skittish bunny

[Trishkk29]

Hello everyone!

I am new to this forum as well as new to bunny ownership. I recently bought 2 Castor Standard Rex Baby Bunnies (they are only about 5 weeks old now). I have only had them for only 11 days and were told they were 4 weeks when I bought them. Although they are too young for us to know their sex, my roommate and I suspect that one is a boy (because he is somewhat smaller and more active) and the other is a girl (she is pretty lazy, just lays there all the time and looks a little bigger). At certain times though they look identical in weight and are impossible to tell apart. But the best we can figure is the girl doesn't mind being picked up and the boy will run almost every time. The good news is they bonded with both of us pretty quickly. It took them a little more time to get used to me. But after a couple days, we were getting bunny licks everywhere.

Last Thursday, I took them for their 1st vet visit and she said they are healthy. They only weight about a 10th of a pound each. So let me jump in here....

When we first got them, beforehand, the breeder (who dropped off 5 bunnies at her friend's house down the street from us to take a look at) and I spoke about what we would need for them, etc... initially I was only going to get one, but they were already bonded (being from the same litter) we thought it would be best to get 2. I asked if it would be okay to put them in a fish tank. We had a spare 29 gallon fish tank. They both said that would be fine. We live in a 1 bedroom apartment and decided the kitchen would be the best place for them (it's a min 10ft X 10Ft). But the 1st day we got them, while I was gone, my roommate let them have the run of the kitchen. They were all over the place and quick!!! So we decided to build them a 4ft X 4Ft play pen only about a ft high when they weren't in the tank. After 2-3 days of seeing them so happy in the play pen we decided it would be okay for them to stay there instead of going back to the tank. Unfortunately, after the 2nd night we left them in the play pen, I woke up and a bunny was in my bathroom!!!! The best we figured is he must have jumped over the barrier!

So we decided to build them a 6ft by 6ft play pen using chicken wire but 2 ft tall this time. When we tried to bring it into the apt (it fell apart). By this point we were frustrated and decided to let them have the run of the kitchen but blocked off all access to under the appliances and thoroughly cleaned everything they could be in contact with hot water (I was concerned about using bleach) and carpeted the entire area with indoor/outdoor carpeting. We even got a baby gate to block off access to the rest of the apt as our kitchen has no door. So it has been for the past 5 days or so. They were both doing fine.

Over the course of the past 5 days though, it seems that they have done a role reversal on us. The "girl" will hardly come near us. We have been a little concerned about her behavior. She seemed to be getting overheated and wasn't playing around much. Neither one of us were getting any bunny licks from her. In the meantime, the "boy" got a little friendlier. Because she seemed to be hot all the time, we decided to put one of our air conditioners into the kitchen for them. She's been a lot better since, although they are drinking twice the amount of water than before. But she is still standoffish. She'll barely come to me now even when we have treats (carrots / apples). Our upstairs neighbors (for the past 2 days) have been making a lot of noise upstairs that we now hope has been resolved. They were pounding on the floor / yelling etc.... But the "boy" is completely unaffected by all this. She seems to get scared at the smallest things and hides about 90% of the time. What can I do??? Please help.

[Dwarfbunny87]

First of all, I can't belive the breeder weaned the bunnies that young. Six-eight weeks is the usual weaning age for most breeds of rabbits.

Just so you know, those Standard Rex will reach a mature weight of 7-11 pounds each. "Mature" for a Rex is 6 mo. and older.

Rabbits are territorial so no matter if they are same sex or opposite sex, you are gonna have to separate them by 12 weeks of age because they will either start fighting or breeding not long after that age.

Besides, rabbits feel secure when they have their own cage space. However, I would not use an aquarium as a habitat for rabbits. Rabbit urine is very ammonia rich just like cat urine so it would not be good for their respiratory system in that closed of an enviroment. I would either buy or build individual hutches for them. You can find many descent designs on the internet.

Rex should be housed in a hutch no smaller than 30 in W x 36 in L x 16 in H. I could give you links to some rabbit cage suppliers if you like, just let me know.

I would suggest continuing to handle the bunnies a little everyday to get them tame and trusting. But getting them situated in their own cages will greatly help.

Do NOT feed bunnies that young ANY fresh fruit/ veggies. It can cause a diarreha that could kill them. All they need is a good quality rabbit pellet type feed. Feed them as much of it as they will eat until they reach 3 mo. old then cut them back to about 8-10 ounces a day each rabbit. Provide plenty of fresh water and you can give them loose hay or hay cubes. A Timothy/ Alfalfa mix is best if you can find it in your area. That is all a rabbit needs as the pelleted feed is a complete nutritional diet for them. The hay just adds fiber to their diet, which is a good thing.

If you have more questions, please feel free to ask. We have raised and shown rabbits for over 11 years.

Good Luck,
Pat
Carroll's Half Pints Rabbitry
http://www.carrollshalfpints.weebly.com