Hello Binky Bunny.

My name is Shigure, I am from Japan. I am new to rabbits and brought a Netherland Dwarf Hybrid. 

Bunnies name is Yuki, not Yuki 雪 for snow, but Yuki 幸 for good luck.

Yuki chan was born 2012/09/16 .. do not know if male or female as of yet.

I have loaded up photos of Yuki. I hope you enjoy. I also have a few short videos on Youtube.

I hope to make new friends here and learn about keeping rabbits.

Nice to meet you all.

Shigure.

I have been in a panic for the past few hours ... I have rung over 20 pet shops trying to find a milk that I can give Yuki chan ... they all say the pellets are for new born baby rabbits and can be used up to 8 months old ... I have looked on the net to try and make something at home and half the ingredients on the net we cannot get in Japan.

I have just got off the telephone blasting the pet shop I brought Yuki chan at and they now claim that the DoB is not the 16th of Sept, but the 06th of Sept, but on the form they have written 16th of Sept, is there any way I can find out Yuki chan's age? Can a vet tell me?

Decided to put the pellets in the blender with some water and turned it in to a paste ... Yuki is eating it now... refused to eat it before as pellets.... so need to be like a paste before he/she will touch it ... She is hopping about happy as now and no problems... I do not think I will be sleeping tonight ... will stay awake and watch over my baby .. 

Yeah great I am a 44 year old Ex-Aussie RAINF and going stupid over a rabbit, lucky the guys back in OZ cannot see this, they be in fits of laughter...

Getting hay is no problems. I have got in contact with a pet shop in the next city and they have hay.  


Think the paste has recharged her batteries, she is hopping about like the energizer bunny  now.

Well that is good too know .. I was about to check myself in to the local funny farm!

Thank you everyone for your help and the welcomes .... I am on a high because about 20 cups of coffee in the past 24 hours ...

Update ... I spent all night awake watching over my little girl ... She is eating fine now and going toilet with no problems ... she is hopping about and last night decided to go in to the other room were I normally sleep ... 

The room Yuki chan is in has carpet on the floor and she loves it, but my room has a wooden floor which she hates, but last night she entered the room and to my amazement jumped up on to the bed, scared the living daylights out of the girlfriend, who just about had a heart attack. 

The bed is 30cm high and she got on to it with one jump, I have now decided to keep the shoji shut to the other room to keep her out of it. The kitchen also has wooden floors and she refuses to go in to there.

In regards to Yuki chan's age.

The girlfriend rushed home from work as Yuki chan was not drink or eat for close to 6 hours, until I made the paste. 

The girlfriend rang the pet shop and blasted them even though I did it a few hours earlier, they told the girlfriend the same as they told me and that is Yuki chan was born on the 06th of Sept and not the 16th of Sept, even though they wrote down on the for the 16th of Sept.

I now think they wrote a younger age, because in Japan people will pay a high price for a young animal and a low price for a older animal, Yuki chan was ￥15000 because young, there was another rabbit the same breed but was 9 weeks old and it was only ￥8000

I do not mind paying a high price for a animal, but I am really p*ssed they have lied, so filing a report with the local government about the pet shop.

When the girlfriend got home yesterday, she said from the time she left for work until she got home I have stressed so much I have aged about 5 to 7 years. 

My little girl this morning, checking out my lap top.

After checking out the lap top, time for a bath ... I love my little girl

I am trying to find a vet that specialize in rabbits, but it is a bit hard.

 I have put Yuki chan on my private insurance so my medical insurance that I use to go to hospital now also covers her 100%.

Entered the Animal Ambulance in to the phone on speed dial if anything should happen, they have the same authority as a normal ambulance for humans when in comes to speed and running red lights.

The nearest Medical Emergence Animal Hospital is only 3 minutes away from my house, and like all hospitals in Japan they are also open 24/7 for emergencies.

