The Rabbit Thread

[RabbitLuvr]

I'm not sure. It could also be due to how they were treated in the past. If they've been treated poorly by one gender, they may prefer the other.

It could also be that Tobi just doesn't like me very much. She does let me pet her sometimes, on her terms, and will play a little game with me in the morning. I'll call her over to say good morning, and some days she runs right up and sticks her head under my hand. Other days she'll run up, then run out of reach again before I can touch her, then finally come over to me. Then other days she'll sit in the back corner of her pen and just look at me until I go get her morning treat. She only plays the game first thing in the morning.

Tobi doesn't like to be touched anywhere other than her forehead. When her sides or back are stroked, her whole body tenses up. She used to try to bite our hands, but now she just whips her head around and sticks her nose against the hand to let us know we need to touch only the forehead.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

Also, I'm the one who always gives medicine. Tobi has a bare spot on the bottom of one back foot, and I'm the one who puts lotion on it in the winter so the skin doesn't get too dry and crack.

 

[SummerRain]

Aw Toby's story is so sad but he is very very pretty, and lucky to have found you!

Where is the triangular tube from btw? Did you make it or buy it? Looks nifty ! Although I think Mushroom would shred it pretty quick, he loooooves cardboard.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

Where is the triangular tube from btw? Did you make it or buy it? Looks nifty ! Although I think Mushroom would shred it pretty quick, he loooooves cardboard.

It's a Ton o' Fun Bun Run! The bottom is a double layer of cardboard, and there are replaceable floors pieces you can put in, that have the wavy corrugated part up. My buns love to dig and pull on the bottom. I just replace the floor bit once or twice a year. No one has constant access to the tube, though, it's for playtime only. My buns also have a Maze Haven and a Tunnel Haven. Because I'm a sucker.

Edit: I also have some round cardboard tunnels that I made from concrete forms from the hardware store. I bought a long round form, and cut it into smaller lengths.

 

[Lord Snot]

I need some advice again.

Harry is still too skinny, I can feel it in his ribs. I hope he hasn't lost any more weight but I don't think he has put any on since his vet visit 2 weeks ago. I really think he should be on unlimited pellets, since he is a good hay eater and that's the only way I can see to increase his weight. But now I have Jessica, who is probably overweight, and she can't afford to have too many pellets. Should I just lock one of them away and feed Harry pellets 3x a day or something? The problem is that he takes a while to eat them. He has some, hops off, comes back and eats more, hops off etc. It would mean either him or Jess being locked up for a fair amount of time. There's a similar problem at veggie time, Jess is a slower eater so she gets far less than her fair share. How would you handle it?

Also, Jessica's rescuer said thank you to Annia & Aery for their donations - I won't paste the exact message because it had their surnames in it.

OH I forgot one other thing too. Jessica only has muscular control over one of her ears. The right one is constantly flopped over, she cannot put it up or back or anything else. I'm going to ask the vet about it tomorrow but has anyone experienced something like that with a bunny?

 

[RabbitLuvr]

Yeah, you might need to feed them separately until Harry can put a bit of weight on. If you're feeding separately, you could cut back Jessica's a little if you think she is overweight.

What kind of pellets do you feed? I'm not familiar with the brands you get there. I feed my adults a pellet based on timothy hay, but when Opal was a baby I fed her an alfalfa-based pellet. Alfalfa can help add weight. It's also higher in calcium, so it can be good for very young and elderly rabbits.

Do you ever have rolled oats around the house? Many bunnies *love* oats, and you could try slipping Harry a small amount each day with his pellets. They can stop a bunny up, though, so just a pinch and make sure he's drinking normally.

Has the vet checked him for parasites (usually a fecal test, I think), or done bloodwork to look for other conditions?

Did the vet have a guess at Harry's age?

 

[RabbitLuvr]

OH I forgot one other thing too. Jessica only has muscular control over one of her ears. The right one is constantly flopped over, she cannot put it up or back or anything else. I'm going to ask the vet about it tomorrow but has anyone experienced something like that with a bunny?

Does she move it forward at all when she's listening to something? Does it look like a lop ear, or does it look like an up ear that's "wrong?"

We get bunnies in the rescue sometimes with one up ear and one lop ear. I think sometimes they could have mixed lineage and just end up with one of each. Lop-eared bunnies are born with up ears, then at some point the muscles relax and the ears hang downwards. Sometimes lop ears don't lop over properly or equally.

It could also be from an old injury. If she fought with or was attacked by another bunny (or other animal) in the past, it could have damaged the muscles at the base of that ear. As long as the ear itself looks healthy and she can clean it herself, it should be fine! If she can't clean it herself, you might ask your vet if they can show you how to help her with it.

