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When Should I Take My Bunny Into Vets For A Checkup & Vaccinations?

Ashleigh

Ashleigh

Alpha Buck
Hiya everyone,

We're bringing our baby bunny home for the first time today, he's 10 weeks old and will be an indoor bunny.
I was just wondering how long I should wait before I book him in at the vets for a check up and any vaccinations he may need?
Obviously he needs time to settle in first but I don't want to risk him getting poorly.

Thank you for any advice :)
 
Last edited:
See how he goes but normally around a week is long enough to let them settle into the home.

Hopefully someone else will come along with further advice/tips for you.
 
Thank you, do you know if he need to be a certain weight before he can has vaccinations? He's a double Manned Lionhead however he is very small still.
 
Vaccinations are age-related, not weight. You could ring your vet and book him in for his vaccinations now. It is a single combined vaccination for Myxomatosis and VHD (RHD). He will get a health check up at the same time to make sure he is fit for the vaccination.

Neutering is sometimes done a little later on tiny bunnies, but it depends on the advice and experience of your vet. Often 1kg is quoted as a minimum weight, but an experienced vet would take everything else into consideration. Males are often done as soon as they are physically mature - which could be as young as 12 weeks. Females are usually done at 6 months old.

It's best to ring and ask your vet for the cost and timings for vaccinations and neutering, then register bunny and book him in.
 
Ashleigh said:
Thank you, do you know if he need to be a certain weight before he can has vaccinations? He's a double Manned Lionhead however he is very small still.
Click to expand...

Vaccinations are not 'weight related'

I'd let him have a few days to settle in and then get his vaccinations done ASAP. He will not only need the Nobivac Myxo-RVHD Vaccine,

http://www.noahcompendium.co.uk/MSD...pension_for_injection_for_rabbits/-67996.html

but now he will also need the Cunivak RHVD2 Vaccine, available from Germany via a Special Import Licence. Your Vet will need to be aware of recent developments re RVHD2 and the need to vaccinate all healthy Rabbits against it. The Myxo-RHVD Vaccine only gives partial protection against RHVD2

Full details here, please ensure your Vet is aware of this situation

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?452651-Important-Information-Re-RVHD2-Please-Read

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/infectious-disease/rabbit-haemorrhagic-disease
 
Bunnies can be vaccinated from 6 weeks old so when he's settled in you can have him done. Also I see from your introductory post that you have already bought some Flystrike spray. I understand you are anxious having lost your previous bunny from this horrible condition, but we don't tend to advise using any sprays as they contain chemicals. Keeping bunny's toilet area very clean and giving him a sensible diet should keep him free from Flystrike.

Most rabbits are fairly easily litter trained by putting eg newspaper in a litter tray topped up with hay, as they like to chew while they "go". It's good to litter train them early on so they don't get into bad habits.

At 10 weeks old you can give him about 1/2 cup full of pellets a day. He may need some more but you will be able to judge that yourself better.
 
Ashleigh said:
Hiya everyone,

We're bringing our baby bunny home for the first time today, he's 10 weeks old and will be an indoor bunny.
I was just wondering how long I should wait before I book him in at the vets for a check up and any vaccinations he may need?
Obviously he needs time to settle in first but I don't want to risk him getting poorly.

Thank you for any advice :)
Click to expand...

He can be booked in for his vaccinations right now, and at the same time you can check out your vet as regards neutering him, when the time comes (4/5 months old or when the testicles have descended)

What the vet will give first of all will be the single combined vaccination for both Myxi and VHD. This is the most important.

There has now been identified in the UK a further strain of VHD, called VHD2, so he will eventually (but not at the same time as the former vaccine) need this one, which is called Cunivak RHVD2. You could ask your vet about it, and some way down the line when your vet has it in stock, you can think about adding that vaccination too.

This new Cunivak RHVD2 has to be given twice in the first year, three weeks apart, so you need to make sure he's tip top healthy before you do it.
 
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