Q. I want to get a baby bunny, but know absolutely nothing about how to raise one. Any help? =)
A. Like children, bunnies will overeat if given the chance. Don't give your rabbit unlimited pellets. He needs only 1/4 cup of pellets per 5 pounds of body weight each day. Look for high-fiber content (18% minimum) and low protein content (14% maximum) pellets, and avoid "mixes" that contain dried fruit, nuts, seeds, or beans. It is also very important to give your rabbit unlimited amounts of timothy, oat, or grass hay. Hay aids in digestion and is the most important part of the bunny's diet. Alfalfa hay is too high in protein for adult rabbits; do not offer it to bunnies over 6 months old.
Rabbits should also get a large handful of fresh, leafy greens each day. Add one new vegetable to his diet at a time, and eliminate it if it causes soft stools or diarrhea. Water can be given to your bunny in either a water bottle or a heavy crock. Whichever you use, change the water daily and remember to clean the container once a week.
Bunnies often act hungry, even when they're not. Remember, overfeeding leads to obesity! Treats should not be fed more than once a day, and may include a small piece of carrot, a slice of apple or pear, a few raisins, or a one-inch slice of banana. Never feed your bunny cookies, crackers, meats, cooked or fried foods, peelings, or spoiled greens.
Rabbits produce both fecal droppings (small, round, dry poops) and cecal pills (soft, partially formed droppings that may appear to be clustered). The rabbit must eat the cecal pills to complete the digestive process. Rabbits who stop eating, or who do not eat their cecal pills, should be seen immediately by a knowledgeable veterinarian.
All pet rabbits should have a safe haven within the human home, to protect them from the elements, predators, insects, and illness. Rabbits are often kept outside in hutches like livestock, but these bunnies do not thrive in isolation. They quickly become bored, depressed, and overweight.
Rabbits can live safely inside a human home if the right precautions have been taken. The bunny should have a cage or other area all to himself, where his food, water, and litterbox are located; but he should also be allowed to interact with the family and explore his surroundings when supervised. Mornings and evenings are active times when the rabbit is most likely to want to exercise. At night, he can go back in his cage.
A bunny's cage should be as large as possible, with room for the rabbit to rest, move around, and sit up on his hind feet. It should also be large enough to accommodate a litter box. If the cage comes with a wire floor, it should be covered with a board, mat, or carpet remnant. Bare wire flooring can lead to a painful condition called sore hocks.
Rabbits also need toys for exercise and mental stimulation. Try providing your bunny with pine cones, newspapers, cardboard tubes, untreated straw baskets, plastic slinkies, or hard plastic baby keys. Chewing on these items will also help wear down his teeth, which grow throughout his life. Do not give him chewable rubber or soft plastic items.
Rabbit-proofing your house is absolutely essential, both for your bunny's safety and for your own mental well-being. Electrical cords, wires, magazines left out on tables, and even the buttons on the television remote control can easily be mistaken for chewable toys! Remove tempting items from your bunny's reach, and cover all electrical cords with shower curtain covers, plastic tubes, or wire covers (see our bunny proofing page). If there are too many temptations, doorway baby gates are perfect for blocking off access altogether.
If you choose to let your bunny play outside, he must be supervised at all times and restricted from areas that might contain pesticides, poisonous plants, or untrained animals. A well-trained family pet such as a dog or a cat might eventually be a fine companion for your bunny, but monitor their behavior around each other at first. Also keep an eye your bunny when he is around young children. Very young children might try to pick up the bunny, and the bunny will likely nip, scratch, or kick out of fear (rabbits usually dislike being held, but love to be petted around the ears and the top of the head).Rabbits are very clean animals; it is neither necessary nor advisable to bathe them (bathing can be very stressful and send them into shock). If your rabbit contracts fleas from other household pets, use a flea comb or kitten flea powder. Never use flea dip or a flea collar.
Rabbits do not need vaccines or most other types of routine care, but a healthy rabbit should be checked annually. It is important to take your rabbit to a veterinarian who is experienced in working with rabbits. Rabbits are considered to be an "exotic" species, and not all vets have the necessary background to treat them properly. The Sacramento House Rabbit Society maintains a list of rabbit-savvy vets; call (916) 863-9690 to find one near you.
