New Bunny Owner with a few questions....

SweetCupcake78 · Aug 10, 2009

We have just taken possesion of our beautiful mini lop - 'Peep' and she seems to be settling in well and getting used to both me and my son.

I have been giving her free run of the garden for an hour or so each evening but find it hard to get her back to the hutch etc. Is there anything I can give her that would encourage her back? She is having dried mix food and we are adding a small percentage of the science selective food as I aim to move her on to this eventually but she does seem to be eating the other food around this and not really eating much of the science selective any ideas on a way round this?

Finally, she is 8 weeks old and has had small amount of carrot, apple but this seems to make her poos a little more sloppy, is there any other fresh food she can have at this age, i.e. baby corn, carrot tops?

Thanks to anyone who can give me any help, loving having her but so don't want to hurt her or make her ill etc!

Thanks :wave:

steph182 · Aug 10, 2009

Reward her for going back in the hutch

Maybe save the bits of veg you give (I don't have any ideas for what would be better though) until she's in the hutch, and then she won't see it as being bad

angeleyes · Aug 10, 2009

The easiest way to get my lot in is to shake the pellet box :lol: other than that its a chase around the run for 10 or so minutes!

With regards to veg my lot mainly have dark leafy greens, cabbage, herbs such as corrinader and parsley and occasionally carrot, apple, banana etc is she eating much hay?

Dustyrabbit · Aug 10, 2009

Hello and welcome!

Firstly be careful with free ranging that there is nothing your new bunny can eat that will make her ill and that she is safe from predators. No advise about catching her I'm afraid other than to get into a "bedtime" rountine, with her coming in for her tea. Perhaps a secure run would be safer and make it easier to catch her?

I find my bunnies love SS pellets but they have been brought up on them - maybe try hand feeding a couple more as a treat when she's hungry, before you give her the bowl of museli/pellet mix so she can aquire a taste for them.

I think there are varying ideas as to when you should introduce veg to your bunnies diet, of course hay is the most important part and should make up 90% of your rabbits diet (some give more hard food - pellets when they are young, some don't). If your baby bunny was used to having a little veg when she was with mum then that's fine to continue - just ask what she was having before. If this isn't possible or she wasn't having any you may want to wait a little while until she's settled. Have a look on here for a list of veg that they can eat and choose one thing to try, give a tiny piece and stick with that for a few days providing there is no ill effects, gradually increase the amount if all is well but don't try another for a week. If there are ill effects then stop feeding that veg and let everything return to normal before trying another. I would hold fire on the sugary veg like carrot and fruit as they do tend to upset delicate tums - mine are nearly a year and only have carrot or apple once a week and only an inch long piece at that.

Also remember that if she has not been used to being in the garden the grass could upset her tummy, best to start very slowly with 10 minutes grazing and gradually build up a little at a time.

SweetCupcake78 · Aug 11, 2009

Thanks Steph, I had tried that with the carrot that she has been having but it was obviously not tempting enough :-] That's kind of why I was wondering what other thing I could give and then I could use that alone to try and tempt her in :lol:

steph182 said:
Reward her for going back in the hutch Maybe save the bits of veg you give (I don't have any ideas for what would be better though) until she's in the hutch, and then she won't see it as being bad

SweetCupcake78 · Aug 11, 2009

Don't think she is clued up enough for that yet or maybe she is not hungry enough :-] I have no idea really how much food she shoul dbe having in terms of the pellet type food.

I thought she was too young for greens yet though? Maybe I could try one slice of banana just to get her in.

She seems to be eating a fair bit of hay and prefers the hay from her bedroom and litter tray to the stuff I put in the hay rack for her :roll:

Katie-arc said:
The easiest way to get my lot in is to shake the pellet box :lol: other than that its a chase around the run for 10 or so minutes!

With regards to veg my lot mainly have dark leafy greens, cabbage, herbs such as corrinader and parsley and occasionally carrot, apple, banana etc is she eating much hay?

SweetCupcake78 · Aug 11, 2009

Thanks DustyRabbit. The garden is secure and I have been out there the whole time with her, wouldn't let her loose in the garden while I wasn't out there with her at the moment. Also our garden has very little in the way of planting tbh, although she did keep going for the lobelia plants which I read somewhere that she shouldn;t have - is there a definitive list on here of what they should and shouldn't eat? I was kind of thinking of both really a secure run for ease of use so that we can be in the house for some of the time and then free run of garden a few times a week too!

I'll do that with the SS pellets thanks, got to be worth a try as I really want her off of what she has been being fed on (Tesco Value food :roll::evil

Thanks for the advice on hay and such like, are the pressed hay blocks any good too, just thinking of boredom breaking for her. She was used to having a little carrot and apple before apparently. The carrot she seems fine with and loved the end bit with the few stalks on it's the apple that seems to give her looser poo.

Erm our garden is completely paved and pebbled so no grass for her to munch unfortunately. If i picked a handful of grass from open land every so often would that be ok, or is it a bad idea, sorry for all the questions!

Dustyrabbit said:
Hello and welcome!

Firstly be careful with free ranging that there is nothing your new bunny can eat that will make her ill and that she is safe from predators. No advise about catching her I'm afraid other than to get into a "bedtime" rountine, with her coming in for her tea. Perhaps a secure run would be safer and make it easier to catch her?

I find my bunnies love SS pellets but they have been brought up on them - maybe try hand feeding a couple more as a treat when she's hungry, before you give her the bowl of museli/pellet mix so she can aquire a taste for them.

I think there are varying ideas as to when you should introduce veg to your bunnies diet, of course hay is the most important part and should make up 90% of your rabbits diet (some give more hard food - pellets when they are young, some don't). If your baby bunny was used to having a little veg when she was with mum then that's fine to continue - just ask what she was having before. If this isn't possible or she wasn't having any you may want to wait a little while until she's settled. Have a look on here for a list of veg that they can eat and choose one thing to try, give a tiny piece and stick with that for a few days providing there is no ill effects, gradually increase the amount if all is well but don't try another for a week. If there are ill effects then stop feeding that veg and let everything return to normal before trying another. I would hold fire on the sugary veg like carrot and fruit as they do tend to upset delicate tums - mine are nearly a year and only have carrot or apple once a week and only an inch long piece at that.

Also remember that if she has not been used to being in the garden the grass could upset her tummy, best to start very slowly with 10 minutes grazing and gradually build up a little at a time.

New Bunny Owner with a few questions....

SweetCupcake78

New Kit

steph182

Wise Old Thumper

angeleyes

Warren Veteran

Dustyrabbit

Warren Veteran

SweetCupcake78

New Kit

SweetCupcake78

New Kit

SweetCupcake78

New Kit

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