New bun owner, want to make sure I’m doing a good job

[Foomin]

First of all, before I adopted my bun and since then I am so grateful to have this site/forum with so much information. I’m excited to be a member here  

Last week I adopted my friend’s 5 year old girl, Truffle. I’m new to bunnies but I’ve done a bit of research and I’m hoping you guys can give me some input/help.

Her current diet (kept from previous owner for now):
-1/4c pellets in the morning
-Unlimited Timothy hay
-1c Romaine at night
-Dried banana chip treat

The pellets are Meijer brand (a local food store). Truffle seems to be a bit overweight, I will post a picture of her tonight.. Last night I thought I should check out the ingredients and I found they’re an Alfalfa hay based pellet. Could this be part of what is keeping her a bit chubby? I haven’t looked at the nutrition values (min/max%) yet but I will do that tonight. I plan to gradually switch her to a healthier Tim based pellet.

I wasn’t sure how often she got the banana chip at her old home, so I have only given them when I “need” to. Like when I very first brought her home, and when I cleaned her poopy but the other day.

2 days ago I gave her one very small Kaytee brand yogurt dipped Tim hay treat. Then I read that bunnies shouldn’t eat yogurt so I was annoyed and put them away to never give it to her again. Later that night I gave her 2 baby carrots and a bit of extra Romaine after reading how many greens she should be eating. The next morning she had poopy butt. I think it might have been the carrots, and maybe the yogurt or extra lettuce. I cleaned her up and didn’t give any more carrots and cut her lettuce, supplementing by putting extra hay mixed with some pellets in her food dish. Her booty is fine now. I’m going to slowly reintroduce Romaine and a variety of other greens one at a time.

I’m not sure how frequently throughout the day she should be munching on hay. It seems like she doesn’t eat a ton of it, she mostly sits in the corner being shy and stressed out about her new home, tossing any toys I present her with far away. She also takes a while to eat her 1/4c pellets. I guess I might be used to my old cats who would scarf all of their food immediately? I read that mixing her old hay in with the bag and putting it back out might make her want to eat more of it. I’m such a worrier in general I’m afraid maybe I’m just obsessing over it?

Anyway, any input/comments would be super appreciated. Thanks!

Oh yeah! I wanted to add that I plan to take her to a bunny-savvy vet for a checkup in the near future.

[kamdynandsunshinesmom]

First of all i want to say congratulations on adopting a rabbit. This post maybe a bit long. I know being a first time rabbit owner can be scary. I just rescued a female rabbit last year and already have a male rabbit who was diagnosed with cancer. First of all you want to get a rabbit check out by a rabbit savvy vet if it hasn’t been checked out. As for the diet you want to switch her to a timmy based pellet here is a very good brand http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=16618 oxbow hay is probably the best brand out there I personally wouldn’t recommed any other brand. This will help with her weight. As for treats go any treat that is sold in pet stores in bad for rabbits they are to high in sugar. Treats that are safe for rabbits are bananas, apples, pears, watermelon. Make sure you watch your bunnies poops and if they are a bit runny stop giving treats for awhile. Treats should be given on occasion. Some bunnies will eat there pellets right up my male rabbit will eat his pellets with in 2-3 hours. Now my female it takes her all day to eat her pellets. The vegetables you want to give any new vegetables one at a time for about a week and watch her poop. here is a great website on vegetables http://www.mnhouserabbit.org/rabbit/care/diet/veggies.html . here is a great website for the diet of a rabbit http://www.mnhouserabbit.org/rabbit/care/diet/balanced_diet.html. I don’t know what type of cage you have for your bunny but you want to make sure she has about 3 hours a day out of the cage to run around in a rabbit proof area. I also don’t know if your rabbit is litterbox trained. If she isn’t i would recommend you litterbox training her. It saves you time and money. Here is a good site on littertraining http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/litter.html. Both of my bunnies are ltiterbox trained and it is wonderful make sure that you put alot of timmy hay in there litterbox my rabbits love to poop and pee and eat there hay at the same time. Also make sure you having rabbit safe toys to keep our rabbit entertained. Also is your rabbit spayed if not I would suggest talking to a rabbit savvy vet on getting your bunny spayed. Hope this information helps you and you will have alot of fun being a bunny mom. I wish you the best of luck.

[LoveChaCha]

I would advise on introducing greens slowly. Like carrots for one week, lettuce the next. Some rabbits have very VERY sensitive tummies, as you are seeing right now. We all make mistakes as first time rabbit owners, I made many too!

