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I swear he's the chillest looking little dude. And such awesome coloring! 
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Feb 23, 2013 19:13
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Where did you get that cage? I was looking at some similar to that at one point but they are kind of expensive and I was worried Cosmo would chew the wood to pieces. Have your buns been good about not chewing it?
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Feb 24, 2013 17:05
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Hahaha NOPE. For some reason I'd let people convince me at the time that it "wouldn't be that bad" when I bought it. But, you know, it's wood- so to them it's like living in a candy cottage. Still as you can see in the picture, as long as they don't get the corners, they probably won't escape. And if they do make a proper hole I can always nail some extra wood there. I got it in a pet shop in Tilburg, the Netherlands, so that's probably no help to you. And yeah it was expensive but it's the biggest one available and I just couldn't be bothered to build one myself. But hey, they love it.
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Feb 24, 2013 18:12
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Aren't there bittering agents/chili oils you can apply to discourage nibbling?
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Feb 24, 2013 18:24
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Ahh you mean condiments. Can't say those do much in the way of deterring them.
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Feb 24, 2013 18:55
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Napalm will discourage them from nibbling your stuff until it finishes burning, but after that they'll chew the ashes.
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Feb 24, 2013 21:01
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I used to catch my rabbit grooming his wooden house. It was the weirdest drat thing.
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Feb 24, 2013 21:37
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FactsAreUseless posted:I used to catch my rabbit grooming his wooden house. It was the weirdest drat thing. Cilantro will groom our blankets, our dirty clothes, the dusty baseboards, and my wife's shirts while she's wearing them. But not me. Never me 
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Feb 24, 2013 21:48
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pseudonordic posted:But not me. Never me My wife and I was never good enough for a grooming, but a ferret cage with three ferrets in it was a-okay in their books. And I came to accept the rabbits cleaning their wooden house ("this is for keeping us safe buddy!"), but never accepted the fact that they seemed to take turns doing it during the night. And they were always so goddamn loud about it.
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Feb 25, 2013 00:43
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a big fat bunny posted:My wife and I was never good enough for a grooming, but a ferret cage with three ferrets in it was a-okay in their books. I only get groomed on my hands, after I've eaten or touched something Ella wants (which is everything).
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Feb 25, 2013 08:05
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DS at Night posted:Hahaha NOPE. Please post a couple more pics of the cage/house, it looks interesting and I'm trying to come up with new ideas. Peanut and Snoopy are little rubbishes, but we're moving soon and I want to give them a bigger/multilevel place to call their own... Bonus pic of bunnies doing what my girlfriend has termed "the furry chicken":  Edit: Ah and one more thing whilst I have your attention. How do you layer your bunny-toilet/armchair? At the moment we have sawdust underneath with newspaper on top + hay for munching, and they sit in there very contently eating hay whilst occasionally pissing and soaking their feet in piss. The problem is obviously that newspaper is not very absorbent and the wee just sort of sits there, but if we put sawdust on top then they kick it loving everywhere getting in and out of the litter tray? Prawned fucked around with this message at 11:37 on Feb 25, 2013 |
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Feb 25, 2013 09:06
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That's an adorable badger you have there
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Feb 25, 2013 10:04
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Prawned posted:
I use an offbrand of carefresh (to be specific: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Critter-Care-Natural-Pet-Bedding-25.7-l/21881818 ). For my two it basically takes me adding enough hay on top of the fresh bedding to last them the better part of the day grazing. If it makes it that long they seem to lose any interest in digging around in it. I'll always know whenever I go too light on the hay though, since it turns into bun party time and the stuff ends up everywhere. The337th fucked around with this message at 14:44 on Feb 25, 2013 |
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Feb 25, 2013 14:38
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My wife and I use a type of pelleted bedding you can get at feed stores, generally used for horses and other livestock, for litter boxes. When it gets wet it breaks down from its pelleted form into sawdust, so it absorbs the pee really well.
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Feb 25, 2013 17:27
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Prawned posted:Please post a couple more pics of the cage/house, it looks interesting and I'm trying to come up with new ideas. Peanut and Snoopy are little rubbishes, but we're moving soon and I want to give them a bigger/multilevel place to call their own... Here's some pics though to be honest your setup looks a lot bigger already. Front view  The roof opens up. They love the hell out of their water bowl, and I do too, because they can't flip it over. They don't go to the bathroom at all in the top litterbox. This one is just for digging around in and that's why there's only hay in it. It's very convenient that I can close that door to the stairs because when I'm cleaning the cage I don't need them to be in my face the whole time.  The litterbox on the bottom however has one layer of carefresh, one layer of soft barley straw, and one layer of hay. There's also a hay trough to the right there. The barley straw is so they don't eat the carefresh. I've also attached the box to the side with wires because they'd probably flip it over otherwise.  I tend to keep the toys outside of their cage when I need to sleep because their idea of playing is just slamming things into other things over and over again.
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Feb 25, 2013 23:20
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I'm just curious: are there comfortable beds or cushions made for buns that they can lie down and yet not try to eat/poop on?
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Feb 26, 2013 01:17
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ShadowCatboy posted:I'm just curious: are there comfortable beds or cushions made for buns that they can lie down and yet not try to eat/poop on? You mean pee on, surely. My buns seem to think every soft surface == litter box! Hooray! Sigh.
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Feb 26, 2013 07:32
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DS at Night posted:Here's some pics though to be honest your setup looks a lot bigger already. Awesome, thanks! We're moving in about 3 months so I'm thinking of this as a little DIY project. We'll probably give them the run of the new house (or at least a room or two upstairs) as we're already planning how to rabbit-proof most things, but I'd like them to have a more spacious (and private) "safe area". They're just so loving happy when they get to go wherever they want though. I've also been collecting cardboard boxes to make them a warren/maze type deal. Of course, I'll probably spend a day making it only for it to be deemed useless and/or dinner.
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Feb 26, 2013 08:13
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xx
Hana Dammit fucked around with this message at 10:59 on Feb 16, 2017 |
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Feb 26, 2013 10:10
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Hana Dammit posted:And I have a question. I was talking with one of my housemates (who is a Serious Horse Girl) about his diet and how it compares to a horse's, anyhow she's lead me to be curious as to whether or not pellets are a necessary part of an adult rabbits diet? Like, I understand that young bunnies would need a greater caloric intake but once they reach a certain size, would it be optimal to simply feed him all the hay he can eat and some healthy and varied servings of greens? No, pellets are not necessary for house rabbits except to boost calories. If you're growing rabbits for meat or fur, the increased protein IS useful (improves fiber texture in angoras for example) but the tradeoff is more health issues and/or a shorter lifespan, which really doesn't matter for fur/meat animals. I've discussed my feeding habits extensively upthread, but in brief: I feed about 90% hay and 10% veggies. They get pellets only as a treat, once every few months, or if I have an elderly animal who isn't maintaining weight. I have been feeding this way for about 10 years. I have I have two 5 year olds, two 8 year olds, a 9 year old, two 10 year olds, three 12 year olds, and a goddamn immortal 14 year old. I really haven't had any health issues in the last 8 or so years apart from arthritis and cancer. Never any stasis or tooth or bladder sludge problems, which I saw much more frequently when I pellet fed the animals. The 14 year old had recurrent bladder sludge until about 6 years ago, it's never come back since she's been more or less pellet free.  Pellets were never part of the rabbit diet until the early part of the 20th century when scientists found pellets a better way to ensure uniform food intake and speed up maturation of lab animals to their sacrifice weight. They were never designed to ensure long term health. Purina realized there was a huge untapped market of home rabbit owners feeding their animals on farm hay and yard waste for practically free, who could be converted into paying for feed instead. The fact that this diet may be directly responsible for shorter lifespans and increased health problems doesn't matter to them. In the last year or so, even my vets have started to come around. I used to get asked "why aren't you feeding pellets?" and now when I write "occasional pellets" on the health history form, I get scolded until I explain that I mean just a few times a year. 
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Feb 26, 2013 14:50
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And crude protein sounds so ominous but maybe i'm just being a sensitive vegan baby.
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Caught Juppo falling asleep while I was petting her earlier, it was the cutest thing Then she leapt into the air when I rolled over onto my side and made the bed creak. Oops. She seems to be finally becoming less evil after her spay; she's spent the past two days just flopped out on my bed or binkying into things. happyflurple fucked around with this message at 16:47 on Feb 26, 2013 |
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Feb 26, 2013 16:43
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xx
Hana Dammit fucked around with this message at 10:58 on Feb 16, 2017 |
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Feb 26, 2013 21:54
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Here's a rule of thumb: if you DO give them pellets and you give an amount of pellets that they can't eat in one go it's way too much. They definitely shouldn't snack on them throughout the day. I give mine only a tiny handful of pellets a day (really comes down to like 5 pellets) and this much of the green stuff. Anyway yes your rabbit's over 4 months old so he should be good to start transitioning to eating greens IIRC. By the way that first pic you posted is freaking adorable. Prawned posted:
You KNOW they're gonna piss in that. Because they can. And it'll be in a hard to reach place.
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Feb 26, 2013 22:13
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DS at Night posted:Here's a rule of thumb: if you DO give them pellets and you give an amount of pellets that they can't eat in one go it's way too much. They definitely shouldn't snack on them throughout the day. I give mine only a tiny handful of pellets a day (really comes down to like 5 pellets) and this much of the green stuff. They're actually really good about only peeing in the litter tray. With boxes they usually love to sit in them for a few days before the feast begins, signalling the need for a new box. Prawned fucked around with this message at 07:52 on Feb 27, 2013 |
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Feb 26, 2013 22:26
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She's stopped peeing on my bed! Hurrah! I feel ridiculously proud, oh dear.
