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Male rabbits are pretty easy to identify, but when they're small like your little ball of fluff, it may be tricky but vets can figure it out. If you wish to awkwardly fondle the rabbits yourself you can read and view the photos here. Ideally, both rabbits should be fixed regardless of sex. But that little guy/girl should go in for a vet check anyway if it came from a pet store.
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Feb 21, 2009 07:16
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Tots posted:(cute stuff with paddington and mimsy) All the first counter stories in this thread make me jealous. The day I brought Frith home Zen tried to kill him. It's been like 6 months and they're just at the ignoring each other phase. I have grand dreams of a 3 level 'condo' with the grid blocks but it obviously can't happen until they're in love. On that note: Frith has been here for ~6 months and he still poops wherever he's sitting at that moment (when he has out of pen playtime). In the beginning I thought it was because he was super stressed at the new home and housemate, and it's definitely toned down to a dozen or two stray poops in an afternoon, but they're still there. I keep scootching him to the litter box (which he will pee in, but poop right now to -- but I have a cheap IKEA bath mat around the litter box for easy cleanup and easy replacement if it gets gross) but there are still stray poops. Any ideas/ways to change his behavior? angelicism fucked around with this message at 09:32 on Feb 21, 2009 |
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Feb 21, 2009 09:28
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angelicism posted:All the first counter stories in this thread make me jealous. The day I brought Frith home Zen tried to kill him. It's been like 6 months and they're just at the ignoring each other phase. I have grand dreams of a 3 level 'condo' with the grid blocks but it obviously can't happen until they're in love. Haha, we were sure that Mimsy was going to be a bully. She always tries to boss us around and is a general rear end in a top hat sometimes, but Mimsy mounted paddington and humped away at his little baby face for a minute or two and now they're the best of friends. Everything we read was big on neutral territory, but paddington kept sneaking out of his cage to sleep in mimsy's bed, which both of them enjoyed. It was kind of cold so they were snuggling up to each other.  As for the poops, Mimsy still poops where ever the gently caress he wants, and sometimes even pees outside the cage. It's annoying as hell. E: Actually, we just bought a spray bottle that we're going to try out. I guess they're like cats and don't enjoy water too much, so when they do something bad you're supposed to spray them and shout 'NO!' Eventually they just associate NO with 'oh poo poo I better stop this.' 2E: angelicism, sorry to do this. It's so loving cute, I can't help but to post it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC_QAlWpaSU I am amazed that they've become such good friends so quick! 
Tots fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Feb 21, 2009 |
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Feb 21, 2009 16:25
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rabbit rabbit posted:Hey I have a few questions: Three isn't too late at all. Most incoming rabbits are 2-3 and are neutered with no problems, I've neutered several dozen in the 5-6 range, and even neutered an 8 year old. It would also definitely not be too late to bond him with another rabbit. I'd recommend finding a local chapter of the HRS who can help you through the process, rather than trying to do it alone. Regardless of whether you try to bond him with a male or female, it'll be easier if both are fixed. Hormones do crazy things to these guys, and a perfectly happy pairing can go sour if the intact animal goes into mating overdrive. Tots posted:Now, we have a couple questions about this budding bunny friendship. We're concerned about paddington getting pregnant if it's a female. Paddington is about 6 weeks old now (according to the pet store); how old are they before they can get pregnant? Should we fix both rabbits? What if paddington is a male, do we still have to fix them? Finally, when can you sex a rabbit? As much as we love bunnies, we don't want a whole shitload of the little fur balls running around. 12 weeks is the typical number reported for early pregnancy, but I've seen a couple of people claiming that their 9 week olds got pregnant. I would strongly recommend neutering/spaying both - and definitely keep them separated until Paddington is sexed and both are altered. With experience, rabbits can certainly be sexed quite young, but it's safest to have a vet do it. As Windy suggested, I would go ahead and schedule a vet visit and get Paddington sexed by your vet (that can also make sure he/she didn't bring home any illnesses from the petstore that might get Mimsy sick). The reason for neutering both (even if they are both males) is the same as in my response to the poster above - intact animals are harder to keep bonded because their behavior is constantly being overwhelmed by hormonal messages. A vet friend of mine just rescued a pair of 6 year old brothers who had been housed together (intact) their whole lives. She had them in her house less than a day when they started fighting - she ultimately had to separate them after they ripped each others' ears open one night. Now, 12 weeks post neuter, she's still having to work hard at rebonding them, because they have such a bad attitude after their fights.
