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New here and need some advice please :o)

Sammy M

New Kit
Hi everyone :wave:
Just found this website I am going to have a good look through it this evening, it's full of info.

Ok we bought a bunny for our daughter it is only kept indoors as I want it to be a proper house pet and part of our lives. I haven't kept a rabbit before so I know this is a beginners question but he keeps eating his own poop? I have read up on the 2 different kinds, and I don't find any of the grape like ones but he is eating some of the others aswell? Is this ok?

Any advice on how to train them and tame that would also be helpful, he is very confident but only about 4 months old, he is litter trained in his cage but I would like him to be a bit more loving. Is there anyway to stop them biting electrical leads? It's not an issue if not but it would be nice for him to have freedom of the house :)

Thanks for any help
Sam
 
Hi Sam and welcome to the forum :wave:. You'll find this place full of great advice.

Eating poop - it's quite normal for bunnies to eat their own poop. They only eat the soft, dark poops which you quite rightly state look like a bunch of grapes. However, you rarely see those poops as the bunny will bend down and pull them straight from their bum. If you do find poops laying around that look like a bunch of grapes, it probably means you're feeding bunny too much in the way of pellets. If there are tasty pellets on offer, why bother to eat the poop?? However, it's very important that they eat the ceacotrophs/soft poops (sp) in order to remain healthy and to get all the goodness they need from their diet. The only poops you should see laying around are the hard 'currents' commonly associated with bunnies :D.

As for chewing, I'm afraid that's what bunnies do. All houserabbit owners will tell you that they've lost their phone connection at some point as rabbits LOVE phone cables. They also love PC cables, washing machine cables, tumble drier cables - in fact, any type of electrical flex is irresistible to them. You simply have to bunny-proof your house. But what most people tend to do is to bunny-proof the one room that contains the cage so that when bunny is free-ranging, you know he/she can't come to any harm or cause any damage. I'd suggest plastic conduit or simple hosepipe for safeguarding your cables. Block off down the backs of settee's etc so that bunny can't get down there and start to dig a hole in your upholstery :shock:. They also like to pee in corners so it's a good idea initially to place a litter tray or old piece of washable rug/carpet etc in every corner until bunny knows where their toilet is.

Put out lots of things for him to do - it doesn't need to cost much. They love an old yellow pages to rip up, or a cardboard box with a few holes cut in it will provide something to explore and chew on.

I would recommend getting him neutered by a bunny-savvy vet. Entire males have a habbit of 'spraying' urine at the object of their desire but this behaviour stops if they're neutered. Also, if he's neutered, he would love love love company of his own kind. A human companion is great but there's nothing like seeing how a bunny interacts with a bunny friend. Some bunnies will simply tolerate a human in their life and others are cuddly and affectionate. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme nor reason to it and it's simply the luck of the draw as to what you end up with. That's why on this forum, we always recommend getting an older rescue rabbit because you can know a lot about it's character before you take it home. Baby bunnies don't show their true character until they grow up a bit.

Best of luck with your new bunny and please let us know how you're getting on.
 
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Thank you sooo much for ur reply, I sort of gathered that I would have to bunny proof the house, its amazing how quick those little teeth get through cables!! He is eating a few (not many) of the pellets, I assume he won't become ill by doing this? I do plan on getting him neutered very soon, we are currently trying to introduce him to our dog Roxy but she is like a bull at a gate, she gave him a good licking and he spent the next hour cleaning himself! :)
 
What pellets is he on? As a youngster, he may need slightly more than a full-grown adult but most people recommend no more than an eggcup per day. Mine have half a tablespoon each per day and they're medium/large adult bunnies. He should have unlimited good quality hay (recommend www.TheHayExperts.co.uk) and fresh veggies also. You'll find a list of safe veggies etc on this forum - just do a search for 'safe veggies' and something will come up. I've just found a local small holder who grows his own lush, green hay so I've got two nice fresh bales for my four. It's much cheaper than buying from a pet shop but unless you've lots of rabbits and somewhere to store it, you might find a bale is not practical. The most important part of his diet is hay, hay and more hay!!

As for introducing the dog to him, I'd keep the dog on the lead for now so that you have some control. Lots of short sessions and try not to keep the dog separate all the time or it'll become obsessed with getting to the rabbit. My two dogs happily free-range with the bunnies and I have also had houserabbits living with dogs in the past. Sometimes it's easier if you have the rabbit on your lap and someone else has the dog on a lead. Then you can let the dog look at/sniff the bunny without being able to pounce on it and hurt it. Once the dog remains calm and starts to become uninterested when bunny is on your lap, you can start to let bunny roam around the room. Still keep the dog on the lead though. It's a good idea to have some treats for the dog so that he/she gets rewarded for ignoring the bunny. Never leave the dog unsupervised with the bunny, even if you've had no problems with them. It only takes a second for an accident to happen and a rabbit is a prey animal after all. You couldn't really blame the dog if it decided to pounce.
 
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Not much else I can add really as all the above is prot on and covers everything. Just vaccinations to think about along with the neutering. On the poo side I have had a few buns who will pick up a normal poo to eat, they soon realise and spit it out. Does his tummy feel soft and squidgy, or hard and balloon like? I'm just wondering as he may not be producing many grape/edible poos so he may be trying to eat the others to accomodate. Perhaps others can advise? As for love, it's on their terms and usually they hate being the centre of attention until they've settled in more :)
 
thanks very much for the replies, I will have to have a good look at his diet, I think I might be feeding him to many pellets, I was using the pets at home own brand but I am in the process of moving him onto Russel Rabbit Muesli (is this a good brand?), I am using a good quality hay and he has as much as he wants :)
 
thanks very much for the replies, I will have to have a good look at his diet, I think I might be feeding him to many pellets, I was using the pets at home own brand but I am in the process of moving him onto Russel Rabbit Muesli (is this a good brand?), I am using a good quality hay and he has as much as he wants :)

bunnies are best with a pellet type of food otherwise the tend to pick out the best bits of the muesli and leave the other bits. a pellet has all the nutrients in one that they need to keep healthy
 
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