All confusing!

Hello everyone,

I am new here and feel so confused.
We may be getting a rabbit... A friends neighbours rabbit keeps escaping and the neighbour doesn't want her any more. My partner loves rabbits and wants to take her in.
I don't know much about rabbits so I've been browsing for more information about food and their bedding and it's all quite confusing for me!

From what I think I understand..
Rabbits need hay to eat throughout the day?
Something about pellets but I'm not sure if these are necessary or what they are for.
What about the pet food in pet shops?

Is the hay enough for the bedding? The hutch would be covered in newspaper and then hay or would it need to have wood shavings and the hay used purely to eat?

My partner has had a rabbit before so he does know what he is doing but I have to understand it all. My pets have to have the best I can provide for them.

I don't know where I can ask this here. Is it worth looking at getting another rabbit so she isn't lonely? She will be outside (she is an outside rabbit and we don't have room inside for her unfortunately). We also have 2 cats, males. They are 5 months old and Ideally I'd like them to like her and not try to eat her! Is that even possible?

:wave:

Pellets - it's recommended an egg cup'ish a day, but my pair have a handful between them a day. Pellets are better so they can't selective eat. Mine have science selective but whatever food she is on now will have to be changed over very slowly as they have very delicate tummies. Veg, stick to green stuff, but not too much, carrots are high in sugar so should be fed as a treat. Same with fruit I only feed mine herbs as they are more natural to their diet and it keeps their poops nice and golden :thumb: if she isn't used to things like that though it should be introduced very slowly too.

Hay - should be main part of their diet, constant access to fresh hay it keeps their gut healthy and teeth at a good length newspaper and hay is good :wave: you could lino the hutch and have a litter tray full of hay as rabbits tend to poo and wee when they're eating

Woodshavings - I would avoid, they can cause respiratory problems. From experience I hate them, one of my rabbits (my first) has a more or less permanent upper respiratory tract infection and she is on medicine regularly.

If she is spayed then rescues can help with finding a friend and bonding :wave: they are very social animals and love the company of their own kind. If she isn't spayed then I reccommend it as the risk of uterine cancer is higher in unspayed females when they get to a certain age. When spayed, it will be 6-8 weeks before you wold be able to bond with a neutered male

Cats and rabbits.. Eh. They can live happily but cats are predators and rabbits are prey. If you can keep them separate then that would be better if she is outside

Housing - rescues have a minimum requirement, 4ft hutches are the norm in shops but in reality they're a load of poo. It's required for a rabbit o be able to comfortably hop 3 times and be able to stretch up. (6 x 2 x 2 hutch) with an attached run rabbits are very active animals so space is very important to keep them healthy and prevent muscle wastage. Wendyhouses and sheds can be converted

Bunny will need lots of fresh hay mainly for her to eat and you can put it on top of newspaper in the hutch. Then she'll need pellets or nuggets as they are also called or if you can find out what she is eating at the moment then keep to that for the time being., otherwise you could easily upset her tummy. When bunny has settled in with you then you can think about getting a friend but she would have to be neutered first. A little boy would work best and if you have a Rescue nearby they might have a buck already neutered. You will possibly need advice on bonding the 2 which we can provide nearer the time. Rabbit husbandry has fortunately changed quite a bit in the last few years so always ask for advice before going ahead with something as it concerns the welfare of the rabbit.

Hello and welcome! :wave:

In addition to the above, she will also need vaccinating against myxi and VHD if she isn't already. Have a look at the housing stickies if you haven't yet got a set up for her, there's some great inspiration there xx

Thank you so much everyone for your knowledge, I really appreciate it

I will check what food she is on. At the moment we have a hutch from our other rabbit (she died 2009 and my partner never could get rid of the hutch!). If we clean this properly, would it be ok? We will need to get a larger one ASAP. I just want her here so I can see how she is and if she settles OK.
I also will definitely get her spayed if she is not and get her vaccines done. She will go for a Vet check-up as soon as she is here and then I'll get insurance

Can I get fresh hay online? I guess the kind of hay in bags from pet shops isn't good enough?

Ch3rrie said:

Thank you so much everyone for your knowledge, I really appreciate it

I will check what food she is on. At the moment we have a hutch from our other rabbit (she died 2009 and my partner never could get rid of the hutch!). If we clean this properly, would it be ok? We will need to get a larger one ASAP. I just want her here so I can see how she is and if she settles OK.
I also will definitely get her spayed if she is not and get her vaccines done. She will go for a Vet check-up as soon as she is here and then I'll get insurance

Can I get fresh hay online? I guess the kind of hay in bags from pet shops isn't good enough?

Click to expand...

Not sure about the hutch. But if its temporary, depending on its size then I would get a run to attach :wave: you can get metal ones with a roof for £50 off eBay, I have 2 of the 7 x 3 ones You can get a 6 x 2 hutch with attached 6 x 4 run on eBay for £160, but as I found they aren't always enough! I am having a shed delivered on Wednesday for my pair!


