Ok, im planning on adopting a rabbit, but i have to figure out a bunch of stuff first. so i have a few questiongs for you. or anybody. if i were to keep my rabbit (probablly a mini lop) in the garage in an outdoor hutch, and my mom does some shop work in there. so... to prevent sawdust from getting in there could i jsut cover it with a sheet or something, or does it even matter if it gets in there. also... the noise... if my mom was using a scroll saw or a sander... woudl it effct the bunny?
another senario would be keeping it in the back yard. however... the weather down here isnt very predictable. so for extreme weather... like... 30 - 40 degrees celcius.... to - 30 degrees in the winter. is there any percautions i can take withough having to take it into the house. this would also be in the garage... but i could set up a fan in the garage for the summer.... but for the winter... it might be a bit chilli. so... any tip.. and any info places you coudl direct me to would be awesome. thanks so much.

I would still try to bring the rabbit inside if at all possible. See rabbit.org for a lot of rabbit information.

The garage does not sound like a good place. The sawdust can and will irritate the lungs and air passages of the bun and possibly make him sick. Covering the cage would help to keep at least the large particles out but I know after my father uses the saw, I can't stand the air for a while until it settles. And yes, the noises probably would also frighten the bunny. If these activities aren't that often, it may be ok. Keep in mind though that if the garage is also getting cars in and out of it, the bun could develop lung cancer from the fumes like a poor cat did that we had living in the garage a lot of the time (not my choice!). I would never keep any animal in the garage now. Basements are a little better but are often dark, dank, musty, and/or have poor air quality.

My buns have an outdoor hutch that is very sturdy and secure. They stay outside year round only coming in on extreme days above 95 degrees F or below 10-15 degrees F which is about above 35 degrees C or below -10 degrees C. Your extremes sound much larger than that so you'd have to bring them inside more often. Ventilation and water should always be adequate. Buns can take the extremes better that way. In winter, insulate everything (but still let some air in and out) and provide a warm nest of straw. In summer, open up as much ventilation as possible and give him bottles of frozen water on hot days to lay on. Fans help too.

Check out http://www.rabbit.org

I dont mean to drag this off topic, but Robyn... if you find rabbits (babies) in a little nest in your yard and touch one of them, is it true that the mother will not touch the baby ever again?

I sure hope not... after the lawn mowers came and cut our grass, I found an unknown cat outside on the edge of my property. I could see he/she was interested in something in my yard. When I came out to look, the cat had messed with a rabbit nest and I found 4-5 rabbits in the nest. One of them was trying to escape the cat. I do not think the cat harmed the rabbits, but it looked like the poor rabbits had some minor cuts on them from the mowers.

... Anyway, they didn't look too hurt (nothing that would kill them) but I had to pick one up because it was wandering out of the nest into a mud puddle. Without time to get gloves or even think about getting gloves, I picked the baby up and covered the nest again. The cat hasn't been back, but I fear the mother will stay away.

What is the truth to this?

Check out these links:
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/orphan.html
http://www.rabbit.org/care/orphan.html
http://www.rabbit.org/care/newborn.html

I've always heard too that touching baby mammals results in the mother abandoning them. Birds have poor smell so it's not the case with them. On looking on the internet, I find conflicting repots. The House Rabbit Society seems to think it's better to let the mother have a chance, even if you had to touch them. The babies you said were already injured. That on top of the smells from the cat, yourself, and the mowing and it doesn't look good for those babies. I would try to find a wildlife rehabilitator. If it were only one of those things, they might be ok but it's too many stressors for the mother and kits.

Since you said they were wandering around, I assume they were fully furred with their eyes open? If so, they may be old enough to leave the nest. Unfortunately, almost all bunnies leaving the nest fall victim to predators or other fatal events. That's why a doe has so many babies so often. I have a photo of my brother and I holding a baby Eastern cottontail back around 1980 when we found a nest of buns that literally sprang out and ran when we found them. One ended up on the porch so we picked it up. Nowadays, the local cats, hawks, foxes, etc. eat most wild buns but we still have a few.

Yes, they had fur and eyes were open... however, they didn't actually try to run away, they just wanted to be left alone in peace.


... on my lunch break, I went outside to check on them and the nest was abandoned as well as all the bedding removed. I dont know - I hope they got away, we can only hope.

Thanks for your help!