My vet gave me an ear rinse called T8 Solution that I'm supposed to use with my lop-eared bunnies to help them, but their partners seem to do a good job at helping them out.

 

[Lord Snot]

I think if he hasn't gained weight, she will want to do bloodwork and look for parasites. I still think this could just be a result of his extremely stressful month - first being given up to a pet shop where he wasn't cared for, then probably not eating enough because his brother was dominant and took most of the pellets (just my theory), then brother dying, then me taking him home, then his diet completely changing from pellets and nothing else to pellets, hay and veg, then the eye infection and the ear mites, 3 vet visits and now having Jessica. Although he has never had a tummy upset and has always had a good appetite, that stuff is bound to put a strain on the body. Plus he is going to be neutered soon - I don't want to put that off much longer because I think it will improve his quality of life (as he is constantly around a female who doesn't want to have sex, that can't be nice for him) and, selfishly, it will make his pee smell less and make a nicer room for me and Mr Snot!

So I think if the vet wants to investigate I will ask her to hold off. I hope she will agree to the neuter and take blood during the procedure if that wouldn't be too much for him. If she won't agree I will ask her to wait another 2 weeks and if he still hasn't gained weight, then she can put him through additional investigations. If he has LOST more weight I will agree straight away because he can't afford to lose much more. I'm not trying to say I know more than a vet but I'm not convinced there is an underlying issue yet, and I don't think she was either.

Now that he is settled and has Jess, if it was just stress holding him back I think he will start gaining weight now. He is definitely so much happier now he has her.

I have been feeding these pellets because he was on them at the pet shop and I wanted to keep at least some consistency: http://www.petsathome.com/shop/junior-nugget-rabbit-food-4kg-by-pets-at-home-15658. But the fibre was too low and protein too high, so I bought some of these and have been giving a 50-50 mix until the rubbish one runs out: http://www.petsathome.com/shop/burgess-excel-tasty-nuggets-adult-rabbit-food-2kg-4kg-and-10kg-15703.

I was feeding him about 1/4 of a cup but since I found he lost weight I upped it to around 1/2 cup, and in the last few days I have upped it to a full cup because I can feel he isn't gaining. He wolfs down as many as I will give him, and still eats lots of hay.

The vet thought the 6 month estimate was reasonable.

I don't have any rolled oats, just instant porridge oats which I've read will not do the same thing, is that true?

 

[Lord Snot]

Does she move it forward at all when she's listening to something? Does it look like a lop ear, or does it look like an up ear that's "wrong?"

We get bunnies in the rescue sometimes with one up ear and one lop ear. I think sometimes they could have mixed lineage and just end up with one of each. Lop-eared bunnies are born with up ears, then at some point the muscles relax and the ears hang downwards. Sometimes lop ears don't lop over properly or equally.

It could also be from an old injury. If she fought with or was attacked by another bunny (or other animal) in the past, it could have damaged the muscles at the base of that ear. As long as the ear itself looks healthy and she can clean it herself, it should be fine! If she can't clean it herself, you might ask your vet if they can show you how to help her with it.

My vet gave me an ear rinse called T8 Solution that I'm supposed to use with my lop-eared bunnies to help them, but their partners seem to do a good job at helping them out.

Nope, it doesn't move at all. I don't know enough about bunnies to say whether it looks normal, I've never seen a lop IRL. She doesn't like it when I stroke that one, but she loves it when I stroke the moveable one, so perhaps there is an old injury there. I will see what the vet thinks and report back!

 

[SummerRain]

Yeah I don't know if it is the same thing, but when my rabbits ears lopped they always went one at a time, so for a while one was up and one was down. But lop ears do move a little, they twitch forwards when they hear something.

Anyway I don't have any advice but for you and your bunnies, I hope you get everything worked out.

 

[Lord Snot]

I may have been wrong! We just got Harry onto the scales and it registered 2.0kg! He was 1.5kg two weeks ago. I repeated the test because I couldn't believe my eyes and it said it twice

I know the scales are accurate, I tested them with a 1.5kg bag of flour and it registered 1.5.

Please keep your fingers crossed that this is not just some amazing dream

 

[SummerRain]

Yaaay Good for Harry.

I know the scales are accurate, I tested them with a 1.5kg bag of flour and it registered 1.5.

How very scientific! I'd never have thought of that.