A lot of us use hay for pets, their timothy and rye hay is high in fibre and mine love it I get the biggest bag which is £16 inc p+p and it lasts me over a month in their litter trays I use hay from Asda to pad out the bottom and put a few handfuls of hay4pets hay in then they get the good hay in their hay racks and things they get their litter trays (32L storage boxes!) cleaned out everyday so I use a lot of hay but it really lasts :thumb:

There is another company called the hay experts but I have never used them because they have toys and chews on their site and I'm scared I might go over board :lol: for toys and hidey houses, things like that, Zooplus are really good

mine have fresh veg/fruit each day but if its not used to it then dont go overboard with it to begin with as it willget the runs!
mine also have a big handful of hay then I add more duing the day if they eat it all, they also get a handfull of pellets sprinkled over the hay which encourages them to forage and stops some of the bordem plus they also eat the hay better to find the pellets!
Mine are on wood shavings which come from the local stables and have straw for their beds, I get the straw and hay from a discount pet food store and its just fine for them, the straw is quite a soft loose straw not the rough stuff you get in farm bales,
it would be happier with a friend but they need time to get to know each other so you may need a 2nd temproay hutch to begin with

I've never found a straight answer on the amount of pellets you should give, so I give about 1/2 a cup per rabbit each morning (they are all big breeds) and anything not eaten by my midday clean-up is removed. I use Harringtons Complete. Hay at all times (I just use meadow hay, widely available and they seem to prefer it), and I put a big bunch of hay in the corner of their litter box (32ltr under bed storage boxes) because they like to eat while they do their business, and it gets topped up at midday clean-up and veggie time. They then get 1 packed cup of vegetables each evening. Things like kale, spring greens and safe lettuces make up the bulk of it, with small pieces of, for example, carrot, broccoli, celery, cucumber, sprouts, cucumber or tomatoes on top. I also give them coriander and parsley a couple of times a week. On rare occasions I'll give them a bit of fruit like apple (pips removed) or banana. Some people forage for wild plants, too, I'd like to try that soon. If you can't find out for sure what she eats regularly, introduce everything really slowly so as not to upset her tummy. For treats I use anything by Excel Nature or Woodlands Aromatic, they have lovely natural stuff. And obviously, clean water at all times.

As for bedding, I have indoor rabbits so use fleece, but if yours will be outdoors, please remember straw! Hay is good but straw keeps them warm, which she will need come winter. As you've said, newspaper, hay and straw are all good. As for litter, I used to use wood pellet cat litter, but it became a pain to buy as we don't drive and the bags are heavy, so have switched to finely cut straw because I mistakenly bought a big bale of it thinking it was hay, lol. No woodshavings!

She will need spaying if she is not already, and vaccinated against Myxi & VHD. When her hormones have completely gone and she has fully settled into her new life with you, then you should think about getting her a friend. A neutered male would be best, they are generally quite easy to bond together. Local rescues should be happy to arrange bunny play-dates to see who she is best suited to.

Cats - it depends on the individual animals, I think. I've seen videos of cats snuggling up with rabbits (I'm a big fan of cute interspecies friendships ), but yours may hate her. Most likely they will not care for her one way or the other. Just be sure that, if they do fancy her as a meal/toy, you have adequate protection in and around her living area. The hutch, as long as the rabbit didn't die of an infectious disease, I would consider safe to use if you clean it thoroughly. Obviously repair anything that might let rain or cold in, too. I would say that it's better to have her in a small hutch for a small amount of time in order to make sure she is safe and being looked after. Obviously get the biggest you can afford as soon as you can, but in the meantime, get a large run. Depending on how secure your garden is, I would recommend even just fencing off part of it if you can. She should have access to the run pretty much all day. It can be difficult though as you may want to keep her in the hutch during the night, but that's when she's naturally most active. So you'll have to figure out a suitable schedule, lol.

This is pretty long, and I haven't really said anything new, sorry about that!

The hutch is all cleaned and outside drying now We are getting her on Monday after we have gone to get everything we need for her.
My friend has no idea what brand of food she is on, the neighbour only gave her 1 small bowl of it, no bedding or anything else :roll:

I have another question. When we take her to the vets, will it be ok to carry her in our cat basket? It's a big one so she will have space, I'm just worried about the smell of the cats and her being scared.

Our cats are quite nice, they love cuddling so hopefully they'll get used to her quickly. I will never leave them with her alone of course!

Ch3rrie said:

The hutch is all cleaned and outside drying now We are getting her on Monday after we have gone to get everything we need for her.
My friend has no idea what brand of food she is on, the neighbour only gave her 1 small bowl of it, no bedding or anything else :roll:

I have another question. When we take her to the vets, will it be ok to carry her in our cat basket? It's a big one so she will have space, I'm just worried about the smell of the cats and her being scared.

Our cats are quite nice, they love cuddling so hopefully they'll get used to her quickly. I will never leave them with her alone of course!

Click to expand...

Just give it a good disinfecting with a safe pet disinfectant and it should be fine :wave: if it has no 'floor' (so its slippy) then you could use a bit of carpet or newspaper and line it with hay so she won't be sliding everywhere :lol: she can have a munch then too

Ok, Thank you