Show me your bunny setups and...

[finchly]

Where do you buy cute bunny stuff?

We are rescuing one. We're waiting on his medical stuff to be finished - his front teeth were big-time overgrown, and molars were infected. He's on meds and can only eat (human) baby food, poor thing.
So I need to get ready.

The rescue lady has the CUTEST setups in her house - but I'm finding out her things must cost a small fortune. Wish I had taken pix. Last time I had bunnies, I made mazes and houses from cardboard for them.

 

[DesertBird]

I've learned that bunnies often like the diy toys out of cardboard a lot better than the expensive things you find in pet stores. There are lots or tutorials on youtube that show you how to make fun toys.
My setup is basically a play-pen with the litter box, toys, a few cardboard boxes with little doors cut into them, etc. Then the bunny gets to free-roam throughout the day.

 

[finchly]

I've learned that bunnies often like the diy toys out of cardboard a lot better than the expensive things you find in pet stores. There are lots or tutorials on youtube that show you how to make fun toys.
My setup is basically a play-pen with the litter box, toys, a few cardboard boxes with little doors cut into them, etc. Then the bunny gets to free-roam throughout the day.

Well that sounds easy enough!

 

[Sparkles99]

I used to use dog exercise pens. I use giant Kong dog crates now, because they're easier to move for cleaning. That said, I'd never have large rabbits again without a dedicated room, which I don't have right now.

The first bun I knew was 12 (rabbit sitting). My first was ill - kept getting misdiagnosed. They gave me notions about rabbit exercise & general requirements. My second bun only slowed down when she reached middle age & is a more typical bun. I wouldn't actually have gotten a third but for that a rabbit hopped across relatives' lawn, we captured him, & he went unclaimed. He has the same disease as my first, so is way more sedate than is typical.

My favourite rabbit store & forum is binkybunny.com Be careful with the cardboard. My first would consume it, not just chew. Mine were/ are rescues too. All three were left on lawns. The first two I adopted from the humane society. The third was a direct lawn rescue.

Mukluck, rabbit sitting Netherland dwarf


Cincinnati, Flemish giant cross


Daisy, Dutch


Bunny, Flemish giant

 

[Sparkles99]

I should also mention that any of the AA vendors with untreated pine, etc. could have their products given to buns.

 

[Kiwi & Co.]

I’ve never had a rabbit but Lennon the Bunny is a pretty good and informative YouTube channel, she is very advocative for free roaming rabbits so she has a lot of videos on it.

There are a couple other good rodent channels that I’ve found but most are centered around hampsters, rats, or guinea pigs.

I don’t know why I even watch these videos if I don’t have any rodents but I find learning entertaining lol

 

[Destiny]

I made a custom rabbit cage for one of my rabbits using metal panels re-purposed from a couple boxes of modular wire cube shelving I had from my college dorm. This is a similar product:

Robot or human?

www.walmart.com

I connected the individual panels together using heavy-duty zip-ties and used corrugated plastic sheets to make the "trays". It turned out rather nicely and was much larger than any store-bought rabbit cage.

I don't have any images of the construction project itself, but this is what it looked like before I moved the rabbit in. Apologies for the dark picture.



And this is what it looked like after I remodeled it to create a much flatter layout.



Here's a close-up of the door so you can see the panels and how they connect to each other. The "doors" were held closed with a black clip.




The original multi-level design might have worked for another kind of animal or maybe a smaller bunny. My rabbit, Luna, was a pretty hefty girl and she didn't like hopping between the upper and lower levels that much. Also, it didn't let in enough light and was too hard to access some of the corner areas. With the redesign, I also added a second door, so all areas were easy to reach. I kept two upper shelves and put in a lot of cardboard boxes for her to chew to create tunnels and nests.

One change I would recommend would be putting it at floor level to allow the bunny to exit more easily for out of cage time. That would have been more convenient.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

Where do you buy cute bunny stuff?

We are rescuing one. We're waiting on his medical stuff to be finished - his front teeth were big-time overgrown, and molars were infected. He's on meds and can only eat (human) baby food, poor thing.
So I need to get ready.

