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What else should I be doing?

Natalie

Natalie

Warren Scout
I'm completely new to looking after a rabbit and know very little and I'm convinced I'm not doing something that anyone who knows anything about rabbits will be doing as a matter of course.

Our newly adopted rabbit, who had become unwanted by her family and was receiving very little attention, has now been with us for nearly four weeks. We t-h-i-n-k she is 10 years old. She is spayed.

She hadn't seen a vet since 2009 so we took her to the vets, got her checked over and had her vaccinated with the RVHD/myxi vaccination. She had a problem with her eye which we are treating and for which we have been back and forth to the vets several times. It seems to be healing well. We will stop using the eye drops in another three days or so. Then we will monitor the condition of her eye and go back to the vets if anything flares up again.

We are getting her RVHD-2 vaccination done tomorrow. First lot of vaccinations were on 1st Sept.

She has a relatively small double level hutch (I regret that purchase now but we had to get everything organised so quickly once we were told that we could adopt her). The hutch had to be low enough to fit inside the 12' x 9' run which I'd decided on and I'd noticed in her old hutch/run that she'd been used to two levels, with her toileting area being on the lower level and bedroom area on the upper level, so I'd wanted to replicate what she was used to as I thought that would make it easier for her.

So, anyway, Caramel has access to the run all day which is on grass. I only shut her into the hutch at night because I think that it's safer for her. If I could be convinced that the run were fox proof I would let her have access to the run all night as well. The run is one of those Omlet ones. A complete pain to put up, but really good once it's up. it looked solid and safe, so that's why I chose that one to get. It has a sort of skirt bit, so that if a fox tried to get in by digging s/he would have to dig quite a tunnel to get though. BUT if Caramel is then also secure in her hutch, the fox would then have to break into that too. So far we've had no sign of any digging near the run, I do know that there are foxes around though as one of our neighbours has chickens and they said they'd seen a fox/foxes in the past. We've never seen any since we've been here, which is about four months now. The skirt bit of the run is held down by a load of tent pegs. (I also got hubby to put four extra bolts on the hutch doors :lol: )

So is it the right thing to do, to keep her more secure at night? I don't think I'd sleep a wink if she weren't in the hutch over night.

Anyway, moving on ... she is a super clean little girl, and she does indeed use her litter tray in the lower area of the hutch. Litter tray has carefresh and hay in it. I clean the litter tray out every other day but only use water. Brush it clean under the cold water hose first, then use really hot water afterwards, then dry it off.

She has loads of fresh Timothy Hay, from the Timothy Hay Company, both in her hutch and in various toys and in a hay feeder next to her litter tray.

She has two bowls of water, one up, one down in the hutch which is refreshed every day. I used to use bottles as well but never saw her use them, so I gave up on those. She hasn't knocked over a water bowl yet.

She has quite a few toys :oops: okay yes, I do think she's a princess and needs to be spoilt rotten :lol: so tunnels and hideaways, and chew mats, and various play balls to nibble and chuck, and balls and logs stuffed with dried flowers, herbs and hay and more tunnels :lol:

I clean her hutch out once a week, but again, only with water - not keen on chemicals, but am wondering whether using just water is a problem? If I should be using some sort of cleaning stuff, which would be the safest/best one to use?

She has an eggcup full of Burgess Adult Rabbit Food with Mint, twice a day, (the morning portion she has in one of those little rolly ball thingies out in her run, on a mat, so she has to push it around to get the pellets, the night time portion I put in a bowl for her in the top part of the hutch, so she has something to chew on overnight) and a little bowl of fresh veg/forage and fresh herbs twice a day - all washed.

I do spend a fair bit of time just sitting with her and stroking her, which she seems to enjoy, I'm not certain if she's enjoying it or tolerating it to be honest :?

As she hops about the run I check her tail end that all is clean, and so far so good. There are no signs of uneaten caecotrophs anywhere in the run or hutch.

I tried her on a tiny bit of FibreFirst - she's not impressed. I've also got some readigrass to see if she likes munching on that, haven't tried that one yet.

