New baby rabbit

Hi all,

I'd really appreciate some advice on our new addition to the family. We've recently adopted a baby female bunny (4 months tomorrow)- she was bonded by ARC with my lovely Zigzag who is 8 years old. I've never had a baby so feel a bit like I don't know what I am doing!

I just have a few questions:

1. We are currently feeding her 25g of pellets twice a day. She eats them very slowly as she's a tiny thing! Should we continue this until she's 6-7 months, or start cutting down?

2. How much veg do people feed at this stage? I know this has already been mentioned in Lisa1981's thread, but would be great to find out what people do

3. How will we know when to spay her? Will her behaviour literally change overnight- will she become a little demon :lol:?

4. Should we trim her nails? They're very sharp, but very thin

5. And finally, we have noticed her behaviour's changed in the last 24- 48 hours- she's less affectionate with Zigs. Is it normal for her behaviour to be changeable at this stage?

I will post some photos shortly, as she is super cute


Thanks as always

xx

Hi, glad you've posted about this

Your little cutie is about the same age as Tui when we adopted her from ARC. My thoughts on your questions:

1. We cut Tui's pellets right down after she arrived and just fed her the occasional FibaFirst when Tethra wasn't looking. Mind you, Tui did and does eat a phenomenal amount of hay so I was not concerned that she would not be getting enough food. They get their pellets together and I would say that Tui gets slightly more than half, because she gobbles them up faster.
2. We fed Tui veg, herbs and forage from the day she arrived. I just made sure that she only got a small amount of one new food at a time and monitored her digestion, which was always fine. Very soon though she was eating a full range of green foods.
3. Tui's hormonal behaviour kicked in at just over 5 months. It wasn't overnight, but it was very apparent over a couple of days and she was very persistent. I had her spayed within a week of this. Tethra went in with her and it seemed that the unwanted behaviour stopped almost as soon as she was spayed. There was certainly no issues between them.
4. Yes, I would trim her nails. It will get her used to it and if they are thin it should be fairly easy.
5. I didn't notice any change in behaviour until Tui got hormonal. I would just monitor it.

Has your little cutie got a name?

Hi Omi,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, and apologies for the delay again.

As our new bunny was the runt of the litter, I haven’t cut the pellets down yet but I am planning to slowly decrease from the 25g. She eats a tiny amount compared to the Californian bun that we used to have

We’ve started feeding her a few greens based on what you’ve said, and I’ll clip her nails today.

I’ve noticed that they are both close and then get a bit more distant for a day or two- it’s a bit like a cycle. She’s also getting a bit more destructive around the pen!

We’re struggling with a name- Winona, Lyra and Dora are the possibilities.

Thanks again, as always

Xx