How to care for young bunnies

[K_Bunny16]

My baby bunny is 3-4 weeks old and hes the first bunny I ever got so I want to know as much as possible to make him feel at home and I want him to get used to me any help?

[MuffyBunny28]

Try not to crowd him too much and just give him some space. if he is in a cage, try putting a dark sheet or pillow case over the cage to make him feel more secure. make sure he has plenty of food and water and a snuggly place to rest. once he is used to the place, you can try letting him sniff you and maybe try giving him a treat. just start out slow and dont pick him up until he’s used to you. I wish you the best of luck with your new bunny!
-MuffyBunny28

[LittlePuffyTail]

3-4 weeks? Are you sure that’s his age? Bunnies should not leave their mother until 8 weeks.

[K_Bunny16]

Yea the owners told me he was 3-4 weeks old I was worried about that too when I searched online :/

[kirstyol]

Bunnies that age should definitely still be with their mother, is your bun eating and drinking ok by his self? I had a baby bun who was six weeks old (he is a year and a half now) so I can maybe give you a little advice but obviously yours is a lot younger and shouldn’t really be on his own yet so it might be best to check with a vet.

Young buns are super inquisitive so let him come to you, make sure you bunny-proof everything and then just let him out of the cage, sit on the ground and he will eventually come to you to sniff and try to figure out what you are. Try to resist petting him straight away because you might startle him, let him sniff you for a while first. Make sure he has a place to run to where he feels safe if he gets spooked, A decent sized box with a hole for a door will do or even just make sure he has access to his cage, Bramble always used his cage as his safe place and was never interested in anything else I gave him when he was young.

Make sure you are feeding an unlimited amount of a decent baby-bunny food (pellets, not muesli) and unlimited alfalfa hay, no veggies yet he is too young for that. I would get to a vet for a health check asap just to make sure everything is ok, which it hopefully will be. Bramble was fine being away from his mum at six weeks but he had been vet checked before being separated from her and the vet had okayed it, I still took him for a check at my own vet just to be on the safe side mind you because I am a worrier. Also be prepared for the fact that you might in fact have a girl bun, its almost impossible to sex a bunny under 12 weeks old and even then its a struggle – we weren’t 100% sure with Bramble until he was 20 weeks old, neither was the vet in fact we thought we had a girl at 12 weeks because we couldn’t see testicles and its very hard to tell the difference without them.

[K_Bunny16]

Oh gosh, I’ll look for a vet ASAP and he seems to be ok when I went to the pet store a lady there helped me and gave me pellets and alfalfa hay. Hes actually been eating alot and I try not to give him veggies yet, to me he looks like he’s growing I got really scared when I found out that they still have to be with their mother, when I bought him(or her ) the mother wasn’t there. He doesnt like to be picked up and I’m worried about his nails their growing longer and I don’t want to hurt him.

[kirstyol]

Ok if you got him from a pet shop i think you need to consider complaining to someone. If they are selling rabbits too young they might also be doing it with other animals – the poor things could be at real risk. I dont know where in the world you are, but most countries have laws governing the sale of animals, including how old they need to be – usually its eight weeks.

If he is eating and drinking well then thats a really good sign. Most rabbits dont like being picked up because they are prey animals and usually in the wild things that try to pick them up are doing so because they want to eat them. I wouldnt think his nails would be too long at that age, Brambles were really sharp when he was a baby but they werent actually too long, i got the vet to blunt them down a little because we kept getting scratched by them.

[K_Bunny16]

Yea he really is growing bigger and hes been finishing his food bowl and hay more. His nails are sharp haha he scratches everyone in the house, could you do a check up and blunt them down at the same appointment?

[kirstyol]

The vet should do his nails in the same appointment if you ask them to. Just make sure you keep his food bowl filled up. All rabbits should have unlimited access to hay and baby bunnies, especially ones as young as yours should have unlimited pellets too

[K_Bunny16]

He twitches alot when I let him out of his cage, he runs really fast too. He’ll jump in the air or twitch really fast is that how they have fun? It’s cute and funny cause hes so fast lol.

[kirstyol]

Sounds like a binky, a sign of happiness and a very cute one at that. Have you seen the vet yet?

[K_Bunny16]

I just scheduled an appointment, hopefully they’ll contact me when there’s a date I can come in for a check up they told me the price is between $34-$44 and a nail trim is $8.60

[K_Bunny16]

Kakashi went to the vet and they said he was healthy, they told me to switch his hay to timothy(used to be alfalfa hay), his poop color changed to a really light brown and hes started to climb his cage.

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