New bunny owner....double bunny hutch is done! pix inside

[NellaBean]

Thanks guys! The girls are doing great.....I went out at lunch and bought them some yogurt drops and a small bag of "fancy" rabbit food to use as treats. Definitely will be giving them lots of fresh veggies...in addition to Timothy hay...figure I will just buy a bale and go through it slowly. Plus the hay cubes to chew on....My neighbor gives me fresh cucumbers, I always have lots of carrots for my horse....have started buying peas and spinach for the ducks....they should have plenty of yummy stuff to eat.

Can they get grass clippings? I have tons of clover in my yard, of course there is also fescue/bermuda/etc and lots of weeds mixed in. I wouldn't mind scooping up a pile of clippings for them after I mow. I understand that it can mold quickly, so it would be a "day of" kind of thing.

I do hope to make them a secure outside pen so they can get some sunshine and grazing time when the weather is nice. I do already have a rabbit hutch, that I use for my chickens.....probably wouldn't be hard to build it a little pen and let "the girls" use it in the fall and spring for some daytime visits.

The girls are so cute.....Laverne the lionhead has REALLY perked up. She was so lethargic and overheated saturday...she was like a new bunny yesterday. She has also eaten almost nonstop...she was one of the smallest bunnies in the cage, so probably wasn't getting enough food. She has a nice big fat belly now

Stella is a porker already, lord don't let her be old enough to be pregnant LOL.

 

[ChickenToes]

It's perfectly fine to give them grass and clover. They'll love it.

 

[NellaBean]

The bunnies are doing good. I started building them a nice new indoor hutch aka GIANT RABBIT MANSION lol. It will be 3 feet tall (not including "legs"), 4 feet wide and 2 feet deep. It will have a 2nd level that is half the length of the cage.....maybe a hammock on the "open" side (do bunnies use hammocks like ferrets and rats do?).

All of the framing is done......heat index over 100 today so I am probably done building for today. Next step is to dismantle it all, paint it, attach the hardware cloth to the sides and the plywood to the "floors". Will cover all plywood with linoleum stick on tiles....plus a bumper 1x4 around the bottom edge, also covered in the tile squares. Ramp to the 2nd level.....put it all back together and wha-la!

It should be awesome! It will probably move to the living room in front of my big window. It looks out onto the covered porch and is a "newer" vinyl window, so doesn't "cook" anything inside of it on a hot day. This will let "the girls" be part of the "family" in the living room instead of being stuck in the extra bedroom. Going to build them a hay rack and veggie bin.....will still have their usual feed and water dishes, plus a litterbox or two.

The boards are cut and ready to put together.

Side panels, back, floor and top are built and ready to put together.

Everthing is together....time to build the middle level and front doors.

The doors are just clamped on for now. No reason to try to hang them with the hinges until they have the mesh attached.

Nice part is that if I ever need two hutches, I can just add onto the middle level to make it go all the way across. And then will have two cages that are each 4 feet long, 2 feet deep and 1.5 feet high.

 

[NellaBean]

Just went in and found little Laverne the lionhead dead in the cage :*( How sad. She was perfectly fine a few hours ago.....just found her on her side, eyes wide open......so sad.

 

[ksalvagno]

So sorry about your rabbit. That heat that she was in when you got her probably did more internal damage than anyone could know about. That was great that you took them in and good luck with your other little girl.

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

So sorry that you lost one, its a shame that she passed.

I would love to rip into the breeder for housing them that way, the one and only time this spring we went to the flea market they were selling rabbits and chickens in the way you described. My DH had to pull me away from the man, I was livid. I cant stand people half the time.

 

[NellaBean]

The other girl is still just perfectly fine and dandy. Last I saw her last night she was eating away.....went to check on her this morning and she was eating away, lots of poop and pee all over the tub. Seems perfectly fine. I am working on getting her another little buddy...probably won't put them together until the new mansion is done, but I expect to finish that this week.

She did have a very good week here....they stayed inside the house where it is is cool and had all the good food they could eat. Alfalfa cubes and some alfalfa/timothy hay, endless pellets, carrots for treats.....she was the sweetest little thing, wish she could have made it longer to enjoy the good time.

 

[sourland]

When you get a new rabbit, quarantine her just as you would a new chicken. Rabbits are very susceptible to heat, stress and a number of highly contagious diseases. Rabbits at a swap or auction are exposed to whatever any others there may be carrying.

 

[chick4chicks]

I am so sorry to hear of Laverne's passing. I hope Stella makes out fine. Bunnies are great friends, I have 8 now. Hope you find a nice companion for Stella.

 

[Sissy]

NellaBean,
I was really enjoying reading about
the finding of your 2 bunnies.
but was shocked to see that you lost Laverne
So sorry.



Flock keeper of many feathered friends.