Looking after pet rabbit - advice!

jester77

Hi,
A friend left me with her pet rabbit while she has gone on hols for 2 weeks. She told me a few things but I'm not sure if everything is ok. The rabbit is male, about 4.5 years, looks overweight and she has him on a diet. He lives in a pen/cage which is about 2.5 feet by 4 feet, has a flooring of newspaper covered in straw and a type of basket with kitty litter.

I will have the rabbit for 2 weeks so I've a few questions.

How often should I clean out his cage and how do you clean a rabbit? Is putting him in the bath and showering him ok?

What should he be eating, how much and how often? He loves lettuce and no matter how much you put in he seems to eat it all straight away. Doesn't seem to like carrots too much. In the past 2 days he's only eaten about a third of a carrot. There will be no one in the apt from 8:30 until 6pm during the week, so I'm a little concerned that it might be too long to leave him without food (as he eats all the lettuce straight off and ignores that carrots). Plus he hasn't drank any water since he arrived, is this normal?

Also, I let him out of his pen at the weekend but it didn't go too well. As I was lifting him he tensed up and started shivering. I put him on the floor and he ran back into the corner where his pen is. Would I be best just leaving him in his pen for the 2 weeks, he seemed a little frightened and didn't like the wooden floors too much.

Thanks!

Nala

jester77 wrote:

How often should I clean out his cage and how do you clean a rabbit? Is putting him in the bath and showering him ok?

His owner should really have told you this. You don't need to wash a rabbit. The only time I've ever put water on mine was during the summer when it was 25'C because he was roasting.

jester77 wrote:

His owner has him on a diet. What should he be eating, how much and how often? He loves lettuce and no matter how much you put in he seems to eat it all straight away. Doesn't seem to like carrots too much. In the past 2 days he's only eaten about a third of a carrot.

Did she put him on this diet herself? A diet purely of lettuce is no good, especially iceberg lettuce. Lettuce is mostly water and can give diahhorea (sp?). He is probably getting **** all nutrition. He should be on a complete dry rabbit food and also hay (not straw), apples and the odd carrot. His owner should know this, this is really basic.

jester77 wrote:

There will be no one in the apt from 8:30 until 6pm during the week, so I'm a little concerned that it might be too long to leave him without food (as he eats all the lettuce straight off and ignores that carrots). Plus he hasn't drank any water since he arrived, is this normal?

If he's only eating lettuce he won't need as much water.

jester77 wrote:

Also, I let him out of his pen at the weekend but it didn't go too well. As I was lifting him he tensed up and started shivering. I put him on the floor and he ran back into the corner where his pen is. Would I be best just leaving him in his pen for the 2 weeks, he seemed a little frightened and didn't like the wooden floors too much.

He just needs to get used to you. Rabbits don't get on too well on wooden floors because they have no pads on their feet so have not got much grip and tend to slip and slide a bit.

Really surprised the owner didn't even tell you how much to feed him. What did she tell you? Very unfair of her to give him to you and not explain everything to you.

jester77

Thanks Nala!

Nala wrote:

His owner should really have told you this. You don't need to wash a rabbit. The only time I've ever put water on mine was during the summer when it was 25'C because he was roasting.

I was told that the cage just needs to be cleaned out once a week but she never mentioned anything about cleaning the rabbit. Don't know anything about rabbits so I thought you might have to wash them. Good to know! I have a brush for brushing his fur but I think that's more for the pleasure of the rabbit

Nala wrote:

Did she put him on this diet herself? A diet purely of lettuce is no good, especially iceberg lettuce. Lettuce is mostly water and can give diahhorea (sp?). He is probably getting **** all nutrition. He should be on a complete dry rabbit food and also hay (not straw), apples and the odd carrot. His owner should know this, this is really basic.

I don't know if she put her on this diet. He is very big though. I do have some hay, thought this was just for his bedding So I'll start feeding him that, there is also some dried banana's coated in honey. Not sure if this is a treat or if it's nutritious for him?

Nala wrote:

If he's only eating lettuce he won't need as much water.

Good to know, was a little worried he wasn't drinking!

Nala wrote:

He just needs to get used to you. Rabbits don't get on too well on wooden floors because they have no pads on their feet so have not got much grip and tend to slip and slide a bit.

Really surprised the owner didn't even tell you how much to feed him. What did she tell you? Very unfair of her to give him to you and not explain everything to you.

She told me to feed him a few times a day and to clean out his cage once a week. She also said to let him out for a run around every 2 or 3 days. She left iceberg lettuce, carrots, hay and dried bananas with me to feed him.

Sigma Force

Omg that owner needs to read a book or three on rabbit care.
Thank god you are there looking after him and can mabey have the owner make some changes.

Never ever feed a rabbit iceberg lettuce, in fact take him off lettuce altogether before he ends up with bloat, runny poos or god knows what.
Romain lettuce is fine for rabbits in small amounts but tbh I wouldn't feeed a rabbit lettuce at all.
Please throw the iceberg lettuce in the bin.

A rabbits diet MUST consist of the following.

Good quality fresh mould free dry hay.
Fresh water from a drip feed bottle.
Fresh fruits of vegetables (more veg than fruit).
Avoid salt and mineral licks.
A good quality rabbit mix just a small amount Burgess Rabbit food is a better one.

Safe fruit and veg include, carrot, apple, cauliflower, pear, grapes, cabbage(not too much), brocolli.

The rabbit needs to be let out daily that pen is too small for any rabbit.
The reason the rabbit is fat is because he is not getting enough space to run around rather than his diet.

Throw away the honey coated banana as well, too much sugar not good for rabbits weight or teeth. Avoid shop bought treats. Fresh grass picked away from roadsides and that hasn't been treated with chemicals or peed on by dogs is the perfect treat for a rabbit. Also Burgess do a dried grass as well that makes a nice treat mixed in with the hay.

Do not bath the rabbit, it would stress him out too much and he could get a chill and end up with pneumonia. Get a soft baby brush or rabbit brush and brush his hair out.

You need to spot clean the cage daily, rabbits can easily be litter trained. Put a mini cat litter box in the corner he most likes to pee in, put some newspaper in it (no hay) and he should start using it, this will make cleaning for you easier.

Until he is litter trained he needs to be cleaned out daily.

Put a carpet runner or something on the floor so he doesn't slip and hurt himself. Make sure when he is out he can't get at cables etc. Rabbits can climb as well so keep chewable dangerous things out of reach.
If possible leave the cage open, if he is nervous then how about leaving it open at night time to start with.
He will come out when he is ready. Since you only have him for 2 weeks it may take longer.

Most importantly have a word with the owner as well if they have any questions about rabbit care they can e-mail guineapigrescue123@eircom.net

Hope this helps.

jester77

Thanks Guineapigrescue, that's very helpful!

The poor rabbit Will have to get him some proper food this evening. All he's been eating is the lettuce since the weekend, hope the little guy is ok!

Nala

well its good to see you're willing to learn how to look after him properly cos his owner doesn't seem to have much idea at all... i'm surprised she didnt tell you to feed him meat!!!!!

Sigma Force

That's great, btw I see it says you're in Hamburg? If that's where the bunny is and the owner deceides they don't want him I do know of a place in Hildesheim that takes in the occasional rabbit. Or if the owner just wants advice from them.

jester77

Thanks for that info! Was reading up on rabbits last night, didn't realise how bad iceberg lettuce was, worst thing to feed the little guy Will have a word with his owner when she's back from hols.

Got him some rabbit mix, hay, brocolli, apples and kohlrabi (with leaves).
Gave him some rabbit mix (2 tablespoons), hay, leaf from the kohlrabi and 2 small slices yesterday evening and the same again this morning. Didn't seem to take to hay too much but he ate the rest. If I give him this twice a day, 8:30 + 18:00, would that be enough for him or too much?

Will introduce him to brocolli and apple later in the week.

Nala

that sounds much better. i dont know what kolhrabi is though. be sure to let him out to run around because that's why he's overweight. do you have a photo of him in his enclosure? it sounds small.

i hope the owner listens to you because it sounds like the rabbit was very undernourished if he was living on iceberg lettuce.

Sigma Force

When you say the owner had him on a diet of lettuce only did she include hay or did she just strictly have him on the lettuce?
If so his digestive tract could be ina right state.

I would advise that you actually give him just the smallest amount of veg or fruit for the moment, 1/4 of an apple or two small pieces of broccoli or half a carrot etc. Because basically if he's filling up on veg he might not be so fond of the hay but the hay is the most important thing for him to eat. Rabbits require an unlimited supply of hay to keep their gut moving, if their gut isn't moving in good order they can become very ill and die very quickly.
2 tablespoons of the dry mix is grand for now though once he looses some weight and gets more excercise it can be up to 1/2 a cup depending on the size of him etc.

Rabbits will eat about their own size in hay a day you can never feed them too much hay just like with guinea pigs they must have it always there they browse just like say a horse would.

Veg is important but pet rabbits aren't that far removed from wild rabbits diet wise so it's important to keep their diet as natural as possible. Since grass isn't always available hay is the next best thing.

You're doing a great job though sounds like he's in good hands.

Nala

its a shame the OP isn't his owner

Sigma Force

Sure is a shame, th eop would make a great bunny slave. But you never know some people will change the way they care for their pet with a bit of advice. Sometimes other people and pet shops give new pet owners the wrong advice and the new owners don't know any better.

ixoy

I'll also say don't give him too much lettuce (or cabbage for that matter). I've cared for a number of rabbits over a period of a decade and they're a great treat for the rabbit now and then but a terrible die otherwise (and yes, on occasion, the rabbit got diarrhea).

Most posters have covered other matters but just ensure that the hay, if used as bedding, is topped up if there's a cold spell. Our rabbits tended to mash it down and thus ruined any sort of nesting effect it gave.

Our man in Havana

Never ever ever feed iceburg lettuce to ANY pet it can kill them! Lettuce is not good for bunnies my lot have carrots with the green leaves still attached, some curly kale, occasionally broccoli & they also have chicory which they adore. As others have said keep the fresh food as a treat & feed mainly hay & a good bunny mix.

podgeandrodge

So, did the owner get a talking to when she came back to collect her rabbit??