Some guidance for new bunny owner?

[sillybuns]

Hello everyone!

So I recently decided to jump on the rabbit train and after some hard scouting, finally found a breeder who had a purebred Netherland Dwarf for sale. I quickly bought the bunny home whom I’m told is a doe. On the same day I brought her home, I went to work later that evening and some regular customers at my work told me they had a French Lop who had a litter and blah blah blah, they ended up giving me a bunny for free, who I was able to pick up a week later.

Vanilla (the Lop) and Cleo (the Nethie) get along fine! They love to cuddle with each other and are BFF’s, but here’s where the problems arises.

1. I have NO IDEA what sex Vanilla is. The elderly couple who were nice enough to give me a bun aren’t breeders and couldn’t give me a guess to what sex Vanilla might be. I don’t want to wait until accidental litters or whatnots down the road before Im able to tell “oh, so Vanilla was a…” I did some research and I know you’re supposed to press down near the naughty parts to see what pops up. Circular hole = male. And a slit = female. But the problem is I don’t really know how to hold my buns in order to do this. I mean I know how you’re “supposed” to hold them, but every time I try, they both flip out or scratch and kick themselves out. They hate being picked up and Im always scared I might be hurting them. Cleo’s nails were clipped before I got her, but Vanilla’s nails are super pointy and neither of them ever stay still enough for me to do anything to either of them. I hear some people put their buns in a trance but I DONT want to do that to them bc it’s stressful and not healthy for them! So if anyone has some good advice to how I should proceed with this, it would be really nice!

 2. I also dont know if Im feeding them enough or too much. I wouldn’t have as much of a problem with this if they were both dwarfs or both large rabbits, but the problem is Cleo is teeny type and Vanilla is a giant type. They obviously need different amounts of food but Cleo is super competitive for some reasons and will eat if she sees Vanilla eating even though shes not hungry. What should i do about this? lol

 Thanks in advance!

[Beka27]

I take it they are both young (about 8 weeks?)

Honestly, the best thing for sexing then would be to take them to the vet. Even breeders make mistakes with young bunnies, so at this point you could have a boy/girl pair or two boys or two girls.

They need to go to the vet for an initial exam anyways (this should be done within the first month or so after they come home). The vet will do exams, sex them, check their fecal samples for parasites (parasites are common with breeder bunnies!), and talk with you about diet, housing, health maintenance, and spay/neutering.

Assuming they are both babies, they need lots of pellets and hay right now. Veggies can be introduced slowly at about 8-12 weeks old. I wouldn’t worry about who is eating what just yet.

[Beka27]

Since you were researching rabbit care ahead of time, I trust you have already found a local rabbit vet?

[LBJ10]

I agree, have the vet take a look. It is better to be safe than sorry.

[sillybuns]

Yeah, I’ll probably go check with the vet soon but I have my doubts about his expertise on rabbits. lol
He’s all like “Well we dont usually do rabbits. But I guess I can neuter them.” But he seems to be the only clinic in my town plus the next town over that does anything other than dogs and cats.

Any advice on nail trimming? Or will the vet do that too? I heard some vets can do it for you while others dont.

[LBJ10]

Most vets will trim nails. I would have the vet show you how so that way you will feel comfortable doing them yourself.

Do you mind giving a general location? There are a few BBers here that are good at finding rabbit vets for people.

[BerrySoda]

For the nails, I just put her on the dining table on a towel, and held her there gently, pat her on the nose so she is calm and relaxed. I gave her some food to keep her a bit distracted, and then I pretty much just had to clip each nail one at a time, very slowly, and we got it all done.

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