Two questions from a newbie...

I have two new baby buns. I've had rabbits before, but it's been a while, and my last rabbit was a rescue, so not had a baby since I was 10, so its a bit of a learning curve.

I have two questions (for now)

A) we picked them up on Monday and we've been letting them get used to their hutch in the daytimes while we're at work and letting them hop around/playing with them of an evening. Yesterday I was home during the day so I thought id let them hop around, but I noticed that they didn't eat quite a few of the poos they're meant to eat. They just left them around. Do you think it was just the break from their routine? Or could I be doing something wrong? (they're indoors till we get the run sorted, and I don't want them in the run till they've had their jabs in a week or so. I've been weighing out their food. And they generally seem well) Any thoughts welcome, but please be gentle with me I've been worrying all night and am feeling a bit sensitive.

And my second question is
B) as the buns are a buck and a doe. I know I need to get them neutered, but I bought a double hutch with a ramp so I could separate them if necessary. We popped them in for a half hour yesterday evening to try to gradually get them used to it before they move in. They were not able to cope with the ramp and skidded down and scrabbled and fell off on the way up. I shut the ramp and popped them in the top half for their taster session, but are hutches with ramps okay? Are my buns (9 and 11 weeks) just too small or are ramps a real safety issue?

Thanks a lot for any advice.

Pix x
B)

Hello and welcome

Regarding not eating their poo's, what diet have you got them on at the moment?

A lot of people keep their rabbits in 2 storey hutches, they probably just need to get used to using the ramps!

Have you got any photo's of your rabbits? :wave:

Hi and welcome :wave:

Okay.. first question what are you feeding them and how much? Uneaten ceacals (the strange smelly poops) are often a case of a too-protein-rich diet, just means that they are probably eating too many pellets/mixed bunny food. They only need about an egg cup full of pellets a day and the rest of the diet being made up of mostly hay and some veggies and greenery.

Secondly, as far as the ramp is concerned I would be inclined to say they are probably too little to use it yet but I am sure they will learn soon enough. If you are worried then just give them use of the bottom half of the hutch until they get a little bigger

Glad you have found us! Don't think I could have survived without this place when I was a newbie to rabbits

like *lily* said, a bit of info on their diet would be helpful

You could try making a sort of 'cover' for the ramp out of a towel or one of those flexible mesh bins. that will help the babies get a bit of grip on the ramp until they are a bit older or get used to the ramp.

Sorry, didn't want to go into information overload.

Their hutch is made up with straw and hay (and sawdust in the litter tray - this is what the breeder had, so what they're used to)

They're together and I'm feeding them 5 oz a day to share of dried food. (Unfortunately I don't know the brand of most of it as it's the breeder one) but I'm trying to introduce burgess excel so it's 4 oz breeder food and 1 oz excel mixed up and served half in the morning (at 7) and half at night (at 8.30). At night there is also about an inch and a half of carrot chopped up (only so they share. If I put in big chunks she goes around and gathers them all and gets possessive.

And fresh water. And that's it. I'm going easy on the veg cos I don't want to give them bloat and because there are two of them and she can be quite greedy, so I don't want to risk her getting a double portion.

Are they eating all the food and also are they eating a good amount of hay?

Yes, all the food bar a few if the ones which look like squashed sweetcorn, and lots of hay and straw. In fact, I wonder if they eat more straw than hay...

The straw wont do any harm but doesn't have a lot of nutritional value, it's the hay they really need to be eating

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=272121&highlight=caecotrophs

A link to why they may not be eating their poops!

Oooo, thank you

Im going to put it down to the excitement of a daytime hop around and just keep an eye on them!

Pix said:

Im going to put it down to the excitement of a daytime hop around and just keep an eye on them!

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Best idea Enjoy them oh and don't forget to post some photo's :wave:

Hiya, welcome to RU!

How old are your bunnies? They need to be seperated at 10 weeks to avoid inbred furry bundles. They can be reintroduced 6 weeks after they've been neutered though.

With the sticky poos, it may be that they aren't getting enough fibre? Hay should make up around 80% of their diet with pellets being 10% and fresh veg the last 10%. Some bunny experts don't recommend feeding any fresh food until the buns are 3 months old, although grass is fine. It couuld be their pellets that are upsetting them. Do they seem well in themselves? Pellets aren't actually necessary to a healthy diet, so if the problem persists you could consider cutting these out completely. What brand are you using at the moment? A lot of rabbits have problems with Suparabbit Excel, but Science Selective is usually well tolerated. The only pellets my bun can eat are called 'Natural forage'. Just be careful when introducing new food/changing their diet that you do things very gradually.

Looking forward to seeing piccies of your bunsters!

*lily* said:

Best idea Enjoy them oh and don't forget to post some photo's :wave:

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I will. I'm just phone posting at the moment. And not got ant v good photos as had them less than a week and don't want to alarm them with the flash!

Pix said:

I will. I'm just phone posting at the moment. And not got ant v good photos as had them less than a week and don't want to alarm them with the flash!

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Aww can't wait

They're 9 weeks (him) and 11 weeks (her). They're not related, but from same breeder.

Both breeder and vet have said I can leave them together if I get her spayed at 4 and a half months and him neutered at 5 months.

Do I need to get another opinion? Neither breeder or vet seemed very worried...

I had Louie neutered at 4 months but vets don't usually spay girls until 6 months.

Pix said:

They're 9 weeks (him) and 11 weeks (her). They're not related, but from same breeder.

Both breeder and vet have said I can leave them together if I get her spayed at 4 and a half months and him neutered at 5 months.

Do I need to get another opinion? Neither breeder or vet seemed very worried...

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Hmmm......

I would question that... I am sure bunnies can become fertile as young as 16 weeks... and I am sure you can get your male neutered younger than 5 months??

Anyone else?

If I get her spayed at 18 weeks as the vet suggested. He will only just be 16 weeks. The vet said 6 months is normal, but as they're together it could be done at 18 weeks.

Pix said:

They're 9 weeks (him) and 11 weeks (her). They're not related, but from same breeder.

Both breeder and vet have said I can leave them together if I get her spayed at 4 and a half months and him neutered at 5 months.

Do I need to get another opinion? Neither breeder or vet seemed very worried...

Click to expand...

Oh dear...

Nope, rabbits breed like, well, rabbits!! I'm afraid you will need to seperate them now. It really is not worth the risk. Also, change your vet! It's irrisponsible to offer to spay your doe before she's ready.