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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum DIET & CARE 2 Bunnies ~ Different Sizes?

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    • summer
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        My boyfriend rescued two bunnies from an illegal seller and kept them for about a month. Then, we decided it would be better if I take them.

        We think they are siblings. We think they are over a month and a half old ~ 2 months old but we have no idea. They are 20cm long lying down and maybe 16cm sitting.

        They were the same size but after about 2~3 weeks, the one with beige coloring got significantly bigger. 

        I think the picture is not clear, but if you look carefully, the beige one has a rounder neck and body and has bigger, longer ears.

        Now, I’m a little worried that they are not growing at the same rate. Is it normal? Admittedly, the beige one was more shy at the beginning and didn’t run around as much as the black one.

        Also, I searched on this forum and many members say to feed them their body size in hay. I have a hay rack that’s roughly their body size and a hanging whisk that’s a bit bigger than their head. 

        Here’s my timeline:

        3:00AM: Wake up to them frantically drinking water from their bottle. Their water dish is empty and the hay is all gone. So I refill a little (maybe half).

        6:30AM: hear them frantically drinking again. So I refill a little (only 25%). They almost eat all of it by 7:30AM. I give them 1 teaspoon of alfalfa pellets. I don’t think they like it too much but when they finish the hay, the slowly eat it. 

        7:30AM: I pack (not overfill or loosely) both hay rack and hanging whisk.

        6:00PM: (I work 8 hours and have a LONG commute). Hay rack and hanging whisk are pretty empty (maybe less than 10% left) I let them out until I see one of them pee (they never pee inside their cage, but they go nuts and pee when I let them out – this never happened at my boyfriends place… I hope it’s just because they are adjusting) and wipe it up with tissue and put it in their litter box and then get them inside (as “punishment”). I wait a while and then I loosely fill in the hay rack and whisk, which they finish off within 2 hours.

        9:00PM: I see that their hay rack is empty so I fill it up around 25%.

        10:00PM: Hay is all gone. I sleep at this time so I overpack the hay rack and whisk. 

        Repeat from 3:00AM

        I worry that this is TOO much hay!!! But I read in some places to give them unlimited hay, which I assume it means to refill whenever the hay racks are empty. Then other places say to give them their body size in hay each day. And some say feed them 2 ~3 times a day (but how much?). 

        Should I train them to eat their hay gradually? How? My main concern is being woken up at 3AM to hear them drinking – because they are so hungry that they only have water to fill them up? I don’t want them to starve at night if I don’t get woken up.

        I will often reach in and put their poop in their litter box and they would jump to the hay rack – a sign that they want food. Do I listen to them or go by a schedule? I am basically listening to them now… but I don’t want them to become overweight… or starve.

        Also, when my boyfriend had them, his friend who owns rabbits gave him timothy hay. So they had timothy hay for one month before they came to me and started having alfalfa mixed the timothy hay. 

        *** Sorry for this long post and so many questions. I’m a new bunny owner and taking care of two is really difficult even though it’s only been 3 days  I just want to take care of them the best I can. 


      • LittlePuffyTail
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          Is it possible they are not from the same litter? There is no picture posted.

          What type of hay are you feeding? Bunnies can’t eat too much hay. It’s the most important part of their diet. Bunnies should eat alfalfa hay until around 7 months at which point you should start introducing grass hay (timothy, orchard, oat) and decreasing alfalfa.


        • summer
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            Sorry, new to this type of forum and I uploaded incorrectly.

            I have 2 pictures uploaded now.

            When my boyfriend had them, he fed them only timothy hay (his friend has adult rabbits and gave it to him). When they came, I bought them alfalfa so I mix the both. They don’t appear to be picky about the hay.

            I looked online and tried the method and touching their sides and I can feel their bones. and I feel the dip in their hip, instead of fat like an overweight bunny would be. So maybe they are just growing differently? 

            I’m not sure if they’re from the same litter but they were the same size when they were found. 

