2 New Buns!

[LauraBunny]

Hello everyone! I haven’t had rabbits since I was a child and when I went out to buy a rabbit last week, I ended up with two bunnies.  One is an English Lop and the other is a Flemish Giant. Please tell me about all things Flemish! I would love to see as many pictures as possible about living arrangements. We have a medium sized terrier mix dog and needless to say he’s VERY interested in the new additions to the family. I have been putting him outside whenever I take one of the rabbits out because while it seems like he wants to play, I don’t know when play would turn into “catch.” I would love for them to be great friends! Where do you recommend I buy bulk hay from and is there anything large enough to store a hay bale in (I’m a little allergic)? How much hay is too much to buy at one time? I don’t want it to mold or go bad before they go through it.  I’m not very familiar with buying bulk hay

Thanks everyone!

[MoveDiagonally]

Hello and Welcome!

If you want to see LOTS of habitat pics check out the habitat gallery:
https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/GreatHabitats/tabid/229/Default.aspx

I think most if not all the housing set ups there came from members here.

How old are your bunnies and are they spayed/neutered? Are they currently housed together? I’m asking because if they are opposite gender and not altered they will need to be housed separately until they are spayed/neutered and can be bonded. Even if they are same gender it’s usually a good idea to keep them separated until are altered as fights usually occur when bunnies reach puberty. If they are already altered and bonded then ignore all that!

For bulk hay I’ve found the best prices to be from local feed stores. So I would suggest checking out what you have available in your area. You just want to make sure it’s “horse quality”. If your’e a bit allergic I would suggest trying Orchard Hay. My husband is VERY allergic to Timothy hay but Orchard doesn’t bother him. I keep my bales in plastic tote bins with drilled holes in them for airflow/mold prevention.

And finally on to dogs! For dogs and bunnies to interact the dog must have at least basic obedience training under their belt (especially a reliable “leave it” and recall). I would discourage playing between them because it’s too easy for injury to occur on accident. They don’t really play the same being prey and predator animals. My dog used to get overly excited around my bunnies so I would have her lay down. It’s kind of funny because now she automatically lays down near them and will even “army crawl” around them. Lol.

Hope some of that helped!

[Nora]

Welcome!

I don’t know much about Flemmies, I can’t imagine having a bunny bigger than about 4 lbs! Good luck with them, definitely agree about making sure they are neutered/bonded before having them live together. If you bought them from a pet store, they may have sexed the rabbit wrong and you could end up with an unexpected litter.

I get hay from my local House Rabbit Society. They sell it in cardboard boxes, and I keep it in a closet downstairs. I have a bag that I fill up from the box and keep upstairs so that I don’t have to have a huge box in my living room.

[LauraBunny]

Thank you for the responses!! MoveDiagonally your black bun looks just like my Laura Bunny (my 4 year old daughter named her)! That’s so interesting about the orchard hay–that would be WONDERFUL if I wasn’t allergic!! I’ll give it a try. Thank you so much for the tips Move and Nora! I’ve been researching like crazy.

They are not spayed/neutered yet and so they are housed separately. Also, the Lop is 3 or 4 times bigger than the Flemish right now (but probably not for long!). I’m not sure they’re old enough to mate but because of the size difference I won’t let them out at the same time. Also, like you said, I’m not entirely sure they were sexed correctly….
 

I got the English Lop (Laura Bunny) from someone who raises them for meat () and I’m very worried about her right now. We’ve had her a week and fur is coming out from between her shoulders, it’s scabby and she’s sneezing with drainage from her eyes. I hope she will be ok and there is something the vet can do!!

[LauraBunny]

Hmm…I hope my previous post went through….maybe it is still awaiting approval….but this was the response I received from the breeder regarding her health:

“It sounds like she is having an allergic reaction to something. An allergy could cause dry itchy skin. Or, It could be that she is starting to go through a molt, which is normal. A molt will happen when they lose their baby coat and get their adult coat. Once an adult, it happens once a year usually late spring or early summer. A molting starts on the shoulders and works it way back, then the face.”

Does that seem legitimate?

[LauraBunny]

She’s definitely sick I’m taking her to the emergency vet this afternoon. The woman said I could bring her back to exchange but I said no way…..

[MoveDiagonally]

Oh no! Vibes for your bunny. Keep us posted!

[LauraBunny]

Thank you!

[LauraBunny]

Update: Thankfully, it’s nothing serious. They said other than a sinus infection, she looks very healthy. Antibiotics twice a day for 10 days and she should be good to go. Thanks for the vibes!

[MoveDiagonally]

Glad it’s something simple and treatable!

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