Will they be OK for now? UD Ty for the feedback! New setup.

[LoppyBun]

Hi everyone,

My first post here, and a new bun owner - reading everything I can and learning a lot, but lots more to learn! This might go into a few more questions than just housing, but my question is mainly about that...

We brought Coco home about 3 weeks ago, after me wanting a rabbit for about 2 years. We have 3 little ones so wanted to wait until they are all at an age where they can behave around them. She's a lovely dark brown patchy lop ear dwarf (don't know the right term for her colour!). She'll be an indoor bun.

We bought a hutch from Gumtree, and a friend gave us some wire mesh panels - not sure exactly what they are, but I think they're typical rabbit run ones?

We had it set up in a large square (about 5ft x 5ft) around the hutch, and the hutch is left permanently open. In the evening she's allowed free run of the front room.

So, we went to buy some supplies for her on Sunday, and fell in love with a boy bun... So we picked up Macaroon (Mac) as I know buns are much happier in pairs. He's a fawn and white lop ear dwarf.

So... we have set up the cage so that it's divided down the middle. One bun has the hutch (it's two level) with a bit of the run, the other one has the majority of the rest of the run with a tunnel in it to hide. We've been swapping them daily, so they can get used to each other's scent, and they rub noses through the bars, and go to sleep next to each other. We'll be letting them out for half the evening each during the week, more if possible (hubby is a stay at home dad), and more during the weekend.

I didn't realise till we phoned the vet that we couldn't get them neutered until they were at least 5 months I thought we'd be able to do it a bit earlier than that. I know the setup isn't ideal, but will they be OK for ~2/3 months like this (taking into account how long it will take for Coco to recover, and for Mac to be fully ready after the op)?

Next pay day I'm hoping to pick up some NIC cubes (any advice on the best place to get them these days in the UK?) which will be their more permanent setup, along with what we already have. We'll be adding to it more as we can afford it, and are planning to build up a nice custom setup with at least two levels in addition to their hutch. So that should give us a bit more room to give them.

I'm just worried now that they're too cramped. They seem to be spending most of their time trying to dig under the carpet to get to each other, even when they're let out to play

Do you think they'll be OK?

 

[Vegan_Bunny]

Hm, so how much room do they have each? If it's half of the 5x5ft that is going to be way too small to keep any rabbit in for any length of time.

I would definitely get the nic cubes sorted asap (I think Ebay is your best bet) and make a permanent pen of at least 6x6ft each. This is too small for their permanent accommodation but should be ok for the short term if they are being let out as well.

The min requirements for a bun is a 6x2x2 hutch with a permanent 8x4 run attached. Make sure both buns have a "base" that they can run to if they feel threatened or worried. This could be a cage that is always left open or a hutch as you are using now. They will also like to have plenty of places to hide, tubes, houses and even a chair or stool that they can sit on or under is a good idea (make sure they don't use it to escape the pen!)

I wouldn't bother trying to introduce them before they are neutered. You will risk the doe getting pregnant before she is spayed and they will get very hormonal at about 4 months and may start attacking each other. If they fight, that can prevent them ever being rebonded (they will remember each other and will likely spark another fight) and I personally don't think it's worth the risk. Some people do bond them beforehand but you would need to separate after their ops anyway, and start over with the bonding process. Once they are neutered wait at least 6 weeks for their hormones to calm down before bonding them. This is the best chance of success. You can keep them next to each other (providing they seem to be tolerant of each other) until that time. That way they won't be too lonely.

 

[whitehood]

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?311878-Outdoor-Housing

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?304613-Indoor-Housing

Take a look at the above links showing different housing which you may have not yet considered
All the examples are from the forum members and have been approved for their size hence the inclusion of it in the links

About the rabbits. The rabbits can stay side by side until they're neutered. Males from 3/4 months onwards and females from usually 5/6 months. It would be too stressful to the rabbits as they're swapped to each others houses. Just keep them separately confined to their own spaces, but they can still come indoors to your house, separately of course. The rabbits can still communicate with each other from the mesh so don't worry about loneliness.
And after their spay and neuter they will need to recover from the surgery and this takes up to 4 weeks. After 4 weeks of recovering from surgery [both rabbits] both the rabbits can be bonded. Check out the bonding section for methods to bond

And a warning do not trust all rabbit sites even if they claim they're the best source of information because they might not be as rabbit knowledge isn't widely known hence shops selling unsuitable accommodation/food etc.
But there are sites who do know what they're talking about, like this forum
And bear in mind that not all vets are fully trained to operate on rabbits or even know about them, in detail. You might want to set up a thread in the Rabbit Chat section called ''Looking for a Rabbit Savvy Vet Practice in [area]XXXXXX[area]' It is likely, if you're in the UK that forum members might be in the same area and therefore recommend their rabbit-friendly vets.