             


          • LBJ10
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              If they are mixed breed, there is no telling what size they will be. Even siblings can vary in size, although I would think that an extreme size difference would suggest they are from different litters.


            • LBJ10
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                Okay, I fixed your pictures.

                Such cuties! There isn’t a huge difference size-wise, but their patterns are completely different.


              • steph
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                  sorry i have no idea about your questions just wanted to pop in and say those two are absolutely adorable! do they have names yet? the beige one has such sweet markings on his face!


                • steph
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                    sorry i have no idea about your questions just wanted to pop in and say those two are absolutely adorable! do they have names yet? the beige one has such sweet markings on his face!


                  • summer
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                      Yes! The black one is Shadow and the beige one is Softie ^^ Everyone seems to like Shadow because he’s extroverted (my boyfriend calls him “not a real rabbit”) but I have a soft spot of Softie. Softie has so many different facial expressions, it’s hilarious!

                      She has a different expression for when she pees in her litter box (“don’t look!”) when she’s peeing outside her cage (“I hope I don’t get caught…”) and when she looks at me after she peed outside her cage and before she hops into her cage before I can pick her up (“sorry! bye~~”). If only I was fast enough to take photos of those moments.

                      The size difference isn’t evident in photos but it’s clear in real life. My boyfriend saw them for the first time today and noticed that she got bigger.

                      Shadow seems to eat and exercise in intervals while Softie eats until she can’t eat no more and then lies down. She hops around but not as much as Shadow.

                      Their patterns being different means that they’re probably from different litters? Maybe they’re not siblings after all?

                      (Note: I’m using he and she for them but I don’t know their actual sexes.)


                    • LBJ10
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                        Well one looks to be mixed with Dutch because she has Dutch-like markings.


                      • summer
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                          Softie seems to be growing rapidly. Here’s a picture I just snapped now of them both lounging. 

                          If they’re different types of rabbits this different in growth is normal, right? What do you guys think Shadow is? I looked up Dutch rabbits and Softie does seem to have similar markings! 


                        • Elliriyanna
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                            Ok silly question, have you sexed the rabbits? Sometimes one seems to suddenly get bigger and it turns out they have a male and female.

                            As for the size difference even among pure bred rabbits they can really vary. Hollands for example the first ones I looked at the brother was 4 lbs and the female was 3 ( not caged together of course) this does not sound like a lot but in little rabbits it can appear to be a decent difference. That’s 1/4 of their weight which will correspond to their body size.


                          • summer
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                              Are males typically larger? Softie is getting bigger day by day. At first I really though it’s because he eats more and exercises less than Shadow but if it’s a gender thing too then I don’t think I should worry about him becoming overweight in the future.

                              I will try and check their sex tomorrow when when my boyfriend comes over. Shadow has been tranced to check his nails and he was fine with it. But I’m afraid that Softie will freak out so I want to be cautious.

                              I want to take them to the vet just for a check up but the nearest vet that is knowledgeable about rabbits is about 2 hours away and I’ll have to take the bus –> train –> bus. I think Shadow is brave enough to go through all that in a carrier but Softie is still way too timid. I’m either going to have to slowly train them to be okay with the commute somehow or wait until we can find a time to rent a car and drive there.


                            • LBJ10
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                                When you have a bunch of stuff mixed together, you can get siblings that look completely different (color and size variation). They could be from the same little and the parents just have a lot to contribute to the gene pool. Or they could be from different litters. It’s hard to know if they are the same age and came from the same place.


