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Show me your bunny setups and...

finchly

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@Mockinbirdiva @Sparkles99 @tka

Thank you so much for the wealth of information!!! I had bunnies but it’s been so long, and of course everything changes.
I’ve fired off a few questions to his foster home. The rescue is inundated with dumped bunnies everywhere - abandoned houses, shopping centers, even one was in a swamp - and rehome requests, so they said if this one doesn’t work out I can surely have one. But.... aren’t we in love with him already? That smushy little face! And she said he’s all over you, a true pocket pet that constantly wants attention.
@Miss Annamarie thought you might enjoy this thread.
 

Miss Annamarie

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@Mockinbirdiva @Sparkles99 @tka

Thank you so much for the wealth of information!!! I had bunnies but it’s been so long, and of course everything changes.
I’ve fired off a few questions to his foster home. The rescue is inundated with dumped bunnies everywhere - abandoned houses, shopping centers, even one was in a swamp - and rehome requests, so they said if this one doesn’t work out I can surely have one. But.... aren’t we in love with him already? That smushy little face! And she said he’s all over you, a true pocket pet that constantly wants attention.
@Miss Annamarie thought you might enjoy this thread.
I definitely do thank you for tagging me!
 

Miss Annamarie

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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
I very much second Lennon The Bunny with my whole heart. Rabbits aren't rodents though by the way! They're lagomorphs!
 

Destiny

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Of course you did! :p 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 like to keep busy. ;)

Forgot to include a picture of my bun. This is Luna, chilling on her favorite grass mat.

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And from many years ago, this is Nico, the mini Rex. He was a ball of cuteness.

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Mockinbirdiva

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@Mockinbirdiva @Sparkles99 @tka

Thank you so much for the wealth of information!!! I had bunnies but it’s been so long, and of course everything changes.
I’ve fired off a few questions to his foster home. The rescue is inundated with dumped bunnies everywhere - abandoned houses, shopping centers, even one was in a swamp - and rehome requests, so they said if this one doesn’t work out I can surely have one. But.... aren’t we in love with him already? That smushy little face! And she said he’s all over you, a true pocket pet that constantly wants attention.
@Miss Annamarie thought you might enjoy this thread.
Of course we love him already... who doesn't love a schmooshie bunny face!!! I do! Turbo wasn't a mini lop..but french lop. He lived 9 years. He had developed a good sized tumor on one of his front feet ( top). He slept quite a bit in his older age and sometimes I would stand over him to see if he was still breathing. It was a sad day to let him go to sleep at the vet. I've always held my loved ones when it was their time and always brought them back home. He was such a chunka-lunka!!!!!

turbo.jpg
 

Mockinbirdiva

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I know you've seen this girl before... my beloved 'Chelsea'... English Angora. I adored her. I had nine English angoras... you would always see me outside on my bench grooming an angora.

chelsea.jpg
 

tka

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Thank you so much for the wealth of information!!! I had bunnies but it’s been so long, and of course everything changes.
I’ve fired off a few questions to his foster home. The rescue is inundated with dumped bunnies everywhere - abandoned houses, shopping centers, even one was in a swamp - and rehome requests, so they said if this one doesn’t work out I can surely have one. But.... aren’t we in love with him already? That smushy little face! And she said he’s all over you, a true pocket pet that constantly wants attention.
He's very handsome! Lops tend to have super nice temperaments. It's so sad about animals being dumped. I bet it's a combination of people getting an impulse lockdown pet and not being able to take care of it, or that they're falling on hard times and can't afford the upkeep. It's awful how animals, especially smaller pets, get the short end of the stick. People assume that bunnies can be kept in a tiny hutch and don't need attention, and that's no way for them to live.

After Jake I had a dutch called Josie who was an absolute horror. She terrorised humans, dogs and other rabbits alike. She managed to pierce my hand between my thumb and fingers - she was hanging on and I was 12 and dripping blood! Eventually we negotiated a truce and I became the one human she'd actually seek out. We secured our garden and she was fine just hopping about - when she decided it was bedtime she'd stay still and wait for me to scoop her up. I would lie on the grass and she'd flop next to me. She taught me a lot about perseverance and respect and trust. By the end of her life we were extraordinarily in tune with each other, although she still wasn't a fan of any other person or animal. She made me realise how much I like the bolshy ones - I always got the sense that she related to me as an equal.

My partner and I are thinking about another pet and a rabbit or two are pretty high on the list.
 

annafauna

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I can't easily find a photo of my bunny set-up, but I keep mine in a pen, not a cage. I have three Angoras (French/German mutts), all neutered boys, who live together. Aspen, Cedar, and Oakie. Their current pen is 8' x 8', out in my garage -- I have a three-car garage with only one car in it, so they're on the far side from where the car lives. Since the floor of the garage is concrete, I have a layer of old carpet down and then rubber mats on top of it (thick, heavy-duty ones, each is 4' x 10'), so they have traction and a surface with some give. Cedar has only three legs, so he's the one who needs the traction.

I use a fence/pen like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002904LZE/ There are two of them hooked together right now. When I've had the bunnies indoors, I've used clear plastic panels on the bottom half, to keep the hay mess contained -- they get through a lot of hay, and it spreads everywhere. Because they're big rabbits, I use plastic under-the-bed boxes as litter boxes and wood stove pellets (made from only safe woods) for litter.

