Any tips for my bunny

Hi there,
I've got a continaental giant called Samson who is 11 weeks old, i had a french lop previous to this bunny but she was older when we first got her. I want to make sure he's got enough meat on him for the winter months etc. His coat isn't that thick and he seems fairly slim but he is a baby.
I bring him inside for an hour or so every night more so at the moment because of the fireworks. im worried that bringing him indoors will make him feel the cold more when he goes back out. Can anyone advise a good routine ? I feed him a complete rabbit food and the odd bit of brocoli.

Donna
XX

I think young animals tend to be a bit lanky almost teenager ish in their quality. Hell grow in his own time.

Standard bunny things are: make sure he has plenty of bedding to keep him warm some use straw I use vetbed type stuff. Try to avoid extremes of temperature as this is thought to weaken immune systems. He would probably appreciate fresh food as well as hay in addition to complete food. Mine like: cauliflower; greens; sweetcorn; watercress; apples;melon; banana (not too much) cabbage; broccoli turnip; kohl rabi; celery just avoid light coloured cabbage and lettece and tomotoes and citrus fruit. Also ensure you get good quality stuff like timothy hay/oxbow if it smells musty and is in a cheap pet shop type bag they dont eat enough of it to wear teeth down. My vet suggested no more than a small heap of any dried food and the rest hay and fresh food. But introduce gradually.

Then you can think about girlfriends as bunnys oftern prefer to have bunny company!!!!

Hiya, I think young buns (under 6 months old?) should have unlimited pellets, and veg must be introduced very, very slowly and gradually to avoid a tummy upset. Things like carrot should only be given in moderation as they contain a lot of sugar which is bad for bunnies, I also wouldn't advise giving sweetcorn as it has way too much starch and I've heard it can cause gut blockages.

I wouldn't bring Samson in and out too much at the moment, I don't think the sudden changes in temperature will be good for him. If you bring him in because of the fireworks I would set something up so he can stay in overnight, that way the temperature difference won't be so bad when you let him out again in the morning.

At his age, he can eat Alfalfa hay if you can get it. Adult bunnies shouldn't be fed it as it is too high in protein and can make them fat, but it's fine for youngsters. Once he is older you can wean him onto Timothy/meadow hay depending on his preference. I think Timothy is generally considered better as it is coarser and so is better for wearing their teeth down.

Having said all that - I've never actually looked after a baby bunny, so it's all stuff I've heard second hand, hopefully someone can confirm what I've said??

I only thought of it because we had a conversation about it on here a few weeks ago :lol: I'll see if I can hunt out the thread link...

ooh, here we go
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/tam/viewtopic.php?t=9860&start=0

A giant is normaly not sold till its 12 weeks old, as they mature much slower than smaller rabbits. They tend to look a bit lanky at that age but will fill out soon. I would feed him add lib till hes about 6 mths then cut him down to once a day. They can be prone to putting on a lot of extra pounds if your not carefull. This is more of a problem with the giant breeds as they tend not to live as long because of the stress on there organs and skelitons, so keep them trim. Coming in should not be a problem just not for long periods when its cold out. If your giant was not reared on greens then i would not introduce them yet as they can be very prone to bloat when there young. val