CHAPTER 2...........advice needed

Quotes needed please. Its about what you need in preperation for ur bun. Dont include housing as there is a seperate topic for that, again only post if you want to be in the book or wouldnt mind.

This chapter is called ''what will I need to stock up on?'' Please let me know what you would and wouldnt use and why?

what hay is best? would you use straw? litter? letter tray? water dish or bottle? What food do you buy? Beds? Fluffly ones? How about medical supplies? Syptic pencil etc?

Anything youd tell a first time buyer. you can mention brands as it is a recomendations book. What would you steer clear of.

Thanks all

Well for cage linings i use woodshavings and Carefresh but I would also recomend Vetbed and Megazorb. Although I have found vet bed harder to keep clean.
For litter trays, Holly has a high sided one with carefresh in the bottom and a couple of sheets of news paper to collect the poos which i roll up and throw away daily. Basil has a corner litter tray which is lined with carefresh.
My rabbits seem to prefer the boring meadow hay to any other hay but they do like Timothy, redigrass and Supa Excel forage.
I use straw ONLY in extremly cold tempratures as it can cause injurys to their eyes, in cold or chilly tempratures i put pleanty of hay in, a snuggle safe heat pad and blankets which seems to keep them nice and warm.
I use water bottles unless a rabbit is too ill to use a bottle or in the runs in summer they have a bowl so they can splash about in it aswell. When i use bowls in the hutches they tend to get full of pellets, wood shavings, poo and always get knocked over. For a food or water bowl I recomend heavy ones which they can't tip over easy and make sure they are wide enough to fit their heads in to eat from.
I use Burgess Supa Excel and my rabbits go crazy for it, Holly can eat a full bowl of it in 30 seconds :roll:
For beds I either use a hard plastic puppy/cat bed lined with Vet Bed or I use soft puppy beds with padded bottoms.
I would also stock up on cleaning equipment such as cage disinfectant, dust pan and brush, smaller brush to get into the corners of the hutch, kitchen roll, towels, scouring pads, bottle brushes and steralising (sp?) tablets.
hope some of this info is of use to you.

I don't think you can overexagerate how important it is to get lots of good quality hay and make sure that this is the main part of your rabbits diet. So many rabbits get dental problems that could be avoided if they are fed the right diet from the start, so lots of good quality hay is a must.

I buy meadow hay from a local petshop for my rabbits 'everyday' hay. They also have readigrass (dried grass) daily and then some speciality hays -such as timothy hay with herbs - as an occasional treat.

I mainly use straw for bedding, on account of its insulating properties.

Litter trays are a must too - I have two litter trays in the hutch and these contain rabbit-safe litter and lots of hay Having the litter trays makes it much easier to clean the hutch daily.

A heavy based bowl that can't be tipped over is better for pellets and water than a flimsy plastic bowl - most rabbits will just fling these about :lol:

Don't forget the toys too! There are many safe toys out there marketed especially for rabbits, but toys needn't cost a fortune - a simple cardboard box stuffed with hay will provide hours of entertainment for your rabbit

HTH x

Re: Next chapter...........advice needed

Jemma&Theo said:

what hay is best? would you use straw? litter? letter tray? water dish or bottle? What food do you buy? Beds? Fluffly ones? How about medical supplies? Syptic pencil etc?

Anything youd tell a first time buyer. you can mention brands as it is a recomendations book. What would you steer clear of.

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litter - you don't need to spend lots of money with regards to litter for your tray. I line with kitchen paper and news paper folded ( or old letters/junk mail ) with hay on top. change daily.

i use a water bottle

hay = i buy two kinds . timothy hay for eating (mady loves this and it smells wonderful ), and normal pet shop hay for lining the litter tray.

things you need .... well i would say get yourself some good rabbit books - to get yourself clued up, toys for yur bun not to get bored , and lots of time sitting /laying on the floor getting to know your bun ! :wink:

Lots of toys :lol: And bunnies will play with things like cardboard boxes, toilet paper tubes filled with hay and phone books so you dont need to spend loads :wink:

Mine all have water bottles in the hutches and water bowls in the runs

Megazorb is great for the litter trays, and mine have 2 litter trays in the hutch plus covered litter trays (like you get for cats) in the runs. Its so much easier to change litter trays daily and just scrub the hutch out once a week. I dont use the litter trays with the high corner though because mine just chucked them about like they were toys.

I but cheap meadow hay for bedding and timothy hay, oat hay and brome hay for eating The hay experts taster selection pack is great for finding out which hay your bun prefers.

Vetbed is always good to have for when a bunny isnt feeling well, or just for something nice and soft to sleep on :lol:

How about medical supplies?

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I keep baby wipes, infacol and a box of critical care. But I would ALWAYS speak to my vet before giving any medicine or recovery food

Oh and a pet carrier!

thanks very much, got some brilliant quotes to use there.

Will write the next chapter this evening using all ur lovely quotes. My book is going so well thanks to all of you- and dont worry- ull be entitled to free copies.

for all my groovy friends.

Everyone with 50 plus posts (genuine members) will be entitled to a free copy for all their hard work.

A treat ball is a fab toy for bunnies. Put a small amount of their pellet food in the ball and watch as they run around exercising whilst eating them dinner
Vine balls from petshops, cardboard boxes, toilet rolls stuffed with hay are all favourites with my rabbits.
I use some underbed storage boxes as litter trays. They are deeper than the usual litter tray and big enough for all 3 of my rabbits to get in together if they wish to. I put wood based cat litter in the bottom of them and then lots of meadow hay on the top.
The best hay i have found is from a farm shop where they sell bales of hay for £2.50!