The rescue lady has the CUTEST setups in her house - but I'm finding out her things must cost a small fortune. Wish I had taken pix. Last time I had bunnies, I made mazes and houses from cardboard for them.

Where's the photo of the cute bunny? I love rabbits and used to raise them. My favorite breed ( I really love them all) is the dutch rabbit..always a great personality with those guys. I had a black and white dutch we took from a guy who said he was too small to eat cautious: ). We named him Pee Wee and loved him for several years!

 

[finchly]

 

[finchly]

I made a custom rabbit cage

Of course you did! Never mind asking the forum- just ask Destiny what clever things she’s done!

That’s really cool. I always like the way you lay out pros and cons.

I don’t know why I even watch these videos if I don’t have any rodents but I find learning entertaining lol

I do that too. But now you see where it’s led me.

@Sparkles99 your bunnies were gorgeous!

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

View attachment 376030 View attachment 376031

Oh dear... a mini lop... and an adorable guy too!!!! How old is he?

 

[finchly]

They didn’t say... he was “found” so it’s anyone’s guess. I hate to post too much, as it’s not a done deal and I guess they could adopt him to someone else.

This was probably why he was dumped:

He’s on pain meds and antibiotics. They did surgery on the teeth.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

They didn’t say... he was “found” so it’s anyone’s guess. I hate to post too much, as it’s not a done deal and I guess they could adopt him to someone else.

This was probably why he was dumped:
View attachment 376032 View attachment 376033
He’s on pain meds and antibiotics. They did surgery on the teeth.

Poor guy. I'm guessing the same as to why he was dumped. His teeth aren't aligned so they can't wear down naturally. Their teeth constantly grow. Did the vet remove the teeth or grind them down? If they did grind them down where they should be he'll always have to have that done periodically. He has beautiful blue eyes!

 

[finchly]

Poor guy. I'm guessing the same as to why he was dumped. His teeth aren't aligned so they can't wear down naturally. Their teeth constantly grow. Did the vet remove the teeth or grind them down? If they did grind them down where they should be he'll always have to have that done periodically. He has beautiful blue eyes!

They ground them down.

How expensive is this, if we keep having to have them ground down?

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

They ground them down.

How expensive is this, if we keep having to have them ground down?

I don't think it's terribly expensive. It's actually a very quick procedure and may not need any sedation. Looking at how long his teeth were they may have chosen to sedate him for it. Vets can safely use a minimal amount of sedation that will only last a few minutes. It's all it takes for them to quickly use a grinding tool. You may want to ask about the cost and how they go about the sedation. I've seen on Dr. Jeff ( Rocky mountain vet show) where they use a mask over the face or in an enclosed container to sedate a rat for surgery to remove tumors. I hope they neutered him too... no need for the little jewels and makes them less likely to spray urine to mark their territories. Males typically have sweeter personalities than females.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

I thought this was a nice video on how to judge a rabbits age.

 

[finchly]

Awww! I’ll ask about his age tomorrow. I mean, today.

That’s a good video- I really like her!

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

Awww! I’ll ask about his age tomorrow. I mean, today.

That’s a good video- I really like her!

I really liked her too. I could tell she knew rabbits very well. This is a nice link too that will explain diet needs to keep his teeth healthy. Since he's had to have so much done you'll want to ask when you can introduce hay into his daily diet which will be the bulk of his diet and not an over load of pellets. This will explain all why they should have this diet. I would suspect his malocclusion has more to do with his breed and head structure or genetics. Your vet may tell you his routine dental care won't require any sedation since the nerves are at the very base of the tooth where the gums are. It's no more than trimming toe nails time wise but a tad more complicated since they won't be too happy about it. Some are more tolerant than others and he may not be bothered by it at all in the future. You'll be able to keep an eye on his teeth easily. I'm a toenail trimmer professional when it comes to bunnies and always invited people who bought from me to bring them back for trims... and it gave me the opportunity to look them over and make sure they were being cared for. Though... few people ever did... I always offered!

