New bun what's best for her?

Hi

I'm having a mini lop named Ellie on the 18th July, she will be just over 8 weeks old - she will be a house bunny with a nero 3 cage with a 5ft run attached to it. Just wondered what people thought were the best options, I don't want to get it wrong from the word go. I have had a bun but a while ago and there are so many different opinions now.

1. Day 1: Do I let her have access to the run straight away or just leave her in cage. If in cage how long before I allow her access to the run.

2. Do I put the litter tray in the cage or in the run, when she is older I will want the larger litter tray in the run.

3. Bedding, what's best? Just newspaper or fill it with straw/hay (stupid question but what's the difference between straw and hay).

4. When will it be alright to start handling her to get her used to me.

5. What pellets, I have two 4kg bags of Burgess Excel Tasty Nuggets for Junior and Dwarf Rabbits will these be ok as i have heard negative coments about these lately. How much per day should they be given

6. Water bottle or bowl?

7. What type of hay, as I have Excel Herbage Timothy Hay and supa forage excel natural grass will this be ok for a new baby. Can you change their type of Hay wihtout upsetting their stomach's or is that just with pellets.

8. When to start introducing veggies and what type of quantity should they have, now and when older. What about treats are they a definate no - no, if I buy a treat ball what can I put in it?

9. Whats the best toys for them.

10. Do they need jabs before they go outside in a playpen, how long should I allow her outside to start with.

Have I missed out anything important..

Thanks in advance

Hi there :wave:

1. Give her access to cage and run.

2. Litter tray will be trial and error, she will probably go everywhere but the tray to begin with, so take any dropping and place in the tray and put tray where you want it to be long term, she will soon get the idea. I just use a large cat litter tray with newspaper in bottom and loads of hay on top, change this twice a day.

3. Straw is just for bedding, hay is for eating, she will eventually need 90% of her diet to be good quality hay. If she is a house bunny probably better to get her a vet bed or cat bed or a towel to sleep on.

4. Give her a day or two to get used to her cage, run and you before slowly offering her food from your hand. I will includ a link on handling etc at the end of my essay :lol:

5. Excel is ok, although some people find science selective better (higher fibre content). When bunny is no longer a baby she will only need an egg cup full a day of pellets. My bunny actually has no pellets just hay and veg.

6. Biscuit prefers a water bowl, get a heavy one though.

7. We get timothy hay from west willows online, but mix this with all kinds of different hays from The hay Expert (also online) she loves the green burns oat hay. Bunnies also love dried and fresh herbs (nothing grown from a bulb though).

8. I have never have a bunny from a baby so best to read the advice from the RWAF links below. Biscuit has NO shop bought treats at all, you can get natural biscuits, and my bunny does like a raisin now and again.

9. Willow toys are best for bunnies and tunnels and cardboard boxes.

10. You will need to get her vacinated against VHD and Myxi, again read the advise from RWAF.

Cant wait to see some pics of your new bunny how exciting

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/index.php?section=leaflets.html

http://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/

http://www.willowwarren.co.uk/

P.S I am a little confused is the run outside or indoors?

Pics of Biscuit's set up so you can see her toys etc
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=185146

We do everything Clare does :wave: down to the same hays! :lol:
The only thing I would say is that if her run is on grass then you need to start her off with just a few mins a day out there and build it up over a week or two. Too much grass to quickly in a bun not used to it, of any age, can cause massive digestive upset and sometimes even trigger a bout of bloat. You could always start off with picking some grass to start with and bringing it indoors. If she is outdoors she'll need lots of shade - it's going to be a hot summer!
I would keep her confined to her cage+attached run indoors for a few days, and then gradually give her access to your home one bunny-safe room at a time, if she is going to be a house bunny? Too much freedom too soon will undo good litter habits and she will need time just to settle in. Don't stress too much about litter training now, if she's only a baby she probably won't be reliably litter trained. Only spaying when she reaches adolesence will allow you to train her reliably so you might need to do some extra clean up between now and then. But just see how it goes, some unneutered baby buns get the hang of it!

In her cage, to stop her getting urine on her paws I would use newspaper at the bottom, megazorb or carefresh on top, and then a nice big heap of hay to sit on and/or in a hayrack
We use vetbeds/blankets but they may not be suitable if she is peeing everywhere!

Hi,

Thanks for that, thats a great help very informative. The run for now will be in her bedroom with the cage just until I get her litter trained then I will allow her more access to the rest of the house. Thats a fab set up you have I hope mine is as good.

Whats better megazorb or Bio Catolet?

So I can mix different types of Hay together or just give her different types to try without upsetting her tummy

What age are they no longer classed as babies?

So I'm confused inside the nero cage do I need to put anything down for her. she will have a snuggles bed (pets at home) in the run.. Do I fill her cage with hay?

Thanks again

prettylupin said:

We do everything Clare does :wave: down to the same hays! :lol:
The only thing I would say is that if her run is on grass then you need to start her off with just a few mins a day out there and build it up over a week or two. Too much grass to quickly in a bun not used to it, of any age, can cause massive digestive upset and sometimes even trigger a bout of bloat. You could always start off with picking some grass to start with and bringing it indoors. If she is outdoors she'll need lots of shade - it's going to be a hot summer!
I would keep her confined to her cage+attached run indoors for a few days, and then gradually give her access to your home one bunny-safe room at a time, if she is going to be a house bunny? Too much freedom too soon will undo good litter habits and she will need time just to settle in. Don't stress too much about litter training now, if she's only a baby she probably won't be reliably litter trained. Only spaying when she reaches adolesence will allow you to train her reliably so you might need to do some extra clean up between now and then. But just see how it goes, some unneutered baby buns get the hang of it!

In her cage, to stop her getting urine on her paws I would use newspaper at the bottom, megazorb or carefresh on top, and then a nice big heap of hay to sit on and/or in a hayrack
We use vetbeds/blankets but they may not be suitable if she is peeing everywhere!

Click to expand...

My goodness my replies are nearly getting as long as yours :lol:

I am VERY unmotivated today, roll on the wkend.

tkdkat said:

Hi,

Whats better megazorb or Bio Catolet?

So I can mix different types of Hay together or just give her different types to try without upsetting her tummy

What age are they no longer classed as babies?

So I'm confused inside the nero cage do I need to put anything down for her. she will have a snuggles bed (pets at home) in the run.. Do I fill her cage with hay?

Thanks again

Click to expand...

I prefer Megazorb personally, I actually use carefresh and megazorb but that's just me being neurotic about bits on the carpet!! Megazorb sticks to my Poppy's big fluffy feet and the carefresh on top stops that happening!! Megazorb is ultra absorbent though and comes in much bigger bags for about £6.
You can give AS MANY different hays as you like now - but by 6 months you should have really cut out all alfalfa as it's too high in calcium for adult buns. Meadow hay is great but lower in fibre than Timothy. High fibre is good for buns. So I would just get a selection and see which she likes Hay will NEVER upset a bunny's tummy so don't worry
I would fill the cage with litter and paper underneath to start with and put a tray either in there or the run - then see where she goes first! No point planning where to put things...bunnies have their OWN mind about this normally!!:lol:
Erm...pass on the last question - I think 6-9 months they are classed as adults! But I could be wrong:?
Good luck with your new bunny

Biscuit Bunny said:

My goodness my replies are nearly getting as long as yours :lol:

Click to expand...

Think you need a bit more essay practice to get as bad as me Clare!!! :lol: