I rescued a bunny from becoming snake food, now I need some advise

[Mel B]

I have found that joining forums for animals is the very best place to get expert advise so please HELP. I am a reptile person and have tortoises now. I belong to a couple FB reptile pages and Friday a girl posted a free rabbit for lg snake food. I did not think much about it I see these kind of adds often. I read on and she explained that she had got the rabbit the day before for a pet but found out she was allergic and it had to go ASAP. She thought the quickest way to get rid of the rabbit was to list it free for a feeder. I sent her a PM to inquire and I am so glad I did. She told me that the rabbit was about 2 years old and had belonged to an friend of a friend that was moving out of state. I told her I have no snake to feed but was just curious. Then she changed tunes and told me what a sweet snuggle bunny he is. After hearing that he had been someones pet for 2 years and that he was sweet I just could not see him becoming a meal for a snake. I talked to my husband and he said poor little guy, go get him. I drove over an hour today to pick him up. I really did not think he would be tame, I thought she was just trying to get rid of him. To my surprise he is very sweet and tame. He loves being held and petted. He even seems to be liter box trained because he has only pooped in a box with his hay. So now what do I do? I have lots of questions and hope that someone will take the time to help me. I had a bunny when I was a little girl but I really don’t remember much about caring for them. Here is what I am doing as of now. I have him for now in a very large wire dog cage, it is my Bloodhounds travel cage so it’s huge. She gave me a tiny bit of hay but it is Alfalfa and I think he needs Timothy? Is that correct? I know my weeds because of feeding my tortoises so I went into my very weedy non sprayed ever yard and picked him white clover, dandelion greens and flower, plantain, violets. These all ok? I gave him a water bowl but have not seen him drink so I am going to get a water bottle tomorrow. Is there a best choice water bottle? I am also going to get a liter box and liter so what is best to use as liter? I saw a liter pan online that has a screen part that lifts out to catch poo and the pee goes through. I would like something like this so I can dump the poo in the compost pile but it was like $28.00 does any super smart bunny people have a clever way to make one on the cheep? I took a plastic pan and put a soft blanket in it and he seems to love it. He burrows in under the blanket and sleeps or hides. Is this ok? Do I need to worry that he will chew it? I went and got some small branches off my mothers apple tree and put in with him. He has not touched them yet. The last thing as of right now that I am looking for advise on is pellets. I am a big believer in feeding animals as if they were wild but if the bunny experts tell me he needs pellets than I will get them but what kind? Ok one more thing I promise. I grow fodder for my chickens, is this something that the bunny would enjoy and be good for him? Ok thats all for now, I apologies for being so long winded. I usually don’t get an animal on a whim like this, I research and get everything ready first but this sweetie would have already been snake food by now. Thank you so much for any answers that you take your time answering.

[Roberta]

Well done for saving this little bun… Any horse grade hay is fine, timothy is better than alfalfa…My buns have Oaten hay. They also have this in the litter trays… Standard cat litter tray, newspaper on the bottom to absorb pee and lots of hay on top for laying in whilst dining and doing ones business, empty it daily into your compost and the vege garden will love you…
Make sure there is something on the bottom of the cage between his feet and the wire… What dimensions are the dog crate, you may be able to modify it and add a level if it is long and wide enough…
A bunny’s diet should be 80% hay, 15% fresh greens (see the diet list ubder care on the home page) and 5% pellets (nice clean ones like Oxbow, that doesn’t have any seeds or treats in it)
I’ll read some more of your post and keep adding… Mean while check out the care and habitat links on the home page.

[Roberta]

Bunny could be a little unsettled at the moment after a few changes of location and especially if he/she was uncomfortable in the last home so give it a few days… You could let bunny out in your living room and get down to his level and let bunny check you out…. (Inside buns are the best)

[Stickerbunny]

Litter screens can be made by going to a hardware store, buying hardware cloth (small gauge for poop to stay on top) and cutting it to size (cut it a bit larger than the box). Then file down the metal ends so they are not sharp and bend them underneath the screen as an extra precaution. You can sew cloth around the edges for another precaution, if you’d like. Cost me about $10 for 3 litter screens and had enough cloth left over to make a book/magazine holder.