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Feb 27, 2013 14:44
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Food for rabbits. I still cant figure out how two 4 pound rabbits can eat more salad in a single go then I can weighing in at 200 lbs. Ours get a mixture of spring greens salad, a head of kale, a bunch of italian parsley, a bunch of cilantro and unlimited hay. We also mix in new stuff occassionally because you can tell when they get bored. They flip the food bowl over, trample everything into dust and start making all kinds of racket. Then we clean it all up and add soemthing new and they get all excited and eat it until its gone. Stupid fat rabbits. Our changes usually include carrot tops, baby spinach, basil, thyme, oregano, marjoram and a few raisins (which they go bonkers for). Also the fat one rally really REALLY likes dill. This is the "we have deemed this food insufficient. Replace it now" look we get. Notice the overturned bowl in the back where they threw it.  Also yes, that cage has a wire bottom. We tried taking them out but the dumbs just threw the bedding everwhere until it was all outside the cage. Then they would slip on the plastic and just sit there and thump. For some reason they arent happy on anything but carpet or wire. We are going to try to remove the wire again and put carpet on there for them to sit in, but first we have to find a place for a littler box upstairs when we modify the hutch. The last litter box we had bolted to the screen around the cage and the fat one jamemd her head under there until she wedged her entire bulk under it, broke the plastic holding it on to the bolt and proceeded to throw it around the cage until it was removed. Guess she didnt like it. Errant Gin Monks fucked around with this message at 18:31 on Feb 27, 2013 |
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Feb 27, 2013 18:22
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Takes a while to find a setup they can't make a giant mess out of. But anything is better than a wire bottom. :/ It hurts their feet. Plus if you've got them like this they won't be litter trained. I have a plastic storage container with the lid and handles removed. Drilled two holes in the side to attach it to the cage frame. My rabbits have given up on trying to flip it over. I can't recommend this setup enough.
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Feb 27, 2013 20:11
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DS at Night posted:Takes a while to find a setup they can't make a giant mess out of. But anything is better than a wire bottom. :/ It hurts their feet. Plus if you've got them like this they won't be litter trained. I have a plastic storage container with the lid and handles removed. Drilled two holes in the side to attach it to the cage frame. My rabbits have given up on trying to flip it over. I can't recommend this setup enough. Yeah we dont like the wire bottoms (we bought this hutch with the plan to remove them, which we did, and the drat rabbits immediately went on a "destroy everything and the complain" fest), but they dont spend too much time in there and thier house which you cant see has no wire in it so when they arent eating in the hutch they are in the house or making a bunch of noise. They hate our new house since its all tile and hardwood so we have some bunny spaces with rugs they can run on, they tend to laze around mostly though since they are old.
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Feb 27, 2013 20:21
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alucinor posted:No, pellets are not necessary for house rabbits except to boost calories. If you're growing rabbits for meat or fur, the increased protein IS useful (improves fiber texture in angoras for example) but the tradeoff is more health issues and/or a shorter lifespan, which really doesn't matter for fur/meat animals.
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Feb 27, 2013 20:39
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FactsAreUseless posted:Questions about the hay you're feeding your rabbits, All the rabbit guides I've read say to feed them timothy rather than alfalfa if you're using pellets, since the alfalfa has more protein. Do you give them a specific kind of hay for the protein content, or is it a mix of various kinds of hays? Do you give them a set amount per day or keep their hay dispensers filled? How much fresh food do you give them and what sort of food? I'd like to plan ahead for when I get rabbits again, and I noticed that my last rabbit was a little overweight, which I had attributed to the pellets. I use bluegrass, orchardgrass, and timothy - my guys prefer Kleenmama's bluegrass and I really only feed the other stuff if she's out of stock, which happens sometimes near the end of the growing season. And boy do they bitch about it when I run out. They get more than adequate protein from these hays and from their veggies. As for hay quantity, I have very large hay mangers which I stuff twice a day if empty - made out of these or these turned 90 degrees. They will absolutely go through a whole manger in a day so most pens have 2. I've calculated that two rabbits go through nearly 100 lbs in a year in my house. For veggies, I prefer herbs (dill, fennel, cilantro, parsley), dark green leafies (bok choi, kale, romaine, chard), and broccoli and bell peppers. That's really it. I only give about 1-2 cups a day. So they might get a half a very large bell pepper each (about a cup) or a half a head of romaine (about 2 cups). I give something different each day but I don't bother making a mixed salad daily anymore, they really don't seem to give a poo poo. Some of my oldest animals get less because they will get runny poop on too much veggies - maybe two leaves of romaine and a few sprigs of dill. I give much less of the veggies which are high in oxalates and calcium, to try and help prevent bladder stones; so for example, nobody gets more than a leaf of kale at a time and I try not to feed it more than every week or so.