I remember when I first bought my rabbit, I was sold pellets to feed 'for life' and a 2ft hutch.
Really I should have been feeding my rabbit unlimited hay and provided him a 6ft hutch and 6ft exercise run.

This site has a lot of information for all of that allocated in the food/housing/behaviour etc. sections.
:wave:

 

[LoppyBun]

Hm, so how much room do they have each? If it's half of the 5x5ft that is going to be way too small to keep any rabbit in for any length of time.

I would definitely get the nic cubes sorted asap (I think Ebay is your best bet) and make a permanent pen of at least 6x6ft each. This is too small for their permanent accommodation but should be ok for the short term if they are being let out as well.

The min requirements for a bun is a 6x2x2 hutch with a permanent 8x4 run attached. Make sure both buns have a "base" that they can run to if they feel threatened or worried. This could be a cage that is always left open or a hutch as you are using now. They will also like to have plenty of places to hide, tubes, houses and even a chair or stool that they can sit on or under is a good idea (make sure they don't use it to escape the pen!)

I wouldn't bother trying to introduce them before they are neutered. You will risk the doe getting pregnant before she is spayed and they will get very hormonal at about 4 months and may start attacking each other. If they fight, that can prevent them ever being rebonded (they will remember each other and will likely spark another fight) and I personally don't think it's worth the risk. Some people do bond them beforehand but you would need to separate after their ops anyway, and start over with the bonding process. Once they are neutered wait at least 6 weeks for their hormones to calm down before bonding them. This is the best chance of success. You can keep them next to each other (providing they seem to be tolerant of each other) until that time. That way they won't be too lonely.

Thank you Yup, we aren't going to properly introduce them until after they are both done. They can see each other through the wires and are getting along well so far though we're keeping an eye on them.

I'll have a think how we can make some more space from them for now. I've seen the NICs on ebay so that's more than likely were we'll get them. Our room is bunny proof, so maybe we'll move one up there for now, and let them free range, and see if we can bunny proof the front room properly (it's nearly there but I'm concerned about a few wires / hidey holes they could get to if they try hard enough!

As they've seen each other, have laid down with each other either side of the panels for the last few days, will it make it harder with proper introductions later if we put them in seperate rooms now?

 

[whitehood]

Also make sure that they won't be able to dig under the divider and unite, trust me, they can do that! :lol:
If the set up is on grass then you might consider laying mesh under the grass so digging is prevented

Good luck and be sure to post pictures of your new additions on the forum

:wave::wave:

 

[LoppyBun]

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?311878-Outdoor-Housing

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?304613-Indoor-Housing

Take a look at the above links showing different housing which you may have not yet considered
All the examples are from the forum members and have been approved for their size hence the inclusion of it in the links

About the rabbits. The rabbits can stay side by side until they're neutered. Males from 3/4 months onwards and females from usually 5/6 months. It would be too stressful to the rabbits as they're swapped to each others houses. Just keep them separately confined to their own spaces, but they can still come indoors to your house, separately of course. The rabbits can still communicate with each other from the mesh so don't worry about loneliness.
And after their spay and neuter they will need to recover from the surgery and this takes up to 4 weeks. After 4 weeks of recovering from surgery [both rabbits] both the rabbits can be bonded. Check out the bonding section for methods to bond

And a warning do not trust all rabbit sites even if they claim they're the best source of information because they might not be as rabbit knowledge isn't widely known hence shops selling unsuitable accommodation/food etc.
But there are sites who do know what they're talking about, like this forum
And bear in mind that not all vets are fully trained to operate on rabbits or even know about them, in detail. You might want to set up a thread in the Rabbit Chat section called ''Looking for a Rabbit Savvy Vet Practice in [area]XXXXXX[area]' It is likely, if you're in the UK that forum members might be in the same area and therefore recommend their rabbit-friendly vets.

I remember when I first bought my rabbit, I was sold pellets to feed 'for life' and a 2ft hutch.
Really I should have been feeding my rabbit unlimited hay and provided him a 6ft hutch and 6ft exercise run.

This site has a lot of information for all of that allocated in the food/housing/behaviour etc. sections.
:wave:

Thank you! I'll take a good look through, and see what we can come up with tonight!

I think we have our vet sorted - it's a bit of a drive, but I found a recommendation on here for a Rabbit savvy one - they have their first check up this weekend.

