Threaded Mode | Linear Mode

lisarp · 06-11-2005, 04:49 AM

suzie- thanks for the great advice! You said some things I hadn\'t thought about either! Its nice to be able to bounce things off of each other when we are all working together for the same good cause-don\'t you think? Have a great day!!! Lisa

Wave of Fire · 06-15-2005, 08:34 AM

i see you have gotten a LOT of advice on thsi one but rabbits do not need a LOT of things bought for them...

yes you need the cage if you do not have the means to let your house rabbit run free (we dont have a cage..she has total freedom here) ....

you need food pellets and some timothy hay is recommended as 90% of their diet...you can buy this at walmart and some alphalpha would be a nice treat (just al ittle once a day)

you can also get salt licks, these are very very necessary for thier digestion and body fluids so they drink more water in summer and warmer weather...

for toys just give your rabbit cardboard, paper towel rolls (empty of course) , little balls, stuffed animals if you have them, socks...they love to snuggle up with socks...old ones of course...and ones that are yours smell like you for your rabbit to cuddle in...string to chew on...TIE IT IN A HUGE BIG BALL KNOT so they dont get it stuck in their throat etc...

and for litter you dont have to buy litter really...you can actually use their food pellets for litter or shredded up newspaper or the timothy hay and alfalfa...if they are litter trained they eat where tehy go...i mean look outside they eat grass out there and poop too...don\'t use grass though, it stinks when wet...

sometimes when i cut my daughters hair, i put some of that in the litter box to...it soaks up a lot of the wetness...but dont do that if your rabbit eats hair (ours doesn\'t) ....if you buy litter, don\'t use cedar at all this causes respiratory diseases and you really should not use pine since they eat whatever is in their litter box because this is known to cause liver damage...

you are best just using food pellets and timothy hay or even going and getting some straw (straw however tends to stink when wet so unless you want to clean the cage about every day i would recommend timothy hay and food pellets for litter) .... or even newspaper shredded up....

carrots, apples, lettuce are all favorite snacks of rabbits and we go outside daily and pick her some dandelion leaves (the pointy ended leaves you find around dandelion flowers) they LOVE these and they are GREAT for digestion and FREE...

other than taht your rabbit really only need YOU to play with...no need to buy her any toys or extras...she just needs your love and attention

Wave of Fire

Wave of Fire · 06-15-2005, 08:40 AM

one suggestion my vet told me to follow in feeding your rabbit treats and stuff is look outside and see what the rabbits are eating there....

inside ones need food pellets to becuse they dont get all they want to eat like wild rabbits but if you look the wild rabbits eat the leafy greens in gardens and the dandelion leaves in yards and they dont eat just plain grass....

they dont eat the tomatoes except for like a couple bites off of one here and there in your garden...they will eat whole carrots with green tops and all they will eat the lettuce more than one or two bites....so since this is what wild rabbits do...this tells you what your rabbit would enjoy...

dont buy store made treats...they just are not really healthy at all...you dont see a rabbit outside playing wiht a bunch of store bought toys or eating store made treats do you?

however rabbits outside get significant amouonts of vitamins from the dirt and soil on their foods ie: lettuce, carrots, leaves, etc from ground but indoor dont have this so they need the food pellets for the vitamins and the timothy hay also for digeston....

wave of fire

Baileysdad · 06-15-2005, 08:45 AM

We\'ll she\'s got the love part Guaranteed. Also I am glad that you said pine was bad because guesss what her current bedding has been? I will immediatley adjust accordingly. What about kitty litter, I was told by a girl at petsmart that this works fine for rabbits to. Is this o.k.?

suziel · 06-15-2005, 02:27 PM

Hi BD-

No, please do not use cat litter. Carefresh is popular but a little pricey. I use Country Critter- pelletized straw it\'s $9.00 for a 20 lb bag and sprinkle a couple of handfuls of the small, fine, broken Timothy Hay from the bottom of a bulk box of hay with it. Waste not want not. In my case using \"food pellets\" would be very expensive. Oxbow pellet food costs $11.00 for a 10 lb bag where I\'m at. I know some people who use Timothy Hay but also in my case that would be really expensive too. Unfortunately, I don\'t have access to a local hay grower that I can buy a bail of Timothy hay from. I have it shipped from out of state for them. I get alot of teasing....that my kids are spoiled, etc. But hey nothing but the best for my babies! I have considered using newspaper but I worry that ingesting the ink could be harmful. As my bunnies will shread and eat some of it.

Wave of Fire · 06-15-2005, 11:34 PM

some (very few) cat litters are safe, you have to know the ingredients etc and most of the safe ones are rather expensive and because of dust from cat litter, it is not recommended. as for shredded newspaper, it does not hurt them to eat it at all, it digests and the dyes they use for newspapers are now safe for all animals because of laws protecting animals, mostly wild ones where garbage is stored...

anyway, you can usually go to a farm or somewhere and buy a garbage bag of hay for as little as 2 or 3 dollars (i got one for one dollar) and then place some timothy hay on top, here food pellets are pretty cheap but i dont use them for litter like that, i use hay mainly and timothy hay and just throw in a handful of food pellets on top....however they do help with the smell because they absorb the wetness...

i get food pellets for like 2.00 for a 10 pd bag but some places they are expensive and it depends what you get

i would not recommend using ANY HARTZ brand food for ANY animal, Hartz brand has a huge reputation for putting additives in their food that cause health problems in animals.

the newspaper works good but if you use it, make sure you put hay or something under it or it will stick to the bottom of the litter box, it works for absorbing moisture but needs something like dry hay underneath...

rabbits really are not picky about what they go in just so their food is there...i find that my rabbit eats less of the \"litter\" whatever i use if i make sure she has food pellets in her box to...

i have used newspaper and also had some pellets in there fo rher, she didn\'t eat much of the paper at all becaue her food was there...

but you should know your rabbit and just like kids each rabbit is different

wave of fire

Myangel · 06-17-2005, 01:26 AM

I use something called Yesterdays news, it is newspapers made into pellets...no dust or anything to worry about and I use that only in her litterbox. so far it seems to be doing good. it is super absorbant, and not quite as messy as news paper(cause they tend to not leave the newspaper where it belongs, on the bottom of the cage.)
We are moving our bunny into a bigger cage soon though and I am not sure what we will use for the floor then the sides are much lower in this new cage so the wood chips are out.

another side track...
Someone mentioned Pine as being bad for them, but I have always been told(or read) that it is Cedar that is bad for them. Cedar I know has the aromatic oils in it that cause respitory problems in small animals. is it something similar with the Pine? it is something I have only heard more about recently.

Angel

suziel · 06-18-2005, 09:53 AM

Hey BD-

Another thing to have if you haven\'t gotten one already is a carrier for Bailey. Not only for visits to the vet but in case of an emergency. You should also have an emergency supply of food and water set aside too.