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Rabbit Chat Forum - Rabbit advice

honeydlc - Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:43 pm
Post subject: Rabbit advice

Hi all. My little brother's Guinea Pig died last night and I'm going to buy him a bunny. He's 12 years old so he's not a baby, and he's been brought up with animals. Obviously my mum is there for care backup!
I'm thinking of a Netherland Dwarf.
What kind of toys do rabbits like? What is the best diet? (I only know about the foods we sell at work, which as with the dog food, isn't necessarily the best Rolling Eyes

) Is a buck or doe likely to be more friendly and amenable to handling? I'm sure I'll think of more questions soon, rabbits aren't my strong point, unless they're poorly of course!
XXX

sambo - Thu Sep 27, 2007 7:10 pm
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Hi there good choice i love rabbits but cant keep them no more as sasha would sit and bark at it all day long giving the poor thing heart attack. Laughing

Years ago before sasha came along i had 2 netherland dwarfs but can honestly say i can't remember what toys they had if any.

As for anything else i'll leave that for the experts but you can't go wrong with a good pellet diet with fresh fruit & veg i know mine used to love broccoli and cauli just be wary of feeding lettuce to a young rabbit as this can be poisonous as my friend found out about not so long ago Crying or Very sad

.

Good luck anyway with the search and look forward to pics.

honeydlc - Thu Sep 27, 2007 7:23 pm
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Thanks, I know what you mean, I'd quite like a bunny myself, but no chance with Rosie the Jack Russell about, she's very well behaved in general, but show her a rabbit and she remembers what she was bred for!
I'll be sure to put up some piccies of him or her, Frankie is going to call it 'Sunny' after his Guinea Pig.
XX

jabbro - Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:00 pm
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I have a greyhound...and she is perfectly ok with my 2 rabbits. Oh by the way the bucks are more friendly than the does....does tend to be viscious and grunters...bucks just seem to be alot more friendly and docile. Smile

Lisa_Ianniello - Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:33 pm
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i heard that rabbits like toys with bells in them. i got Rosie a carrot toy with a bell inside with green thread and she plays with it for ages she loves it lol. she also eats lots of hay.

hope that helps some pictures would be great lol Smile

shadylady - Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:45 pm
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netherland dwarfs arnt necessarily the best breed as they tend to have big attitudes its like small dogs lol may be small but can pack a punch lol

mini lops, dwarf lops and dutch rabbits tend to have better attitudes towards humans..

also it doesnt necesarily matter wat sex you get if your only planing to get one as all rabbits personalities differ, and my doe bindi is the sweetest doe ever, also my other bunny buffy that died loved attention and a cuddle.. so its not just the bucks who have sweet personalities...

rabbits also love a variety off toys and you dont have to look far a toilet roll tube is loved by bunnies also a cardboard box, and u could make a mini show jump course which they would love also for some reason they love clothes and enjoy scrapping a coat or pants around and lifting them up and throwing them lol.. they also like a bit of mud to dig in..

honeydlc - Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:15 am
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Thanks everyone.
So the Netherland Dwarf is like a rabbit version of a Jack Russell is it?
Hehehe
XX

shadylady - Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:29 pm
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yep lol i had a netherland dwarf called rosie and she used to lunge at everyones ankles lmao the only one who could hold her was my sister, i still loved her though lol

rufftydlc - Sat Sep 29, 2007 7:55 am
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Hi im Honeydlc's brother. My sister bought the rabbit yesterday. He is really tame and around 10 weeks old. Ill get some photos on the way

Lisa_Ianniello - Sat Sep 29, 2007 7:57 am
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welcome to petchat Smile

pictures would be great. can't wait to see them

clareabella - Sat Sep 29, 2007 11:11 am
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welcome to petchat Very Happy

Cant wait to see the pictures Wink

Have you chosen a name for him?

Twig - Sat Sep 29, 2007 2:17 pm
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Hi, and congrats on your bun! Very Happy

Rabbits are a complicated pet, they require as much work as a dog or cat, as they require regular worming, annual vaccinations and should be spayed/neutered, they also moult four times a year. They also can easily live for 12 years....but I assume you already are aware of that? If not, plans for the future are going to have to be made as your new friend could still be with you when you are in your mid-late 20s.

