - healthy treats! [/quote]

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Diane Westwood — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:40:23 GMT

[quote user="Steph Phillips"]

awww thank yooouu!!

Some fab ideas there!! & I'll be saving the loo rolls from now on lol..

Thank so much xxx

Don't use toilet rolls, only use kitchen rolls.

[/quote]

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Nicola Smith — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:34:58 GMT

I would definitely recommend stuff from the naturals range too, especially the dried herbs - healthy treats! I get mine from www.bunnybazaar.co.uk as they have lots of different hays too - mine loves variety in her hay - she loves oxbow ones and also readigrass.

Try some herbs - mine loves parsley anc coriander as a treat.

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Vicky RVN — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:40:10 GMT

Also, you can get various wooden type things to hang up that they can chew on. I've got my pigs a set of 3 from pets at home at the mo, made of different twigs, made by naturals i think. Good for their teeth and gives them something to do!

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Vicky RVN — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:38:32 GMT

I don't chop up any of the veg i give my pigs, they like the task of having it whole! A good way to feed veg is to get a metal ball that you can hang up, they need to work to get it out! I do have to chop veg up a bit to get it in there. You can fill the ball with hay then hide some veg in it!

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Steph Phillips — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:26:39 GMT

awww thank yooouu!!

Some fab ideas there!! & I'll be saving the loo rolls from now on lol..

Thank so much xxx

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Saskia Quinn — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:17:04 GMT

congrats on your rabbit Steph!!

Just replying quickly as heading off for a lol!

You are going to make a little bunny very happy, I can tell!

Dont worry about chopping the carrots for her - just a whole carrot as she will get more enjoyment from eating it that way and it will give her something to do. Hay stuffed into empty toilet roll/kitchen roll holders, cereal boxes etc will also give her plenty of enjoyment!

Cabbage is fine! Small quantities though, as a treat, the best food you can give her is hay and grass - just think of what they would eat in the wild. Hay should be the main percentage of her diet.

Best of luck with her and I look forward to seeing pics!!

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Steph Phillips — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:35:36 GMT

Well.. I've got her..

And she is the most sweetest little thing!!

Her fur around her bottom end is all matted and mucky .. I took her to work with me today and shaved her bum and gave her a little bath.. i think she enjoyed it!! she was good as gold! The vet gave her the once over for me too.. I was concerned about her hind legs as they stick out a bit when she sits... vet confirmed, she has luxating patellas (both legs!) she doesn't seem to be in any pain and will tolerate manipulation. . Vet wasn't too concerned as not bothering her.. but Is this something that is likely to get worse???

Also, I'm feeding her chopped carrotts, exel rabbit pellets, hey, and also mixing in some protexin pro fibre to help with her digestion... now I know they cant have lettice.. but can they eat cabbage??

I'm more of a cat/dog person and not 100% confident with rabbits (can you tell!!).. she comes in the house for a few hours play, then out in her hutch (getting a run made for her) I got a cover over it for the nights. ..Going to get her vaccinated for myxo / vhd.. treating her for parasites.. checking her teeth / bum.. is there anything else I should be checking??

Sorry if I sound like a pain .. thanks ..!!

I'll post a new topic and will post a picture of her :)

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

funkyfish — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:41:01 GMT

Hi again!!

Mixing breeds is fine- tho avoid a giant breed... www.rabbitrehome.org.uk is a good place to look or your local rehoming centre/local paper.

Some rehoming centres will let you try with a few bunnies until you fine one that will be good friends with your bunny, it can take month or so for them to be good mates.

HAve lots of fun! I just lost the last of my many 2nd hand bun buns at the ripe old age of 9 and a half. RIP Olive.

Feel free to email if u have any more questions! vanessa@vetnurse.co.uk

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Steph Phillips — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:45:54 GMT

[quote user="funkyfish"]

Bunny prob is not fed enough hay/grass or has a gut bacteria prob.

They need sunlight (at least 4 hours a day), exercise and hay/grass which should make up 80-90% daily diet. So house rabbits are not great as they don't get the sunlight they need. bunny should have a 6 foot by 6foot run- as minimal space, with another bunny or closely bonded human. Mine would sit in the rain/snow even though they had a covered area to sit under.

They need mental stimulation, they love picking things up and throwing them around- plastic plat pots are great for this. They like to sit on things and hide in them- old plastic cat box or plastic swing bin on its side works well.

A bunny that size should have approx. 1 egg cup complete pellet to make sure has all vits and mins it needs, as the nutritional content of hay can vary greatly depending on the weather on the day it was cut and how it was stored. Alfafa and Timothy hay are the best as the have the correct calcium and fibre. Beware they will not eat what they have sat on even if it looks ok to you, they need fresh everyday. I use cheap hay for bedding hay and feed good hay via a large rack-wire hanging basket worked well for mine. They need 1-2x their size in hay per 24hrs.

Avoid root veg and fruit but dark greens are good (approx. a small cabbage leaf eod).

Also the tooth prob. will probe be progressive- check if the incisors have ridges on them- if so its calcium is squiffy. A good diet and enough daylight should help that. Watch for face abscesses and Incisor probs.

Thats all I can think of hope it helps!

[/quote]

Brilliant info - thank yooou - like i said, I've never owned a rabbit before so not 100% sure on their needs - been reading up on them though!

Can you mix the breeds?? The rabbit i'm getting is a lionhead, so if i wanted to buy her a female friend, would that have to be a lionhead also??

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

funkyfish — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:29:27 GMT

Bunny prob is not fed enough hay/grass or has a gut bacteria prob.

Avoid root veg and fruit but dark greens are good (approx. a small cabbage leaf eod).

Thats all I can think of hope it helps!

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Nikki Graef — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:52:49 GMT

My first guess would be oral/spinal problems or pain in either area. Both caused by poor diet.

Try and wean off the dry food and feed grass hay and veggies, if you have to feed a small amount of dry food use the pellet types not the musili types.

As for outside at night just make sure she has lots of bedding to keep warm in the cold weather and a fox proof cage

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Steph Phillips — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:11:12 GMT

she said she had spurs on her teeth that her vet filled down, but still not grooming herself?? she's been washing her back end everytime she wee's!

I'm getting her on wednesday - I've never owned a rabbit before!

I'm planning on letting her into the house during the day - then out the garden during the nights - is that ok??

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Rachel Jayne — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 02:55:56 GMT

Lionheads are unfortunately the rabbit equivalent of persian cats... so I would be suprised if it weren't some kind of oral malformity...

I don't mean that in a nasty way, it's just that it is common in that breed.

(Fingers crossed my little guy has been ok so far! He's 4 this year)

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Rachel Jayne — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 02:50:19 GMT

Arthritis or dental problem....

Look forward to seeing her!

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Lolita — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:29:04 GMT

First thing that came to mind with me was dental problem too

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Vicky RVN — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:25:41 GMT

Dental problem?

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

loopylou711 — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:31:27 GMT

aw can't wait to see her! Good luck!!

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Steph Phillips — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:19:53 GMT

Aw thank you :) I will do.. I'll post pics of her when I get her :)

Thanks again x

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Emma Purnell — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:17:11 GMT

I am just as bad! Let us know how you get on - good luck!

Re: Quick reply needed regarding rabbit!

Steph Phillips — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:15:01 GMT

brilliant thanks both.. I've agreed (hubby caved - lol) to re home her.. cant stand teh though of her being euth! :(