How to Care For Your Rabbit’s Teeth

You can help your rabbit have healthy teeth by giving them a healthy diet and some chew toys. Learn to check your rabbit's mouth for dental problems.

bunnylady.com

 

[tka]

I had a dwarf lop with malocclusion when I was a child. Lops seem to be especially prone to this because of their rounded heads. It's easy to spot malocclusion of the front incisors but much harder to deal with the molars being misaligned. Sadly this is what happened to Jake - he stopped eating, the vet had a look at his back teeth under general anaesthesia and it was such a mess that we realised that euthanasia was the kindest option. This was back in 1994 - there may be much better treatment options for rabbits now, and more vets who are used to caring for bunnies. Be aware that malocclusion can affect the tear ducts and sinuses as well if the molars and jaw get misaligned.

Diet should be as much hay as possible - the fibre in it helps maintain their teeth. Their digestive systems are adapted for a lot of bulk and roughage containing indigestable fibre, so pellets should be kept to a minimum because they're too soft and rich. It's one of those things where we think we'd providing a higher quality diet by offering pellets, but actually they need what looks like a low nutrition diet to stay healthy. They have a very long hind gut and lots of specially adapted bacteria in their digestive system that helps extact all the goodness out of their diet. A healthy rabbit will even produce a special kind of poo (called caecotrophs) that they'll eat in order to repopulate their digestive system with bacteria and to have a second go at absorbing vitamins and minerals.

Gut stasis can be life-threatening. A rabbit's digestive system should have food moving through it all the time, and if this doesn't happen, it can lead to impaction and dehydration: Bunny bellies: managing gut stasis — Elwood vet

 

[Sparkles99]

Mockinbirdiva, Dutch are my favourite too! Super healthy, perhaps due to their middle of the road morphology, + loads of personality. But everybunny needs a home.

finchly, go to binkybunny & ask LittlePuffyTail about grinding costs. She had a lop for years (he has since died) who needed this every 4-6 weeks. Cost depends in part on how much if any anesthetic they need. Consider whatever she says a base price. She lives in the maritimes, where everything's cheaper. I'd also ask the vet who did the procedure what the typical cost would be.

If you're interested in the Kong dog crate route, which looks a lot easier than Destiny's solution , here are the crates in question: KONG® Dual-Door Rust-Resistant Dog Crate | dog Carriers & Crates | PetSmart
I would only consider the two largest sizes, depending on the bun's size. The bar spacing works for mine & Daisy has a very petite, slender head, so I'd be surprised if it didn't work for that lop. Hard to judge rabbit size in a photo, so keep your receipt & box, just in case.

Then you just need a litter box, water bowls (I use glass loaf pans, as they're hard to move/ tip & fit nicely against the pen), food dish for pellets/ veggies/ treats & toys.

Yes, tka is right about diet! Most people recommend timothy hay, but mine prefer orchard grass & eat way more when offered it. It also is softer (no splinters!). Find a store that will get in the 9 lb boxes of Oxbow timothy or orchard grass, or Sunseed Sunsations natural timothy hay mini bales - 4 mini bales that are 2 pounds each & actually have flakes, like for horses, only mini. If you have space, there are 50 lb boxes of Oxbow timothy too.

These are the most economical ways of getting less dusty, processed for indoors hay (ie: not giant horse hay bales, which are way too dusty anyway). Ren's Pets carries the 9 lb boxes & my local feed store, Ritchie's Feed 'n Seed, carries the 8 lbs of mini bales. There are sometimes local options too.

There used to be a "Meadow Approved" large box of hay + apple sticks from their orchard here locally. Unfortunately, like many small businesses, it didn't survive, but while it lasted, it was the best. Meadow was their spokesbun. It was just as cheap as the above, mass market products with just as good quality and low dust, but with bonus, organic apple sticks. There might be such a local option where you are too.

IMO, the best litter, hands down, is Carefresh. It's the most absorbent & is soft. Depending on how much this bun goes through, you may wish to consider shredded aspen. NEPCO is the best. If you're anywhere near a university, the local feed store will likely carry it. It's used in a lot of labs. If not, ask there where they get it. It's the best compromise between cost & efficaciousness.