They don't really "play" with much, but that might be because they have each other for company? I'm not sure. They're VERY curious guys, but chewing is their only form of play. Their favorite things are their Coolaroo elevated dog bed -- now that they've realized it's for lounging, not peeing on -- and an igloo-shaped top of a big litter box that my cats didn't like. And any large cardboard box that I cut a hole in for them. They basically just like to be comfy and to have little hidey-holes. Oh, Oakie used to love an old cat tree that we had. He could get all the way to the top (he's always been something of a Tree Rabbit), but eventually I worried about him jumping down from that height, though he never did, and they just tore up the carpet and made a mess, anyway. But our current cat tree (for our actual cats) has more of a fleecy covering, and a smaller one of those could be a lot of fun for a smaller rabbit.

Their main passion in life is eating. It's really a joy to bring them a big bunch of kale or whatever and see how excited they get. Oakie turns his nose up at anything sweet, but the other two love getting little bits of banana or apple as a treat. They come inside for haircuts and the occasional hop around, just for something interesting to do. I usually have the big garage door on their side open for them when the weather is decent, for circulation and something interesting to look at. They're at the point where I can open their pen when we're outside, and they'll go for a hop-about. There was a very long probation period and close scrutiny to make sure they weren't going to do/eat anything dangerous, and of course we never leave them out if we're not there to keep an eye on them! A pen like the one above is nice if you want to take your bunny out for some time on the grass without the danger of a run-away bunny.

Here's Aspen in the snow last October:

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_cf10.jpg
 

Miss Annamarie

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I'll stick in my bunny setup while I'm here. I don't really have pictures but, Bear has his own room. It's babygated off and he has laundry hampers I've cut open to make into tunnels. He's so big he doesn't fit in normal cat tunnels or anything. He has several toys, purchased from a vendor here who had them specifically for bunnies, I'm trying to remember who. He has his litterbox in a corner. I recommend rectangle litterboxes rather than rounded ones as they like corners when they go potty.
Bundt Cake is in a dog exercise pen currently as he isn't completely litterbox trained yet. He needs to be neutered before he's completely successful with it is how bunnies usually go. I should be able to get that done next month finally. His set up is the same as Bear's practically but smaller. They both have ikea doll beds they like to lay on (I can find the name if anyone is interested in that.) It's untreated wood so they can chew on it as well.
 

Sparkles99

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Wow. Bear must be huge. I've always suspected Bunny is a runt - his feet are disproportionately huge compared to the rest of him.

finchly, I forgot to mention Leith Petwerks. I've always admired their condos, particularly for small buns, but haven't inquired due to shipping & duty to Canada. Home They also make play structures of the sort you were describing.
 

finchly

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After Jake I had a dutch called Josie who was an absolute horror. She terrorised humans, dogs and other rabbits alike. She managed to pierce my hand between my thumb and fingers - she was hanging on and I was 12 and dripping blood!
Holy cow!!!

They don't really "play" with much, but that might be because they have each other for company? I'm not sure.
I had angoras. They’re too dignified to play.

he has laundry hampers I've cut open to make into tunnels.
Clever idea!

finchly, I forgot to mention Leith Petwerks.
Ohhhh wow do I like those! Hubs keeps telling me to cobble something together - we have x pens, dog crates, cardboard boxes, dog toys, bird toys, and bird toy parts. So he’s right, we don’t need to buy much. Buttttt you know....it’s fun...
 

DesertBird

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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.
I love Lennon the Bunny. All her videos are fun and educational. It's honestly the best rabbit channel I've found.
 

DesertBird

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Lops tend to have super nice temperaments.
I totally agree with this. My bunny was a Holland lops mix, and she was the sweetest thing. She would cuddle and lay in bend with me. She was so calm, even with strangers.
 

finchly

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Update

So. Bunny went back to the vet. They are STILL not able to flush his sinuses (or whatever they flush). He still has infection around the teeth. There's a piece of tooth buried in his gum they might need to extract. He's still eating baby food and not hay.
Bottom line is he won't be ready for adoption for awhile.

In the meantime, they've gotten another one in. However the person in charge is on vacay so I'm impatiently waiting until next week to meet the bunny. And they'll have to have it fixed, which will be another delay. I'm spending my time cleaning house and bird cages so that I can be "ready."
 

Sparkles99

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That's too bad. Rabbits don't have the same adaptations people do. Part of what makes flushing their sinuses or abscesses or anything else difficult is that their immune system doesn't liquify things, as those of most other mammals do. I wonder how old this poor bun is.

IME, rabbit teeth, jaw bone & abscesses (I'd bet money there's at least one abscess involved) are never a good sign. They're also more common in olders buns, because their bones lose density, especially but not exclusively if they were on a poor diet.

TBH, I'd meet the other bun. I don't want to see you set yourself up for heartache without knowing what you were getting yourself into beforehand. This poor bun may be best suited for permanent foster with someone who's been down this path before & knows what's coming.
 

finchly

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This poor bun may be best suited for permanent foster with someone who's been down this path before & knows what's coming.
Good point. If I only had the one pet, it would be doable but I'm kind of afraid of it. Plus hubby has said all along don't get one with known problems.
 

Miss Annamarie

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"...but I'm kind of afraid of it."

Trust me, with good reason.
COMPLETELY agreed. Especially with bunnies, 1 health problem almost always comes with others. Older rabbits are so prone to GI stasis as well. Meet the other bunny!
 
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