Help to settle in a slightly nervous rabbit, first time rabbit owner!

Hello, I am new to the forum and a first time rabbit owner. I am getting a rabbit in two weeks as a co-worker needs to re-home her 8 month old dutch blue (I think that is his breed!) due to lack of time to care for him, and I have been wanting to get a rabbit for a good few years now. I have done as much research as I possibly can and I went to meet Winston (the rabbit!) last weekend. He seems really sweet but a little nervous/shy. I was just wondering if anyone has any tips for helping him settle in and get used to my partner and me. He will be a house rabbit, he is sort of little trained but hasn't had the run of a room/house before so we will be keeping him in his cage and attached run for the first few days and then slowly expand his area as he gets properly litter trained and used to the surroundings. He isn't neutered or vaccinated yet, so I do want to get that sorted fairly early on but I am wary of taking him to the vets straight away in case he then associates us with pain? My friend is taking him to the vets for a check up before we take him so we will know if he is generally healthy. Any advice is more than welcome!

Also, we are aware rabbits are happier in pairs, so we do plan on getting a female rabbit for company within the first six months to a year, once Winston is settled (and neutered!!). We will need help with the bonding process but I will probably ask about that nearer the time!

Hello and welcome to RU! You seem very organised and prepared (mentally) for your first bunny. Well done! I would suggest you allow Winston to settle in for a week or two. To help with the litter training he will need a litter tray with newspaper or something similar at the bottom topped up with hay. Bunnies like to sit and chew hay whilst doing er what they have to do. Boy rabbits can be very clean so you might be lucky in having a bunny who always returns to his tray to wee etc.

Hay should be his main food with pellets and a little amount of greens, make sure to find out if he has been given veg as if not you will have to go carefully with that at first. Please keep him on the same food as he is used to until he is settled and then you can change over to another food gradually if you want to.

I would let him settle in first before you have him neutered. Get to know him first and then when you feel he is ready, book him in for neutering. You can have him vaccinated first though. Talk nicely to him and they usually respond to kindness.

Good luck with Winston. I like his name!

Gradually increasing his space will help him settlle in and also help with li tter training. It sounds like you've been thinking everything through. Welcome to the joys of rabbit ownership and good luck.

tonibun said:

Hello and welcome to RU! You seem very organised and prepared (mentally) for your first bunny. Well done! I would suggest you allow Winston to settle in for a week or two. To help with the litter training he will need a litter tray with newspaper or something similar at the bottom topped up with hay. Bunnies like to sit and chew hay whilst doing er what they have to do. Boy rabbits can be very clean so you might be lucky in having a bunny who always returns to his tray to wee etc.

Hay should be his main food with pellets and a little amount of greens, make sure to find out if he has been given veg as if not you will have to go carefully with that at first. Please keep him on the same food as he is used to until he is settled and then you can change over to another food gradually if you want to.

I would let him settle in first before you have him neutered. Get to know him first and then when you feel he is ready, book him in for neutering. You can have him vaccinated first though. Talk nicely to him and they usually respond to kindness.

Good luck with Winston. I like his name!

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mabels mum said:

Gradually increasing his space will help him settlle in and also help with li tter training. It sounds like you've been thinking everything through. Welcome to the joys of rabbit ownership and good luck.

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Thank you both for your replies and advice. I'm quite an organised person in general and I like to be prepared Winston is currently on Burgess pellets but i'm not so keen on the ingredients in them, they don't seem like the optimum ones, and apparently he doesn't like it very much so I would like to change him to Oxbow pellets eventually (they seem to have good ingredients ratios, if i'm not mistaken?!). My co worker said to just get 'any hay', there seem to be lots of different varieties so I did some research on RU and was thinking of getting timothy and rye from Hay for Pets? She is currently using wood shavings as his litter but I was thinking of changing this to the recycled paper type pellet things? When he arrives he will have some of his current food/hay/litter so I will use that up and slowly mix in the new food/hay/litter one at a time so he gets used to it….is that the right way to go about it? I know she has given him cabbage and the odd carrot or two but will be careful to introduce new vegetables slowly.

He is called Winston because there is some debate about his sex (although the vet check up he is having before he arrives should give us a definitive answer!!), so if he ends up being a she he will be Winnie!

A hiding spot - can just be a box will help him feel safe and then just spend a lot of time hanging around near him and let him explore you in his own time. Offering food by hand will help too

Tamsin said:

A hiding spot - can just be a box will help him feel safe and then just spend a lot of time hanging around near him and let him explore you in his own time. Offering food by hand will help too

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Thank you for the advice. He will be coming with his favourite cardboard box so i'll make sure has has access to that 24/7

Yes, Oxbow is very good, it's mainly Timothy Hay as opposed to Alfalfa and Timothy Hay is a good hay also. It sounds like he/she will be going to a very good home. :thumb:

I used HeyforPets too but found my bunnies like ING hay rather than timothy and Rye. Why don't you order a sample pack and see which one goes down first? At the end, it is the bunny consuming the hay so better let him choose what he wants!!

For pellets, I use Allen and Page cos the fiber ratio compare to pets at home branch is a lot better (that's what my cookie had when he was with my brother) and very economical. About Oxbow, I've heard from rabbit owners from other countries, they said Oxbow hay makes their bunnies tummy upset. So they introduce UK hay to their market. I've heard that they have increased the order so our hay must be better!!

hyic said:

I used HeyforPets too but found my bunnies like ING hay rather than timothy and Rye. Why don't you order a sample pack and see which one goes down first? At the end, it is the bunny consuming the hay so better let him choose what he wants!!

For pellets, I use Allen and Page cos the fiber ratio compare to pets at home branch is a lot better (that's what my cookie had when he was with my brother) and very economical. About Oxbow, I've heard from rabbit owners from other countries, they said Oxbow hay makes their bunnies tummy upset. So they introduce UK hay to their market. I've heard that they have increased the order so our hay must be better!!

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I hadn't noticed the sample option, thank you for pointing that out I shall do that!! Okay I think what I shall do is buy some small packets of a couple of brands of rabbit pellets and see what Winston likes best!

An update for those who are interested….Winston has arrived, i've posted in 'rabbit chat' with a photo of him