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Getting new rabbit

F

Fluffy_Whabbit

Warren Scout
I'm geting a rabbit soon. I saw a whole litter of the CUTEST bunnies at the pet store! :love: There are blues, doves and brown-red-argente :? rabbits. They are sooo small! :shock: I don't think they are much older than three weeks! At the most four weeks! They are so adorable! I will definitely get one of them, a female. I will keep the rabbit in a well sized cage at first, 60 x 30cm in size, untill she is older. Then I will put her in a nice run. It has grass growing in it, two brick hutch-like shelters, I would be putting in a smaller hutch inside one of the shelters, for her to sleep in. It is about 2 x 2 metres in size and the fencing is strong, very high and made of narrow wire fencing. The shelters are about 1 x 1.5 metres in size, although they differ in size. One shelter I will use for the rabbit's sleeping and eating area and the other for her toys and relaxation. The shelter floors are made of cement. I will post a picture of the run soon after painting it and getting it tidy for my rabbit. :D
 
Just to mention it: If you buy a 4-week old rabbit there's a higher chance of it getting health risks in the future, or even die from lack of mother's milk. Bunnies should be 8 weeks before going into new homes.
You'll also be supporting the business, making sure the pet store takes in even more tiny rabbits.:?
Therefore I would strongly advice you not to buy from this pet store, but rather find a rescue or a breeder in your area.;) That way you are more certain to get a healthy rabbit, if you get from a shelter they're usually also vaccinated and neutered already.
 
I would agree with zakura - but it sounds like you've got some nice accomodation sorted out - look forward to seeing pics :)
 
Ask at the pet store how old they are, i find it hard to believe they would take babies that young, but if they have, please dont get one. It should be with its mum. where abouts are you? lots of rescues get baby rabbits from unwanted litters..maybe you could try there? they give you good advice too" x
 
The shelters in my area, South Africa Kwazulu Natal, does not have rabbits. I'm not sure if the rabbits are that young, they might be five or six weeks old, although they are soo tiny!, could anyone maybe post pictures of an eight week old rabbit please? Just so I get an idea of the size.

There are also no breeders in my area. The petstore doesn't breed their own rabbits, they hardly have any, and the ones they do get in are from people that ended up with baby rabbits and just wanted to get rid of them, or people that breed rabbits as a hobby.

If I do take one of those rabbits in, won't it help if I feed her healthy, nutricious food that will build up her health? For example: KMR feedings and the usual rabbit pellets with oats? Maybe then I could get her to a vet for her vaccinations? I also use a certain medicine, which can stop cancer in people, that I add to my mice's water, and could also add to her water. It kills all kinds of virusses. Thanks! :)
 
before adding anything to a rabbits water you must talk to a vet first to make sure its safe some medicines for humans are lethal to rabbits so i would get this checked out first. you could end up doing more harm then good.

talk to the person at the petshop ask how old the babies are but he will most likely lie and say their 8 weeks old when really their not :rolleyes: rabbits taken away from their mum early risk getting Mucoid Enteropathies which affects maily buns between 6-10 weeks old and sadly there is a low survival rate so unless you are prepared to maybe pay for a huge vet bill if an illness such as this occurs i wouldnt get one. i might add rabbits are not cheap to care for! :shock:
 
I've used this medicine for almost a year for my mice now, even young mice, and they don't show any side effects or ever get ill.

I know rabbits are quite expensive to maintain, since I have had rabbits from that same shop before, but I get allowance, work at a clinic and breed Hereford mice. So I have enough money to care for a bunny. But thanks for the advice!

PS: It would be a great help if someone could post a picture of an eight year old baby rabbit. :)
 
A picture wouldn't help. Baby rabbits can be of very varying sizes depending on the breed, even rabbits from the same breed can vary much in sizes.
 
In my opinon, a 4 week old rabbit looks very similar to an 8-week old one, only difference is the size. What breed are the bunnies?
 
Not sure of the breed, but they look ordinary rabbits to me :oops: . They are not lops. Just the ordinary, most well known, medium sized rabbit.
 
"Ordinary rabbits" can be anything from 2 kgs to 6 kgs in adult weight, so I'm afraid that says nothing about how big they should be at 8 weeks.
Sorry I can't be of any help, you could always ask the pet store of the age of course.
 
Well in that case it sounds like a dwarf rabbit mix, I have one of those, she's 2 kgs.
Zakurahjemmeinyttbur.jpg

Here's a picture of her when I first got her, 7 weeks and a couple of days old.
Zakura3.jpg

Samme rabbit at 3 weeks, on my shoulder.

Zakura's parents were a netherland dwarf and a lop dwarf, both (at least her mother) were a bit too large for showing.
 
Wow! She looks just like the rabbits at the store! Almost the same brownish-reddish color as some of them too. Only difference is that she is much bigger and looks much more mature.

In the picture of her on your shoulder, you said "at three weeks", meaning age? Because in that picture she looks the size of the ones at the pet store, or her face does. Thanks for your help! I really appreciate it a lot! :D
 
Yes, she is 3 weeks old at the second picture, or 3-4, can't remember for sure.
That one was taken whilst she still lived with her mother.
 
Wow! Then those bubs at the petstore are young!! :shock: If I do take one in, I will feed her foods to build up her system. I get so mad when people take such young rabbits to a shop! :evil: There is an older rabbit at the store, possibly eight weeks old, but I struggled to tame the rabbits I got once, which was that older rabbit's size.

If I do take one of the younger bunnies, can anyone please give me more advice on good, strengtherning foods? Thanks!
 
Fluffy_Whabbit said:
Wow! Then those bubs at the petstore are young!! :shock: If I do take one in, I will feed her foods to build up her system. I get so mad when people take such young rabbits to a shop! :evil: There is an older rabbit at the store, possibly eight weeks old, but I struggled to tame the rabbits I got once, which was that older rabbit's size.

If I do take one of the younger bunnies, can anyone please give me more advice on good, strengtherning foods? Thanks!
Click to expand...

The most important food a rabbit needs is HAY! and lots of it!!:lol:

I don't know what sort of food is available where you are but a lot of people on here feed complete pellets ( Allen and Page, Science Selective or Excel) as they have a better nutritional content than the muesli mixes.

Nicola
 
a rabbit should still be tame at 8 weeks. if your buying from a petshop, you should question the owners as they should be regularly handled whilst in the shop.
they shouldn't be selling rabs any younger than 8 weeks x
 
Thanks! The foods they sell here are from plushpet, marltons and a few others. Is it possible to find smaller pellets for the smaller rabbit?

At the shop they don't have much contact with the rabbits. I think I give more attention to the animals there than the owners!
 
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