For treats, I feed my rabbit dried strawberries, dried banana chips, or a craisin.

An alfalfa rich diet for a 5 year old is very fattening. Unless otherwise stated by your vet, your rabbit would be on a timothy based diet The amount of the pellets sounds good to me. How much does your rabbit weigh?

What type of hay is she getting? Some rabbits can be REALLY picky about their hay. My rabbit sure is. She prefers softer types of hay.

Oh, and welcome! I hope you stay and keep asking us questions and hang out with us all in the Lounge

[Foomin]

Thanks for the info, that was fast and helpful. These links are great. Truffle’s cage is a homemade kind with those wire storage cubes with a cardboard bottom. It’s pretty big (about 4×3 with a ledge she likes to hop onto) but I might add more later. I leave the front of her cage open for the entire time I’m home so she can get out and roam around (under my watchful eye), but while she is very curious she is shy to new people so she hops around a bit, goes back inside, comes back out, etc. I’m sure she’ll warm up soon.

My girl is spayed and litterbox trained. I think her litterbox is a little small for her because she takes up almost all of it, so I will get a larger one soon. I use Yesterday’s News with Tim hay on top, with more hay on the “kitchen end.”

For toys, she has a huge cardboard tube, a little cardboard tube, baby rings, and some cardboard puzzle-y hay-holding toys my boyfriend and I made for her. She really likes pulling the hay out of them.

Thanks again!

[LoveChaCha]

A lot of the members and myself use a large cat litter box for bunny! It also doubles as a place to lounge, and adding hay to the box makes a happy bunny. They love doing their business and eating at the same time (… multi taskers LOL) and sometimes, a rabbit might flop in their litter box, but it does not meant they are dirty .. They clean themselves like crazy (almost or more than cats do!).

Yay, i’d like to see pics of your set up! I have a condo built out of storage cubes as well SO HANDY, isn’t it?

[Foomin]

I’ll definitely switch to a Timmy pellet. I’m not sure how much she weighs, but she is quite the butterball…. lol. I’ll post a picture later I’m sure switching will make a difference, I’ll make sure to gradually mix the pellets in with her old ones.

She currently has the Meijer brand timothy hay. It’s pretty stiff but it smells good. The friend just gave me her bags of food and stuff when I took her, which is why I’ve kept using them for now. I’ll try other types and see how it goes.

[kamdynandsunshinesmom]

o i forgot to mention when switching to the timmy pellets make sure you switch from old to new slowly i have a formula i will send you in a day or 2

[Sam and Lady's Human]

In the first week, do 1/4 new food, 3/4 old food. Then the next week, 1/2 and 1/2, then the 3rd week, 3/4 and 1/4, then the final week all the new

Congrats on your new bun! Lets see some pics!

[brittbritt]

I recently ordered timothy hay pellets, Oxbow. My bun Gabby loves them. You can order them on this site and that’s where I ordered mine.

Congratulations on your new bun. Sounds like you are doing a great job or researching her care and finding ways to improve it. We would love to see pictures of her.

[Dee]

Hi Foomin! It makes me so happy to see new bunny owners who already care so much about their rabbits and want to do what’s best for them . I agree that it souns like you’re doing a great job with Truffle. About the hay eating, the hay in the litter box seems to get my bunnies to eat a lot more. I didn’t know until recently but bunnies should get 90% of their diet from hay! I always gave my bunnies tons of greens because they love them, but my male rabbit, BunBun, had really bad problems with poopy butt. I kept switching greens around, stopping certain treats, and it kept happening. I know how frustrating- and gross!- it can be. I finally just gave Bun hay for a couple days, then started him back on a tiny bit of parsley. I waited a few days, then added some Swiss Chard. Doing that is realy the only way you will know exactly what causes Truffle’s poopy butt. I have found that bananas and any sugary fruit really give Bun tummy issues. Some bunnies can just have tiny amounts of greens/fruit- some can only eat hay. It’s just so sad when they beg for treats and can;t have any! BunBun is so pitiful, he jumps up onto the kitchen table and teeters o the edge, as if to say “Give me the treats or I’m gonna jump!” Makes me very nervous too.
It’s a really good idea how you’re leaving Truffle’s cage open so she can come out on her own. Both f my bunnies used to venture out of their cages slowly, then dash back in if anything startled them. They eventually get more comfortable, although some bunnies are just shyer than others.
Anyway, congrats on your new rabbit and welcome to the forum! I learned everything I know about bunnies here. This is an awesome place for info, support, and to communicate with other people who love bunnies too .

[Author]

Messages