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raziel4772

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raziel4772 Newbie

raziel4772

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i'll post a pic as soon as i can

and i have a wire cage that has a catcher at bottem so i'm not worryed about litter training

also i wouldn't worry about the cat i have a cat and 5 dogs as long as the rabbit is always in your arms or it's cage away from the cat its not a big deal

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Fierce Critter Newbie

Fierce Critter

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Bunnies, while cute, sweet and adorable, are going to disappoint someone if they think it's like having a cat.

Much as I love them, rabbits are not smart. I usually describe their intelligence thus.

Put food in front of them, the thought in their head is "some".

Take food away. The thought in their head is "none". Not "I had some and now it's gone". Just "none".

They can be smart enough to littertrain. But it takes exhaustive work. You have to arm yourself with a squirt bottle and learn their body language. They're more subtle when they pee than cats are. You can help the process by adding boxes in strategic places, but you have to eventually train them to only go to one.

Train them for the peeing and the pooping usually follows - but not always.

And some are stubborn and just won't train. I learned this from a 2nd bunny we adopted that turned out to be an aggressive bitch. Found her a good new home, but she almost did permanent damage to Tuckle.

It's also best to feed them a non-pellet diet. Tuckle has been on hay and fresh veggies almost since day 1. He had frequent diarrhea on pellets. When I took him in for neutering, the vet gave me a diet plan that took him off pellets and onto the hay & veggies. Not a single problem since.

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raziel4772 Newbie

raziel4772

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I have always wanted one....I hear they are just like kitties.

Litterbox and food wise....?

Shiva is a hindu god.

no litter box i have a huge cage with a poop catcher

and food celery and carrots right now food pellets later

and yeah i know about shiva i name all my pets after old gods demons and angels. my old pet rats names were lilith and morigan and my snakes name is set

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Fierce Critter Newbie

Fierce Critter

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no litter box i have a huge cage with a poop catcher

and food celery and carrots right now food pellets later

and yeah i know about shiva i name all my pets after old gods demons and angels. my old pet rats names were lilith and morigan and my snakes name is set

DON'T GIVE HER CELERY AND CARROTS!!!

They can't digest the strings in celery, and carrots are strictly to be given in small, treat-sized amounts - they're too high in sugar.

For your benefit, I'll copy/paste the diet guidelines I got from my vet here. :) I used to be a regular on a rabbit message board, and this was a popular request, so I have it saved as a file.

___________________________________

(Note: to make things easy, I pick up those little tubs of "spring mix" salad. They have a great mix of good greens, and don't require buying 3 different types of veggies separately. They didn't have those when I originally put this list together.)

This diet guide is geared towards completely taking your rabbit OFF PELLETS. You can almost immediately stop giving your rabbits pellets if you follow this guide carefully.

PELLETS - If you insist on giving your rabbit pellets along with fresh vegetables, do NOT give them more than 2 tablespoons PER DAY for the average sized rabbit (up to 6 lbs or so). (Remember - this is the amount to give if you are going to switch your rabbits over to a primarily vegetable & hay diet. If you are going to still keep your rabbits on a primarily pellet diet, you should find another guide, as just 2 tablespoons a day would about starve it to death.) The vet recommends commercial pellets WITHOUT added seeds or dried vegetables.

TIMOTHY HAY - UNLIMITED, repeat, UNLIMITED. This is the MOST important part of the diet and must be available in unlimited quantities at ALL TIMES. This is what gives your rabbit the fiber it needs. Without it, a strictly vegetable diet would cause constant diarrhea and probably starvation. NO alfalfa hay - it's too high in calcium and calories.

TIPS FOR SAVING MONEY - I get my hay from Oxbow.com. It's NOT cheap, but it's good, and MUCH cheaper than getting the small bags of Kay-tee hay from pet supply stores. Oxbow Hay is VERY high in quality - about every strand & stem is edible. Some local feed shops also have it, including one on Goddard in Wyandotte (the name escapes me at the moment)

A cheaper method is to find a feed store that sells timothy bales. I have one near me that sells 40-lb bales (about 4-feet high) for $5.00! The only problem is that the Timothy is actually mixed with the tougher, yellow straw you're used to seeing. The rabbit won't eat the straw, so it's not a worry that it'll get sick. However, it's MESSY to deal with all that uneaten straw, not to mention do you have a place to store a 40-lb bale of hay??? (For the Michigan residents amongst us, there is a feedstore in Wyandotte that sells these 40-lb bales for about the same price.)

