Thursday, July 30, 2009

NEed Help Taking Care of A bunny?

my little brother bought a pet bunny it does not want to eat or drink wat could be da problem? Kan u also tell me stuff dat i should do dat is good fo a bunny (like give me advice on takin kare of da bunny)
Answers:
Quit talking like that. You sound like you have no education.
Which food are you feeding it? You should buy packaged rabbit pellets from a pet store, and feed it unlimited amounts of hay. Timothy hay is the best. You can start feeding it greens from outdoors, but feed these gradually and in moderation. Dandelion leaves and clovers are favorites of rabbits, and were the first greens my rabbit decided to try.
If you are using a water bottle, it may not know how to drink from it yet!! Please, as quick as you can, give it a bowl of water rather than a bottle until you know it can use the bottle properly. A rabbit WILL NOT eat if it cannot get enough water. If it still won't drink, feed it through a syringe(without a needle) through the side of the mouth, but be careful not to drown it.
Rabbits are high maintenance pets. It is a good idea to research a pet BEFORE bringing it home. Too many animals end up in shelters because people buy animals that are not suited for them.
Also, is this a wild rabbit? or is it a domesticated rabbit? Most store will not sell to children, and by your writing you sound young, so I can only imagine how young your brother is. If it is wild then let it go where it was found. Wild rabbits will not survive in captivity and usually refuse to eat or drink.
The start up for a rabbit will be around 500 dollars, and you should always have about $1000 set aside for emergencies. You need cage, bedding, water bottle, bowls, hay, veggies, pellets, toys(expect these to be ruined, I replace toys once a month), litter boxes, etc.
Not all rabbits are friendly. Most do not like to be held or cuddled. They freak out if they are picked up incorrectly and kick with their back legs.
They are fairly independent when they are out of their cage. I consider mine pretty friendly, tolerates being picked up, pet in cage, but even she will not let me pet her once she is out. If you don't mind watching a rabbit run and hop, then they make good pets.Rabbits have a specific diet. Under one year they need alfalfa hay, and pellets, with veggies introduced one at a time. After one year they need mostly veggies(mine gets two cups of assorted veggies, half cup pellets and timothy hay),no more alfalfa past one year. Weight needs to be maintained, as over weight rabbits will have health issues.
Rabbits need to be spayed/neutered. Males will have sexual aggression, and females can get cancers if not altered.
Rabbits need a cage large enough to hop around and should be out of their cage for several hours per day. They must be supervised as they chew wires, books, carpet, etc. They are destructive, I knew a person whose rabbit ripped the wallpaper off the wall. Be prepared to have bare spots in your carpet from chewing and furniture ruined.
Keeping a rabbit outside is not advised as they can be killed by predators. No hutch is completely secure against dogs, raccoons, etc. Your rabbit will need to be kept inside.
They most certainly smell, the urine is very potent. They urinate frequently, my rabbit can sometimes drink an entire water bottle(32 oz) in one day. Their poo gets everywhere. They can be litter trained, but are not like cats that will seek out the litter box. You need several boxes all over and even then they might not use it when out of the cage.
Rabbits are messy, they like to dig and throw out litter, I find poo pellet everywhere around the cage.
You need to begin setting aside emergency money for vet care. Most people set aside about $1000 dollars, and one emergency can wipe out that money. You do not want to end up as one of the kids on here that cry that they don't have money to take the animal to the vet(yet are aware that animals get sick and will at one time in their lives need some sort of vet visit). You have plenty of time to start saving money, its not fair to the animal to hope that nothing ever happens.
You should call the vet and ask someone there. A couple of times when I called the nurse gave me great advise. You should call soon though because rabbits can't live long without food and especially water.

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