A “rescue” – advice?

[Channy]

 Hey guys,

I found out about someone who was planning on setting their (neutered, socialized, cat-friendly) little guy loose into the wild last night if they couldn’t rehome him, so I took him in until I can find someone willing to house such a wonderful little fella… I just couldn’t leave it to chance that he’d be as lucky as Socks was and get found by the right people  

The previous owners had him for about 9 months, and in that time they had been feeding him nothing but hay, hadn’t washed his water dish once from the looks of it, and didn’t bother litter training the poor bun (although apparently he only goes in his cage).

 

He also had nothing in his cage aside from the wood shavings and hay/water holders.

 

Since feeding him some pellets, his poops look much larger and closer to the size of the poos Socks makes… He’s about 5-6lbs. Are the poops typically standardized, or more proportional to the bunny? Should I be upping his pellet intake a bit more to encourage poops? We offered him some dried papaya when we got home just to try and tempt him/get him to relax after the car ride, but it was like he’d never seen those before either. We left one cube in the cage and it looks like he ate that. Should we be introducing him to other bunny-friendly foods now? Or is that going to be too much too soon? He should be old enough to be eating anything a grownup bun can, but if he’s never ever had it before….. Not too sure how to “pace” food intros when he hadn’t even had normal bunny pellets until like, last night.

I also noticed that he freaks out when given cheek rubs. He seems to be eating normally, and doesn’t mind the good ol’ forehead/ear rubs, but the minute I go to give him cheek skritches (which Socks will flomp if she gets) he sprints to the other end of the cage, and is leery about coming back to the cage door and my hand. Is this a sign of bad or ouchie teeth, or just that he’s not used to that kind of touching?

 

Last but not least, this rabbit was in a household with a cat and a dog, which I know have different bacteria, etc… I want so very badly to give the little thing some toys to chew/toss to have something to do – would I be putting Socks at risk if I “lent” him some of her less-used toys? Like from germs or anything like that? Should I just go out and buy him some of his own to send with him to his forever home whenever it may be found? Socks is quite spoiled, so we have a Rubbermaid tub full of backup/replacement/switch out so she doesn’t get bored toys at my house… I was thinking of using those, but I don’t want to put one bun in danger/at risk of being sick due to exposure to a new strange one and his/her strange-bunny germs!  

[Stickerbunny]

First issue – diet. You should introduce new foods slowly. You don’t want to shock his system and cause GI stasis. Since you just introduced pellets, wait a few days, then introduce ONE vegetable (romaine is a good starter, easy to digest), wait a few days, introduce another, wait a few days, introduce another. You want to be sure nothing you give him will upset his tummy, not all rabbits can handle all foods other rabbits can. If something does give him tummy upset, take it out of his rotation. Be sure to have simethicone on hand and be ready for tummy massages in case he doesn’t agree with something you feed him.

As for cheek rubs – different rabbits like different ways of being pet. Powder doesn’t like his cheeks being touched past a certain point, closer to his mouth, he will bite you if you do it but his teeth are fine. Stickers only allows pets between her ears. Go with what he’s comfortable with, but a vet checkup probably wouldn’t be a bad idea. If they were going to dump him, he’s probably never been to a vet.

For toys – buy him new ones. Never let germs go from a foster to your resident bunny. Wash your hands and change clothes after you care for the foster too, at least until you get him cleared by a vet. When I bonded Powder and Stickers, Powder was perfectly healthy seeming, but Stickers developed discharge on her nose and redness and the vet said Powder was most likely a carrier of some bacteria after spending a year in the shelter. There is no telling what germs, bacteria or parasites a foster may have. And short of bleach, which isn’t safe to wash most toys, they may not be killed off in a wash. Last thing you want is your foster to spread something to your baby.

[peppypoo]

Thank you so much for stepping in for this poor bunny! I’m glad he is in good hands. Stickerbunny gave some great advice, and I absolutely second it. In addition, I encourage you to take him to the vet for a checkup not only to make sure he is in good health, but also to check if he has parasites or bugs that could potentially be transmitted to Socks.

[Channy]

Thanks for the pointers, guys! He tugged the heartstrings of a friend of mine in just the right way (he reminded her of her old departed bun), and she’s taking him to the vet tomorrow for a clear bill of health! Keep your fingers crossed, we may have found him a really awesome forever home already!

… And they live close enough that once she’s spayed and it’s confirmed that he was neutered, Socks and him can have playdates!

[Stickerbunny]

Bunnies don’t really do play dates. They are territorial by nature and not fond of strangers in their space. Only way to really overcome that is to bond them, then they bond for life and since he will be your friends bun, it wouldn’t be fair to either of them to bond and make them live apart.

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