I bought a tiny bit of vet fleece to try her with, ready for the colder months. Washed and dried it three times before I let her anywhere near it. She looked to want to dig in it and nibble it, so I haven't left that with her as I'd like to make sure she doesn't eat it. But the fleece familiarisation is a work in progress :)

I've got a bunny bothy on order for her to go in overnight when winter sets in. Have to wait for that and am worried that it will only be delivered after the weather has got a good bit colder, still working on what to do if the weather is too cold before the bothy is delivered. When we do get the bothy we're thinking of putting a tiny tube heater in it which will click on if the temperature drops too much. She's been used to being outdoors in all weathers, but she is 10 and it must be more difficult for her to keep warm enough now she's older.

Hmmm so sorry about this novel of an explanation about what I'm doing for her so that I can find out what I'm missing.

I'm sure there's more, but I'll leave it there for the moment. If there is anything obvious that I'm missing that I should be doing for her, please let me know.

Thank you so much for bearing with me through this looooooooooooooooooooooooooooong explanation and for any help/advice you are able to offer.

Natalie :)

I'm off to give Caramel her evening munchies now :)
 
Sorry this reply will be very brief- Sadly Foxes do not only hunt at night and if a run is not safe at night then it really cannot be said to be safe during the day either. So perhaps that is one thing you could look at again ?

Again, apologies for brief reply !
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Sorry this reply will be very brief- Sadly Foxes do not only hunt at night and if a run is not safe at night then it really cannot be said to be safe during the day either. So perhaps that is one thing you could look at again ?

Again, apologies for brief reply !
Click to expand...

Thanks JJ, any reply, brief or otherwise is very gratefully received. You make a very good point, yes, we believe that the run is secure enough that it would take a fox some time to get in, if they can get in at all, s/he would have to be really determined, and I think it's the time element that is key, as between ourselves and our neighbours and the horses in the adjoining field and the people who look after them, there is, relatively speaking, a fair amount of activity around where Caramel is, plus we have three rescue dogs who are in and out of the garden all day, being noisy lol, so I think it's safer during the day than at night where foxes are concerned by virtue of the fact that the fox would be disturbed and just wouldn't have the time to be able to get in.

If it weren't for the fact that she's used to being an outside rabbit and that we've got the three dogs, my preference would be to have her as an indoor rabbit. I'd feel altogether better having her indoors, safer and closer to me.
 
Our buns are indoors, so we don't have some of your worries, but they ensure we have other things to worry about
I would only leave the buns out overnight in a secure run, bolted to paving slabs and with mesh underneath. If you want additional nighttime room, I would look at a larger hutch, or a secondhand playhouse or shed. A small shed will have room for you inside as well [emoji6]
We use a very diluted disinfectant when cleaning the pen and litter trays. We change the newspaper and hay in the litter tray twice a day
If she didn't want you to make a fuss of her she would hop off, the fact she doesn't means she is enjoying it

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk
 
It's amazing just what a fox can do to get to prey. I've seen how fast my lurchers can dig a decent hole for 'fun' (theirs. not mine), and a determined rabbit can do a decent escape tunnel in less than half an hour. A short skirt won't make a difference. I would completely mesh under the grass of the run.

Cleaning - a squirt of washing up liquid and a squirt of bleach in a bucket of water provides a decent solution to clean hutches, bowls, etc. The soap helps to remove the grime and the bleach provides a mild disinfectant.

Winter - there's nothing nicer than another bunny to snuggle up with. Otherwise, have a look at Snugglesafe heat pads. They are microwaveable discs that provide a low level of heat over many hours. Pair them up for more effective / longer lasting heat. I use them in pairs under the main sleeping area hay in the worst of winter and they last all night. There are no wires and they can be used anywhere.
 
Natalie said:
I'm completely new to looking after a rabbit and know very little and I'm convinced I'm not doing something that anyone who knows anything about rabbits will be doing as a matter of course.

Our newly adopted rabbit, who had become unwanted by her family and was receiving very little attention, has now been with us for nearly four weeks. We t-h-i-n-k she is 10 years old. She is spayed.

She hadn't seen a vet since 2009 so we took her to the vets, got her checked over and had her vaccinated with the RVHD/myxi vaccination. She had a problem with her eye which we are treating and for which we have been back and forth to the vets several times. It seems to be healing well. We will stop using the eye drops in another three days or so. Then we will monitor the condition of her eye and go back to the vets if anything flares up again.

