Am I doing the right thing?

I just bought a pet rabbit in China, although I'm not sure, I think its a Dwarf. Im quite sure that its not been spayed and isnt any kind of pedigree (I bought it off the back of a bycyle for less than $3 ) but it seems friendly enough. During house training time, at the point he/ she (im still not totally sure) peed on the floor, I picked her up and put her in the tray and said "no". But I think no she is quite scared to leave its run.

Is it possible that it could be scared of me for this? Before that she was very forthcoming...

Is it cruel to keep a rabbit alone? I am looking into getting him/her whatever spayed but in China im quite sure it may be safer just leave hime her whatever with his her whatevers...Am i doing the right thing?

Hiya!! Firstly it is great you have saved this Bun from what appears to be far from ideal circumstances.
It is a lot to expect a bunny who has probably had a stressful time to start using a litter tray!!
Here is what I would do:
1 Create a safe enclosed environment for Bun to remain in during the first few WEEKS.
2 Note where bun CHOOSES to go to the loo in enclosed environment then put a litter tray with some clean litter along with some already wee'd/pooped on litter in it. This will encourage Bun to continue using the same place as his/her loo.
3 Ensure bun has lots of hay ALL DAY EVERY DAY along with fresh water.
Not sure what sort of dried feed mixes are available for Buns in China. The ideal would be a COMPLETE pellet feed rather than a mixed cereal one. After a week or so you could introduce ONE TYPE of fresh Veg at a time. Just a small amount to start with as you dont want to upset Buns Tum.

You could provide some toys for Bun to have in his/her enclosure. A cardboard Box full of shredded paper, cardboard inner tube of loo-paper!! An old book or telephone directory, not to read! :shock: :lol: Buns love to trash them!! :roll: :roll:

If Knowledgable Veterinary resources for rabbits are limited in China I doubt I would risk having Bun spayed/castrated.
A single Bun can live happily as long as they have LOTS of interaction and affection from their human carers. In an ideal world all bunnies would have a bunny friend to live with. But we dont live in an ideal world and have to adapt to the circumstances we, as individuals are in.

Daily handling of your Bun once he/she has come to feel a bit more settled will enable you to keep a check on his/her condition and to make sure she is keeping herself clean.

I hope you will keep posting on RU as there are many knowlegable people who can try to help you give your Bun a good life
Janex

Thanks!

Thanks so much for the thorough reply. I feel much better knowing having some human consolidation!

I think the rabbits environment is very good here, about 1 metre squared with a lot of boxes and stuff to jump around on. Maybe I was expecting too much too quickly with the poor guy.

When I pick it up he / she is very content I think to sit on my knee and be petted, but Im not sure if thats the right thing to do.. If he doesent want to be picked up or on my knee then maybe its doing more harm than good? If possible I would like to be able to put him on my lap (he is so small) but do you think its not a good idea? He really seems quite happy watching tv on my lap with me...

Oh and another thing. Is he likely to pee without standing up? Im worried he will pee on me while he is sleeping

Im so stupid

He has only been eating vegatables for the last 3 days (because I didnt realise it was bad for his stomach) so his stomach is already sick. This is proably whi he seems unfriendly and uncomfortable.. Am I right? I have taken the vegatables out and will buy something this evning to feed him instead

aww - well I totally agree with Jane's post - just do the best you can in your circumstances. Can you get hay where you live, as this is what rabbits mainly need for good health?

You will find that if your rabbit is just a baby at the moment, in a few months time, when he/she becomes sexually mature, they will not like being picked up, but may be happy to climb onto your chair and sit with you - It very much depends on the personality of the rabbit - they are all very different, like people are.

The best way to litter train him is to keep him shut in his crate or pen for about 3 days, just letting him out for half an hour rather than hours at a time, see where he likes to pee in the crate, and put a plastic tray there with hay in, and some absorbent litter - they like to eat while they pee, so it should all go in the box.

I got all my rabbits as adults, so I've never had them sit on my lap, as they aren't so tame.

yes you are right - it's best not to give vegetables to a baby rabbit until they are fully grown, and then you must only give a tiny piece one day, and not the next, so that their tummy gets used to digesting it slowly.

Rabbits mainly need to eat hay, with about one handful of dry food, pellets, a day, (although a baby rabbit can have 4 meals like this till it's grown up) and not a lot of vegetables - just a small piece of carrot, a large leaf of greens is all mine have, bearing in mind they are adults.

If your baby rabbit has a bad stomach he may get dehydrated - does he have water in a bottle or in a dish? He may need to go to a vets for an injection of fluids if he has runny poo, so he doesn't get dehydrated.

Best to give hay and dry food for now - rabbits must always have food to eat as they have a bad stomach if it becomes empty for a few hours, so it's urgent that you find some food other than vegetables for him.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

You've had just about the best advice anyone could have given. As Elve says your priority should be to find a hay supplier.

Second priority is probably to find a good vet.

The main things you need to watch at the moment are that your rabbit is producing droppings (sorry) and that they are eating.

Basically lots of droppings is good - squidgy / malformed droppings indicates that bunny has an upset stomach - and no droppings is a real concern.

I don't want to overwhelm you at such an early stage so would just advise you to keep an eye on these things and, if you notice that your new friend has stopped producing droppings / eating, then let us know and someone will advise you.

Damien

ok at last..

Wow a stressfull day! After work I went on a mission to ttry and find all the right stuff for Oscar. After visiting 3 different pet store (and not trusting any of them) I finally found one withactually healthy rabbits in. I was happy to find they have everything I needed and luckily timothy hay is almost the same in Chinese so that was easy to find and I was so happy that I was told NOT to buy one kind of litter because it was bad for the rabbit.They also provided an option for getting Oscar spayed/neutered but Im not sure of the conditions. Im quite sure they do it themselves out of a text book in the back room... I will wait and see... .

The woman told me that many rabbits bought by the roadside are sold with terminal sicknesses and would die 2 or three days later, so I was ot prepare myself. The sickness is connected with the stomach and so I had a long trip back home wondering if the bad tummy was the start of this sickness. When I got home Oscar was hiding in one of the boxes not moving. I decided to pick him up and check his stomach, luckily not only was it normal, but he jumped up my sleeve and into the hay. Where he has been jumping around for the last 2 hours. Looking perfectly healthy

Thanks to every body who messaged with advice, I appreciate it : .

Maybe they think they have a terminal illness connected with their tummies because they're not feeding them properly.

Hope he's ok.

Glad Oscar is nice and lively. If you can get him/her eating lots of hay and hold off the Veggies his/her tum will hopefully settle down. Its important Oscar drinks enough too as if his Tum has been upset he will have lost a lot of fluid.
Do keep us posted as to how things are going

Janex

I hope little Oscar is ok.

You sound like you're doing a great job with him though!

congratulations on becoming a bunny parent

and well done on rescuing Oscar, god only knows what could have happened to him. please keep us update don oscars progress and Welcome to RU