Heh, when we bought them from PAH we were given a bag of "free" pellets... for adult rabbits :S I questioned it, and the lady looked really confused and said she'd never noticed. But that they were free and we might as well take them.

Thank you for all your advice! I'll take it all onboard :thumb:

 

[LoppyBun]

Also make sure that they won't be able to dig under the divider and unite, trust me, they can do that! :lol:
If the set up is on grass then you might consider laying mesh under the grass so digging is prevented

Good luck and be sure to post pictures of your new additions on the forum

:wave::wave:

They are indoor buns, so they won't be able to get to each other! The carpet needs replacing anyway so they can dig away! :thumb:

Edit: Hmm, I replied to your other post too but it said I needed moderator approval.. I think I mentioned a shop that maybe shouldn't be mentioned? If it doesn't come back, I'll try to remember what I said!

 

[LoppyBun]

We have two packs of NIC cubes coming tomorrow, so hopefully we can extend their runs a fair bit tomorrow evening!

 

[whitehood]

Good Luck ! :wave:

 

[LoppyBun]

OH was MEANT to wait till I got home from work to take out the cubes and create their cage... but he couldn't wait and had it all set up by the time I got home!

It's obviously a work in progress, and we'll be adding more cubes as soon as we can afford them. I'm kicking myself for not doing more research, as I thought they weren't fertile for a few months yet and that we could get them done as soon as that happened, so they'd only have to be split for a week or so

Mac is currently binkying away in his new space, and Coco's space is about the same size, so I think they should be OK? (with plenty of free range time in between, and when one's out the entire area can be opened for the other one. Hopefully you can see they'll have plenty of room when they are allowed to go in together!

Mac has the hutch, along with his run, and Coco has the cubes - the area underneath is open for her to hide if she wants to, with the space on top for the litter tray and food / water.

Here's some pics:

 

[tulsi]

That looks really good. Hope their neutering and eventual bonding goes well.

 

[fizabella]

I got my cubes for £35 (including shipping) from a website called Wayfair. They came within less than two weeks and they were the cheapest I could find.

 

[happysaz133]

That space looks great in the photos I really admire how dedicated you are to making sure they both have space Many owners come on here and think we are attacking them when we mention how much space they need.

By the way, some vets will neuter at 4 months, might be worth looking around

 

[Vegan_Bunny]

I really admire how dedicated you are to making sure they both have space Many owners come on here and think we are attacking them when we mention how much space they need.

By the way, some vets will neuter at 4 months, might be worth looking around

This! I am so happy that you have taken everything on board. I can see that they are going to live very happy lives with you. Keep us updated with them. Bunnies love space! My two have my whole bedroom to themselves but when they free range in my garden (I have a huge garden) they go mad and race about and binky as if they've never had space before. :roll: :lol:

I hope their neuters go well.

 

[LoppyBun]

Thank you everyone I was a little worried about the ramp (it's a ramp then half a square step) in case Coco wouldn't able to use it, but she doesn't seem phased by it and is happily going up and down. We've taken out the pet carrier to give her more space up top, as she has plenty of room underneath as shelter, though she's spent most of her time sprawled out on top. It's ended up being perfect placement as it's right next to the sofa, so I can sit there and stare at her (in a non creepy way :lol.

Mac has a tunnel in his area which you couldn't quite see in the photos. Here's some pics of Coco (as she was exploring down the bottom in the last set).

Giving OH licks through the cage:

In her new lounging spot:

And Mac just chilling out:

I'm so pleased with the new setup, and really excited for when they can share the entire space (providing bonding goes well!). Our plan is to have a rabbit tunnel coming from the bottom of Coco's space round the back of our corner sofa, to a dog crate sized NIC setup on the other side to give them a bit more freedom. We'll rebuild Mac's area with NIC cubes first though, I am in love with them.

We ended up getting ours from Warfair too :thumb: They were £31.99 when we got them, then the next day they'd been dropped to 27.99 :evil: So now's the time to get them! They came next day delivery for us. :thumb:

We have a checkup booked for them this afternoon so we can talk to the vet about ages for neutering along with vacs etc with them then. :thumb:

 

[LoppyBun]

Forgot to add - thank you for being honest with me that they didn't have enough space before. That's why I posted, though I knew they weren't cooped up in a single cage or anything, I was still uncomfortable with how they were. Coco was spending a fair bit of time gnawing on her cage, which has completely stopped now she's in her new place :thumb: In fact we've had 2 belly flops this morning from her which she had never done before