Category Archives: Your Rabbit’s Health

The Bunny 20!

1. Rabbits are a big commitment with many living past 10 years of age. Where will you be in 10 years?

2. Rabbits teeth are always growing. They can grow up to 5 inches every year! Unlimited hay and lots of natural wood toys will encourage chewing to keep those pearly whites worn down!

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3. Rabbits are extremely social animals, make great house pets and do best with a companion.

4. Rabbits love to play! They love to nibble and toss their toys and are renovation specialists when given a cardboard box!

5. A male rabbit is called a buck, a female is called a doe and a baby is called a kit.

6. Rabbits are crepuscular which means they are most active at dawn and dusk – perfect if you go to school or work during the day and are home in the mornings and evenings!

7. Rabbits are prey animals. This means they generally don’t like to be picked up and often hide symptoms of illness until it’s too late. If you notice your rabbit hasn’t been eating, drinking, pooping or has any kind of behavioural changes please call your vet!

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8. The English Lop has the largest ears – measuring around 2ft in length!

9. Rabbits are lagomorphs, not rodents. One characteristic of lagomorphs is the ability to produce two types of feces – one for expelling waste and the other known as cecotropes, which they reingest to ensure maximum nutrient absorption from their food.

10. Rabbits are unable to throw up.

11. Wire mesh is the worst flooring to house your rabbit on. It can cause deformities, sore hocks and other painful foot ailments.

12. Rabbits should be spayed or neutered. When rabbits reach sexual maturity their hormones begin dictating their actions. Grunting, humping, lunging, marking their territory, cage aggression, boxing and nipping are all common unfixed bunny behaviours. Another reason to spay your females? As many as 75% of unspayed females will develop uterine cancer between the age of 2 and 5.

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13. When rabbits jump in the air, twist and kick their heels, it is called a binky.

14. Rabbits are herbivores and should be given access to fresh water and unlimited hay at all times. Their diet should also include a small amount of pellets and fresh vegetables, herbs and/or forage daily.

15. Rabbits, especially those neutered and spayed, can be litter trained.

16. Rabbits require a minimum of 3 hours of free range floor time on a daily basis. The more the better! When they aren’t out playing they should be housed in a pen that allows them to hop at least 3 times from one end of their cage to the other and allow them to stand upright on their hind legs. Additional levels also help keep those back leg muscles good and strong.

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17. A rabbit’s heart beat is 130-135 beats per minute! The normal resting human heart rate can be as low as 60!

18. Rabbits regulate their body temperature through their ears. Lop eared rabbits have a harder time regulating their temperature then rabbit’s who’s ears are erect.

19. When rabbits are content they will grind their teeth together making a purring noise.

20. Rabbits are the third most abandoned animal at shelters. Please adopt, don’t shop.

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FAQ Friday: Your Advice Questions Answered!

Question:

Have you ever heard of a rabbit grinding their teeth? I am worried that I am hurting my rabbit because when I pet him he makes a grinding sound! Is my rabbit okay?

J.

Answer:

Hi J!

You have nothing to worry about! This is actually a sign of contentment in rabbits and is similar to how a cat purrs when they are happy. Your rabbit is making this noise because he is happy you are petting him!

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FAQ Friday: Your Advice Questions Answered!

Question:

Hi BudgetBunny!

Can bunnies have dust baths? I got a rabbit care sheet from a pet store that had a shopping list attached and one of the supplies it recommends is a dust/sand bath.

Thanks!

A.

Answer:

Hi A!

Rabbits are fastidious groomers and are constantly washing themselves. They do not require dust or a bath given by humans to keep clean. In fact giving a bath to your rabbit can be extremely stressful so I wouldn’t recommend it unless it’s absolutely necessary. Generally it is small rodents and chinchillas that use dust or sand to aid in their bathing ritual. Many pet stores add unnecessary items to their shopping lists so you will purchase more from them. The fact that dust is on the list may suggest they are also wrongly classifying rabbits as a rodent. Unfortunately many pet stores sell products that do not actually have the intended pet’s well-being in mind.

Alternatively, some rabbits do enjoy digging in sand. You can purchase play sand from your local hardware store which is perfectly safe for rabbits. Many people create a digging box for their rabbit by filling a container with this sand. Some owners have reported that their rabbit enjoyed a good roll in the sand as well but sand is definitely not a requirement for owning a bunny.

Interesting question!

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How To Bring Your Rabbit Safely Outdoors

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Setting Up Your Rabbit’s Floortime & Bunny Proofing

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FAQ Friday: Your Advice Questions Answered!

Question:

Hi BudgetBunny!

I was just curious about what your use as a hairball treatment for bunnies?

M.

Answer:

Hi M.!

Good question!

Bunnies actually can’t have the normal ‘hairball’ that a cat can have as they don’t have the ability to throw up. Rabbits are fastidious groomers and because of this it’s very important to make sure your bunny always has access to unlimited hay as this is what helps to break down any blockages in your bunnies intestinal track so they can pass it out the other end.

During times when your rabbit is shedding you’ll want to make sure that the cage and water dish are kept especially clean of clumps of excess hair so your rabbit doesn’t ingest any extra. You’ll also want to groom him daily to get rid of most of the excess hair he is shedding. If you notice during shedding season that some of his poos have bits of hair stuck to them you can also try syringing a small amount of all natural, unsweetened pineapple juice to your bun twice a day for a few days. The sugars in the juice should help to further break down the blockages. This shouldn’t be done often as sugars given regularly can cause many other health problems but is okay to use those few times a year bunny is going through big sheds!