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Feb 21, 2009 18:35
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alucinor posted:12 weeks is the typical number reported for early pregnancy, but I've seen a couple of people claiming that their 9 week olds got pregnant. I would strongly recommend neutering/spaying both - and definitely keep them separated until Paddington is sexed and both are altered. With experience, rabbits can certainly be sexed quite young, but it's safest to have a vet do it. As Windy suggested, I would go ahead and schedule a vet visit and get Paddington sexed by your vet (that can also make sure he/she didn't bring home any illnesses from the petstore that might get Mimsy sick). See above video.. Should we not be doing this? Paddington is kind of attached to Mimsy now, and is restless unless they're together.
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Feb 21, 2009 18:38
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That video is precious Right now they have some good bonding moments under their belts, so I wouldn't be afraid to split them up for the spay/neuter procedures. It should just be that much easier to get them back together after all the healing is done with. I would still keep the activity limited until after a vet check though, to be on the safe side. I kept my rabbits in separate rooms until after Debbie was thoroughly checked out, but that's just me being a paranoid bunny owner.
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Feb 21, 2009 19:52
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That movie is adorable, the size difference reminds me of cleaner fish cleaning sharks but cuter
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Feb 22, 2009 08:28
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So my friend called me up with a problem: her bunny, Easter, was in the care of a real idiot pet sitter for a few weeks, and now Easter has dried poop clumped in his butt furr. There's several good sized clumps; we don't know what the sitter fed the bun, but I doubt it was his usual. He's back on his mostly vegetables and hay diet, with some pellets, but she is very loathe to cut the clumps out, worried she'll cut him somehow. Are there any soaker baths that make this kind of poo poo, no pun intended, easier? Easter is a fixed male.
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Feb 24, 2009 04:40
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Plain warm water does wonders for loosening poos. Sit him in a shallow pan with about 1" of water, and hold him still for as long as possible (5 min or so) then reach under and start working them loose. Repeat until they all come out, adding more warm water as needed. She can use a little of the old-fashioned Dawn dishsoap (not the new Ultra) if he's really horribly encrusted, but if his fur is really thick she'll need to rinse him within an inch of his life, so usually plain water is easier. The Dawn is at least safe, though - that's what they use on shorebirds who've been oilslicked.
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Feb 24, 2009 15:21
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Sweet, warm water bath it is. What the hell do you feed a bun to get poop trapped in his short fur? He was getting pellets and veges and the hay stack was down, so he had to have eaten some at least...but I wonder what "treats" he got.
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Feb 24, 2009 16:55
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Maybe those awful yogurt and nut treats you can find in petsmart were the culprit. It could have been good intentioned, most people see that and think "oh awesome treats now the bunny will like me more!"
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Feb 24, 2009 19:07
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Here's my Maggie. I had to give her away when I moved out of the place I was in (but luckily I found her a really good home). I still miss the little rodent, so every so often I drop in on threads like these to ogle other bunnies and share her cuteness. Hopefully this image isn't too table-breaking, I'm kind of a forum nub.
PolishSausage fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Feb 26, 2009 |
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Feb 25, 2009 01:41
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This might be a good tip: use [timg] tags instead of [img] , that way the picture becomes a clickable thumbnail. She looks very cute and soft Cowslips warren: After dealing with my long-haired fuzzball getting diarrhoea I can give you a good tip for getting crusty crap out of fur. For the love of all that is good and holy you are going to want a friend to hold the rabbit down while you're doing the soaking. Even the most mild-mannered rabbits can only put up with having their asses manhandled for so long and they will start struggling and splashing the dirty water everywhere. Yeah.
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Feb 25, 2009 12:29
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Fenarisk posted:Maybe those awful yogurt and nut treats you can find in petsmart were the culprit. It could have been good intentioned, most people see that and think "oh awesome treats now the bunny will like me more!" What's wrong with them?
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Feb 25, 2009 18:26
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Tots posted:What's wrong with them? Rabbits cannot digest the lactose in yogurt treats - it upsets the natural balance of microflora in their GI tracts. Nut/seed treats are usually bound with sugars (molasses being the most commonly used) and sugars also upset this balance (sugars are usually also present in the yogurt treats, so double whammy). The rabbit is dependent on a stable colony of very specific bacteria to allow normal digestion, so the upset of intestinal flora can lead to diarrhea at best, intractable GI stasis at worst.
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Feb 25, 2009 18:33
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Tots posted:What's wrong with them? Same thing that's wrong with anything else really - too much can be a bad thing. In very limited quantities, say one a week, it may be ok. I keep sugary foods to maybe 3 times a month, if that. rabbit.org posted:Candies/Sugars e: awww, beaten.
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Feb 25, 2009 18:36
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Everything I read from HRS and what my vet told me was simply "don't feed them that poo poo, it's not what is good for them and not a natural thing for them to eat". I just stick with the few fruits and such for treats. Apples, blueberries, and homemade banana chips work wonders. Beware of store bought banana chips, many are made with a TON of coconut oil on top of extra sugar and other bad stuff for bunnies (or people if you're prone to eating a majority of the bag at once thinking they are healthy). The worst we had to do was feed Sprout several slices of apple and a few blueberries for two days because it's all she would eat after getting spayed, and we were instructed to do so because it was better for her to eat a little crappy and keep things moving than having her stop eating altogether. 12 days later she is perfectly fine so I guess it wasn't major but I probably won't give her any more fruit until March hits. Fenarisk fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Feb 25, 2009 |
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Feb 25, 2009 21:31
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 i got a rabbit from the grocery store last week. he's in my house.
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Feb 25, 2009 23:46
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That's not cool 
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Feb 26, 2009 02:22
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DS at Night posted:This might be a good tip: use [timg] tags instead of [img] , that way the picture becomes a clickable thumbnail. Edited, thank you kindly for the tip:) My rabbit was actually really good about self-discipline as to what she would and wouldn't eat. I was able to vary her diet a reasonable amount without any digestive problems, although I did eventually put her on a diet when she got a little too "fluffy". Apple cores, carrots, and watermelon worked really well for her for a little treat now and again. She also had the occasional pistachio and corn tortilla chip, but I limited that because I wasn't sure how rabbits dealt with salt.
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Feb 26, 2009 04:27
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cookiecache posted:
You are quite edgy! Although I will say that even though I have two rabbits, that hasn't stopped me from eating rabbit at a nice restaurant occasionally.
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Feb 26, 2009 20:06
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I thought I'd intro my two buns here:  The brown bun is Dust Bunny. I got Dust about four and a half years ago from the humane society. He was pretty high-strung, and anti-social at first. It took a lot of work to get him social. Now he is my cuddler! He will even jump onto my lap to get some pets. The black bun is Violet. She used to come around my Dad's workplace during lunch time to bum food from him. Her right eye was punctured and infected, so my dad decided to rescue her (some of you may remember a thread posted by my sister about this aprox. 9 months ago). Instead of bringing her to the humane society, where they would have put her down, we decided to get her eye fixed, and I would keep her as a pal for Dusty. To make a long story short, she had surgery to get her eye removed, then gave birth to 5 babies (she was knocked up when my dad rescued her). My sister kept 2 of the babies, I kept violet, and her three other babies were adopted out at our local humane society. I want to throw out a kudos here to the Calgary humane society. When we explained the story, they spayed Violet and the two babies my sister took, and charged us only what the adoption fee would have been ($45). I call Violet "adventure bunny" because she is afraid of nothing. She has really helped Dusty come out of his shell. More pics!!:  Dust Bunny with a Tulip.  Dust Bunny sitting on my boyfriend, holding the channel changer for him.  Violet wrapped up in Christmas paper (my boyfriend got a little carried away wrapping gifts).