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Feb 27, 2013 23:20
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I was under the impression that you should avoid anything in the broccoli/cabbage family because it gives them gas, which they have no way to relieve. Has this not been an issue for you?
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Feb 28, 2013 01:11
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I've never given Gordon pellets except when I first got her. She eats broccoli and cauliflower like it's going out of style and knock on wood, I have had no tummy trouble with her AT ALL on fresh veg and hay. I've never noticed any problems after feeding broccoli or cauliflower, but she will not eat cabbage. She eats what I kind of think is a lot, but she's not a mini breed and is only at 6lb. She has extra neck pooch but is otherwise unflabby as far as I can tell.
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Feb 28, 2013 06:10
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FactsAreUseless posted:I was under the impression that you should avoid anything in the broccoli/cabbage family because it gives them gas, which they have no way to relieve. Has this not been an issue for you? They are rabbits. They will literally eat a tree if you give them the time and opportunity. A little broccoli in a healthy bun is no big deal. Only poisonous things are a problem.
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Feb 28, 2013 06:29
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I did see a rabbit get hypothyroidism after being fed nothing but bok choy, which is related to broccoli (and cabbage, mustard, kohlrabi, and a bunch of other asian greens that rhyme with bok choy). Apparently if you eat nothing but that family of greens you depress your thyroid function. I think it's been reported in cows that eat nothing but mustard greens in the spring, and this one rabbit. But yes, small amounts of a variety of greens should not be a problem.
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Feb 28, 2013 08:05
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FactsAreUseless posted:I was under the impression that you should avoid anything in the broccoli/cabbage family because it gives them gas, which they have no way to relieve. Has this not been an issue for you? Ditto to what those above said. They only get broccoli once a week anyhow, if that, and not too much at a time.
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Feb 28, 2013 16:41
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You people have indirectly helped me train my bun to go to bed when I want her to. My mate fed her entirely on pellets with minimal hay before I adopted her, and I was guilty of giving her too many pellets after I took her on. The past week or so, I've been feeding her mostly hay, a handful of greens and veggies a day. I let her free-range it from around 9am til about 10pm and, when I want her to go to bed, I get a small handful of pellets (I have freakishly small hands even for a woman), plonk it in her bowl, and she immediately runs in to eat them, I press down and B and she generally gets captured. She is getting a lot bolder the more we bond, though. Keeps sneaking around into stuff she knows she shouldn't, and when I block her off she finds another way so I can never leave her unsupervised. Recently she's figured out I keep her treats in my bedside cabinet drawer and will start licking the top of the cabinet when she's on my bed and then try and poke her nose into the drawer which is always closed when she's out. On the odd occasion I open it to get things that aren't bunny approved (like my loving headphones) she will immediately jump onto my bed and stick her head in the drawer. The more she acts like a dick the more I love her <3 happyflurple fucked around with this message at 05:04 on Mar 3, 2013 |
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Mar 3, 2013 05:01
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Harriet somehow broke the spring holding her water bottle to her cage, and somehow caused the bottle to crack. So, I bought her a new one. Somehow, she managed to get the new one to leak all over her cage. So, backup feed bowl is now a temp water bowl.
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Mar 3, 2013 05:47
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bunnyofdoom posted:Harriet somehow broke the spring holding her water bottle to her cage, and somehow caused the bottle to crack. So, I bought her a new one. Somehow, she managed to get the new one to leak all over her cage. So, backup feed bowl is now a temp water bowl. You know if you go to a place that sells supplies to boaters, you can get bowls with heavily weighted bottoms. They're meant to keep the bowls from sliding around while you're eating at sea, but they're just as good for bunnies that like to dig at stuff.
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Mar 3, 2013 08:14
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bunnyofdoom posted:Harriet somehow broke the spring holding her water bottle to her cage, and somehow caused the bottle to crack. So, I bought her a new one. Somehow, she managed to get the new one to leak all over her cage. So, backup feed bowl is now a temp water bowl. We use ceramic ramekins for Cilantro's pellet and water bowls. They're heavy enough that she can't lift them but she can still nudge them around.
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Mar 3, 2013 13:47
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| # ? May 24, 2024 23:48 |
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I have a bowl that I can firmly attach to the cage and which I can easily remove for a refill. It's the best thing EVER. Unfortunately I wouldn't know where any of you would be able to buy it but if you do happen to see one of them in a store, go for it! Rabbits are always pissed off at their water bottle and want to destroy it because they hate how slowly the water comes out. With a bowl they can drink however much they feel like.
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Mar 3, 2013 15:23
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