Other than giving the bunnies a good brush during shedding season and keeping their cage clean and frequently changing their water I’ve never had to resort to the pineapple juice but it’s good during peak shedding season to keep an eye on how much hay they’re eating and what their poos are looking like!

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How To Tame & Bond With Your Rabbit

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FAQ Friday: Your Advice Questions Answered!

Question:

Hey!

I have a few questions regarding bonding rabbits and I thought you would be the best person to ask!
1. Is it easier to bond a male and female rabbit or two males (fixed of course!)
2. What is the average time it takes for two rabbits to bond?
3. How do you make sure each rabbit gets its proper amount of pellets and veggies?

I hope you can help and thanks for your time!

M.

Answer:

Hi M.

1) In the rabbit community it seems unanimous that a neutered male and a spayed female are the easiest to bond. Same sex pairs can work but tend to be more difficult. A pair of females is considered to be the most difficult however all rabbits just like humans have their own unique personalities. This means you could have the most amazing male rabbit and the sweetest female and they still won’t get along! Frustrating I know!

If you are able to rescue, some rescues will provide a bunny dating service. This is where they will try your rabbit out with different bunnies they think are suitable and bond your bunny for you. That way you’re saving a bunny in need and know that they will get along.

I also find a baby bunny with a fixed older bunny works well as the age difference makes it easy for them to distinguish who is the dominant one. The problem with this is they will start fighting once the baby reaches around 4-6 mos. of age (when they become sexually mature) and will have to be separated until approx. 6-8 weeks after the baby has been fixed. In the meantime they could completely forget about one another and it may not be a successful reintroduction. This is just something to keep in mind.

2) Unfortunately I can’t really give you a timeline on how long it takes to bond bunnies. It can be instant or it could take weeks or it could take months. It really just depends on your bunnies. Honey and Rocky bonded instantly and were sharing floor time together within a week. She was temporarily separated from Rocky when she reached sexual maturity (which caused a few minor disagreements between them) but when we reintroduced them after about 8 weeks post spay they were immediately inseparable.

3) The easiest way to ensure both rabbits who live together are getting enough food is to have a large condo with multiple levels and separate bowls for each bunny to eat out of. This way you can feed them both on different levels, ensuring that they both eat their food/veg when you give it to them. Since I give my rabbits their pellets in limited amounts, they are very eager when dinner time comes around and immediately dive in to their bowls to eat. Stay for a few minutes to watch and observe that both bunnies are eating their food. You can also check in on them periodically throughout the day to make sure you see both of them munching on their hay as well. Another important health check are weekly weigh-ins. Weigh-ins are an excellent way to determine illness but will also ensure neither’s weight is going up or down too much.

I hope that helps!!!!

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FAQ Friday: Your Advice Questions Answered!

Question:

Hi Budget Bunny!!

I have 3 rabbits and 2 of them are show rabbits , I’m sort of confused about what I should feed them as some people tell me to NOT feed my mini lops veggies and hay and to only feed pellets! I don’t know what to do as they say veggies will hurt the rabbits fur for showing? Is that true?? I’m sort of confused on what should I feed my rabbits.

Another thing is that I have a lion head mix rabbit who’s a rescue . She’s a little chubby….well actually really overweight. Any ideas on how to make her a little bit less “fat”?

Thanks a lot,

K.

Answer:

Hi K,

I don’t know anything about showing rabbits but I do know that THE most important part of a rabbit’s diet is hay. Hay should easily make up 85% of your rabbits diet with another 10% coming from dark leafy green vegetables, 4% being pellets and 1% healthy treats.

Hay should be fed in unlimited amounts. Rabbits need to be eating constantly to ensure their digestive system is continuously working otherwise they can risk ailments such as sludge and stasis, which can be deadly to rabbits. Rabbits teeth also never stop growing and hay is the only thing that continuously wears down their back molars which prevents painful ailments like spurs or overgrowth. Your rabbit could literally starve to death from having overgrown teeth that prevent it from eating and chewing.

Pellets are the least important part of a rabbit’s diet. If you are feeding a diet full of pellets it can cause tummy upsets, obesity and again overgrown teeth as pellets do not help your bunnies wear down their back molars. Plus overall, they aren’t very healthy. A 1/4 cup of pellets daily is all a 6 lb bunny needs.

I’m imaging that you’re feeding your lion head mostly pellets which is most likely why she is overweight. Gradually reduce her intake to the recommended amount while giving her unlimited hay and healthy veggies. You should start to see a difference. Rabbits should also have a minimum of 3 hours of floor time to play daily which will help her burn off those extra pounds.

Here are two links to my videos on vegetables and hay that will hopefully help you out!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvTeMpuniXA

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLmaIRKw4TU

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Bales4Bunnies To The Rescue!

Rockyonbale

I knew we were getting low on hay but it didn’t really sink in until I was halfway through my last bin that I only had a few days supply left! Frantic, I contacted Bales4Bunnies to see if we could arrange a delivery ASAP! Luckily for me the bunderful Robyn was more than accommodating and showed up moments after I had filled my bunnies’ hay racks with my last handfuls of hay!

The bunnies are binkying in delight that we now have four wonderfully farm fresh smelling bales of hay to last them over the summer! Phew! That was a close one!

If you’re in the Peterborough area, you should check out their website:

http://bales4bunnies.webs.com/bales4bunnies-products

My bunnies love their hay and you can’t beat the price!

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