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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR Curious about my bunny’s ways

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    • Ginger B
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        Ive had Mr Nibbler for a week now. I can’t really gauge how he feels about me. He’ll let me feed him in his cage but he won’t eat if I’m holding him or during play time. I normally let him out twice a day, for the first few days he was in the living room right next to the couch to be next to me most when Im home but I decided to move him to my room because shortly I’ll be moving and he’ll have to be in my room anyway. He seems skiddish of all sounds/fast movements, I noticed the electricity or light blulb clicked made him jump a little… :/
        He loves play time lots of running and binkies, he’s very curious and even recently started laying down while he’s out, as long as I havent moved in awhile. If I get up he hides. If Im sitting down he’ll sniff me, maybe step up on me and go away if I try to pet him. I’ve noticed him doing a quick thimp and then running off real fast, he’s done this a few times, mostly he seems independent I guess, and play time is never over and it’s always a task to get him back in, he doesnt like me picking him up or holding him but when I have him he’ll let me pet him and is still. Ive hasnt been eating his green pellets either only the other good bits and some carrots. Is this all normal? Will he eventually warm up to me? I try to give hin at least 3 hours out the cage through out the day because it’s pretty small. I’ll be making him a much bigger one asap so I can litter train him.

        Thanks for your time! (:


      • vanessa
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          Hi Ginger – glad you were able to join us 🙂
          That sounds normal for a new bunny. Who knows what he was used to eating before you brought him home. It takes time to adjust to a new setting. How old is he? Is he spayed? Are you feeding him the pellet medley with asortments in it? I think most folks here would agree that a good quality pellet without the treats included in the package – and some greens and plenty of hay, woud be the best diet. With him being so new, it might take you some expiramenting to figure out which is his favorite veggies. Mine LOOOOOOve bell pepper, cabbage, celery, and kale. Some of them like collards and mustard more than others. The looooooooooove dandelion and chickweed. I don’t feed my bunnies fruit. One of my 4 has a very sensitive belly and a super good sniffer – so I don’t tease him with fruit smells by feeding the other 3 fruit… So… find his favorite veggies, and offer him veggies by hand. Make him eat if while you are holding onto it. Just keep on offering fod. Bunnies love to eat. They are animals of prey – so it is their nature to be guarded. Once he realises you and yoru bedroom are not going to eat him, he will relax. It takes time. My bunnies are all used to their surroundings, although one of them barely lets me pet her after almost just over 2 years. I also have 2 verrrrrry snuggly bunnies. One thinks he is a lap bunny. He makes a cute buzzing sound when I come into the room. Food food and more food – and time and patience.
          It is a good idea to pick up a bunny every now and then so they are familiar with being handled and realise they won’t get eaten. My aloof bunny – I can’t pick her up by hand. I have to use a towel or a cat carrier. I can pick up the other 3. Two in particular are super easy to handle. It takes time. But it is important sot hat when you do need to pick them up for vet visits etc, they aren’t too stressed. They don’t naturally like being picked up. They naturally hate it. The idea is to get them to tolerate it. I woudl think that within 4 weeks, he whould have settled in and shoudl be more relaxed. Don’t make sudden movements around him, don’t chase/force him to shuggle, do get down on the ground with him, and remember food food food.


        • Ginger B
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            They said originally 5 months, then when I went to pick him up they told me 2 months, I’m no expert by far but there’s no way he’s 2 months lol. Not spayed yet either but I’d like to get that done as soon as I can. Yes, I got him the kind with all the goodies mixed in, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, little biscuit looking things, more seeds, and little red pellets. He eats around the green ones most of the time. They were feeding him just pellets, and they sent me home with a little bit of it.
            Um so how about skittles… like just one or two smushed… cause he was eating those before he came home with me 😮
            I was a little shocked at that, I won’t be feeding him that though.
            Ive read about snuggly bunnies!! I so hope he warms up to me lol. I need to get him some other veggies soon, he doesnt seem to like celery but he did like the leaves, and carrots, and definitely sunflower seeds. I think Ill start just putting pellets in his cage and hand feeding him the good stuff. As Im typing this he knocked his bowl onto the floor to easier access the good bits lol. Thanks for your feed back, I think I’m as curious as him (:


