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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 HOUSE RABBIT Q & A 1st Time Bunny Owner

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    • CommanderHazel
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        Hi I’m a first time bunny owner but have referenced these forums a few times since getting my bunny.  Unfortunately the search function is not operational at the moment so I apologize if I am reposting old questions.

        I adopted Hazel about 4 months ago from a breeder who was selling him as a meat breeder. I guess he wasn’t up to snuff for showing.  At the time he was 1 1/2 years old and an intact male.  I wasn’t sure what to expect when I took him home, as the breeder said he didn’t really have much human interaction at all since he was born.  

        Overall he has gone above and beyond all my expectations.  He was litter-trained in a matter of days, and did not display any of the humping/spraying/or cage aggressive behaviors that I was expecting by adopting an un-neutered rabbit.  Socializing him has taken a little longer but I let him set the pace for our relationship and he loves to come up for pats and is eager to learn little tricks like sitting up and doing circles for treats. Once he learned what toys were, he has a lot of fun throwing them around now! Overall, he’s a chill guy who is indifferent to the cats and seems to enjoy car rides.

        He is a chewer and so far I haven’t trusted him with free roam of the place since he likes to get into mischief.  His setup is a mastiff cage in my bedroom that’s about 6′ x 3.5′ x 5′.  I have a playpen hooked to the cage with the same dimensions 6′ x 3.5′ that he has access to when I am home. I’m hoping that when I move into another place, I will be able to bunnify it and give him at least his own room.  His litter box is an extra large cat box where I keep his pellet bowl and his hay bowl (he came from a pellet only diet but he eats at least as much hay as he does pellets).

        Current Diet: Manna Pro Select Series Pellets

             Oxbow Timothy Meadow Hay (only brand he will eat so far)

             Mustard Greens/Turnip Greens/Collard Greens

             Dried Apple Slices/Bunny Jam Cookies/baby carrots (sparingly)

        Litter: Unscented and non-dyed shredded paper

        Water: 20 oz water bottle (he likes to tip bowls)

        Bed: Circle Tie blanket of fleece

        Hideaway: Cardboard box on it’s side

        Questions:

        He also hates to be picked up in any capacity. He is fine once he gets in his carrier but refuses to hop into it under his own power. Any suggestions for getting him to go in by himself?

        I’m open to any suggestions for his cage/playpen or dietary setup that can improve his happiness and quality of life. I tried to research as best I could.

        Is it too late for neutering or is necessary that he be neutered? Since he’s an adult, I’m concerned that it will be very painful for him. He doesn’t really display any of the undesirable behaviors associated with intact males and it doesn’t seem that neutering males necessarily has the same health benefits as spaying females.   


      • Kiki
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        205 posts Send Private Message

          I thought I read somewhere that dried fruits were worse for bunnies because of high sugar content. Might be something to check into.
          I don’t think it’s ever too late for neutering. I don’t know about health benefits though because my little sweetie is a girl.
          Maybe putting a small piece of banana into his carrier to lure him in? I know that would get Indie anywhere lol


        • Bunny House
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            I’m an glad you’ve done research! Many people don’t.

            The amount of room is good.

            For the carrier, can you leave it in his area so he gets used to it? It can also serve as another hidey house. What type of flooring is he on? Buns need soft flooring so like memory foam mats are great to prevent sore hocks.

            As for diet, I would suggest stopping the mustard and then greens as it can cause gas so I would switch to celery, green leaf, romaine and of course no sugary veggies or fruit. I would also stop the treats, and only do a tiny bit a month, sugar alters the ph in the gut and it can kill good bacteria and allow bad bacteria to flourish.

            Make sure you find a rabbit savvy vet.i also suggest seeing a rabbit savvy vet to make sure he’s in good health and has a proper diet. I suggest ones that are certified in AVMA and exotic medicine since bunnies can’t be treated like cats or dogs. A bad sign to look for is if they make you fast a bunny before surgery. That is a big no no and can cause the bun to die. As for neutering, it’s not too late. If you don’t plan on getting another one then you don’t need to but it does cut down on bad habits, make them easier to keep litter habits and just be well mannered. Also, the vet will give you meds for pain for a couple of days and boys act like nothing happened later the day of surgery, they bounce back very fast.

