It is a good morning that I don’t wake up to one or two panicked emails from bunny owners who have rabbits who are dying and they are seeking advice from me. Don’t get me wrong, I want to help people all I can, especially rabbits in dire need. It is just very hard to not think about some poor defenseless bunny at the mercy of someone thousands of miles away who may or may not take my advice.
Most often, I have to tell them to simply find and take their bunny to a rabbit specialist vet. Almost always, they have never visited a vet before and most certainly not a rabbit specialist. I know that many areas are not blessed with a plethora of vets who are trained to work with rabbits, but part of having a pet bunny is at least knowing where the nearest vet is located, should you ever need to see him in an emergency. When minutes count, do you want to spend a few hours trying to found out where it is you will have to go with your bunny.
The harsh reality is that every day a pet bunny somewhere gets in trouble and needs help from his human. Often, whether or not the little guy survives depends on how long before the owner notices that something is wrong and how he reacts. Our reaction will usually depend on the knowledge that we have about bunnies and the resources available at the time. Many rabbit vets do not work on weekends and so what do you do if your bunny is in distress late Saturday night? I have had this happen several times, myself.
If you are reading this blog, then you obviously have the internet available and that can be a wonderful thing. There is a wealth of information on tap there, but beware of some advice you may find. Finding a factoid posted more than once does not mean that much, since often the same misinformation has been copied and pasted from one website to another. Still, most of the time you will be getting good information, which in an emergency can be better than nothing.
Understanding that being desperate for some answers about what to do in an emergency leads to me receiving dozens of letters each week from distressed bunny lovers about their pets. Often, I can respond that most likely there is nothing to worry about, such as the myriad of emails I get from people the first time their bunny does some bright red or orange pee (I probably get that one once a week… haha). Other times I lose sleep worrying about the fate of some bunny whom I am sure was barely hanging on when their owner wrote me. With the popularity of Facebook amongst bunny lovers these days, I get even more amazing communications.
It is a good thing, since it means that we are slowly getting our message of rabbit education out there to the public, but it is also a double edged sword. When you put yourself out there like I do, you get lots of the horrible “dead bunny” stories, too. It is hard not to think about some of them and usually after my reply, I rarely hear back from the person about what happened. When I do, it is never good news, so it is one of those “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” situations.
Really, the only way that hundreds of rabbits are not going to continue to die every day from the “stupid owner syndrome” (don’t worry, we have all had it) is to educate the masses. When it becomes common knowledge how to properly keep a pet rabbit, most of these saddening emails will stop. Stories like my neighbor’s dog just ate my rabbit to my rabbit stopped eating two days ago are virtually all from lack of common knowledge. With rabbits, a little prevention goes a long way to avoiding these kind of sad stories.
So go ahead and please do write me or post in my blog. I will do what I can to help you and possibly even help you save your bunny, but please don’t wait until it is too late and your bunny is on death’s doorstep to do so. I am here to help you.
The Bunny Guy
the hay you send with your book, does it contain alfalfa?
That hay is pure orchard grass. I don’t have it listed on the site for sale, yet. I have been ill the past couple weeks and have not been able to update on the site with the new hay. My “kids” LOVE LOVE LOVE that stuff. They act as if it was a treat like a cookie.
I have sent you a couple of emails. Have you received them?
The Bunny Guy
i have a doubt… my girl rabbit having 1 month is not well from 2 days…
she was very active and charming these days.. but now seems to be very tired.
her left ear could not be supported by her.it seems to be folded and hair near to the ear is slightly wet.. i thought it might be usual. but she is not surviving this condition. and now my boy rabbit is also having this problem. is it due to some infection or something like that..??? from two days my cute pets are not well. could you please suggest some measures..
Hi Honey
I am so sorry to hear that your pet bunny is not feeling well.
You should take that rabbit to the vet because I cannot tell online what is wrong, but when you think your rabbit is sick, he definitely is. They try and hide that they are sick from us. If you have the feeling that the bunny is sick, then usually you are correct.
I would try and find a vet to look at him as soon as possible.
Stephan
The Bunny Guy
How terrible to hear these heartbreaking stories! I don’t truly understand it myself. Why would you not read every single book in the world about your future pet before bringing them home? Why wouldn’t you have a list of every rabbit or small animal specialist in the area, and a few normal vets for emergencies when the special vet is closed? Why why why? I guess it’s different personalities, and upbringings. Some people may casually adopt pets, but I didn’t have a pet as a child, so I felt like I had to learn twice as much as everyone else to be on the same page and feel like a real pet owner. And now I give advice to other bunny lovers, like you do. What a thing!
Hey there, I was wondering if I could get some help, there’s so many questions I have on how to take care of my bunnies. I own a pair of the most beautiful albino bunnies. Problem is, I don’t know how old they are, I know they’re adults. I’ve heard that rabbits reproduce a lot and I’m kinda lookin forward to babies, I just don’t know how to know for sure if she’s pregnant or not. But yeah, she’s gotten huge and her appetite has doubled since she won’t let her partner eat his half of the food, I feed them spinach, mint leaves, apples and other leaves and veggies. Problem is, no matter how much I feed them, they’ll still munch on the newspaper. And I don’t know how to stop them. Another thing I’m really worried about is that a few days ago, I let them wander around for a while in my room and they started nibbling on the leftover chicken pizza and ended up finishing the whole thing, please tell me that’s alright, I don’t see their health deteriorating in any way though. Also I’d like to know how often I need to feed them and the amount of food I need to give.