          • vanessa
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              Feed him pellets twice a day. That’s a good way to get him to learn that you are the bringer of all things good. My bunnies dance around my feet at feeding time. I would not use the pellets with all those goodies in them. There are many good brands to choose from such as oxbow, small pet select, american pet diner. I think Oxbow has a good variety of pellets, and prices. Those seeds have a bit much protein and fat, and you really want your bunny getting used to eating hay, and not filling up on snack food. Thank Goodness no skittles! One of my bunnies was fed chocolate before I adopted him. His favorite food was reported to be – M&Ms. He was in a very sad condition when they surrendered him to the animal shelter.
              When picking a pellet, I look for the highest fiber content first. Like between 20 and 26%. I get Smell Pet Select, and Oxbow Benne Terra Organic, and Oxbow Animal Natural Science, and I mix the three, for variety. I wouldn’t go lower than 20% fiber. For protein content, at 5 months, 14 or 15% is fine. Once he is 10-12 months, I’d switch him to 12% protein. Fat content around 2.5/3%. There is much to be read about pellets and nutrients. If you do a word search for pellets, or scroll through the forum here, you’ll find plenty to read up on. When I first got bunnies, I was using the $17 50lb bag of pellets from the feed store. My bunnies did just fine on it. But they were also outdoor bunnies at the time and ate loads of grass. So fiber wasn’t an issue. Now that they are indoors and have to learn to eat loads of hay, I look for all the fiber I can find. Walmart doesn’t carry any rabbit pellets that I would purchase. I have possibly seen decent pellets at pet stores, but I buy mine online. I try to avoid “middlings”, corn, and soy. I try not to spend more than $3 per pound of pellets. Some people can afford to spend more, others spend less. We pick the best food we can pick, and take our wallets into consideration. A five-month old bunny should be fed unlimited pellets (as long as he doesnt’ get overweight). By 7 months, start limiting the pellets to 1/2 cup per 6lb body weight. I feed mine 1/3 cup each a day. They are inbetween 5 and 7.5 lbs.
              So… If I were you, I would feed him just plain pellets twice a day (not the treaty seedy cookie kind), unlimited hay, and veggies 2 or 3 times a day. Experiment to find out which veggies he likes. I go through the veggie section at the grocery store (in summer I grow veggies for them). I start at the left, and make my way through. I give them 6 varieties a week. (In summer I give them 20 varieties from my veggie garden). Back to the grocery store – I skip the carrots, hot peppers, green beans, peas, turnip bulbs, beet bulbs, parsnip bulbs, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, potatoes, squash, tomatoes and all fruit. I give them every other veggie on the refrigerated shelf which includes every type of leaf, celery, bell pepper, every type of cabbage, and cucumber. I keep basil, sage, mint, thyme, rosemary, and cilantro growing in pots year round, and feed sprigs to the bunnies. The chocolate-fed male that I adopted, took a while to learn to eat veggies. And even longer to eat herbs.


            • DaisyMae
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                When we brought our bun home, they sent along the food with all the goodies in it too, and she did the same thing … ate around the pellets and only ate the yummy stuff. Once we switched her over to quality pellets she learned to eat them. The little stinkers hold out for the tasty stuff until they learn it isn’t availabe any more and then they give in and eat the healthy stuff. For a bun who used to turn her nose up at the healthy timothy pellets, she now does a happy dance when she knows she’s getting some. She is a year old now, and the vet said she can be on a pellet free diet, as long as she eats enough hay and veggies, so I use her pellets like treats and give her a small handful of quality pellets a day.


              • Ginger B
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                  Hopefully I can get him on that level Dasiymae.
                  On the list of things I found Nibbler WONT eat… kale, raddish, spinach, celery, apple, pineapple, grape, mango…. I don’t understand ):
                  I’ll separate the goodies from the pellets when I feed him in the morning and give him some of the goodies at night, he’s eating more hay now and still loves carrots, he’s a stubborn little guy

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              Forum BEHAVIOR Curious about my bunny’s ways