Symptoms of a rabbit health emergency can include not eati
Rabbits should also get a large handful of fresh, leafy greens each day. Add one new vegetable to his diet at a time, and eliminate it if it causes soft stools or diarrhea. Water can be given to your bunny in either a water bottle or a heavy crock. Whichever you use, change the water daily and remember to clean the container once a week.
Bunnies often act hungry, even when they're not. Remember, overfeeding leads to obesity! Treats should not be fed more than once a day, and may include a small piece of carrot, a slice of apple or pear, a few raisins, or a one-inch slice of banana. Never feed your bunny cookies, crackers, meats, cooked or fried foods, peelings, or spoiled greens.
Rabbits produce both fecal droppings (small, round, dry poops) and cecal pills (soft, partially formed droppings that may appear to be clustered). The rabbit must eat the cecal pills to complete the digestive process. Rabbits who stop eating, or who do not eat their cecal pills, should be seen immediately by a knowledgeable veterinarian.
All pet rabbits should have a safe haven within the human home, to protect them from the elements, predators, insects, and illness. Rabbits are often kept outside in hutches like livestock, but these bunnies do not thrive in isolation. They quickly become bored, depressed, and overweight.
Rabbits can live safely inside a human home if the right precautions have been taken. The bunny should have a cage or other area all to himself, where his food, water, and litterbox are located; but he should also be allowed to interact with the family and explore his surroundings when supervised. Mornings and evenings are active times when the rabbit is most likely to want to exercise. At night, he can go back in his cage.
A bunny's cage should be as large as possible, with room for the rabbit to rest, move around, and sit up on his hind feet. It should also be large enough to accommodate a litter box. If the cage comes with a wire floor, it should be covered with a board, mat, or carpet remnant. Bare wire flooring can lead to a painful condition called sore hocks.
Rabbits also need toys for exercise and mental stimulation. Try providing your bunny with pine cones, newspapers, cardboard tubes, untreated straw baskets, plastic slinkies, or hard plastic baby keys. Chewing on these items will also help wear down his teeth, which grow throughout his life. Do not give him chewable rubber or soft plastic items.
Rabbit-proofing your house is absolutely essential, both for your bunny's safety and for your own mental well-being. Electrical cords, wires, magazines left out on tables, and even the buttons on the television remote control can easily be mistaken for chewable toys! Remove tempting items from your bunny's reach, and cover all electrical cords with shower curtain covers, plastic tubes, or wire covers (see our bunny proofing page). If there are too many temptations, doorway baby gates are perfect for blocking off access altogether.
If you choose to let your bunny play outside, he must be supervised at all times and restricted from areas that might contain pesticides, poisonous plants, or untrained animals. A well-trained family pet such as a dog or a cat might eventually be a fine companion for your bunny, but monitor their behavior around each other at first. Also keep an eye your bunny when he is around young children. Very young children might try to pick up the bunny, and the bunny will likely nip, scratch, or kick out of fear (rabbits usually dislike being held, but love to be petted around the ears and the top of the head).Rabbits are very clean animals; it is neither necessary nor advisable to bathe them (bathing can be very stressful and send them into shock). If your rabbit contracts fleas from other household pets, use a flea comb or kitten flea powder. Never use flea dip or a flea collar.
Rabbits do not need vaccines or most other types of routine care, but a healthy rabbit should be checked annually. It is important to take your rabbit to a veterinarian who is experienced in working with rabbits. Rabbits are considered to be an "exotic" species, and not all vets have the necessary background to treat them properly. The Sacramento House Rabbit Society maintains a list of rabbit-savvy vets; call (916) 863-9690 to find one near you.
Symptoms of a rabbit health emergency can include not eati
How do I get my parakeet to stop laying eggs?
Q. How do I get my parakeet to stop laying eggs? She's laid 9 since January! There's no boy bird around and we don't plan on getting one.
A. Thank goodness you have the sense to stop this behaviour, rather than encourage it and put a mate in! So many people lack this sort of sense, I've noticed. If she lays over and over and over and over, she'll become a chronic layer, which is very dangerous and may very well take her life one day. Chronic layers tend to lay huge clutches (3-5 eggs is a normal clutch) on a consistent basis.
Anyway, there are some mating factors you need to consider. She's laying because she thinks it's spring/summer, and that's a great mating season. To make it seem like winter/fall, when she wouldn't want to mate:
1) Cover her cage or give her at least 12 hours of darkness and silence a day. If she keeps laying, cover her longer. Sometimes it takes going to the extreme of covering her for 20 to 22 hours a day, but daylight is a big factor. Long daylight hours symbolize warm weather, so long night time hours symbolize poor, cold weather.