                              • Elliriyanna
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                                  Actually I was thinking more along the lines of pregnancy but that’s usually in the belly area not overall size


                                • summer
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                                    I feared pregnancy too, after reading all these posts about bunnies maturing at 3 months and them possibly being 3 months. I googled how to check if a rabbit is pregnant and I touched the stomach (they both like to be pet if it’s only on the head or a full body stroke. They only jerk away if I touch a certain area of the body in a non-stroking motion) and I didn’t feel any bumps or anything that can be babies. I can feel their bones underneath and I don’t feel any fat. I thought Softie would have some fat because she seems full around the neck and stomach but I don’t feel anything that seems to be like fat…

                                    I told my boyfriend about checking their sexes and he said his friend checked when they were with him and he said they are too young to tell. It’s only been 3~4 weeks since he checked. Not sure if we can check the sex now? We’re still not sure their ages. Boyfriend’s friend guesstimated around 2.5 months +/- half a month.


                                  • summer
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                                      Softie is growing so fast… a more obvious size difference picture below.


                                    • LBJ10
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                                        If you’re not sure, it might be a good idea to separate them until you do know. Just in case.


                                      • summer
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                                          We checked today and they were fidgety. A month ago, Shadow didn’t mind being held and flipped over but since I don’t manhandle them maybe their instincts took over and they now fear it.

                                          So we were only briefly able to check and I think Shadow is male and Softie is female. Their genitals look different. Shadow has a | shape and Softie has a O shape.

                                          I looked at many websites and it looked most similar to the pictures in this page:

                                          http://www.wikihow.com/Determine-the-Gender-of-a-Rabbit

                                          I actually really want to get them altered but my boyfriend is against it… He is strongly Christian and doesn’t believe altering them is natural. I’m worried about cancer in female rabbits but he doesn’t believe it will happen even when I showed him the statistics (after 2 years there’s an 80% of getting ovarian cancer, if I remember correctly). I told him I’m worried about them producing litters every few months, but my boyfriend says it would be a blessing.

                                          I really need us both to agree with this. Although I’m taking care of them, it’s him who rescued them and had the intention of taking care of them until his roommate became against it.

                                          I mentioned my boyfriend’s friend who owns rabbits before. He had two unaltered rabbits who had a litter. I’m not sure if any babies died, but right now, he has 5 rabbits total. I think the mother rabbit is quite old and doesn’t have cancer or any other problems. Apparently they don’t have problems with fighting or anything. I think that’s what my boyfriend’s backing up some of his opinions with – the experience of his friend.

                                          Rescuing the rabbits were an unexpected occurrence so we never budgeted anything for them – including altering. To be frank I can’t technically afford to alter the rabbits but If I convince my boyfriend I will pay for it 100%, screw my finances, I love these rabbits! I think I may be able to convince him to alter ONE at least and maybe when he sees that they’re still healthy and more well behaved he can be convinced to alter the second one. If that happens, which one should I alter first? I’m thinking the male one?


                                        • summer
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                                            Also, he doesn’t want to separate them because they love each other so much (it’s true, they’re always snuggling and rarely sitting away from each other). And said what if someone separated us?

                                            I would put the cages side by side but he said it’s too cruel. I get his viewpoint, I would feel awful to separate them since they’re so bonded to each other but seriously he needs to make a compromise here. We’re really going nowhere with this debate.


                                          • Flopsie
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                                              this is a touchy subject but I feel like I have to be the voice of reason here. i understand where he is coming from based his religion. let’s for now table the altering aspect. if you choose not to do that, you must separate them. not doing so will result in many litters of babies and this is not responsible. the rabbits are prey animals so in terms of what’s best for their survival, they need to produce as many babies as fast as possible. being a house rabbit, there is generally no risk of harm or injury. so there is no need to reproduce in numbers. also while one may see it as a blessing we also have to remember the gestation period of a rabbit is much shorter than one of a human for example. that means it is possible to have a litter ever 4 or 6 weeks (correct me if I’m wrong). the babies will ne coming out exponentially. what will your boyfriend do then? will be care for all of them? this will not be good considering how many unwanted rabbits are out there already at shelters.

                                              finally. as far as getting the female spayed. it is a good idea. there is a high chance of cancer. sure you can say there is always a slight chance to not get it. there is always a small chance of having it not occur. but if the evidence shows that it is a high chance it is a responsibility for you to make sure you do what is best for the animal. the rabbit is dependent on you and you have to be the rabbits biggest advocate because she cannot do it herself. if you hope to be that 20% that doesn’t get it, it’s rolling the dice.

