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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum DIET & CARE Early care for a new bunny

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    • mernpx
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        Hi everyone! This is my first post so hopefully I’m asking this in the right spot! 

        I just got my first bunny a week ago. According to the woman at the pet store (who was also the breeder), he should be just at 5 weeks old which I’ve learned from reading other posts is still very young. Even though he’s small, he seems to be adjusting very well to his new home. He’s always running in circles and jumping like crazy which I can only assume means he’s having a good time! I left him alone for the first few days and just near his cage and talked to him whenever I could. Now I’ve tried petting him and he likes it for a while and then decides he’s had enough. He definitely doesn’t like being picked up! I think I traumatized the poor guy when I took him out of his cage to clean it earlier today! 

        Like I said before, he is my first bunny so I’m a little worried about not doing something right! 

        I guess I’m looking for tips on how to make sure he’s comfortable in his new home and comfortable with me. Any advice on what to do or what to look for to make sure he’s happy and healthy would be awesome! 

        Here’s a picture of him! 


      • tanlover14
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          Welcome to bunny parenthood! He’s adorable.

          He is VERY young – what kind of food do you have him on??

          What kind of housing do you have for him? Pet store cages are very inadequate long-term so I would invest in making a condo or buying an x-pen if you haven’t already.

          Picking up goes back and forth. Handling at a young age is always good so they don’t become hard to handle as they get older (in my experience). But I typically only pick them up taking them from room to room, etc. although two of my buns don’t mind it at all. A good way to do this is to give him something he likes every time he lets you pick him up, so he learns to associate being picked up with something positive. He’s still pretty young though so you may have to stick to giving pellets as treats for now until he’s 12 weeks.


        • Roberta
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            Running and bouncing is referred to as Binkies and Zoomies.. Both are expressions of joy for a bunny, so he or possibly she must be very pleased to be part of your family. My oops babies had me around from day one and became use to me being with them so they are generally pretty human friendly but they still don’t like being picked up……. All my babies had unlimited food (hay and pellets) until about 6 months, because they were with their parents they also started greens at a very early age. If your bun has not had greens wait a few more weeks then try small amounts of the “Feed Freely” greens and build them up slowly and stop anything that upsets their tummies.
            The best way to interact at this stage is to give your Bun a good sized play area and get down to their his or her level. Read a book or watch TV, they will use you as an activity centre.


          • mernpx
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              Right now I’m feeding him a handful of hein hold (?) pellets every morning and unlimited amounts of western timothy hay. I haven’t been feeding him any veggies because I wasn’t sure what was safe. 

              Thanks for the advice! I’ll definitely keep holding him to a minimum. Maybe just stick to letting him sniff around and petting him and talking to him for now until he’s a bit bigger. 🙂


            • mernpx
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                I’ve learned from reading around that a lot of bunnies don’t care for being picked up so I’m not expecting him to love it but I just want to make sure he’s not impossible to handle when starts to get big. 

                The guy at the pet store said to only feed him a handful of pellets every morning. He definitely loves them and usually eats them all early in the day. Should I give him more when he finishes the ones I give him? I was just going by what the man said at the store but I didn’t have my bunny when I talked to him so maybe it’s a different story when the bunny is so young.

                Thanks for the advice! 🙂


              • RabbitPam
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                  I just want to add a few things: first, he is totally Adorable!!!

                  I would recommmend you scroll up to the top bar with the drop down menu under Bunny Info. Also, start on the Home page of the site. You can read up on all kinds of basic info. for making your home together, as well as what kind of behaviors to expect at different times.

                  Remember that you are going to be together for years, so give yourselves time to patiently get to know each other and his surroundings. He will go through several changes as he grows up. He is a bit young to be on his own, so calm, nonthreatening affection is going to make him feel secure.

                  I would definitely take him asap to a vet to get a baseline exam for his health. At this young an age, you need to be sure that he was weaned well enough and doesn’t need anything special due to it being so soon. Also, feel free to pick your vet’s brains on advice regarding his particular needs, especially in terms of a good diet and when to make changes. We can give you guidelines, but a hands on adviser is always helpful.


                • omg3kids
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                    Cutie! Our boy is just a couple of weeks older than yours, and I love the above reference to an “oops baby” as that is what our baby boy is.

                    I have found that we have had the best results bonding with our boy by paying attention to his natural crepuscular activity routine; he’s more active in the morning so we let him run amok while we get ready in the morning. Then, after kids’ homework is done and the house is calmer, he’s rarin’ to go once more and he gets to cut loose in the livingroom with us again. (I do let him out more often than this, but those are his truly active times.) Our rabbit came from a house full of kids though, and his parents are very mellow and social.

                    Good luck, and keep at it!! The House Rabbit Society in our area has classes on this very topic, so maybe google the group for your area. Our chapter has been invaluable.


                  • MoveDiagonally
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                      Rabbits need unlimited pellets and hay until they’re 6-7 months old.

                      Check out the HRS diet page:
                      http://rabbit.org/faq-diet/

                      You’ll find feeding recommendations for bunnies of all ages.

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                  Forum DIET & CARE Early care for a new bunny