Hi everyone! :wave:
I'm pretty new to rabbits (I'm a tortoise lady) so I'm hoping you could give me some advice...
2 weeks ago we were browsing Pets at Home for some reptile stuff when we saw a little dwarf bunny in the adoption center. I'd already seen her the week before and after she had done some clever 'look at me I'm super cute' tricks, my partner decided that she had to come home with us. My partner's family have always had rabbits and they currently have a family of 5 in their garden, but I'm not very clued up on rabbits. We asked the advice of the staff and purchased a 2 storey hutch. When it came to getting the rabbit (who we have named Maude), I have never seen a rabbit struggle so much! She was like a tiny kangaroo, jumping and kicking everywhere. It took the staff members 5 attempts to get her in a carrier. We were told she was in the adoption center as she'd had a 'snotty nose' but had been cleared by the vets. She had been in a tiny glass enclosure for at least 2 months.
We got her home and let her out in the kitchen (which is tiled and free from any cables etc) while we built the hutch and then we popped her in. On the advice of my partner's Mum, we brought her in at night and sat with her to get her used to us. She was really jumpy and hid in her box mainly. We work throughout the day so we out her in the hutch during the day and kept her in the kitchen from roughly 6pm-7.30am where she could run around. After 2 days of this she was completely different and very comfortable with us. She comes to you to be stroked and follows you around. She would also binky and flop about and seemed to be really happy.
A week later I noticed she was sneezing frequently and we took her to Vets4Pets in the Pets at Home store. The vet there told us about pasteurella and gave us Baytril - 0.5ml a day. He explained that stress can make this worse and her immune system might kick in with the antibiotics, but he said the stress of moving might have made it worse. He also advised us to put her outside all the time and to get her a friend as she'd get lonely. He also wouldn't give her her vaccinations for now.
The other night we put her in the hutch over night and throughout the day. We came home from work and went to get her out for her to run around and to give her her medication and she had completely changed. She was growling and bit my partner, when previously she would come to meet us and wait to be picked up. We eventually got her inside and then decided to keep her in again overnight as we didn't want her to become 'hostile' (for want of a better word) and we'd like her to still be okay around us.
Now that the essay is over guys (sorry!!) my main question is whether we should make her a permanent indoor rabbit (in which case we would purchase all the indoor stuff and toilet train her/bunny proof the house) or whether she should be outdoors all the time? I've read some people's stories who have said outdoors helps with respiratory issues and that heating indoors can cause issues. She was very snuffly after she had been outdoors all night and day and I'm unsure what is best for her as she's been used to being inside at Pets at Home for the past 2-4 months. Also, in terms of the advice that the vet gave us regarding a bunny friend - was that good advice as her illness is infectious?
Thanks for any help guys and sorry for the massive essay! :lol:
I'm pretty new to rabbits (I'm a tortoise lady) so I'm hoping you could give me some advice...
2 weeks ago we were browsing Pets at Home for some reptile stuff when we saw a little dwarf bunny in the adoption center. I'd already seen her the week before and after she had done some clever 'look at me I'm super cute' tricks, my partner decided that she had to come home with us. My partner's family have always had rabbits and they currently have a family of 5 in their garden, but I'm not very clued up on rabbits. We asked the advice of the staff and purchased a 2 storey hutch. When it came to getting the rabbit (who we have named Maude), I have never seen a rabbit struggle so much! She was like a tiny kangaroo, jumping and kicking everywhere. It took the staff members 5 attempts to get her in a carrier. We were told she was in the adoption center as she'd had a 'snotty nose' but had been cleared by the vets. She had been in a tiny glass enclosure for at least 2 months.
We got her home and let her out in the kitchen (which is tiled and free from any cables etc) while we built the hutch and then we popped her in. On the advice of my partner's Mum, we brought her in at night and sat with her to get her used to us. She was really jumpy and hid in her box mainly. We work throughout the day so we out her in the hutch during the day and kept her in the kitchen from roughly 6pm-7.30am where she could run around. After 2 days of this she was completely different and very comfortable with us. She comes to you to be stroked and follows you around. She would also binky and flop about and seemed to be really happy.
A week later I noticed she was sneezing frequently and we took her to Vets4Pets in the Pets at Home store. The vet there told us about pasteurella and gave us Baytril - 0.5ml a day. He explained that stress can make this worse and her immune system might kick in with the antibiotics, but he said the stress of moving might have made it worse. He also advised us to put her outside all the time and to get her a friend as she'd get lonely. He also wouldn't give her her vaccinations for now.
The other night we put her in the hutch over night and throughout the day. We came home from work and went to get her out for her to run around and to give her her medication and she had completely changed. She was growling and bit my partner, when previously she would come to meet us and wait to be picked up. We eventually got her inside and then decided to keep her in again overnight as we didn't want her to become 'hostile' (for want of a better word) and we'd like her to still be okay around us.
Now that the essay is over guys (sorry!!) my main question is whether we should make her a permanent indoor rabbit (in which case we would purchase all the indoor stuff and toilet train her/bunny proof the house) or whether she should be outdoors all the time? I've read some people's stories who have said outdoors helps with respiratory issues and that heating indoors can cause issues. She was very snuffly after she had been outdoors all night and day and I'm unsure what is best for her as she's been used to being inside at Pets at Home for the past 2-4 months. Also, in terms of the advice that the vet gave us regarding a bunny friend - was that good advice as her illness is infectious?
Thanks for any help guys and sorry for the massive essay! :lol: