***HadleyS*** (DDs mentioned)

LDW80

My DDs got bunnies for Easter from their Aunt and Uncle.  I went to get them out of the hutch today to take them to show my DDs kindergarten class and when I saw one of the bunnies sitting by the door I immediately thought of you and your Siggy pictures.  Just thought I would share.  I think I am on here way too much

HadleyS

Awwww, they are too cute!  If you have any questions about raising them, just let me know, I am happy to help any time. 

I will definitely tell you this, although since you have children I doubt you will have trouble here:  if you want them to be "lap rabbits"  then start holding them right now while they are still bunnies.  Our rabbits weren't held enough when they were bunnies (they didn't like it, so we just let them roam when they are out of their cages, so they lay around and act like cats!).  Anyway, it's VERY difficult for us to try to hold them, even our vet can't do it, so start early!

LDW80

oooh, good to know.  I do notice that when we hold them they are pretty good for the most part but then they get kind of crazy.  I am new at this bunny owning thing (have only had dogs) so I will probably have lots of questions for you. 

I have heard that you can train bunnies to pee/poop in a litter box.  Is that true?  Not that I plan on doing that.  I guess you can train any animal to pee where you want it too (unless it is my yorkie.  He just pees where he feels like it...grrrr!)

What are your bunnies names?  My DD's named them Snickers (the caramel one) and Oreo (the black and white one.  Althought my 3 year old named hers Tinkerbell but my 6 year old calls it Oreo).

We did let them roam in our DDs' room and luckily we had the door shut because they were CRAZY and we were running around the room trying to catch them.  It was pretty funny.

 

HadleyS

LDW80:

oooh, good to know.  I do notice that when we hold them they are pretty good for the most part but then they get kind of crazy.  I am new at this bunny owning thing (have only had dogs) so I will probably have lots of questions for you. 

I have heard that you can train bunnies to pee/poop in a litter box.  Is that true?  Not that I plan on doing that.  I guess you can train any animal to pee where you want it too (unless it is my yorkie.  He just pees where he feels like it...grrrr!)

What are your bunnies names?  My DD's named them Snickers (the caramel one) and Oreo (the black and white one.  Althought my 3 year old named hers Tinkerbell but my 6 year old calls it Oreo).

We did let them roam in our DDs' room and luckily we had the door shut because they were CRAZY and we were running around the room trying to catch them.  It was pretty funny.

 

Absolutely you can!  Go to petco or petsmart and they have special litter boxes for rabbits.  We have two in our rabbits' cages...I will take a pic of my set up for you sometime next and put it one here.  There is also special littler because you can't use cat litter.  I use something called "yesterday's news".  It's finely ground and compressed newspaper pellets.  Using the litter boxes makes clean up in cages so so easy.

This is how you train them.  You will begin to notice (if you haven't already) that the rabbits will tend to favor a corner of the cage and poop/pee there.  That's where you put the litter box.  Outside the cage, they will do the same thing.  They will favor a particular corner in your house or in a room and you put the box there.  We had to sort of "train" our rabbits into liking a corner that was less visable to guests.

Other notes: 

It's okay for bunnies to have alfalfa (sp?) hay, but after they get older, they need timothy hay.  Also, when they get older, you can give them timothy pellets instead of ones that have alfalfa in them, but hay is more important than pellets for both bunnies and rabbits.

Rabbits like to chew baseboards, buy the wooden chew toys at the pet store!  Also, my rabbits actually LIKED the bitter apple that we srayed on the boards, so that didn't help us, but it might help you.  You could try a towel dampened with a little bit of white vinegar, but be careful not to ruin your paint.

Rabbits can get behind and under ANYTHING.  You know that dresser that you got from your grandmother with the decorative curvy bottom?  They can get under that! 

Since they can get behing anything, protect your rabbits from all of the TV cables and cords....yes they can get back there no matter how close your entertainment system is to the wall.  We have to sort of "raise up" a lot of lamp cords too.  It's certainly not safe for the rabbits, and it takes miliseconds for them to do $$$$ this much damage to electronic equipment.  We have to block the sides of our entertainment center with boxes/whatever will work.

Rabbits chew/pull up carpet.  Haven't figured out how to stop that from happening, I just run over and pick them up away from the spot they are chewing.  Those spots tend to be in corners as well or where doors are closed (kind of a corner).

I hope I didn't deter you from wanting these, they just require a lot of care.  They are really sweet animals, and once they get to know you and love you, they will follow you around all over the place and run around you in circles for treats.   Dry Quaker oats and raisins are a pretty good treat every now and then.

 

LDW80

I noticed the bunnies "shred" their pellet food. It is weird. Also is it ok for them to eat spinach? They DIG it. They are in a pretty nice size hutch we keep in the garage. Do they need like a blanket or something to keep them warm or do they stay pretty warm?