It could only happen in our house....
26 February 2006, 08:05 PM
#1
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It could only happen in our house....
Went out for my usual jog Sunday morning.
On the way home across some football fields I spotted a little fluffy bunny hopping across the grass, poor defensless creature, I thought, picked it up and took it back home.
Luckily we had an old rabbit hutch to put it in, in the meantime I went to the local Co-op and put an advert in saying bunny found etc.
Five days have passed and no news of an owner.
Bunny seems to have settled in well, brought it into the conservatory on Tuesday and it did the biggest piddle i`ve ever seen with a tinge on blood in it!
Here we go I thought, the bunny is on its way out.
Went to clean it out today, what did I find, 4 FLIPPIN BABIES!!!!!!!
Just my luck!
They seem to be healthy apart from one runt which had died.
Anyone got advice, how long does mother have them till I can get rid to the local petshop!
On the way home across some football fields I spotted a little fluffy bunny hopping across the grass, poor defensless creature, I thought, picked it up and took it back home.
Luckily we had an old rabbit hutch to put it in, in the meantime I went to the local Co-op and put an advert in saying bunny found etc.
Five days have passed and no news of an owner.
Bunny seems to have settled in well, brought it into the conservatory on Tuesday and it did the biggest piddle i`ve ever seen with a tinge on blood in it!
Here we go I thought, the bunny is on its way out.
Went to clean it out today, what did I find, 4 FLIPPIN BABIES!!!!!!!
Just my luck!
They seem to be healthy apart from one runt which had died.
Anyone got advice, how long does mother have them till I can get rid to the local petshop!
26 February 2006, 08:08 PM
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you may well find that as you've disturbed the mother she'll eat the babies
don't forget she'll need plenty of extra food now
they need to stay with her for 6 weeks i would imagine...
don't forget she'll need plenty of extra food now
they need to stay with her for 6 weeks i would imagine...
26 February 2006, 08:28 PM
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The House Rabbit Society is quite a good resource - there are some articles here : http://www.rabbit.org/care/index.html
To quote from one of the articles :
Rabbits are not prone to cannibalism, as many people think. Cannibalism is an occasional result of a stillborn litter, and this is nature's way of cleaning up the "mistake." The activity and noisy squeaking of healthy babies trigger the "maternal instincts."
So all being well, mummy rabbit shouldn't eat the live babies.
Hope all goes well with them.
To quote from one of the articles :
Rabbits are not prone to cannibalism, as many people think. Cannibalism is an occasional result of a stillborn litter, and this is nature's way of cleaning up the "mistake." The activity and noisy squeaking of healthy babies trigger the "maternal instincts."
So all being well, mummy rabbit shouldn't eat the live babies.
Hope all goes well with them.
26 February 2006, 09:34 PM
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Can you not try and find homes for them instead of sending them to a pet shop? Advertise on the rabbit forums or enquire at the local animal shelter? If you have to go the pet shop route do you have any garden centres locally that sell rabbits instead of your town based pet shops? Garden centre pet shops seem to be cleaner and the animals cared for better.
Baby rabbits should stay with the mother until at least 7 weeks of age. They will also need different food to the mother, pellet being best for both mother and babies when they reach a few weeks old. Try to stay away from the food mixes as these arn't good for them as they pick and leave so don't get a balanced diet. The pellet has various varieties from pellet for baby/young rabbits to normal pellet for adult rabbits to low fat pellet for your fat greedy over weight rabbits.
They will also need plenty of hay for bedding and for eating and if you can get some forage this will also be very good for them.
Good luck with caring for them and good to see someone so responsible and not just ignoring the animal in the first place or getting rid of as soon as you found out it had babies.
Can you post some pics up when they are a bit bigger so we can see what breed they are?
Oh and you may find no one claims it as they might have let it run free having found out it was pregnant. It couldn't have been free long as domestic bunnies arn't as resourceful or as tough as your wild bunny and would be easy prey for the first fox or cat that came across it.
If you get any questions just ask, me and the Mrs have got 3 house rabbits and there are a few people on here who keep house rabbits too
Here is a useful forum http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/tam/
Baby rabbits should stay with the mother until at least 7 weeks of age. They will also need different food to the mother, pellet being best for both mother and babies when they reach a few weeks old. Try to stay away from the food mixes as these arn't good for them as they pick and leave so don't get a balanced diet. The pellet has various varieties from pellet for baby/young rabbits to normal pellet for adult rabbits to low fat pellet for your fat greedy over weight rabbits.
They will also need plenty of hay for bedding and for eating and if you can get some forage this will also be very good for them.
Good luck with caring for them and good to see someone so responsible and not just ignoring the animal in the first place or getting rid of as soon as you found out it had babies.
Can you post some pics up when they are a bit bigger so we can see what breed they are?
Oh and you may find no one claims it as they might have let it run free having found out it was pregnant. It couldn't have been free long as domestic bunnies arn't as resourceful or as tough as your wild bunny and would be easy prey for the first fox or cat that came across it.