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Feb 27, 2009 00:27
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PolishSausage posted:I still miss the little rodent, so every so often I drop in on threads like these to ogle other bunnies and share her cuteness. Rabbits are lagomorphs, not rodents. 
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Feb 27, 2009 02:50
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Turpentine posted:I thought I'd intro my two buns here: Cutest bunnies ever. Violet is very bold and curious, and it's hilarious to watch Dust bunny react to Violets boldness. He gets jealous and follows her. Cute cute cute.
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Feb 27, 2009 19:00
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Turpentine posted:adorable story Dude!!! I was wondering how Violet was doing! It's great you found her a friend. Also, how is Spaz and the other one your sis took in? For a moment I thought Dust Bunny might've been one of 'em.
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Feb 28, 2009 08:06
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is there any way to re-litter train? my bunny pees in his little box of shavings but he shits all over his multiple cages
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Feb 28, 2009 22:18
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ShadowCatboy posted:Dude!!! I was wondering how Violet was doing! It's great you found her a friend. Spaz was re-named to Peaches, and she lives with her sister Bean. They are doing well, though they can be little hellions. Peaches is a lot like her mother, in that she is curious, and in to everything. Bean looks more like violet, but she is more tentative. I will get my sister to send me some pics of them so I can post them. Violet's other daughter (Nike) was adopted first from the humane society, and the two boys (Rusty and Racer) got adopted out together to a really nice couple that had lots of experience with bunnies. Fortunately everyone ended up in a good home
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Mar 1, 2009 21:42
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I've got a health question - my fiancee has posted about our rabbits a couple of times, so this may sound familiar. Our male rabbit, Hazel, has some chronic teeth problems. We've taken him to the vet three times or so to get his teeth filed, the first time of which was about six months ago. That visit, he had to have several (I believe it was three) teeth actually removed because they were beyond repair. His behavior didn't reflect any such issues until about a week before the visit, when we noticed a slight change in his poop. That sucked, but at least our vet caught it and was able to fix him up. He bounced back quite well. The biggest issue with Hazel is that he does not eat hay. He'll eat hay blocks, he'll gingerly pick at chopped-up hay, he eats pretty much everything else. No hay. We've tried bluegrass, timothy, and a botanical blend that is supposed to be extra tempting. No luck. Four months later we took him back for another tooth grinding, because we noticed some digestive issues. In hindsight, we should have taken him back before that, but the vet said "before six months" so we didn't think it would be a problem so soon. The vet weighed him and he had dropped from 1800 grams (he's a pretty small bun) to around 1300 grams. We made the appointment for a few days later, and when we took him in he had dropped further, down to below 1100 grams. He appeared to be eating normally, but he certainly had lost the weight. His teeth were ground and we were sent home with some critical care. He seemed to gain weight in leaps and bounds, mainly due to the fact that he absolutely loves the critical care. That vet visit was just about five weeks ago now. He's seen the vet two more times since then for re-checks. It was recommended to give him some vitamin b12 and milk thistle extract to try and clean up his liver and boost his energy levels. We stopped giving him critical care three weeks ago because we noticed that he was ignoring all other foods for the critical care. It seems to be helping, he's an energetic little guy again, and he's gained weight up to 1500 grams. But now his weight gain has started to taper off and even decrease again. Over the course of treatment we've upped his pellet a bit - we used to just give him hay, veggies and about a teaspoon of pellet a day before he got sick. Now he gets about 1/3 a cup twice a day. He seems to eat very slowly, so we separate him from his bonded friend for at least one meal a day, so he can eat everything without her bullying it away from him. We're not sure what else to do, though. In the end does anyone have some advice? I'm more than willing to answer more questions if I can help clarify anything. I suspect our bun is having some stasis-like problems, or maybe he's just a picky little diva. His current diet is Oxbow Bunny Basics 15/23 (at the recommendation of our vet) and Kaytee Timothy Complete pellets. A healthy helping of veggies every morning. He has access to hay, right now he has timothy and some bluegrass hay for variety both from Kleenmama. He gets .2 oz of vitamin b12 and milk thistle twice daily (which he hates). We'll also give the buns a small amount of fruit on rare occasion. We don't really give them treats, although Hazel will sometimes get a Papaya tablet for digestion health (less than one per week). Is there anything else we could do to increase his weight without screwing up his diet more?