            I do also recommend reading BUNNY INFO at the top to help you get familiar with diets, habitats and illnesses they can get. Also rabbit.org had great info too


          • CommanderHazel
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              Hi. Thank you for the feedback. I’m hoping to wean him off the dried fruits because of the sugar, it’s not great but they don’t have any added sugar. At first I was trying a bunch of different things just to try to bond with him. Whatever he liked the best so he would come up to me. I haven’t tried banana!


            • CommanderHazel
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                Hi thanks for taking the time to give feedback! He’s on a bendy type of plastic for the cage itself with about half of it covered in fleece. His playpen area is a type of squishy rubber made of horse stall mats covered in fleece.

                I’ve been slowly weaning him off the greens and treats. He didn’t eat hay at first and the lady who sold him had him on a pellet only diet. At the time the greens I thought would help him get some sort of roughage in his system. Was concerned about the GI stasis I’ve seen on threads. Though I’ve finally found a brand/mix of hay he will eat so I’m trying to get him to incorporate more of it into his diet.  Any suggestions on speeding up the process? Right now the ratios are about 50% pellets 30% hay and 20% veg. I’ll definitely mix in your recommendations of celery, green leaf, and romaine to see how he takes to it. 

                Treats were mostly a bonding thing to get him to like me. He hadn’t been handled much in his life. Are there healthier treat options?

                I was referred to a somewhat local vet that specializes in bunnies and he received a clean bill of health. She left it up to me whether he should be neutered, I can’t recall what she said exactly as I took him right after I got him.  As long as it doesn’t have negative health ramifications for him, I haven’t felt he needed neutering as I’m not planning on another and his manners and behaviors have been perfect.  

                I will also be checking out Bunny Info and rabbit.org

                Thanks!


              • kurottabun
                Participant
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                  For toys, you can try giving him some edible ones like hay tunnels (I think Oxbow has them) – it also doubles as a way to get extra hay into his system :p Make sure you have ample things for him to chew (willow balls, toilet paper tubes etc. are great options) so he doesn’t chew what he isn’t supposed to. Cardboard is often an all-time favourite chew toy as long as he doesn’t attempt to ingest too much of it.

                  For diet, I did a quick search on the Manna Pro pellets – it doesn’t look suitable for an adult rabbit as the first ingredient listed is alfalfa. Could you double confirm if that’s the same pellet you’re feeding him? If so, he should be slowly transitioned to a timothy based pellet as alfalfa ones are too rich for his age. You can mix in some of the new pellets with the old one gradually until he’s fully used to the new one. Oxbow’s Adult Rabbit pellets are a good choice. There are also other brands that are alright but I can’t recall those brands right now since I’m using Oxbow myself

                  You can also try feeding him orchard grass for hay. It’s sweeter and softer so lots of bunnies love it I’ve tried giving both Oxbow’s Timothy Meadow and Orchard Grass and my bunny Kurotta loves orchard grass A LOT more! A small slice of fresh apple, banana, strawberry is ok for treats. Herbs such as basil, mint, thyme etc. are also tasty and healthy additions to their diet.

                  For the water, you can try using a ceramic bowl so he can’t tip it over. Many bunnies are more comfortable using a bowl as they don’t have to turn their heads in an awkward way to drink water, so they tend to drink more water that way

                  I second leaving the carrier in his area even when it’s not being used. You can also put treats or pellets in it during feeding time so he associates the carrier with something positive.

                  It’s not too late to neuter. Neutering is less invasive than spaying so male bunnies tend to recover faster too. It can prevent testicular cancer, but like you said, the chances of a male bunny getting it is way less than a female bun getting uterine cancer, which is why people aren’t as vocal about getting males neutered as getting females spayed. Although there are unfixed male buns who have perfect behaviours, most of them tend to hump, circle, bite, be aggressive and are impossible to litter train properly when unfixed, so it’s still best to get them fixed to minimise the potential of them going through any of these.


                • FlemishDad
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                    Neutering solo males is mostly about reducing undesirable behaviors. Testicular cancer is pretty rare. If intact Hazel is the bun you want I’d say leave him intact and save the money and avoid the low but not trivial risks.

                    If Hazel does start hormonal behaviors, though, get him neutered quickly before he develops bad habits. Habits can persist after a neuter.

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                Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A 1st Time Bunny Owner