I have just ordered a Cage, litter tray, rabbit maze, toys, as in my city there is nothing for rabbits, so at the moment using cardboard boxes... All the items should be here in the next week.

Thank you Memarieさん .. Yes I am spoiling my little Yuki chan and I think she has noticed it and playing hard to please now.

Yes I have just noticed that ... I have owned Cats and Dogs all my life and this is the first time with a bunny and I have aged 5 to 7 years in the past few days according to my girlfriend.

Yuki chan knows she has me wrapped around her little feet, if she was any bigger I think she use me as a carpet and walk all over me!


Tell me I am NUTZ for thinking I need to get her a friend in the next 2 weeks ..... Please talk me out of it, p-p-p-please

She doesn't need a friend yet. She has you guys.

But do consider it carefully because there can be some hiccups that arise as they mature.

1) The sex of rabbits is mistaken ALL THE TIME. Members here can attest to that. So you could end up with 2 boys, 2 girls, or one of each....which means having to separate them so they don't breed. That can happen at a surprisingly early age.

2) Though rabbits might be buddies while young, when they reach 2-3 months of age their hormones arrive. Very often they begin to fight. So then you're looking at separate habitats, looking into getting them desexed to cancel out the effects of the crazy hormones. Then some bonding work to help them get along.

It doesn't always go this way. Some will stay friendly. But just some stuff to think about.

I don't mean to come across anti-rabbit. I KNOW how addictive they are. My house is full now. But if you're considering a 2nd because you think she'd be lonely, give it some time. They are pretty cute how they can bond to us. They settle into a routine of sleeping when you're not around and seek us out when we're home.

I cannot play with her all the time, as I will return to work next year, and here in Japan most people work about 12 to 15 hours a day, then out with friends for a few hours before returning home.

I use to start work at 1800hrs at night and finish at 0700hrs the next day, then a 2 hour train ride home, so was away from home a total of 17 hours a day at least some days I never returned home and slept in a capsule hotel, the new job will be much the same.

So looking at getting her a playmate once I know her sex, at the moment I think female, but cannot tell yet, I have read on the net how to tell and I have looked and nope no idea yet. 

Once I know the sex then will decide on a friend. I am not one for desexing animals(The mammal called humans YES 7 Billion is too bloody many). I will look at the best option. 

I will be having a new house build next year if all goes to plan, so will have 1 room made just for my bunnies, but they will still have free run of the whole house.

Looking at a cage system like the picture below, but will need it custom made as there is nothing like this in Japan, it will give them the space they need if I am away for long hours or cannot get home (Earthquake 2011).

Note : If the rabbits breed, they would have no problems finding new homes, and here in Japan if you dump an animal you are looking at a prison term of 2 to 5 years. Animal protection is very high in Japan.

I moved to Japan in 2003, I was living only 200ks south of the leaking nukes. At the time of the quake I was in Yokohama, 10 floors up, the whole building swayed 1 meter either way throwing us all to the ground and turning the place in to a war zone, the trip home that normally takes 45 minute through the Aqua line took 15 hours, because all express ways were closed, all trains stopped, a 10 minute trip across Shibuya took 1 hour because of all the traffic. when I finally got home the next morning at just after 10am, my house was a wreck everything was destroyed, 2ks east of me the oil refinery went up and there was a huge blaze sending thick black smoke over my place, about a week after the quake I was told a family member of the wife(now divorced) was missing and 1 of my clients were also missing, 4 months after the quake they found the family member dead, the client they have never found his body.

I moved to Kanazawa-Ku last year and now been told to expect a M8+ quake here, in the next 5. I am on Tokyo Bay and from the information shown on TV if the quake hits and there is a Tsunami my house will be under 20 meters of water. ... ... .... 

And as I am typing this Yuki chan has just jumped a 40cm Barrier I set up to enclose her...  was not expecting that ... bugger it!

Chat later, I need to think of a new plan for the bunny, she has thrown a hissy fit being locked up and for the past 10 minutes has being trying to escape and she did it