Introduce new foods slowly ( a small bit one day, wait to see if it produces any digestive issues, then a bit more, if it’s still OK you can add a new food the next week).

My buns get hay, fresh grass (I take a knife and go out and cut grass from the yard), fresh greens, dandelions from our yard and oxbow pellets. To give enough greens without pellets you need a huge variety, pellets are kind of a supplement since most can’t offer that much.

[Tessie]

I agree with everything Roberta said.

It sounds like you’re doing really well so far!
Good for you for giving him a home.

[bunnluff]

Aww I used to volunteer with the adoptable buns at Petco and someone once brought in an albino bunny that apparently his snake wouldn’t eat. The bunny was SO scared and the staff at Petco helped me get him set up so he could eventually be adopted. It broke my heart so much but it had a happy ending. Thank goodness you rescued what sounds like a very special bunny. I could never surrender a pet by offering them as snake food. That’s horrible and it makes my stomach turn. Best of luck with your new bun!

[Linette]

You will be the perfect bunny owner, just about everything good for tortoises is good for bunnies too! Lots of hay and greens and a smidgen of fruits and veggies.

I use “yesterday’s news” litter, it’s pelletized recycled newspaper. I just put it in the corner of the litter box they do their business in and put hay in the rest, so it really doesn’t cost much or waste much to clean out that corner two or three times a week.

If the bars on the dog crate are too far apart you can put some hardware cloth over them, but we used a big dog crate as a home base for a rabbit for years, he was a house rabbit but we had a cage for the times when he absolutely needed to be penned.

my rabbits have water bottles AND bowls and they use both as the mood suits them.

I do give my rabbits a small amount of pellets every day, they also have a variety of Hay, timothy being the main one, but also orchard grass, meadow grass and oat hay for variety. Only the baby gets alphalfa

[MoxieMeadows]

Hi, and welcome! I am terrible at remembering what posts said, so….

I would give your bun pellets if I were you. Some buns like water bottles and some like bowls. Please, If you have ANY questions about your bun, or being a bun owner, please message me. There are no dumb questions

[jerseygirl]

So glad this rabbit has a home with you!

It sounds as if you have everything you’ll need diet wise. The fodder should be fine but given in moderation I expect. What is it you’re growing?

You can go pellet free. lots of vets recommend it. heres a little from House Rabbit Society in that.
http://rabbit.org/pellet-free-diet/

If you’re uncertain, you could give some pellets as treats or tiny portion daily.

Rabbit have great ability to extract what they need from plant matter. They ferment food in gut and reingest cecatrophes that have vital nutrition.
It’s when they’re diet becomes too rich when problems arise.

I love to give natural foraged foods when I can. After all, it’s what they’re designed to eat! But commercial veggies are convenient too.

[jerseygirl]

Oh! Another link that may interest you.
http://rabbitnutrition.co.uk/page1.html

[GiggilyPuffBunny]

Thanks for saving him!! 🙂 I’m sure he’ll steal your heart and spend the rest of his days thanking and loving you 🙂
Bunnies are great!!!
SO I use to use yesterday’s news for litter but it just got too smelly even if I cleaned it everyday and it took too long and no no no. (But hey if you guys like it go for it.) But I like the company called Kaytee they have excellent.granulated lavender litter with real lavender pieces so it smells great! Even when they pee. AND you can scoop it like cat litter 🙂 and it’s low dust so no nose issues will arise. I love their food line too which I just switched to but I was using Oxbow which I might switch back to… and yup yup yup I agree Timothy hay is a must, again Kaytee and Oxbow brands will both have good quality kinds. 🙂
Good luck!’and can’t wait to hear more and see pictures!!! 😀

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