If you get any questions just ask, me and the Mrs have got 3 house rabbits and there are a few people on here who keep house rabbits too
Here is a useful forum http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/tam/
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26 February 2006, 11:57 PM
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Yes very easy. All 3 of ours use their litter trays for doing all their business in. The only issue is when they get the ar$e over something and decide to pick up the litter tray (which is very heavy when full of litter and more so when peed on) and chuck it across their cage 
Just make sure it has a litter tray from the day you get it home. Ours go back in their cages to urinate when they are out for a run. They arn't so thoughtful when dropping turds but then its only chewed up hay mostly and a dry hard ball so easy to pick up or hoover after they have been out. One of mine is sitting next to me on the sofa now watching telly as the Mrs is away and he is making the most of it One thing you will learn if you get a house rabbit is what characters they become. All 3 of ours are very different in character and are a perfect replacement for not being able to have a dog in the house. Oh and another thing, get them a soft toy to keep in their cage. It gives them something to cuddle upto and something to **** the living daylights out of until they have been chopped from after 6 months of age.
What breed are you thinking of getting?
Just make sure it has a litter tray from the day you get it home. Ours go back in their cages to urinate when they are out for a run. They arn't so thoughtful when dropping turds but then its only chewed up hay mostly and a dry hard ball so easy to pick up or hoover after they have been out. One of mine is sitting next to me on the sofa now watching telly as the Mrs is away and he is making the most of it One thing you will learn if you get a house rabbit is what characters they become. All 3 of ours are very different in character and are a perfect replacement for not being able to have a dog in the house. Oh and another thing, get them a soft toy to keep in their cage. It gives them something to cuddle upto and something to **** the living daylights out of until they have been chopped from after 6 months of age.What breed are you thinking of getting?
Last edited by Bravo2zero_sps; 27 February 2006 at 12:01 AM.
27 February 2006, 12:06 AM
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If you are going to have one as a houserabbit AB, get a big one. They are much better suited to it. Until they are about 1.5yo expect chewed carpet and wallpaper if you don't keep an eye on them lol
27 February 2006, 09:20 AM
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Originally Posted by **************
The only issue is when they get the ar$e over something and decide to pick up the litter tray (which is very heavy when full of litter and more so when peed on) and chuck it across their cage
27 February 2006, 10:02 AM
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Its true, they are strong little bu**ers when they want to be, I used to weight the tray down with 2 5Kg weights at one end and also had 10 cm blocks screwed to the run floor to prevent them trying to move it, but still our male occasionally managed to drag it across the run and attenpt to turn it over. How he never swashed himself I will never know.
Daz
Oh, and the male was the smallest of the 3 we had.
Daz
Oh, and the male was the smallest of the 3 we had.
27 February 2006, 10:40 AM
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Ours hadn't used a tray when we got him and was already 3 years old so that was a lost cause.
He still pees in his cage, though, except when he's in a strop (after a visit to the vet or a bath, for example) when he'll deliberately pee on a chair. Or a bed if he can get upstairs.
He chews cables though (touch wood) he's OK with furniture.
Oh, and he picks up his ceramic food bowl and throws it around his cage. He's als taken to pulling the newspaper out from under the straw in his cage and spreading that around...
3kg of bunny with attitude. He's great
SB
He still pees in his cage, though, except when he's in a strop (after a visit to the vet or a bath, for example) when he'll deliberately pee on a chair. Or a bed if he can get upstairs.
He chews cables though (touch wood) he's OK with furniture.
Oh, and he picks up his ceramic food bowl and throws it around his cage. He's als taken to pulling the newspaper out from under the straw in his cage and spreading that around...
3kg of bunny with attitude. He's great
SB
Bloody hell mate you're brave! I would not attempt to bath any of our 3, they would rip the **** out of me! Its bad enough just trying to pick them up, their nails are like razor blades and teeth like a sabre tooth tiger
27 February 2006, 11:00 AM
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Mine are friendly little fockers, except the boy when is in his cage. Other than that you can manhandle them as u please.
The boy will also play - tap your hand at him on the floor and he runs and pounces with front paws and then bounces off sideways with a silly look on his face.
The boy will also play - tap your hand at him on the floor and he runs and pounces with front paws and then bounces off sideways with a silly look on his face.
27 February 2006, 11:08 AM
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Ours do that as well, they just have an extreme dislike of being picked up off the floor where they turn into something out of a horror movie lol
To say they like to do what they want do do is an understatement. They don't get invited onto the sofa, its a case of if they want a kip on the sofa then they will kip on the sofa like it or not
To say they like to do what they want do do is an understatement. They don't get invited onto the sofa, its a case of if they want a kip on the sofa then they will kip on the sofa like it or not
27 February 2006, 11:37 AM
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LOL, And I thought it was just ours that objected to being picked up. I have more "rabbit jumpers" (ones with holes ) than I have others.
Our 1st female used to love licking my hands and face too - to the point that if you moved she went off in a strop
Bath - more than my lifes worth to even show them the bath, never mind try to get one of them in it
Daz
Our 1st female used to love licking my hands and face too - to the point that if you moved she went off in a strop
Bath - more than my lifes worth to even show them the bath, never mind try to get one of them in it
Daz
Obedience is not one of their strong points.
27 February 2006, 02:33 PM
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Ill keep her if she not aggressive.
Seems pretty placid after the ordeal.
We were thinking about a bunny in the summer for our daughter anyway.
Such a shame I didnt know she was pregnant and disturbed the nest, little sods were growing really quick, overnight it seemed they had developed little claws.
Isnt nature strange.
Seems pretty placid after the ordeal.
We were thinking about a bunny in the summer for our daughter anyway.
Such a shame I didnt know she was pregnant and disturbed the nest, little sods were growing really quick, overnight it seemed they had developed little claws.
Isnt nature strange.