Here's a cute pic I managed to snap at just the right moment. My husband now has a set of furry little legwarmers! Bunny kisses and all.
On that note, hope you all have a great weekend and we'll be back on Monday!
7 comments:
TN
said...
Hi Courtney, Would love to know how many hours your bunnies get out per day? And what's their eating portions like?
Bun seems to want food and snacks all the time. He usually stands on his 2 hind legs and starts sniffing around and begging for snacks. I try my best to not give into his bunny eyes but sometimes its so hard to resist not giving him what he wants.
I try to stick to the House Rabbit Society's guidelines and they suggest at least 5 hours of exercise time plus having them in a cage large enough to move freely in (the more room the better). There's no way these two could be out for that amount of time in one go due to one of the following: 1)they get destructive 2)they start squabbling for dominance 3)they fall asleep on the couch or in the middle of the living room floor 4)they decide they want back in their cage so they can get oats. Usually, when they get destructive or instigate a dominance dispute, they go in their cage for 5-10 minutes to "cool down" while the other bunny is bopping around. I figure that playtime is generally over when they fall asleep outside of their cages or they keep hopping into and out of their cage/tipping the oat container over (we give them oats as a reward for following the command to hop into their cage). I'd suggest trying to let them out in the morning and in the evening if you're able to because that's when they're most active.
As for feeding, Simon and River are Holland lops (a dwarf breed), so I feed unlimited Timothy hay and give some type of greens (a couple of sprigs of mint or parsley,a large leaf or two of romaine, or a couple of celery tops) and I feed them a 50/50 mix of Timothy hay based pellets and alfalfa-Timothy pellets (no candy bits)--Simon is about 4 pounds so he gets ~1/4 cup and River (she's about 3 pounds) 1/8 cup of pellets. I mainly want them to eat their hay, which is especially important when they're going through a shed. The suggestion for an adult rabbit is 1/4 to 1/2 cup pellets per 6 pounds body weight and you should take into consideration veggies you feed and how active they are.
As for Bun's begging, I'd definitely make sure to always have Timothy hay available for him to snack on and find out his weight so you can adjust his pellet ration if needed. I know Simon and River are oat crazy, so I try to only give them that as a treat when they follow a command. That definitely helps with the begging. Tough love is hard!
Here's a link to the House Rabbit Society's FAQ page you might find helpful: http://rabbit.org/frequently-asked-questions/
I currently have Bun on a schedule which consist of being let out of his cage @ 9:00 a.m. and having breakfast around 9:30. He'll play till he poops out around 11:45. He then gets more play time outside in my backyard for @ least 45 mins. to an hour and depending on my schedule he might get a second play time later on in the afternoon. Since we devoted our family room to Bun + our African Grey parrot we bunny proofed the area and Bun gets to be out of his cage pretty much all day sleeping or playing in his cardboard mazes + hideaways till 8:30 @ night which is his bedtime. He gets dinner for the night. His portions are unlimited access to Timothy Hay, 1/4 cup pellets, and 2- 3 different types of fresh greens per day. He loves his fresh greens and wish that he ate more of his Timothy Hay.
Love your blog + all the suggestions you have. Bun + I thank you!
It sounds like Bun has an awesome set-up! He's lucky to have you as his caretaker. Thanks and you're very welcome. :) I hope some of the suggestions are helpful. The only other thing I can think of that might help get Bun to eat more of his hay would be to split up the 1/4 cup of pellets you do give him into 1/8 cup morning and evening so if he's still hungry after his half-ration, he may be tempted to eat more of his hay.
Bunny kisses and all.
7 comments:
Hi Courtney,
Would love to know how many hours your bunnies get out per day? And what's their eating portions like?
Bun seems to want food and snacks all the time. He usually stands on his 2 hind legs and starts sniffing around and begging for snacks. I try my best to not give into his bunny eyes but sometimes its so hard to resist not giving him what he wants.
I try to stick to the House Rabbit Society's guidelines and they suggest at least 5 hours of exercise time plus having them in a cage large enough to move freely in (the more room the better). There's no way these two could be out for that amount of time in one go due to one of the following: 1)they get destructive 2)they start squabbling for dominance 3)they fall asleep on the couch or in the middle of the living room floor 4)they decide they want back in their cage so they can get oats. Usually, when they get destructive or instigate a dominance dispute, they go in their cage for 5-10 minutes to "cool down" while the other bunny is bopping around. I figure that playtime is generally over when they fall asleep outside of their cages or they keep hopping into and out of their cage/tipping the oat container over (we give them oats as a reward for following the command to hop into their cage). I'd suggest trying to let them out in the morning and in the evening if you're able to because that's when they're most active.
As for feeding, Simon and River are Holland lops (a dwarf breed), so I feed unlimited Timothy hay and give some type of greens (a couple of sprigs of mint or parsley,a large leaf or two of romaine, or a couple of celery tops) and I feed them a 50/50 mix of Timothy hay based pellets and alfalfa-Timothy pellets (no candy bits)--Simon is about 4 pounds so he gets ~1/4 cup and River (she's about 3 pounds) 1/8 cup of pellets. I mainly want them to eat their hay, which is especially important when they're going through a shed. The suggestion for an adult rabbit is 1/4 to 1/2 cup pellets per 6 pounds body weight and you should take into consideration veggies you feed and how active they are.
As for Bun's begging, I'd definitely make sure to always have Timothy hay available for him to snack on and find out his weight so you can adjust his pellet ration if needed. I know Simon and River are oat crazy, so I try to only give them that as a treat when they follow a command. That definitely helps with the begging. Tough love is hard!
Here's a link to the House Rabbit Society's FAQ page you might find helpful: http://rabbit.org/frequently-asked-questions/
Well, it didn't put it in as a link. Sorry, I'm not sure how to make it do that in a comment so you'll have to copy and paste it.
I currently have Bun on a schedule which consist of being let out of his cage @ 9:00 a.m. and having breakfast around 9:30. He'll play till he poops out around 11:45.
He then gets more play time outside in my backyard for @ least 45 mins. to an hour and depending on my schedule he might get a second play time later on in the afternoon.
Since we devoted our family room to Bun + our African Grey parrot we bunny proofed the area and Bun gets to be out of his cage pretty much all day sleeping or playing in his cardboard mazes + hideaways till 8:30 @ night which is his bedtime.
He gets dinner for the night. His portions are unlimited access to Timothy Hay, 1/4 cup pellets, and 2- 3 different types of fresh greens per day. He loves his fresh greens and wish that he ate more of his Timothy Hay.
Love your blog + all the suggestions you have. Bun + I thank you!
It sounds like Bun has an awesome set-up! He's lucky to have you as his caretaker.
Thanks and you're very welcome. :) I hope some of the suggestions are helpful. The only other thing I can think of that might help get Bun to eat more of his hay would be to split up the 1/4 cup of pellets you do give him into 1/8 cup morning and evening so if he's still hungry after his half-ration, he may be tempted to eat more of his hay.
I definitely try your suggestion. Thanks again!
You're welcome! I hope it helps. :)
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