Hey,
Thanx for your help. but i have yet another question for you. if i were to keep the rabbit in my shed, would that be ok? give it the same stuff for summer and winter. now, i know there is some gas containers and stuff in there, but ew coudl move that to the garage to prevent fumes. we could renovate the the shed a bit, put a window in there or something, and put some hook ups, electrical. a light and an outlet or 2.... would that work? or are there some other precautions that im nto thinkning of. your input is much appreciated. its helping alot. the one thing is.... im not allowed to take it into the house... but i probablly will anyway... just for a bit. oh thats another question, if i had the rabbit outside, and it was hot out and i were to take it inside would it be a shock for it.... the temperature changes? thnx so much

Yes, the shed sounds like a better choice. If the bun is going to be in a cage/hutch within the shed, it doesn't matter what's in there as long as it doesn't create fumes as you say. Be sure there is ventilation, especially during the summer. A fan placed near a window would help. If the bun is to hop free in the shed, you'd have to remove almost everything and put in a floor to keep him from digging out. Rabbits will taste test everything at least once. If you could get electricity out there, that would be a great improvement but the bun could probably do ok without it if the setup is right.

Some shock will result from moving from one extreme in temperature to another but it is probably not going to be that harmful under normal circumstances. In summer here, if it's 95 degrees F outside, it's normally about 70 degrees F in our basement when I bring them in, not that much change. In winter, if I bring them in when it's say 10 degrees F outside, it's 55 degrees F in the basement. That's a larger change but they seem to do okay with it. Bringing the buns in for a few hours during a hot day would probably be appreciated. Think how you feel when you come in to the cooler air!

Ok, so im buildin a rabbit hutch now, its going inbetween our shed and the house, attached to the shed. so theres going to be lotsa shelter there. ne way, i was wondering about cleaning... the floor is made up of 3/8 of an inch plywood supported by 2 by 2's. if i cover the floor with wood shavings and change them often will that be ok? or does the plywood need to be coverd by something so the urine dosnt saturate it? any other cleaning or grooming quick tips would be aprectiated too. thnx for your help.. again.

Put a litter pan in the hutch. Just get a regular cat litter pan. Fill it with CareFresh. If you can't get that, then one of the all natural fiber-based litters for small animals will work. Don't use cedar. Other shavings aren't great either. I use CareFresh. Before that, I used plain clay cat litter. The buns will put all or most pee and poo in the litter which you change once or twice a week depending on how soaked it gets and how big the buns are. Stray regular poo is easy to wisk up. I sweep the wood of the hutch daily when I get the bowls to fill. A few pees may be out of the pan but very few. The night feces which are yucky normally get eaten but if your bun is sickly like I've had a few times, they get that all over the wood. Every 5 weeks (today in fact), I take a putty knife and a bucket of bleach water with a rag and scrub brush and scrub the wood down and scrape off any wastes stuck there. The wood has held up for more than 10 years now I think. Without the litter pan, the urine would have to be put on the wood and wood soon rot it out. Putting shavings on the wood helps some but still lets it soak down to the wood so I think the litter pan is a better idea. It puts most waste in one spot for easier cleaning. Buns prefer the back corner for their litter pan.

I have lots of tips but little time but if you have a more specific question, I'll be glad to put in a response.

Ok, i bought a rabbit, shes a black mini lop. very cute :) and he hutch is finished, we fit coragated plastic on the bottom so she cant chew on it and it will save the wood. she is also litterd trained now... well she was, until i moved her into the hutch (she was living in a house cage for a few days while we finished up the hutch) so i have the litter box in there with some small animal litter, but she eats the litter... is that ok? and i also have a box with a bunch of wood shavings in it. for now until i can find her a better bed, but she seems to like to use the litter box as the bed, and the bed as the litter box, so i swithched there positons this afternoon so we will see how that goes. what is good for a bed?? something that could keep her warmer too mabye.

got another question to throw at you. if in the future i were to get another rabbit, and the girl isnt fixed, what woudl be the best bet on getting another one a male or female? without having to get them fixed. my hutch is big enough for 7 more rabbits if i wanted hehe. we made it pretty big. anyway.. thnx for the advice.