We are getting her RVHD-2 vaccination done tomorrow. First lot of vaccinations were on 1st Sept.

She has a relatively small double level hutch (I regret that purchase now but we had to get everything organised so quickly once we were told that we could adopt her). The hutch had to be low enough to fit inside the 12' x 9' run which I'd decided on and I'd noticed in her old hutch/run that she'd been used to two levels, with her toileting area being on the lower level and bedroom area on the upper level, so I'd wanted to replicate what she was used to as I thought that would make it easier for her.

So, anyway, Caramel has access to the run all day which is on grass. I only shut her into the hutch at night because I think that it's safer for her. If I could be convinced that the run were fox proof I would let her have access to the run all night as well. The run is one of those Omlet ones. A complete pain to put up, but really good once it's up. it looked solid and safe, so that's why I chose that one to get. It has a sort of skirt bit, so that if a fox tried to get in by digging s/he would have to dig quite a tunnel to get though. BUT if Caramel is then also secure in her hutch, the fox would then have to break into that too. So far we've had no sign of any digging near the run, I do know that there are foxes around though as one of our neighbours has chickens and they said they'd seen a fox/foxes in the past. We've never seen any since we've been here, which is about four months now. The skirt bit of the run is held down by a load of tent pegs. (I also got hubby to put four extra bolts on the hutch doors :lol: )

So is it the right thing to do, to keep her more secure at night? I don't think I'd sleep a wink if she weren't in the hutch over night.

Anyway, moving on ... she is a super clean little girl, and she does indeed use her litter tray in the lower area of the hutch. Litter tray has carefresh and hay in it. I clean the litter tray out every other day but only use water. Brush it clean under the cold water hose first, then use really hot water afterwards, then dry it off.

She has loads of fresh Timothy Hay, from the Timothy Hay Company, both in her hutch and in various toys and in a hay feeder next to her litter tray.

She has two bowls of water, one up, one down in the hutch which is refreshed every day. I used to use bottles as well but never saw her use them, so I gave up on those. She hasn't knocked over a water bowl yet.

She has quite a few toys :oops: okay yes, I do think she's a princess and needs to be spoilt rotten :lol: so tunnels and hideaways, and chew mats, and various play balls to nibble and chuck, and balls and logs stuffed with dried flowers, herbs and hay and more tunnels :lol:

I clean her hutch out once a week, but again, only with water - not keen on chemicals, but am wondering whether using just water is a problem? If I should be using some sort of cleaning stuff, which would be the safest/best one to use?

She has an eggcup full of Burgess Adult Rabbit Food with Mint, twice a day, (the morning portion she has in one of those little rolly ball thingies out in her run, on a mat, so she has to push it around to get the pellets, the night time portion I put in a bowl for her in the top part of the hutch, so she has something to chew on overnight) and a little bowl of fresh veg/forage and fresh herbs twice a day - all washed.

I do spend a fair bit of time just sitting with her and stroking her, which she seems to enjoy, I'm not certain if she's enjoying it or tolerating it to be honest :?

As she hops about the run I check her tail end that all is clean, and so far so good. There are no signs of uneaten caecotrophs anywhere in the run or hutch.

I tried her on a tiny bit of FibreFirst - she's not impressed. I've also got some readigrass to see if she likes munching on that, haven't tried that one yet.

I bought a tiny bit of vet fleece to try her with, ready for the colder months. Washed and dried it three times before I let her anywhere near it. She looked to want to dig in it and nibble it, so I haven't left that with her as I'd like to make sure she doesn't eat it. But the fleece familiarisation is a work in progress :)

I've got a bunny bothy on order for her to go in overnight when winter sets in. Have to wait for that and am worried that it will only be delivered after the weather has got a good bit colder, still working on what to do if the weather is too cold before the bothy is delivered. When we do get the bothy we're thinking of putting a tiny tube heater in it which will click on if the temperature drops too much. She's been used to being outdoors in all weathers, but she is 10 and it must be more difficult for her to keep warm enough now she's older.

Hmmm so sorry about this novel of an explanation about what I'm doing for her so that I can find out what I'm missing.

