Advice of Bedding-shavings or pellets & saftey? Food - intro greens to young.

chelle said:

Hi all!:wave:
New here - so hope my questions arent silly!

Ive got 2 Dwarf lops - now just over 10 weeks old - very sweet & fun and very different characters!

I bought the hay & softwood shavings & pellets (Pets at Home brand- and bunnies from the adoption section - otherwise a rescue centre it would have been!) that they were being given and have now had them for 1 week - and need to get more essentials. Thing is Ive done loads of reading and found that its recommended pine/cedar softwood shavings are posiibly NOT the best thing for them and also unsafe. The packet of shavings doesnt say what type of wood was used except for softwood - so am worried this is too toxic for them? Surely it should state that? well done for doing your research. A lot of members of here use either megazorb or carefresh which I think PAH do sell. You can buy megazorb from most horse shops, I tend to buy it from my local horse shop along with large bales of meadow hay as it works out cheaper

Could anyone advise of other options that are safer?
Cost effective would be great too obviously - but my main concern is their health. They seem quite curious discovering bits to chew on and dig in - so with thatin mind the bedding may well be eaten abit. I tend to place hay over the megazorb and havent had problems with it being eaten. Make sure your buns have pleanty of good hay to chew on it should be the majority of their diet with only a couple of handfulls of pellets a day once they are fully grown

Im confused at all the advice the internet offers and need to get hay & bedding asap.

Types of pellets or shavings or what the best option would be great!
Also Ive introduced apples and banana - as the little one was not well the other night and i was up till 2am making sure she didnt de-hydrate - abit of honey water and apple got her going - with banana (due to potassium which helps them absord nutirents) - she was skipping round the room and looking alot happier - bless her!

So - Ive also given them some carrot which they enjoyed - but need advice as to what to introduce them to next as they are so young?
Ive also given them junior pellets (30g) each a day and plenty of hay.
They seem very keen on the pellets though - how do I know Im not over or underfeeding them?
Should they have access to pelltes all day? Ive not done that. No they need permanent access to hay but only a small amount of pellets as they can cause them to put weight on and if they are full of pellets they wont eat s much hay which helps with their teeth and digestion. With regards to veg, apple and carrot although tasty are fairly high in sugar, I would stick to spring greens, small amounts of kael, cabbage, sprouts etc

I kept them on hay for the first 48 hrs and then gave them pellets - then the smaller had diahera (spelling!) - so lots of cleaning her and did the above with getting her to eat and drink again.

Sooooo - long story but advice owuld be great - many thanks on behalf of the bunnies!

thanks, michelle

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chelle said:

Hi! again!
See some baskets etc you can buy wicker mixed with seagrass - ok?
And chew /scratch mats which is -rosewood?

Seen on Thehayexperts.co.uk

thanks!

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chelle said:

Thanks so much - Im off in a moment to get the buns their bits!

The info was helpful - Id heard about carefresh quite abit but then heard it was high in amonia!?
So was abit cautious - who knows what is put into all these things! Ill have a look for megazorb too - theres a horsey place not far so will go mission! I can switch to this straight away? yes you can

Im presuming I can switch from the "Pets at home" short hay to meadow hay right away? Dont want upset tums ! they should be ok but maybe do it gradually over a few days

I give them hay 24/7 - but they do seem to like afresh handful and wait for it - are they getting abit posh?
Surely they should eat whats there? Im going through loads....lol! :lol: I have it shoved in toilet rolls etc which they like - guess its not trampled on.

Thanks for the tips on vege etc - Im presuming I can slowly introduce the greens now...keep an eye on their poop.
How much greens/variety should they have each daily? They are 10 weeks & 4 days today. yes very slowly introduce each one just a small amount at a time and see how they go some buns are more sensitive than others

Thanks too for the advice on vet etc - Im making an appointment for their shots - but dont know how old they have to be to get them.
Im looking for a bunny vet. I didnt know they had to wait for 2 weeks inbetween - thanks for that - I will add that info to my list that Im gonna ask the vet about success rates etc!
Im hopeing my buns (we deliberating on names still as we get to kow their charachters!) wont go psycho with hormones too soon! Ive seen scary rabbits!

Thanks for such a quick response - !

A few more questions - I was thinking of building a hutch for outdoors - may find a second hand one and then add on. What wood can I use? It seems that most are a danger - I know they will chew it - so any advice on what I can use would be great. Was told to make one out of fence panels? But then told by someone else you cant because the woods splintered?
Im not clued up on types of wood - But am handy & creative....so just need the right materials.
Thanks again! Picking your brain! Hutch is completely personal choice - the bigger the better really you need a min 6x2x2 with a 6x4 run attached. If you have the space a shed is a good option as they are similar in price to hutches and give you space so that you can go and sit in with your buns if you want to spend time with them outside

Some folks use lino as a base? Ok if eaten? Yes lino is ok - its generally quite hard to chew and they generally wont digest it make sure the edges are well tucked away
What is hardwood? - is this ply?

thanks ever so much for the help & warm welcome - will post pics when they all settled - they are growing before my eyes! lol!

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