2) Monitor her food intake. All birds are different, but you should be able to get a gist of how much she needs to eat per day and feed her accordingly. I'm not sure about budgies, but my lovebirds (a bit bigger than budgies) eat about 1.5 spoons of food per day, so that's all I free-feed them. I'm not starving them because I know that's all they'll eat, and I'll refill their food the very next day.
3) Don't pet her anywhere stimulating. That would be everywhere but the head. If something is stimulating her, especially on the back, wings, tail, under the wings, and belly, she feels as if a mate is initiating the mating process.
4) Keep her occupied and adapt her to change. Change her cage around at least once a week, so that every single perch and every single toy is replaced by another and moved in a different position. She'll keep busy with all the new things, she'll feel mentally challenged by it, and she'll know that babies won't survive in an environment that's constantly changing. You may even want to move her entire cage to another part of the room, or a separate room.
5) Don't allow her nests. If she has any nooks and crannies she burrows into to lay in, remove them. Don't give her any nesting materials. If she shreds the paper on the bottom of her cage and piles it, put something between her and the paper. A grate is very convenient in these times. It's another thing to clean, but I had a lovebird who was determined to nest. I put the grate in for maybe 3 to 5 weeks and she lost interest in shredding nesting material.
Do NOT remove her eggs. They're infertile anyway, so there's no worry of them hatching. Leave them with her for the duration of incubation (21 to 30 days since the last egg was laid) and when she realizes for herself that they aren't hatching, she'll leave them of her own accord. By constantly removing her eggs, you're sending her the message that predators are taking them. Her instincts tell her that in order to further the species effectively, she has to lay more and more to replace those eggs, so she'll do so!
Make sure she's on a good, balanced diet. I suggest pellets, seed, and fresh foods. Pellets are a good alternative if you can't feed a large variety of fresh foods during the day. Harrison's, Roudybush, and Zupreem (without natural colours) are great brands. A nice pelleted diet for a budgie would be 10% seeds, 10% fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains but NO avocado, chocolate, tomato leaves, mushrooms, onions, apple seeds, other fruit pits and seeds, salty, sugary, greasy, caffeinated, or carbonated items, and 80% pellet. Fresh foods that would be great for her right now would be foods that are high in calcium (egg shells require a LOT of calcium that takes away from the hen). Dark, leafy greens are very popular, such as kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, bok choy, broccoli, etc. You should also provide some high quality mineral blocks that she can pick at in case she feels she needs in. Manu blocks are wonderful; they're very natural and highly nutritious, and many people will also suggest cuttlefish bone. Be careful of the solid backing, as birds may be able to choke on it.
Good luck.
Anyway, there are some mating factors you need to consider. She's laying because she thinks it's spring/summer, and that's a great mating season. To make it seem like winter/fall, when she wouldn't want to mate:
1) Cover her cage or give her at least 12 hours of darkness and silence a day. If she keeps laying, cover her longer. Sometimes it takes going to the extreme of covering her for 20 to 22 hours a day, but daylight is a big factor. Long daylight hours symbolize warm weather, so long night time hours symbolize poor, cold weather.
2) Monitor her food intake. All birds are different, but you should be able to get a gist of how much she needs to eat per day and feed her accordingly. I'm not sure about budgies, but my lovebirds (a bit bigger than budgies) eat about 1.5 spoons of food per day, so that's all I free-feed them. I'm not starving them because I know that's all they'll eat, and I'll refill their food the very next day.
3) Don't pet her anywhere stimulating. That would be everywhere but the head. If something is stimulating her, especially on the back, wings, tail, under the wings, and belly, she feels as if a mate is initiating the mating process.
4) Keep her occupied and adapt her to change. Change her cage around at least once a week, so that every single perch and every single toy is replaced by another and moved in a different position. She'll keep busy with all the new things, she'll feel mentally challenged by it, and she'll know that babies won't survive in an environment that's constantly changing. You may even want to move her entire cage to another part of the room, or a separate room.
5) Don't allow her nests. If she has any nooks and crannies she burrows into to lay in, remove them. Don't give her any nesting materials. If she shreds the paper on the bottom of her cage and piles it, put something between her and the paper. A grate is very convenient in these times. It's another thing to clean, but I had a lovebird who was determined to nest. I put the grate in for maybe 3 to 5 weeks and she lost interest in shredding nesting material.