It is NOT good for the rabbit to eat her litter. Small amounts of safer kinds probably aren't going to be dangerous though. What brand is it? Get an all natural sort of brand. I use CareFresh for my rabbits, guinea pigs, and hedgehogs and while the rabbits or pigs might injest a little on occasion, they don't purposely eat it but I've heard that some small animals will. In that case, you have to change to something else like corn cob litter (which if eaten can also cause impaction) or plain clay cat litter. If the bun eats all litters, then you'll have to go to an edible litter like hay! My buns sleep in their litter pans a lot of the time. That's common. Just keep the pans changed as needed so it's not too yucky to sleep in. My buns have nest boxes but prefer the litter pan. It's softer. Wood shavings aren't great because they can give off aromatic chemicals that harm their lungs. Cedar is worse than pine though. For a bed, just use straw. It's softer than hay and not as yummy to eat. Most buns will try to eat fabrics which can knot into their guts. Some bun places sell edible straw mats. My bun eats them but won't sleep on them.

If you are not going to spay and neuter your buns, you will not have harmony between a mix of them in your hutch. Since you have a doe, she will usually not tolerate another doe unless they are both spayed. Intact does are very territorial. She will attack any new buns in "her" hutch. If you had put a buck in first and then her, they would probably get along but you would soon have buns coming out your ears if she managed to birth her kits without the buck getting them. It's simply NOT a good idea to keep a group of intact buns together. If you have them fixed, then they often get along. I'm sure rabbit.org has more on this sort of thing. Enjoy her!

what would happen if i put to unspayed females together??

both still under 6 months of age...

i pushed the reply button to soon.. .sorry

Two does under 6 months of age would probably get along until they became sexually mature at which time they might or might not.

hey, me again

ok... so... plan is to get another female... my female i have now is still young... so hopefully they will get along, if not, i have another cage and could always build another one. another question for ya - would a rabbit and a guinea pig get along, a couple of the books i got featured both of them. if they do, can guinea pigs live outside too?? thnx for all your help its awesome

I don't recommend keeping guinea pigs and rabbits together long term. They simply have different needs. Sometimes they might get along, sometimes not. If this is to be done, it's best to stick with dwarf rabbits. The two species need different diets in some regards. Guinea pigs can't be trained to use a litter pan (or mine failed anyway). Also, guinea pigs are tropical and should be kept more than 60 degrees F all year round. I'm not sure at what temperature they would die but certainly, below freezing and guinea pigs won't survive. One year, after one of my rabbits died, and I had an opening in my two room hutch, I put two guinea pig boars in the rabbit hutch for the summer only. The boys did ok but peed all over the wood floor and wouldn't use the litter pans.

Hi my friend was moving and she gave me her rabbit. It doesn't seem to play around alot in the morning however at night it tries to leave the cage. What can i do to prevent this. Also it litters all over its cage. And i use Carefresh bedding is that good. also what is some basic information i shoudl know. Lastly I have a watter bottle for the rabbit but it won't drink out of it so should i place water in a bowl? Thanx

You should let your rabbit out of the cage for exercise. Be sure to watch him. Is the rabbit escaping from the cage? If so, the cage needs to be fixed. How big is the cage? Is the CareFresh in a litter pan or all over? Buns are good at using litter pans normally. Is the bun a male or female? How old? Spayed/neutered or intact? If it's an adult intact male, they will spray all over. I suggest getting the rabbit fixed if it's not. That will subdue his behavior some. Some buns don't like water bottles with the metal balls. My buns won't use them at all. I use bowls. Of course, that's something else for him to make a mess out of. My rabbit page has some info and links you may find of help at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/rabbit.htm
Good luck!

hey,
my rabbit is doing great... it started getting pretty cold outside and her water wouldnt last the day so no she is staying at a friends house.... but now i have another dilema... im starting to think its a boy... but im not completly sure... they told me its was a girl... but they can make mistakes right? so.. it seems to be marking its territory an awful lot more then it used to... and really really smells.. would that be considered spraying? how much should neutering or spaying cost... i phoned some veternarians around where i live.. it was like... 180 dollors for neutering and up to 600 dolloars for spaying... is that overly expensive (this is canadian by the way, im nto sure where your from) ya... so thnx very much for all your help.

"im starting to think its a boy... but im not completly sure... they told me its was a girl... but they can make mistakes right? so.. it seems to be marking its territory an awful lot more then it used to... and really really smells.. would that be considered spraying?"

Set the bun in your lap with his/her tummy up and look at the privates. How old is the bun now? If over 6 months, telling a buck is SO easy because he will have testicles which are very obvious. For a medium-sized rabbit, the testes are the size of large grapes. Many people mis-sex young rabbits. Even at that age you can tell because females have a v-shaped slit above their anus which is the urinary opening and vagina. Males have an o-shaped hole which is the penis that is further up and away from their anus. Once the testes come in around 6 months, they sit on either side of the penis and below it. Both bucks and does can spray but normally the unneutered buck's urine smells much more intense. Some does may mark (spray urine) but none of mine have.

