Rabbitt owners: What is Timothy Hay

[ibpboo]

Jersey John is so cute!

 

[Bunnylady]

John is a Jersey Wooly, my favorite breed.

His color is called Ruby Eyed White (REW). I have had other rabbit people read me the riot act over calling them albinos (which of course is genetically what they are) but the "official" designation is REW.

The maximum showable weight for a Wooly is 3 1/2 pounds, but some individuals weigh in as much as a pound heavier than that. They are meant to be a low-care longhair; animals with the "correct" coat have a lot of guard hairs in their coats, and don't mat up like you might think an angora wooled animal would. For those with the "cottony" coats, life is one long "bad hair" day, and frequent brushing is necessary. All Woolies get a bit messy as their baby coats shed out, between the ages of about 8 to 12 weeks, they may seem to get matted at the drop of a hat. Once the junior coat comes in, they are usually a lot less tangly.

Woolies usually aren't as hyper as some of the smaller breeds. While I have had some that were stand-offish, I don't think I have ever had a genuinely vicious Jersey Wooly. Most of them have been quite docile and friendly.

Make sure you site your hutch in a shady location. Heatstroke kills many pet rabbits every year! Fans and soda bottle full of ice are other things people employ to keep rabbits cool (of course, you could just bring him inside if it's really hot).

 

[ryanhodapp]

Thank you Bunny Lady, that is all good info. I went to Petsmart and got the Timothy hay, treats, etc.
Bunny is definately in the shade with REW. I remembered that from biology class. We have also done the water bottle. Luckily this week it is only 82 degrees. Hurray!

What about shots, do you take your bunny to the vet?

 

[Becky89*]

All my house bunnies have been litter trained and it wasn't very hard for me to train them. I'd let them run around the house and when they went pee or poop on the rug I locked them in their cage the rest of the day. I kept up with this for a couple weeks and finally they learned that when they had to go they had to hop in their cage. Now I don't even have a cage for my current house bunny aka Patches. I laid a litter pan down where his cage use to be and he does his business in there. He sleeps behind the recliner and the first person up in the morning has to race him to the kitchen. If he wins he gets a carrot .......he always wins.

I feed my bunnies Pellets as a normal diet. Twice a week I give them some clover.

 

[LV426]

You want to feed a good quality pellet with no corn. 15-16% protein and 20% fiber. If your pellets are alfalfa based then you need to feed Timothy Hay. Really it's pretty cheap around here it's $12 a 50lb bale. I feed Mazuri rabbit pellets which run around $15 for a 25lb bag.

My rabbit is litter box trained and to keep the smell down I use stall dry or barn dry pellets in the bottom then layer it with kiln dried pine shavings (yes you can use pine I know people scream and cry but I've kept rabbits on pine for years and never had an issue). On one side I put a pile of hay or mount his hay rack over his litter box because rabbits like to defecate and urinate while eating. It makes litter box training easier. I change the box 2 times a week. For a litter box I use a rubbermaid sweater box so my rabbit has enough room to use it comfortably.

 

[Willow's Meadow]

that rabbit is soooooooooo cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

: Yeah I saw they sell timothy hay at walmart lol!!! funny place to sell hay!!!!!!!

Its just a type of hay that rabbits eat.

 

[Dutchgirl]

We got some alfalfa cubes from Tractor Supply Co., the rabbits loved them when they were hungry. We have yet to purchase Timothy hay, however.
One thing that I would like to do with my rabbits is house-train them. Is that possible when they've been living outdoors for a year?

 

[horsechick]

Quote:
Hi,
We had heard of the water bottles with ice in them and have seen some at fair but we also heard to not do it as it cools them too quickly and can cause them to go into shock. We have angoras.
Any info on this?
Thank you