I'm sure there's more, but I'll leave it there for the moment. If there is anything obvious that I'm missing that I should be doing for her, please let me know.

Thank you so much for bearing with me through this looooooooooooooooooooooooooooong explanation and for any help/advice you are able to offer.

Natalie :)

I'm off to give Caramel her evening munchies now :)
Click to expand...


I think you're doing amazingly Natalie :wave:

The icing on the cake would be if/when Caramel gets a partner.

Remind me - was she always a loner, or did she ever have a mate?
 
MightyMax said:
I think you're doing amazingly Natalie :wave:

The icing on the cake would be if/when Caramel gets a partner.

Remind me - was she always a loner, or did she ever have a mate?
Click to expand...

She had a mate at one point, but I'm not sure if they bought two rabbits at first, or if they bought Caramel, and then added another bunny later. She's been on her own for about 3 or 4 years. I'll try to get the opportunity to ask about the specifics, it's quite difficult due to all the health issues our neighbours are having to deal with. Our vets seem to have two dates for when she was born, Aug 2007 and Aug 2009, but apparently she was spayed in Aug 2009, so I can only assume that she must have been born in 2007. but if they bought her with another bunny, they couldn't have waited until she was two to have her spayed (?!) it's all a bit confusing.

After she's had her RVHD-2 vaccination, and bearing in mind her 1st lot of vaccinations were 1st Sept, how soon would she be safe to be bonded with another rabbit? Although I can ask the vet tomorrow I guess. I'm really worrying about her being outside now, she's really not far from where she was in her hutch/run for 10 years and nothing has happened so far. I just don't know how we could bring her to live indoors without it being a big problem with the dogs.

I'm going to have to give this some more thought. And I especially don't want to adopt another bunny only to have something awful happen to both of them :(
 
Natalie said:
She had a mate at one point, but I'm not sure if they bought two rabbits at first, or if they bought Caramel, and then added another bunny later. She's been on her own for about 3 or 4 years. I'll try to get the opportunity to ask about the specifics, it's quite difficult due to all the health issues our neighbours are having to deal with. Our vets seem to have two dates for when she was born, Aug 2007 and Aug 2009, but apparently she was spayed in Aug 2009, so I can only assume that she must have been born in 2007. but if they bought her with another bunny, they couldn't have waited until she was two to have her spayed (?!) it's all a bit confusing.

After she's had her RVHD-2 vaccination, and bearing in mind her 1st lot of vaccinations were 1st Sept, how soon would she be safe to be bonded with another rabbit? Although I can ask the vet tomorrow I guess. I'm really worrying about her being outside now, she's really not far from where she was in her hutch/run for 10 years and nothing has happened so far. I just don't know how we could bring her to live indoors without it being a big problem with the dogs.

I'm going to have to give this some more thought. And I especially don't want to adopt another bunny only to have something awful happen to both of them :(
Click to expand...


I should say 2/3 weeks after vaccination would be fine, as that's a good time for everything to settle down, including reactions, if there are any.

Why are you worrying about her being outside? Do you feel she isn't secure? It might be difficult to find relaxing indoor space for her if you've dogs too x
 
MightyMax said:
I should say 2/3 weeks after vaccination would be fine, as that's a good time for everything to settle down, including reactions, if there are any.

Why are you worrying about her being outside? Do you feel she isn't secure? It might be difficult to find relaxing indoor space for her if you've dogs too x
Click to expand...

I think that until we get the bothy, I won't feel happy unless we arrange for her to be indoors overnight. Everything we got for her was with a view to 1) keeping her safe but also 2) not making too many drastic changes to what she'd been used to so far in her life.

But as secure as it's all supposed to be, and after taking in the very valid comments made in this thread, I just feel that she'd be safer indoors, at least for overnight when there's nothing going on outside and when I feel she is more vulnerable.

I need to think it through, but first thoughts are that she could be in a cooler room where we haven't had the heating on, as she's really not used to house warm, and I'd keep the door shut of course so the dogs can't get anywhere near her. She'd still be in a hutch, but bigger than the hutch in the run. It would only be for a few months, until we get the bothy.

