Taking in a New Bunny Tonight! First time I’ve owned one, what’s everything I need to know to care for him properly?
13 thoughts on “Taking in a New Bunny Tonight! First time I’ve owned one, what’s everything I need to know to care for him properly?”
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Congrats on the new addition to the family! If this is your first pet rabbit and you haven’t seen it already, be sure to check out [our sidebar](https://www.reddit.com/r/Rabbits/about/sidebar) and the [Getting Started](https://bunny.tips/Getting_Started) guide and [New Rabbit Owner Primer](https://bunny.tips/New_Rabbit_Owner_Primer). The article [“Helping Rabbits Succeed in Their Adoptive Home”](https://spring2019.iaabcjournal.org/setting-everybunny-up-for-success-3/) is also a great resource on how to build a relationship with your new rabbit.
Don’t bathe your bunny, make sure there’s always water and hay available, bunny-proof your home, don’t keep your bunny in a cage !!!! Good luck 🙂
They like soft floors under their feet or they can develop sores and infections, so make sure the area has a carpet or a rug or something.
Don’t leave any wires exposed. Not even for a moment
Feed them LOTS of hay, some greens and only minimal pellets / treats. Not enough unadulterated hay is usually the biggest mistake people make.
Give them a water bowl, not a bottle. Rabbits drink more than a dog.
Read up on what plants / foods are poisonous (eg they can’t eat any chocolate).
Never bathe them.
Don’t leave your Guineas and bun alone. Ever. They’ve been known to fight and it’s not pretty.
Protect all wires!
I have a bun that looks exactly like that!!! There’s so cute~~ for anyone reading this, does anyone know what the breed of this bunny is?? I adopted my bun Blackberry 4 months ago and still don’t know what type of bun she is😂
Bunnies themselves don’t smell bad at all, so in terms of bathing it shouldn’t even be needed, and like another person commented it’s actually dangerous. They can be litter box trained really well, especially when they’re spayed/neutered cause then they won’t leave territorial poops anymore either. If you make sure to clean the litter box every few days there shouldn’t be any smell from that either. Also put the hay above the litterbox with a rack of some sorts. You can put it inside as well but I prefer not too as you’ll create a lot of hay waste. Bunnies love to do their business while nomming on hay. As for the litterbox, I use a paper based bedding. The brand I use is back2nature paper bedding. You can just get an open cat litterbox with a low edge. Don’t buy the ones branded towards bunnies, they are way too small and probably won’t even use them due to the size.
As for food I already mentioned hay, they need 24/7 access to hay at all times just like their water. The reason for this is that a bunny needs to eat throughout the day. If they stop eating their digestive system shuts down and they’ll go into something called GI stasis. The rest of their diet consists of 25grams of pellets per 1kilo gram of body weight. You can easily calculate that by doing 25 x the weight in kilos. So bun of 1.5kilo is 25×1.5= 37.5grams of pellets. Don’t give them any mixed pellets, those are basically just fast foods and really unhealthy. Look into brands such as Oxbow and Science Selective. These two brands have pellets that are high in fiber and are great for your bunnies health, because bunnies have a very sensitive digestive system. So the better quality food the better health they’ll have. For vegetables it usually is 50-100grams per weight in kilo, however it just really depends on how your bunny reacts to it. You should always introduce vegetables slowly as they can get runny poop from it if it’s introduced too fast. Also if he’s just to it and you give to much veggies you’ll notice a change in poop too, which is why the guideline of 50-100grams is so broad, bc it depends per bunny.
Speaking of poops, you can often see your bunnies health in their poops. There are whole guides about it if you Google “bunny poops”. For example if a bunny stops eating they also stop pooping, which is a bad sign and requires a vet visit at all times. Small poops also have their own meaning so to speak. If there are only a few small poops and then the rest of the poops are normal, your bunny probably got scared of something. Stress can also affect their digestive tract so the spook probably caused it to slow down for a little bit. If there are many small poops with no change it means your bunny is getting into the GI stasis I mentioned before, so the stopping of their digestive tract. These are just a few example on bunny poops but there are many more. Also look into cecotropes. Those are small poops bunches together kinda grape looking and your bunny will eat them. They contain left over nutrients and are eating so the bun can absorb those nutrients.
I already typed up a whole bunch of info so I’ll leave it at this for now. But if you have questions ofc feel free to ask!
Lots of snuggles
Feed her nothing from the cabbage family…it will make her sick as bunnies can’t fart. I give mine banana, apple and variety of grasses and leaves, and a bit of oats
Breed-wise, looks like a havana.
Yay!!! Thanks for taking him in and best of luck to you. I find all most bunny’s need is good pellets, Timothy hay, fresh water, and lots and lots of love. Everything else tends to fall into place
If u free roam, no cable, trim, or carpet is safe from chewing. I lost my bun to GI stasis cuz he ate through my comforter while i was at work. Bunny proofing is key
Beautiful bun! The fur and shape make me think Rex/Mini Rex depending on size