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About to become a frenchie mummy

Hi lovelies,

On Sunday we're off to view a French lop doe that we have our heart set on. She isn't ready to leave until the end of July, we gives me just under a month to get fully prepared.

I owned lops all my life before I moved from my family home, even reared a litter myself when I was 11 years old after we rehomed a pregnant bunny.

I now have my own home and family, which means I can hop back on board to having another bunny. Only this time taking the leap into getting a French lop.
I've had large lops in the past, possibly a pure bred french lop as my first when a little girl (but I was clueless back then as to what she was other than a big ball of fluff).

Well, im on basically to ask your advice on general stuff, such as:

Best recommended brand of food.
Recommended hay (and any specific brands).
Recommended bedding.
How much I should be feeding a youngster to begin with? (from 10 weeks).
Which vitamins/minerals do you suggest and from how old?

And basically anything else you'd suggest (perhaps you have an item you can't live without).

Thank you :)


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Hello and welcome. French Lops are lovely bunnies, although I've never owned one myself! The best food for your bunny is the one she is being fed at the moment and then when she gets a little older you can slowly switch her over to whichever you decide. Pellets are favoured by most bunny owners, Oxbow do a good pellet made from Timothy Hay, or there is Fibafirst. I use baled hay as I have a lot of rabbits but someone else may be able to recommend other hays.

Big underbed storage boxes make a good litter tray, you can put newspaper at the bottom and top up with hay. Bunnies like this and it will encourage good litter training habits. If you can see how the breeder ? keeps her hutches, this is what bunny is used to - a good breeder will encourage litter training in the early days. The hutches should be kept very clean with no smell and no overcrowding.

No extra vitamins etc are needed.

Will your bunny be indoors or outside?
 
This is certainly the place to find out all you need to know before taking delivery of your new baby. Will she be a house bunny or live outside? It's best obviously to get some of the food and hay she's used to, don't change anything for a while, babies have very delicate digestive systems, so you need to keep everything the same for a while until she settles in. Pellets are better for her than the muesli type food, they tend to pick out the bits they like and leave the rest. Bedding will depend on where she will be, mine are outside living in sheds with grass runs attached, and I use a layer of woodshavings with a thick layer of hay on top. I buy horse hay bales off the field in summer, and also feed readigrass, bought from an animal feed store, also for horses. If she will be inside you may want to use a large litter tray, maybe lined with paper and hay. I'm not able to advise on feeding youngsters, others will give you good advice on this. I don't think you'll need vitamins or minerals if you are feeding correctly, but again others will advise you better than I can. Good luck with her, let us see some photos!
 
Welcome!

Its lovely you're getting a beautiful French Lop (I swear - I'm not jealous ;) )

Best recommended brand of food. Keep her on her normal food until she's older (maybe 6 months or so) then I'd change her onto whatever you'd prefer to feed. Personally I like Selective but others like Burgess, Oxbow etc - avoid muesli style.
Recommended hay (and any specific brands). I like deans meadow hay - you can get it in large bags & its always a good quality. But you may need to trial and find which one your bunny likes most once she's settled in. (www.thehayexperts.co.uk do a trial pack of 6 different hay types so you can see what she likes)
Recommended bedding. Mine are indoors & have their own bedroom. In their cage (they have free access to) they have towels to soften the plastic trays. In their underbed storage boxes (litter trays) they have fitch bedding & hay on top.
How much I should be feeding a youngster to begin with? (from 10 weeks). Ad-lib hay (as much as she wants), see how much the breeder is feeding in terms of pellets & fresh veg. I'd normally say 1 - 2 egg cups of pellets a day & two large handfuls of veg a day, but don't make any sudden changes. Do it over a period of weeks so as not to shock her system. (Start after she's settled in). Opinions on amount to feed can differ so I'm sorry if I confuse you.
Which vitamins/minerals do you suggest and from how old? None - a complete diet means she won't need any vitamins/minerals added to her diet.


Good luck! Some pictures once you get her please. :)
 
Thank you so so much, such great help!

We are currently undecided as to house her indoors or outdoors, edging towards outdoors though as think my two babies may drive her a bit crazy. Definitely haven't ruled it out though.

Ill definitely add photos when we bring her home or perhaps when we visit her at the weekend 😁

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