 

[Lord Snot]

They were pretty cheap scales so I thought it was best to check them out

The problem is I don't know what weight he should eventually get to, since he is probably some kind of mixed breed. I looked up condition scoring for rabbits but there is no 'official' system, I've just been feeling his ribs and going by how much fat I can feel. Harry's ribs are easy to feel with no pressure and fairly sharp, so I think he is slightly underweight but definitely not emaciated. Jessica's can only be felt with fairly hard pressure so I think she is overweight. But I will ask the vet to check what I'm doing and tell me the best way to monitor their weights.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

I wouldn't feed the Junior formula pellet to an adult rabbit, but I think it's fine for a baby or juvenile. Since he's eating 50-50 now, that's fine, but I would let him eat as much as he likes at 6 months old.

Does he look like he's grown length-wise?

He most certainly had a stressful time of things! It's reasonable to not suspect an underlying issue, if he's otherwise active and eating fine. It also seems reasonable to me to wait for blood work until the neuter. (That can be done any time, as long as both testicles have descended. My rescue tries to do neuters at 4-5 months, but some places have different standards.)
He and Jessica have gotten along so well, I'm sure he is very happy to have her!

I've always been told to only give bunnies rolled or steel cut oats, never instant.


Jessica's ear... If she can't move it at all, I would suspect an old injury. When she sees the vet, just mention it and it will probably be checked for infection or access. The rescue also sometimes gets in bunnies with missing ears, and they can be very sensitive about having that area touched. So if it was from an injury, there could be a bit of nerve damage that makes the area painful or sensitive when it's messed with.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

Maybe he's just having a growth spurt! Young bunnies can look very lanky until they hit their adult size and start to fill out!

 

[Lord Snot]

I wouldn't feed the Junior formula pellet to an adult rabbit, but I think it's fine for a baby or juvenile. Since he's eating 50-50 now, that's fine, but I would let him eat as much as he likes at 6 months old. [snip for readability]

I know, I was wondering why he was on a food that said up to 16 weeks, but I was a bit scared about changing his entire diet all at once so I bought the small bag. I was initially feeding him unlimited since the best site I found said to do that until 7 months, but then I read on a few sites to restrict them from 4 months and I got a bit muddled and cut them down. I probably hurt his growth by doing that, perhaps that is the sole reason he lost weight - who knows?

The vet didn't want to neuter him until she'd seen him put on weight, I guess because if he has an underlying condition/parasites an operation might be too much of a strain? She could feel one testicle but not the other, she said he had retracted it because he didn't like the other one being manhandled.

He and Jess have been a dream come true, I was so lucky to get away with such an easy bonding. They are rarely more than 2 feet apart and we haven't had a single fight since the first day when he humped her - he also hasn't humped her since, at least not that I've seen. She hasn't binkied yet but I've seen her almost there, she will break into a run but it doesn't quite make it into a proper binky. She chills out completely, flops onto her side and closes her eyes to sleep so she must be happy here too.

I haven't noticed if he's grown length wise, he doesn't look any bigger. I guess that's why I can't believe the scales even though it's very unlikely they were wrong 4 times (he hopped in twice more and it read 2kg again!).

Maybe he's just having a growth spurt! Young bunnies can look very lanky until they hit their adult size and start to fill out!

Very possible, if the scales ARE correct he's gained 33% weight in 2 weeks

 

[RabbitLuvr]

She chills out completely, flops onto her side and closes her eyes to sleep so she must be happy here too.

She is very happy and comfortable! She knows she is in a safe place.


Your posts have reminded me that I want to get a scale for weighing the rabbits. Cody is small enough to be weighed in a bowl on the kitchen scale, but everyone else is too big.

 

[KLS52]

Sounds like things are going really well! Yay!

 

[RabbitLuvr]

This is Cody:

Cody was adopted out from the no-kill shelter to someone who then kept him as a classroom pet in a preschool for a year. Once the school term was over, the teacher didn't want to take care of him at home, but the shelter didn't have room to take him back, and he ended up at our rescue. I took Benjamin to meet this bunny, who we were told was a female called Digger. Benjamin loved her immediately and groomed her on their first date! So we took Digger home. She was renamed Chloe.

Two days later I was emailed the shelter's records on Digger/Chloe... and they'd done a a neuter. So Chloe became Cody! Cody was so overweight he couldn't clean himself, and I had to wash his backside for him every day for maybe a month. I got him down to a healthy weight.
Unfortunately, Cody didn't like Benjamin very much, so I abandoned efforts to bond them. Cody grunts and lunges at my hands, but he's super afraid of loud noises and sudden movements. He's been here for two years and still isn't very friendly.

Since he was single when Amelia's partner passed away this past summer, I'm trying to bond Cody with Amelia. She likes him a lot, but he is still unsure. Hopefully he will learn to love her soon!

 

[Lord Snot]

Awwwwwwwww he is so cute, I love the pic of him sitting in the bowl. C'mon Cody, Amelia is lovely!