They require a special diet, having the longest digestive system of any animal in accordance to their size, makes thems very prone to digestive upsets which can prove fatal.
Therefore diet wise, lots and lots of fibre in the form of good quality hay, about 80% of the adult diet should be hay. Only 5% pellets, the rest vegetables. However, I wouldn't feed any veg till your bun is 12 weeks old and start off small and avoid really gassy foods such as cabbage, broccoli or sprouts initally. Celery leaves, coriander and nasturiums are all favs here. You can feed a small bit of fruit eventually, but wait a few weeks as its very sugary, apple, pear, tomato and even the odd little bit of banana are very much the favourite treats here.

Here are some good links to get you started and reading up on common health complaints is a really good idea as well ie bloat and stasis:

www.rabbit.org
http://www.rabbitsnrodents.com/rabbits.htm

and if you are interested in getting another bun, please do check out
www.rabbitrehome.org.uk

ALso, you'll want to find a vet in your area who is good with buns, and so as you can book them in for their vaccinations. Myxi and VHD are very very active this year due to the damp weather, so you really MUST get them protected. Wink

VHD can't be given until after 12 weeks though, so nows a good time to book his myxi.

I must also warn you, that when he hits sexual maturity (another couple of weeks) he may turn a bit aggressive and hormonal and start spraying pee at you etc. Its all normal, and once neutered he'll settle down!

shadylady - Sat Sep 29, 2007 2:48 pm
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oooooo congratulations cant wait for some pics..

rufftydlc - Sat Sep 29, 2007 3:27 pm
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my sister said we should name him Peter Pan as when she went to buy him the hutch he was in said "Neverland Dwarfs" for sale. Hard to tell his gender at the moment but we think he is a boy

rufftydlc - Sat Sep 29, 2007 3:32 pm
Post subject: Thanks

Thanks everybody for the advice everyone Very Happy

rufftydlc - Sat Sep 29, 2007 3:33 pm
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oops bad grammar

shadylady - Sat Sep 29, 2007 3:39 pm
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how about tiger and if he turns out to be a she add lily to the end lol Tigerlily from peter pan..

rufftydlc - Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:03 pm
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thats a good idea. The only problem is that my cat is called Tiger

shadylady - Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:08 pm
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ooops lol what colour is your bunny how bout shadow lol cus peter looks for his shadow lol and you looked for a bunny...

rufftydlc - Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:10 pm
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He is all white with red eyes

shadylady - Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:12 pm
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awww sounds so cute... have you got ideas of names hope you dont mind me postings some...

rufftydlc - Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:15 pm
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thats fine im finding it really hard to name him

shadylady - Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:20 pm
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here r some Ice, powder, bon bon, sparx, spyro, crash, shady, squirt, bam bam, ping, chalk, treelo,axel, loki, thor, neptune, red,virus, dante, sparda, icicle, blizzard, breeze, igloo.. Wink

shadylady - Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:23 pm
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oo heres some more, polar, taz, daffy, dopey, whitey, blackjack, jigsaw, jester, fern, nettle, thorn, dandy, butters, bling bling. lol

Fielding - Sat Sep 29, 2007 11:33 pm
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I have:

lionhead rabbits
dutch rabbits
netherland dwarf rabbits
english rabbits

to me i think that the best attitudes to humans are the bigger breeds like the englishes or the lionheads, although as long as the animals are being handled and fed twice daily all the breeds should be frendly.

Bucks are friendlier than does as does tend to be protective of their space with instinct therefore may fend off people trying to take what is theirs!

Shaun

Twig - Sun Sep 30, 2007 11:13 am
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Fielding wrote:

I have only found does to be aggressive if they are unspayed Smile

rufftydlc - Sun Sep 30, 2007 11:19 am
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thanks i like the names "icicle" and "Spyro". We are also going to try and clicker train him. Not to sure if it will work though. They are intelligent so hopefully and he likes the toys i made him. They are toilet roll tubes with 2 parrot circular toys as stoppers. With carrots, other parrot toys, hay and some treats i bought. He also has a cardboard box in his run but the Guinea pigs like that more

Twig - Sun Sep 30, 2007 12:13 pm
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I really would advise against petstore treats they are often too high in sugar and a lot have cows milk in them which is totally inappropiate for a strict herbivore. Wink

I also did say about not feeding veg until hes 12 weeks unless you know hes had them before as their tums are very very delicate, especially through the stress of being moved from mum to shop to home in a very short space of time. Wink

rufftydlc - Sun Sep 30, 2007 4:23 pm
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okay ill take him off veggies and pet shop food thanks

rufftydlc - Sun Sep 30, 2007 5:09 pm
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for pics of my rabbit and my guinea pigs go on "Peter Pan"
thanks