Do NOT remove her eggs. They're infertile anyway, so there's no worry of them hatching. Leave them with her for the duration of incubation (21 to 30 days since the last egg was laid) and when she realizes for herself that they aren't hatching, she'll leave them of her own accord. By constantly removing her eggs, you're sending her the message that predators are taking them. Her instincts tell her that in order to further the species effectively, she has to lay more and more to replace those eggs, so she'll do so!
Make sure she's on a good, balanced diet. I suggest pellets, seed, and fresh foods. Pellets are a good alternative if you can't feed a large variety of fresh foods during the day. Harrison's, Roudybush, and Zupreem (without natural colours) are great brands. A nice pelleted diet for a budgie would be 10% seeds, 10% fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains but NO avocado, chocolate, tomato leaves, mushrooms, onions, apple seeds, other fruit pits and seeds, salty, sugary, greasy, caffeinated, or carbonated items, and 80% pellet. Fresh foods that would be great for her right now would be foods that are high in calcium (egg shells require a LOT of calcium that takes away from the hen). Dark, leafy greens are very popular, such as kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, bok choy, broccoli, etc. You should also provide some high quality mineral blocks that she can pick at in case she feels she needs in. Manu blocks are wonderful; they're very natural and highly nutritious, and many people will also suggest cuttlefish bone. Be careful of the solid backing, as birds may be able to choke on it.
Good luck.
How do you feel about apple inc stocks today?
Q. How do you feel about apple inc stocks today
A. Consider the mechanics of their business and how long it takes to go from Idea to Product..( Cutting Edge Creative Products)...And Jobs was probably working on these products till the day he retired,..I bet he was working from home.
I think it' insulting to write them off so quickly..
There was Apple Television with Integrated Computer and Apple Software,..In the works(something on that line)...
Which once more simplifies the experience so everyone is included in the experience..Grand Maw can Communicate with the gran babies at college, etc, In another State...Video Phone Calls on a Television size (monitor)screen...Or E-mail
I think it' insulting to write them off so quickly..
There was Apple Television with Integrated Computer and Apple Software,..In the works(something on that line)...
Which once more simplifies the experience so everyone is included in the experience..Grand Maw can Communicate with the gran babies at college, etc, In another State...Video Phone Calls on a Television size (monitor)screen...Or E-mail
What is your guinea pig's daily diet other than pellets?
Q. I've seen the sites that outline what vegetables/fruits are good or bad and why...but do people actually feed them that much of a variety and monitor it that carefully? What is your GP's daily fresh food intake, and how many carrots per day are actually okay (some sites say 1-2 per day baby carrots)?
A. My Piggies have free access to hay, (timothy,) at all times. This is very important for Guinea Pigs, as they are "constant eaters", so if they don't have free hay, they'll eat pellets etc. which leads to fat Pigs.
So, along with their pellets and hay, I give them daily dark leafy greens, about 1/4 of a carrot, and some sort of super vitamin rich food, usually a handful of Dandy Lion greens, or 1/4 of an orange. I also alternate other fresh foods like apples, parsley, peppers, kiwis, and various root vegetables for their mid-day snacks.
I don't monitor their fresh food intake that carefully, but besides grass when they're outside in the summer, I don't overdo anything either.
Seems to work well for them, they're all very healthy!
EDIT:
Guinea Pigs are lactose intolerant, and so should never be given any form of dairy, including as suggested by one answerer, cheese.
So, along with their pellets and hay, I give them daily dark leafy greens, about 1/4 of a carrot, and some sort of super vitamin rich food, usually a handful of Dandy Lion greens, or 1/4 of an orange. I also alternate other fresh foods like apples, parsley, peppers, kiwis, and various root vegetables for their mid-day snacks.
I don't monitor their fresh food intake that carefully, but besides grass when they're outside in the summer, I don't overdo anything either.
Seems to work well for them, they're all very healthy!
EDIT:
Guinea Pigs are lactose intolerant, and so should never be given any form of dairy, including as suggested by one answerer, cheese.
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Title Post: How hard is taking care of a bunny?
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Rating: 96% based on 987 ratings. 4,3 user reviews.
Author: Unknown
Thanks For Coming To My Blog
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