The long term plan was always for my youngest daughter, Hayley, she's 24, to take over the care of Caramel, and Caramel's companion if we are able to get one for her, once she and her partner have bought a house. They are in rented at the moment but have started looking. So eventually she'll take over. Hayley comes over whenever she can to help out with Caramel. She's animal mad, like me lol, and has wanted to adopt rabbits for some time. Well that's the plan, but at the same time I'd be more than happy to continue looking after Caramel if for any reason the plan changes. I'm not even sure I'll want to let her go lol, I've got so attached to her so quickly.
 
Natalie said:
I think that until we get the bothy, I won't feel happy unless we arrange for her to be indoors overnight. Everything we got for her was with a view to 1) keeping her safe but also 2) not making too many drastic changes to what she'd been used to so far in her life.

But as secure as it's all supposed to be, and after taking in the very valid comments made in this thread, I just feel that she'd be safer indoors, at least for overnight when there's nothing going on outside and when I feel she is more vulnerable.

I need to think it through, but first thoughts are that she could be in a cooler room where we haven't had the heating on, as she's really not used to house warm, and I'd keep the door shut of course so the dogs can't get anywhere near her. She'd still be in a hutch, but bigger than the hutch in the run. It would only be for a few months, until we get the bothy.

The long term plan was always for my youngest daughter, Hayley, she's 24, to take over the care of Caramel, and Caramel's companion if we are able to get one for her, once she and her partner have bought a house. They are in rented at the moment but have started looking. So eventually she'll take over. Hayley comes over whenever she can to help out with Caramel. She's animal mad, like me lol, and has wanted to adopt rabbits for some time. Well that's the plan, but at the same time I'd be more than happy to continue looking after Caramel if for any reason the plan changes. I'm not even sure I'll want to let her go lol, I've got so attached to her so quickly.
Click to expand...


Yes I was surprised when you said the plan was for her to go and live with your daughter. You are already quite attached to her I think :love:

Hopefully your plan of overnighting in a cool room will work. I haven't touched my heating yet!

Would she be indoors or outdoors with your daughter?
 
If you do decide on getting her a new friend there are quite a few oldies in rescues that get overlooked because of there age, you sound like your sloping hear and very attached she sounds lovely, have you got any photos
 
MightyMax said:
Yes I was surprised when you said the plan was for her to go and live with your daughter. You are already quite attached to her I think :love:

Hopefully your plan of overnighting in a cool room will work. I haven't touched my heating yet!

Would she be indoors or outdoors with your daughter?
Click to expand...

Well the plan HAD been for her to remain an outdoor rabbit, really more because that is what she has been used to all her life rather than that being our actual preference, but to be honest, I think she could get used to being indoors. The chances are that I might just keep her here with us anyway lol. I'd prefer to have her indoors, just need some time to work out how exactly we could do that safely bearing in mind the three dogs.

Anyway, she's now had her RVHD-2 vaccination. Very nice vet and the appointment went okay. I did ask again about it being Filivac, which the vet said yes to :) Caramel had her eye checked again, had her tummy felt and heart listened to. Everything was okay. She was also weighed again, back up to 2.1kg. I asked about side effects and vet said minimal, maybe a little lethargic etc, but that any side effects should be passed within 24 hours.

I think Caramel is going to start to seriously dislike the carrier! That's four times now that she's been popped in it and dragged off to the vets :( Although that said, on the car journey to the vets she looked decidedly relaxed. Oh my goodness she is so very sweet. :)
 
mini lop1 said:
If you do decide on getting her a new friend there are quite a few oldies in rescues that get overlooked because of there age, you sound like your sloping hear and very attached she sounds lovely, have you got any photos
Click to expand...