FRESH GREENS - 1 heaping cup per 5 lbs of body weight per day AT LEAST. You can give more, it won't hurt them, but not less. Further explanation of amount: My rabbit weighs about 6 lbs. Therefore, he gets at LEAST 1-1/2 cups of veggies, and closer to 2 cups. How do you measure it? I started by taking a cup measure and bunching the veggies into it - NOT cut up, with plenty sticking out of the top. That's 1-cup. Eventually, you'll get to be able to eyeball the veggies. FURTHER - make sure they get at least 3 different types per day - that means don't make it ONLY parsley or ONLY romaine. For instance, I usually give a big outer cabbage leaf, 2-3 brussels sprouts & a few bushy sprigs of parsley each day. That about equals 1-2 cups for my bigger bunny.

The key word is RICH GREENS. That means dark colored stuff which my vet lists below. Don't feed them wimpy, light-colored greens such as iceberg lettuce - they're made of primarily water & there's no nutrition in that.

BY THE WAY - DO NOT FEED YOUR RABBITS CELERY. They can't digest the strings very well and this can cause problems. It's just not worth the risk.

Here's my vet's list: kale, collards, beet TOPS (NOT the beet part that us humans eat), parsley (curly or Italian are both fine), dandelion greens, mustard greens (my rabbit doesn't like them), romaine lettuce, broccoli leaves, brussel sprouts, OUTER cabbage leaves (the dark green ones most people tear off and leave at the grocery store), escarole, raspberry leaves, peppermint leaves (any kind of mint), raddichio, endive, wheat grass, alfalfa sprouts, carrot TOPS (the carrot itself can be given as a treat in small amounts), spinach, cilantro.

Here are some tips for saving money: Often, grocery stores will put trash cans by the cabbage so people can throw out the outer leaves. Some stores don't charge you for them, as they're usually thrown-out. Also, dandelion greens are great, but sometimes expensive. My store bunches them with lots of the useless bottom root part attached. I break the bottoms off as they're sold by the pound. This saves money & you get the best of the vegetable. Some stores don't like you doing that, however.

Some of my standards are Romaine & Parsley. Both inexpensive and long-lasting. Also, grow your own mint or something like that. My rabbit loves some fresh mint from the garden.

OTHER VEGGIES & FRUIT - these are the "treats". 1-2 Tablespoons per day per 5 lbs of body weight. Carrots, pea pods (NOT the peas), squash, green pepper, tomatoes, apples, pears, peaches, strawberries (they LOVE the tops).

Yes, you should avoid starchy foods such as breads, crackers, etc. Some starchy veggies/fruits to avoid are beans, peas and corn. Also avoid overly sugary fruits such as bananas, pineapple (which can act as a laxative) & grapes.

*******************************

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Onyx Newbie

Onyx

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Oh man. I guess I don't want a bunny, at least not right now when I'm so busy with things. They are so cute but looks a bit complicated to do the diet right.

My sister had one and it didn't live long. I bet she didn't have it's diet quite right.

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Fierce Critter Newbie

Fierce Critter

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Oh man. I guess I don't want a bunny, at least not right now when I'm so busy with things. They are so cute but looks a bit complicated to do the diet right.

My sister had one and it didn't live long. I bet she didn't have it's diet quite right.

Nah. It's simple.

I pick up a 5-ounce tub of Spring Mix salad greens each week, and about once a month or so I pick up one of those Kay-Tee bales of timothy hay from Wal-Mart.

I keep the hay in a self-serve bin he can take from whenever he wants, and give him a heaping handful of the spring mix every day. Plus a bowl of fresh water.

I'm using the Kay-Tee right now 'cause I've been too lazy to order Oxbow. I'm kinda surprised how long a single small bale is lasting, actually.

When I have fresh strawberries, I cut off the tops as usual but instead of throwing them away, I give them to Tuckle. Ever so often I give him a half a carrot or something.

It's not that complicated, really.

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Crazed Vampyress Newbie

Crazed Vampyress

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My cats play with my bunny, as he's free-roaming.

But he's the size of a cat. Not small like a mini-lop.

And I brought all my cats in as kittens specifically so they'd grow & mature knowing from the start that the bunny is NOT prey.

My best friend in highschool had a cat and bunny... and he thought they played really well together too, until one day he caught the cat doing naughty things to the bunnyrabbit.... they weren't allowed any unsupervised playtime after that....

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