Argh, don’t you hate it when you nearly finish a huge post and then the power goes out…
Oh well, here is the second draft:
I am currently trying to convince Hubby that we should get a new rabbit. Our last bunny sadly died two years ago, and I feel like I’m ready to pick up the bunnyslave duties once again. I would love to have a Flemmie (who wouldn’t ). Hubby said no at first because they are so expensive to keep, but after much nagging and begging he finally gave me a “maybe”. But, he wants to see some numbers first. So now I’m trying to guesstimate how much a Flemmie would cost us per month. I also have some general questions about his care. Maybe there are a few people on this forum that have experience with large bunnies and can give me some advice. Anybody is welcome to jump in of course!
Here we go:
Litter/Litterbox: We went to our local Tractor Supply and found a great deal on horse bedding, $6 for 40 pounds. They are pine pellets, is that ok to use? (Has anybody used it as cat litter? We have been buying Yesterdays News for our cat, but it is 3x as expensive as the horse bedding…) I found a nice under-the-bed storage bin at Walmart, it is about 26×18 inches that I could use for his litterbox. Should it be bigger? If I fill it with litter on one side, hay on the other, how long would the 40 pound bag last him, more or less?
Hay: Also at Tractor Supply, they have bales of Alfalfa hay, but no Timothy. The clerk said they also have bales of Coastal hay in a truck outside (I thought it was weird that it wasn’t in the store with the Alfalfa ). So I did some research on the Coastal (Bermuda) hay, and it seems that it is close enough to Timothy. However, i read several times about horses getting compactions from this type of hay. Should I stay away from it? There are two more local Feed stores where we will try for Timothy bales, but if any of you know of a place, online or local (we live in Savannah, GA) where one can buy bales for a good price, please let me know. I know it’s hard to tell because every rabbit is different, but about how much hay should I expect him to eat over the course of a month?
Pellets: I plan on feeding him Oxbow Essentials, Foster and Smith ships the 50 pound bags for free. I figured that will last him anywhere from 2-3 months (as an adult), is that about right? I know he will need a source of Alfalfa while he is growing, would it be better to feed him Alfalfa hay with Timothy pellets or Alfalfa pellets with Timothy hay?
He will start out being housed in a 48×30 inch dog crate while we are not at home, other than that he will have the run of the dining room (where his crate will be) and as soon as his litterhabits allow, he will have freerange throughout the house, with supervision.
To anybody who read this whole thing, thank you very much!