Alice in Wonderland
New Kit
Hi me and my partner just got a rabbit on Monday night (we are new rabbit owners) and brought him home in quite a noisy car. Once home we kept very quiet and left him alone to get used to his new home. He is a Netherland Dwarf, four months old and not yet desexed. After the stress of the journey he didn't eat for 20 hours so we hurried him to the vet for a total check up and she said he is very healthy just really really stressed. Unfortunately the trip to the vet would have stressed him out more, and as he still hasn't been eating properly we have been having to syringe feed him oxbow critical care to keep his stomach moving, which I am sure has stressed him out even more. As he has been calming down he is now eating a tiny amount of hay, drinking water, and eating celery covered in the critical care mixture. He won't leave the bedroom of his hutch though unless we are nowhere near it and I am worried that he is still not eating enough food! Do you have any advice for ways to help him get used to us and ways to help him to calm down so he will eat on his own? He was lovely and friendly when we chose him from the breeder and she said she handled him a lot but he was an outside rabbit so I wonder if all the new noises are a stress for him now that he is inside with us? Any tips on how to bond with him after his traumatic experience would be great too!