"how much should neutering or spaying cost... i phoned some veternarians around where i live.. it was like... 180 dollors for neutering and up to 600 dolloars for spaying... is that overly expensive (this is canadian by the way, im nto sure where your from) ya... so thnx very much for all your help. "

I did a conversion from Canadian to US dollars just now at http://finance.yahoo.com/m3?u so that $180 Canadian = $149 US and $600 Canadian = $495 US. In my area, my vet will neuter a buck for about $50 US and do a doe spay for $100 US without precautions and $200 with precautions. Then, the vets you talked to are charging WAY, WAY, WAY too much!

hey... ya... u make it sound so easy "just flip em over on his back and take a look" well for a rabbit that doesnt like to be held or picked up... its kinda difficult. so.. is there a secret?? and another question is would both girls and boys have nipples?? thnx a bunch

It just takes practice. I've handled buns that kick, and I agree that it is NOT easy! You can also have someone hold them stomach down, and then you lift the tail to look under there if getting them on their backs is really hard. It helps to have two people if the bun puts up a fight. I can also do it simply by feeling under there on mature rabbits but that won't work for neutered bucks who would feel like females. Just feel gently for the testicles under there. If you pull up the tail, you should be able to see and feel them without turning the bun over. If you're still not sure, you will need either a vet or good breeder to verify the sex for you.

Both bucks and does have nipples but in does, they are larger and more obvious. For bucks, you have to really look to notice them.

hey its me again.
My rabbits been doing good. but i have yet another question. the last couple days shes been making like.. a bed of fur in the corner. is that normal. shes never done it befoe. and its alot of fur! kinda worried. let me know please. thnx

I assume she is plucking her own fur? Or, is it possibly just shedding. I'm guessing that it's the first.

How old is she now? Have you had her with any bucks? She's making a nest! Now, if she's mated, little ones may be on the way. If she has not mated, she may be having a false pregnancy where she just thinks she's pregnant. If you don't want babies or her to possibly get uterine or ovarian cancer in the future, it would be good to have her spayed.

well i havnt actullly seen her do it. she could just be shedding.. buts in clumps.. and all in the corner, like she did it on purpose. and.. un less theres a male rabbit hiding somewhere in the cedars on the side of my house the chances that shes pregnant are highly highly unlikly. she has escaped from my yard a few times. she should be just over a year now. i didnt really get a whole lot of info from the pet store. but ive had her for almost a year. so.. i dont know. thnx.

Perhaps she is having a false pregnancy then. Rabbits usually shed fur all over and not in one spot so she has probably plucked it and made her nest for her imaginary babies.

Hey,
ok... so now should i leave it all in there, or should i clean it out? will it stress her out if i clean it out.. kinda like taking away a birds egg? or will it be fine? or clean out a little at a time?

Actually, I'm not sure about that one. Is the pile of fur getting larger or is it stable? If stable, perhaps leave it there. If she's still pulling her fur, it probably wouldn't matter either way. Removing it may make her just pull more out. As long as she's not eating the fur, I wouldn't worry too much. It's a mental sort of problem caused by her hormones. Spaying her will stop that behavior and also prevent her from getting uterine or ovarian cancer which are very common in rabbits.

hey, ya it seems to be fairly stable. how long should i leave it there for? i would spay her, but here it costs like 700 dollars. which is kinda... over the edge i think from what i asked a while ago. shes actually up for sale right now :( how much do you think is a good price to sell her, a large hutch, metal cage, and all that goes with. alot of extra shavings (like a years worth), food, some rabbit toys stuff like that? thnx for your help once again.

Yes, I think we did discuss the spay price. $700 is WAY overpriced. As for how much to sell your bun for with supplies, that's your decision. If you ask too much, no one will buy even if you paid twice that. If you ask too little, someone without the ability to really care for her might get her. Since you're including probably $100+ of supplies, I would charge about that much to start and see if anyone is interested. Sometimes no one will pay even that much. If you find a good perspective parent, you might reduce the price.

ya, we put her in the paper for 75 and no one called. were gonna try posting pictures on the sale boards at various places. how long should i leave the fur in there for?

It's up to you. It probably would be ok to remove the fur.