Yes, if we go down the bonding route it will be with an older, rescue rabbit. Probably a neutered male. I have actually seen a little 7 year old bun, a lionhead, in rescue looking for a home, but he is in a rescue centre that is at least two hours away from us. Although, over the years, we've driven a lot further to adopt a couple of our rescue dogs :) If anyone knows of any elderly rescue buns near the Shrewsbury area feel free to let me know :)

Mind you, there is definitely also a bit of me that feels I should learn a lot more before I take on another bunny. I tend to think there must be many better, very much more experienced homes out there than with a such a novice like myself. I'm not a terrifically confident person, you might have guessed lol
 
Natalie said:
Yes, if we go down the bonding route it will be with an older, rescue rabbit. Probably a neutered male. I have actually seen a little 7 year old bun, a lionhead, in rescue looking for a home, but he is in a rescue centre that is at least two hours away from us. Although, over the years, we've driven a lot further to adopt a couple of our rescue dogs :) If anyone knows of any elderly rescue buns near the Shrewsbury area feel free to let me know :)

Mind you, there is definitely also a bit of me that feels I should learn a lot more before I take on another bunny. I tend to think there must be many better, very much more experienced homes out there than with a such a novice like myself. I'm not a terrifically confident person, you might have guessed lol
Click to expand...


You've got the back up and support of us lot! :lol:

I will be learning about all things rabbit until the day I pop my clogs. I am told I know very little so I have an awful lot to learn, just like you. We'll get there :)
 
Britannia said:
This is worth a read if you haven't already come across it:

http://language.rabbitspeak.com/

It helped me a lot in my first few weeks of becoming a slave to 'she who must be obeyed' AKA her royal rabbitness.
Click to expand...

That is an amazing link! THANK YOU! I'm reading through it now, so informative and with a wonderful touch of humour, it's had me laughing out loud with the bits like "no thanks I don't want your lousy raisin!" :lol:

I'm still reading through and haven't got to the bit about the THUMP which I'd love to know because we've decided to bring her indoors for night times and over winter, so Hayley (my 24 yo daughter who visits a lot) and I decided to introduce Caramel to the room this week-end, you know, the start of getting her used to 'the great indoors' :) We took her favourite hideaway with us and a couple of tunnel bits as well and we had the carrier.

Anyhoo, mixed success I'd say. She wasn't so overwhelmed that she sat in a frightened heap, she did have a good look round and investigate. BUT, she also went into the tunnel bit and THUMPED. I have never heard a rabbit thump before, WOW, that is quite a thump for such a little mite and I've got to say it felt like she was most displeased with us! During the time we sat in the room with her, she did that three times! And then after a while she reclined in the tunnel, looking quite relaxed actually, until it was time to go back outside.

So if anyone could enlighten me as to what she was indicating with her reaction to being indoors, especially the thumps, that would be awesome.

Meanwhile I'll keep reading.

Thanks - Natalie :)
 
Last edited:
Natalie said:
That is an amazing link! THANK YOU! I'm reading through it now, so informative and with a wonderful touch of humour, it's had me laughing out loud with the bits like "no thanks I don't want your lousy raisin!" :lol:

I'm still reading through and haven't got to the bit about the THUMP which I'd love to know because we've decided to bring her indoors for night times and over winter, so Hayley (my 24 yo daughter who visits a lot) and I decided to introduce Caramel to the room this week-end, you know, the start of getting her used to 'the great indoors' :) We took her favourite hideaway with us and a couple of tunnel bits as well and we had the carrier.

Anyhoo, mixed success I'd say. She wasn't so overwhelmed that she sat in a frightened heap, she did have a good look round and investigate. BUT, she also went into the tunnel bit and THUMPED. I have never heard a rabbit thump before, WOW, that is quite a thump for such a little mite and I've got to say it felt like she was most displeased with us! During the time we sat in the room with her, she did that three times! And then after a while she reclined in the tunnel, looking quite relaxed actually, until it was time to go back outside.

So if anyone could enlighten me as to what she was indicating with her reaction to being indoors, especially the thumps, that would be awesome.

Meanwhile I'll keep reading.

Thanks - Natalie :)
Click to expand...

My eyes are closed because it's midnight so I haven't really taken it what you're said so far did you mention you had dogs/ It's probably the smell of them making her thump.
 
Sounds like you are doing great. My buns are inside as we live in the country and plenty of foxes around. She would probably benifit from have a mate, they are very social animals.
 
Wow sounds like she is going to have a lovely time with you and a little spoilt :). My rabbit is an indoor rabbit. When I first got her she used to thump at night, I think she could smell foxes but she doesn't any more. I guess she knows she's safe and they can't get her!

I would get a few hideaways for her. Bunnies love cardboard boxes if you have spent enough on her. Also Doughnut especially loves tunnels!

Good luck
 
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