Looking forward to getting some help. Soon.
Hi
I feel that you need to learn a lot more about rabbits before you start trying to breed them. They are not good pets unless they are spayed and neutered, so if you are planning on having these as pets, that is critical. If you are planning on raising them as farm rabbits, then you are asking the wrong person for advice. I have never bred or had a litter of rabbits and only have experience working at the shelters with newborns.
The short answer to your questions is yes, yes and yes. Pizza and human food is toxic to rabbits. Not getting females rabbits spayed is also very detrimental to their health if you are planning on keeping them as pets. Eating newspaper is good for them and it means that they need more fiber in their diet.
80+ percent of your rabbit’s diet should be grass hays (not pellets, not alfalfa). Two large white New Zealand rabbits can eat A LOT of hay each week. Probably between 5-10 lbs worth. Too many pellets are harmful to pet rabbits and so are too many veggies.
Fruit is bad for rabbits because it causes fatty liver disease or tooth issues if too much is given. Too much is more than a sliver each day.
As you can see, you have a lot to learn and if you love these bunnies, I recommend that you start learning this stuff immediately because time is running out for them. It sounds like one is already pregnant and now you not only need to learn how to care for two adults but babies, too. They eat different things and they will eventually need to be spayed and neutered, as well.
So I have a pet bunny. I’m not sure how old he is maybe 7 or 8 months. He is my first pet bunny. I’m very woried about him. This morning he swallowed a piece af a balloon. I tried to get it out of his mouth but did not sucseed. He went on being as crazy as always, he is eating and drinking water and his poop looks normal. I know that if the balloon does not come out he is not going to make it. How do I get the balloon out of his system?? I can’t afford to take him to a vet.
Keep feeding him lots of hay and water. If the balloon was swallowed it has to pass through. If it does not, then the bunny may get sick.
A question? I have a Holland Lop wanna be , ha. He is neutered and about 10mnts old. Have had him since bout 2mnts. old. He has never been caged,lives in house w/us,travels w/me (in carrier,in my truck). I spend allot of time w/him butt he is my only rabbit. Want to make sure he is happy being solo and also how long do domestic rabbits keep learning tricks,our behaviour,etc. He does seem to be happy, he binky’s, soooo cute. Actually just starting to do more of that. Just want to make sure he is a happy solo pet. Thank u
If you are new with rabbits, it pays to do a lot of study and homework about them. When it comes to rabbits, it is what you don’t know that ends up hurting them. That is why I wrote my book, so that more people can get a complete guide to caring for their new pet.
Diet and medical care are the two areas that should be studied the most. They make the biggest difference in their quality of life and lifespan.
Rabbits can be extremely happy as a solo pet if you are interacting with them all the time the way that you do. Their intelligence is amazing and when you treat them this way, they become very smart and interactive. I can tell you are enjoying your new bunny and so I encourage you to spend some time for his sake to learn as much as you can about rabbits. You cannot learn it by the seat of your pants and it will take years before you feel like you are beginning to understand them, but the sooner you start the sooner you will reach that point.
Meanwhile, locate yourself a good rabbit specialist vet and form a relationship with him. It is impossible to have a pet and never need medical care. When you are starting out, you will make more mistakes and need it more often. Find the vet now before you need him/her. Best to not be scrambling around trying to find a vet when it is a matter of life and death.
If you need help finding a good vet, please let me know. There are way to locate these vets online.
The Bunny Guy
Hello. I found your blogs very helpfull. But I have one question no one seems to truly know the answer to. My snowflake loves carrots and I was always told carrots are good for there eyes. Her being albino I feed her at least 3 shaved baby carrots a day. I was recently told that carrots are not good for them. Is this true? I don’t want to feed her anything that may hurt her.
Sorry I meant I shave up 3 baby carrots a day for her.
Carrots are very sugary and high in carbs and calories. They are like ice cream to a rabbit. Whether three baby carrots is too many depends on how big the baby carrots are in relation to the size of your bunny. Remember, you told me that you do this every day, so think about it like this.
If she got a couple of extra calories from carrots ONE DAY, it would not make much difference. Having a few too many carrots every day for weeks and then months will eventually add up to obesity and health problems. It just takes a few per day to add up over the years.
I would recommend either one of two approaches. I would either only give ONE baby carrot per day if you want a daily treat or I would give the three carrots only once or twice a week. Both approaches would lessen the total number of calories that your bunny would get in the long haul. That is what you are trying to do. I fear that three carrots per day is too much per day for all but the largest of bunnies.
Shortly after I posted my questions I read up on carrots and found out about them being so sugary.so we switched to one baby carrot once a week. thank you so much for your advice and help.