                                              I’m not trying to trivialize the difficult situation you are in. I understand. but I felt like we also need to look at some is the facts at hand too


                                            • RabbitPam
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                                                I just want to add that a female who has multiple litters in quick succession is usually exhausted, often ill from the strain. If allowed to get cancer that could have been prevented, she will suffer even more. What may seem hard in the present may actually be a loving act in her best interest to allow for a long and happy life with a husbun and her humans for many years to come.


                                              • LBJ10
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                                                  Personally, I would ask him what he plans to do with all of the babies. Does he plan to have a (literally) a herd of rabbits? My guess is that he doesn’t realize how quickly two rabbits can become DOZENS. Not only will the original two be breeding, but the babies will be breeding with each other once they reach maturity. I also guess that he would not want to care for that many rabbits (just think of all the money spent on food alone). But would he be willing to find them homes? With so many unwanted rabbits in shelters, I don’t see finding homes for all of these rabbits an easy task. What would happen if someone lied about why they wanted a rabbit or two? You might think they are going to a good home, when in reality they are going to become food (for either people or snakes). Just the thought of this is enough to convince me to spay/neuter my animals. And that is not even taking into consideration that studies have proven that female rabbits have up to an 80% chance of developing cancer (percentages vary depending on breed).


                                                • LBJ10
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                                                    To answer your other post, I don’t think it is cruel to separate them. They may love each other now, but that can change in the blink of an eye once their hormones start kicking in. We have witnessed it many times here on BB. So don’t think of it as being cruel. They would still be able to see each other, they just would not be able to have physical contact until they are spayed/neutered. That way you will be avoiding the risk of injury and possible pregnancy.


                                                  • summer
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                                                      I have more or less convinced him to have at least one of them altered. He’s leaning towards the male, as am I. I read through some threads and it seems getting a female spayed is more dangerous, there’s a larger risk of complications during the surgery. Is that correct? Rabbits are not a common pet here and there’s only 2 vets that have experience with rabbits.

                                                      The full story is we planned to move to another country in January. We were not planning to get any pets at all because of this. Someone was selling rabbits illegally at a subway station so the seller and rabbits were taken away by the authorities but in the confusion 2 rabbits were left behind. So he decided to take them home.

                                                      We fell in love with them and wanted to take them with us but after researching about taking pets on planes and the trauma they go through, we decided against it. So we are technically fostering them. We already have 2 friends who are willing to take both of them together (we don’t want them to be separated), so we have a choice between two people already.

                                                      We want to keep them until November since we’ll be relocating overseas soon after but I’m thinking maybe we should give them up early and have their new owner decide since we disagree with this.

                                                      And we’ll be taking them to a vet next month or the month after when we can rent a car and get the bunnies there safely. I heard that  it’s actually difficult to know the sex of rabbits so maybe we are wrong. If they are both male or both female I think he’ll completely abandon the idea of altering them even though I would still want to. 


                                                    • LBJ10
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                                                        I encourage you to at least get them properly sexed as soon as you can. If you’re going to have to rehome them, but don’t want to spay/neuter them, then I would suggest they go to their new home sooner rather than later. That way, the person giving them a permanent home will have to opportunity to invest in their future.

                                                        When keeping a single bunny, it isn’t as important for a male to be neutered as it is for a female to be spayed (health-wise). But if you have a pair, any pair, it is best to have all parties altered because hormones interfere with long term bonds (beyond babyhood).


                                                      • Flopsie
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                                                          given that you’ll be moving, I think that it is better sooner than later for them to be rehomed. I understand that you care for them greatly, but if you cannot agree on having the female spayed, then it might be best for them to go to a new home earlier so that decision won’t be left in your hands.

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                                                      Forum DIET & CARE 2 Bunnies ~ Different Sizes?