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Mar 2, 2009 06:03
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Fart Blanche posted:is there any way to re-litter train? my bunny pees in his little box of shavings but he shits all over his multiple cages One of my rabbits won't poo poo solely in the box at all. She has however got MUCH better since I made them a box big enough to where they do almost all their eating in it.
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Mar 2, 2009 07:42
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LoKout posted:Hazel Remind me, what teeth were removed, and which teeth are still causing problems? It sounds like you're doing everything I'd do. Tooth problems do odd things to them - some animals come through with no changes in eating habits, others end up needing assisted feeding for life. Since you're already on the 15/23, and weight maintenance/tooth wear seems more critical than calcium overload, you might want to try some alfalfa hay to see if he eats that. KM has a bluegrass-alfalfa mix that my guys devoured when I got some by accident. You may also try growing fresh forage in a window box - wheatgrass can be bought pre-sprouted, clover seeds are available at any farm/garden store, you could even try sprouting timothy/alfalfa assuming you could find seeds. I have had a lot of luck using wheatgrass with animals who were in stasis, as a way to get them back on hay: If he can learn that fresh grass is yummy, you may have some luck transitioning him back to dried hay. If he eats veggies well, try fresh corn husks - it's technically a grass and has nearly the same type of fiber as hay grasses. Also try more stemmy veggies like parsley, cilantro, dandelion, kale, etc. Hay blocks are certainly better than no hay, so keep offering those as well. You can also sprinkle a small amount of critical care over his pellets and/or hay/hayblocks- just the dry mix - that may get him eating more. There's also no problem in giving him a little bowl of mush every night. Have you ever offered canned pumpkin? It's high in fiber as well as calories and is a fine supplement to the mush. Keep us posted and good luck!
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Mar 2, 2009 16:37
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The teeth that were removed are a few molars. I don't have the vet information handy to say exactly which ones. The molars are what continue to be the problem as well - his incisors seem to be fine. We try to give them some cilantro and parsley - I'll definitely be putting that on the shopping list from now on. I didn't know about the corn husks - we'll look for those as well. I've started sprinkling some critical care over cut up hay and he seems to be eating it a bit, but it's difficult to say for sure how much he eats versus Kiwi, our other bun. Canned pumpkin is also a good idea. I bet they love that stuff. Fortunately, he has been gaining a small amount of weight still. He's up above 1600 grams now, but it seems to be fluctuating a bit day to day. I'm also going to look into growing some fresh grass like you suggested. The last time I tried to do that, however, it just died due to the heat (we live in AZ). Thanks for all the advice. I'll be sure to keep you updated.
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Mar 4, 2009 04:37
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alucinor posted:You can also sprinkle a small amount of critical care over his pellets and/or hay/hayblocks- just the dry mix - that may get him eating more. There's also no problem in giving him a little bowl of mush every night. Have you ever offered canned pumpkin? It's high in fiber as well as calories and is a fine supplement to the mush. Goodness. I can imagine any bunny would flip out over canned pumpkin. I once knew a bun that also was being rather naughty with his hay. I think the owner just gave him his meals earlier and filled his hay box to the brim at night and let hunger motivate the little guy. She also let him run around on the lawn a lot and he seemed to get a good deal of his fiber that way. Guy had been spoiled on fresh grass since he had been a runaway and ate nothing but for a little while. Would some lawn clippings be safe if you knew it wasn't treated with fertilizers/pesticides?
