Bunny Care 101 and Simple tips for a healthy bunny
You have brought the bunnies home, now what. A few quick and simple tips to keep your bunnies healthy and happy.
A year ago for Lily’s birthday she asked for bunnies….we put it off. Christmas rolls around and on the Christmas list…..Bunnies. We told her Santa forgot them. Her birthday came this year….and knowing that we couldn’t continue to blow off the idea of having bunnies, we got two. We have had a few bunnies before and no matter what we did to keep them from escaping…they escaped. I vowed NO MORE BUNNIES at Duke Manor Farm…ever. Well this post is an example of why you never say never…ever.
Bunny Care 101
We were heading to the pet store to purchase two bunnies and when I called a big box pet store to see if they had any bunnies in stock, the sales associate was actually the one who suggested I try to contact a Bunny Rescue. You guys know I am all about rescuing animals ,but honestly I had never heard of a bunny rescue. Made the call, got directions and two hours later we were driving home with 2 bunnies from the rescue. I picked up some helpful tips that I wanted to pass on to you, just in case you cave you will be getting some bunnies anytime soon.
When you bring your bunnies home
Let your bunny get use to his/her new home for the first 72 hours.
Do not give your bunny toys or chewables for the first week.
Contrary to what we may think, carrots are not the best thing to give your bunny and should be given to your bunny sparingly. The gases cause your bunny to bloat, therefore causing stomach issues for your floppy friend.
Add apple cider vinegar to the bunny’s water supply.
Do not feed your bunny veggies for the first week. They will do just fine with Timothy hay and rabbit pellets. Timothy hay should make up the bulk of what your rabbit needs in their diet.
Watch for diarrhea. This can be caused by stress of a new home or what your bunny is eating. The diarrhea should subside, if not take your bunny to the vet.
This is our Lop eared rabbit. His name is Cougar.
General Caring Tips for your Bunnies
Bunnies will do fine in temps in the 30’s-80’s. Right now we have the bunnies in a rabbit house in our game room because our temps have been in the 90’s. Come Fall, the plan is to move them to a dedicated place in the duck area.
If you can’t move our bunnies indoors when temps rise consider placing a frozen gallon jug of water in your bunnies cage. Adding ice to your bunny’s water will also help to minimize the heat impacts on your bunny.
Make sure you bunny always has fresh water. I just learned that not only is Apple Cider vinegar good for humans , it’s also good for some animals too. Add 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar per gallon to help your bunnies digestive tract.
Feed your bunny Timothy Hay instead of Alfalfa. Alfalfa should not be given to rabbits because of the high protein and sugar content. Hay is important part of a bunnies diet because of the fiber content and it helps wear down a rabbits teeth, which by way continuously grow. I didn’t know that either.
Bunnies need a good amount of bedding. We bought these mats to put in the bunny house. Cedar shavings can be toxic to your bunny. The best thing we were told to use is a memory foam bath mat which will keep the bunny cozy and can be washed regularly.
This is our Dutch rabbit called ‘’Mixxie’. By the way, I am not responsible for the naming of our animals.:)
Lesson Learned
As I mentioned earlier our previous bunnies have all escaped on us by digging under the fence. This time we secured the fenced area by placing the wire fence in the ground , so digging should be challenging….let’s hope. We also just got this double decker rabbit house that we can use to keep the rabbits together or we can easily separate. The house also has slide out bottom for easy cleaning. I highly recommend if you are going to be going down your own bunny path one day. It was so easy to assemble, the kids were able to do it themselves. To keep the bunny house clean, we use this feeder for the inside.
My kids, especially Lily just can’t get enough of the rabbits, well any animal really. So to see precious moments with her cuddling the rabbits, makes it all worth it…I guess.
To see more of my Farm Friday series, click here.
When’s the last time you ‘caved’ for the animal they had to have?
grateful
to see how much joy a rabbit brings to my girl
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Love bunnies and used to keep 2 in my dorm at school when animals were not allowed. On the day our dorm mother inspected our room I would put my bunnies cage in the luggage storage area and play music all day long to keep them from being detected. I loved my bunnies and still love bunnies today and I am 73. Oh! and my bunnies were named Raisin Dropper 1 and Raisin Dropper 2.
You must buy the book, Borrowing Bunnies, by Cynthia Lord. She is a children’s author and she and her husband foster rabbits from a rescue in Maine. She also has three of her own, Blueberry, Muffin, and Benjamin.
She is an expert on rabbits and the book is adorable with pictures by her husband, a well-known photographer in Maine. She also has a middle grade novel about a young girl rescuing a rabbit called Because of the Rabbit. You can find her on Facebook among other places. She is a lovely person and a friend of mine. She has written several middle grade novels, including Rules, which won the Newbery Honor Award. Congratulations on your rescuing…always a good idea.
Oh how adorable and glad you rescued them. We have resident bunnies all over the cottage property!
How sweet of you, Laura, to take your Lily to the Bunny Rescue Centre! The rabbits she chose to bring home with her are just so darn cute! And, those pictures of her with her rabbits are priceless! You can just tell how happy she is with them. Also, that is sure one luxury rabbit house! The rabbits will be pretty happy in their new home — so cute!
Enjoy watching your Lily with her rabbits! These rabbits are so blessed to have such a wonderful place to live and wonderful people to love and care for them!
Bless you, Laura, for “caving in”! Seems like we all get to do this at times!