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New to Bunnies.. some questions

Honeybun

Warren Scout
Hello all.. have a 10wk old dwarf lop doe who I've had for a week now, and just have a few random questions. I've had guineas before, but she is my first bun.

At the moment she is living in a large plastic cage in the utility room while she is settling down and being litter trained... she seems pretty happy in there and while she is tiny she has plenty of room to run and play.

I'm aiming for her to be a combination bunny. Inside in the evening and at night when there is someone to supervise her in the house, and outside in a hutch/run combo during the day to give her some fresh air and some exercise, and also hopefully stop her destroying the house when she's on her own.

I've bought her a hutch and run and am introducing her to it gently. She had about half an hour out last night, and another 20 mins this morning. Am I going about this the right way? I don't want the sudden change of grass to uspet her tummy.

When she's indoors she has as much timothy hay as she can eat and the same in pellet feed.

The only real problem I'm having with her is putting her back in the indoor cage. She's fine to take out, and she's fine when I put her in the run, but when we approach the indoor cage, she has a mad scramble. The longer I keep her close to my body, the less she struggles, so I'm hoping it's a confidence thing rather than a cage issue, and it will settle down once she realises I'm not going to drop her. If I take her out and put her in several times in a row she is easier each time. She seems to like the cage when she's in, as she relaxes lying down with her legs stretched out.

She's a lovely little thing, will come to be caught when in the run of her cage. I'll try and get some pictures of her later.

Oh and one last thing. She's supposed to be a lop, but only one ear flops down. Will the other one go with time? Doesn't matter if it doesn't, it adds to her cuteness. :lol:
 
hi

Aww - she sounds lovely :)
Benny lives in a 4 foot indoor cage in my kitchen and it's plenty big enough for him - he seems to love it in there and he gets a couple of hours run on the patio morning and evening.

With the grass - you are introducing it slowly, which is the right thing to do, and her diet sounds great - I would worry about her digging out of the run once she starts getting hormonal in a couple of months though - is there any way you can ensure she doesn't do this?

I find putting Benny back in the cage more difficult than taking him out too - but he's fully grown and has taught himself to jump on top, and goes back in on his own now when he's had enough outside - otherwise he hops in his litter box and I use that to get him out and back in through the top - can you do this?
 
The putting her in a box then in is a great idea. I'm sure she'd go for it as she climbs in anything the looks interesting.... including the scoop I use to clean her bedding :lol:

If she starts digging I'll put wide mesh on the bottom of the run. I'm going to get her neutered when she's old enough, so maybe that will help.

I think she'd struggle to dig very deep, the garden looks very clayish and hard, it'd take her a few days to get anywhere and I'd spot it before it got that far.

It was hilarious watching her doing the mad jumping thing last night, I swear she came at least a foot off the ground, she's a little nutter! :lol:
 
Hi Honeybun

My bun is a lop and although not a baby she is still quite young ( 5 / 6 months) she also has the one ear up and one ear down syndrome!!! The only time they are both down is when she is under something quite low!!! I think it 's something to do with listening out for danger, i am sure they will both grow out of it when they become more settled in their environments, but as you say it adds to their cuteness so who cares!!! :D
 
welcome1.gif
to you Honeybun
 
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