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Mar 4, 2009 07:32
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I'm playing with Sprout yesterday when I see she's cleaning the area around her scar from being spayed almost 3 weeks ago. I think she's just grooming the newly sprouting fur when I hear this ripping sound. I try to see but she's blocking, and soon she starts up again like she's pulling at something making a tearing/ripping sound. After fruitlessly trying to pick her up and see (she HATES being picked up and will avoid it at all costs), some clever use of pellets, a food bowl, the bed and a flashlight she is stretching up to eat and I see what looks to be an inch of stitching with a small scab at the end are dangling from the scar, and it looks like she's chewed the outer part of the scar tissue raw from doing this. It was obviously stuck and with all her force she couldn't pull it out anymore, not that I wanted her to given it was going inside. Afraid she won't stop (because she wasn't), I had to call some people over to try and catch her and hold her while I snipped the stitch off. Cue 30 minutes later and me feeling like poo poo because someone (who raised rabbits long ago) caught her but she made the most ear piercing, terrible screams in terror at the whole thing, and was pouncing at and attacking people. She finally stopped squirming around when held and I cut as close as I could, at which point we let her get her paws on solid footing and she ran under the bed. Even this morning she charged my hand when she was in her cage and I was just trying to give her food. Thankfully she's still eating and doesn't have GI stasis and doesn't seem to be chewing at the scar tissue anymore, but I still feel really bad and wish I would have just payed the $50 to take her to the vet. Hopefully with some treats she might come around. Anyone know why the hell a dissolvable stitch (from the inside) would be poking out almost 3 weeks after the surgery, and why it didn't happen before yesterday or so? Was it merely caught in scar tissue?
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Mar 4, 2009 18:36
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PoconoHermit fucked around with this message at 03:36 on Mar 5, 2009 |
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Mar 5, 2009 01:22
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PoconoHermit posted:
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Mar 5, 2009 02:08
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Fenarisk posted:Horrible squeamish story Holy man... I don't have anything to add, I just feel like you deserve a "sorry you had to go through that" and should get one of those free beer cards. Hope Sprout is okay... and they always forgive.
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Mar 5, 2009 05:13
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Melicious posted:The beards require more nutrients! I love the "stupid bunnies only" house, I'll have to make one of those for Pixel but hers would say "fat bratty bunnies only" 
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Mar 5, 2009 05:18
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GoodApollo posted:Holy man... I don't have anything to add, I just feel like you deserve a "sorry you had to go through that" and should get one of those free beer cards. Hope Sprout is okay... and they always forgive. This morning her stomach doesn't look any worse, and she doesn't seem to be picking, licking, or chewing at it since Tuesday night so hopefully we're in the clear. She hopped up on the bed this morning, honked once and beadbutted me, finally letting me pet her for awhile before giving her breakfast 
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Mar 5, 2009 16:11
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My rabbits love the UPS man. I just ordered 50lbs of Bunny Basics T and 50lbs of Oxbow Western Timothy Hay. 2 questions. I have 3 rabbits did I order a crazy amount of food? My rabbits have never really had "good" hay like Oxbow, I would buy it at Petco occasionally but tried not to because it's so expensive. Anywho, my rabbits are used to hay from Lowes, now that they've got this good poo poo they eat it like its candy ALL THE TIME. I know they're supposed to have Hay 24/7 but I am refilling their hay rack all day long. Are they going to keep going bonkers and eating this hay like its their last meal or will this wear off? PoconoHermit, you have the girl version of my male, Ollie. I'm at work now but I'll edit this post to include a picture when I get home.  
munchies fucked around with this message at 01:13 on Mar 6, 2009 |
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Mar 5, 2009 23:24
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munchies posted:Are they going to keep going bonkers and eating this hay like its their last meal or will this wear off? Annie still hasn't let up. It's food, they love food, that's pretty much it with bunnies. I like to think they don't have a long term memory, so every day is new and exciting for them.
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Mar 6, 2009 05:56
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