FEED:
We feed and recommend Kalmbach 18% Best-In-Show rabbit pellets for rabbit feed. It is also wise to give your bunny Timothy hay along with the pellets. We suggest you avoid alfalfa hay, as it may be too rich for your bunny, and cause a potentially fatal tummy ache. Hay should make up 80 to 90% of your bunny’s diet. Hay helps to keep things such as hair from blocking the digestive tract, as well as assist with tooth control for your bunny. |
FOOD AND WATER CONTAINERS:
Having a container for food and water is a necessity. A bowl or cage cup is good for both, but there are also options that hang inside the cage and hold both hay and pellets. There are hay racks that you can purchase for putting hay into, but they aren’t a necessity. They mainly help prevent the bunny from eating bedding while munching on their hay. Your bunny can drink water out of a bowl or water bottle, we use both in most of our pens, so your bunny will not have a problem acclimating to one or the other. Whether your bunny uses a bowl or water bottle is completely up to you, although water bowls tend to spend more time getting flipped over and spilled than actually holding water.
Having a container for food and water is a necessity. A bowl or cage cup is good for both, but there are also options that hang inside the cage and hold both hay and pellets. There are hay racks that you can purchase for putting hay into, but they aren’t a necessity. They mainly help prevent the bunny from eating bedding while munching on their hay. Your bunny can drink water out of a bowl or water bottle, we use both in most of our pens, so your bunny will not have a problem acclimating to one or the other. Whether your bunny uses a bowl or water bottle is completely up to you, although water bowls tend to spend more time getting flipped over and spilled than actually holding water.
TREATS AND TOYS:
Treats are optional, but toys designed for bunnies are meant to assist with tooth control. Bunnies’ teeth grow throughout their entire life, so they need something to help keep those chompers in good condition. Lava bars are a popular option for this.
Treats are optional, but toys designed for bunnies are meant to assist with tooth control. Bunnies’ teeth grow throughout their entire life, so they need something to help keep those chompers in good condition. Lava bars are a popular option for this.
ENCLOSURE:
Whether you choose a hutch or a cage is up to you. For an indoor bunny, a plastic bottomed cage is more ideal, as it helps to keep manure and feed contained to the cage itself, instead of falling through the bottom. An outdoor bunny would do best in a hutch providing the hutch is kept out of the direct wind and cold, ideally kept in a shed or garage in winter. Some bunnies are kept in play pens instead of cages or hutches, and this is an acceptable option, providing the play pen is high enough that the bunny cannot jump over (or attempt to jump over) and potentially catch a leg on it.
We use wire bottom cages with resting platforms to protect our bunnies' feet and legs from constant exposure to metal wires. In the summer we use ceramic tile, as it helps keep the bunnies cool, and plastic resting platforms in the winter.
Whether you choose a hutch or a cage is up to you. For an indoor bunny, a plastic bottomed cage is more ideal, as it helps to keep manure and feed contained to the cage itself, instead of falling through the bottom. An outdoor bunny would do best in a hutch providing the hutch is kept out of the direct wind and cold, ideally kept in a shed or garage in winter. Some bunnies are kept in play pens instead of cages or hutches, and this is an acceptable option, providing the play pen is high enough that the bunny cannot jump over (or attempt to jump over) and potentially catch a leg on it.
We use wire bottom cages with resting platforms to protect our bunnies' feet and legs from constant exposure to metal wires. In the summer we use ceramic tile, as it helps keep the bunnies cool, and plastic resting platforms in the winter.
BEDDING:
For a bunny in a plastic bottomed cage, we would recommend a pine or cedar shaving (make sure it is designed for bunnies, as certain shavings can cause serious health problems if ingested), or cardboard bedding. Both do a decent job absorbing odor and urine, though shavings can be difficult to clean up if they find themselves outside of the cage. You may choose to litter train your bunny, and for most bunnies, this process is very simple and easy. Many stores sell cheap litter training starter kits designed for bunnies, often with a guard to help keep waste inside the litter box, not all over the cage and the room the bunny occupies. For litter, we recommend recycled newspaper pellets, most often found as cat litter.
For a bunny in a plastic bottomed cage, we would recommend a pine or cedar shaving (make sure it is designed for bunnies, as certain shavings can cause serious health problems if ingested), or cardboard bedding. Both do a decent job absorbing odor and urine, though shavings can be difficult to clean up if they find themselves outside of the cage. You may choose to litter train your bunny, and for most bunnies, this process is very simple and easy. Many stores sell cheap litter training starter kits designed for bunnies, often with a guard to help keep waste inside the litter box, not all over the cage and the room the bunny occupies. For litter, we recommend recycled newspaper pellets, most often found as cat litter.
GETTING TO KNOW YOU:
Some bunnies will take a little bit of time to get to know you. Bunnies, like people, have their own personalities, and sometimes different personalities don't click right away. If this is the case with your bunny, this does not necessarily mean that you and your bunny won't get along, it just means you need to get to know each other. Maybe your bunny is not a snuggler, or maybe your bunny only likes to be held a certain way. Sometimes it can take about a week for you and your bunny to figure each other out.
Some bunnies will take a little bit of time to get to know you. Bunnies, like people, have their own personalities, and sometimes different personalities don't click right away. If this is the case with your bunny, this does not necessarily mean that you and your bunny won't get along, it just means you need to get to know each other. Maybe your bunny is not a snuggler, or maybe your bunny only likes to be held a certain way. Sometimes it can take about a week for you and your bunny to figure each other out.
bunny_supplies_handout.docx | |
File Size: | 1146 kb |
File Type: | docx |