How to hold your rabbit

Have you ever wanted to hold your rabbit with him feeling comfortable and not squirm? If you do, here's how:

Usually their not very KEEN on being snuggled by anyone (especially when it isn't properly). Also, they don't exactly like being off 'ground level' when they don't have anything solid to stand on. This doesn't mean you.

When you reach to pick them up, they might become scared or afraid as they may think of you as a predator (maybe a hawk or something) coming to kill them. That is when some aggressive bunnies will go to bite you. It will take some time for them to get used to being 'handled' by you.

You pick them up with both of your hands. One of them will be underneath their chest and (if possible) have you thumb above their shoulder. The other hand will be supporting their bottom. Have their back legs tucked in a bit when you pick them up this way. This will prevent them kicking. Use this way to carry them a short distance (like putting them into their hutch).

For carrying them longer distances, do the same but bring them up to against your chest. Here there is 2 positions that you can hold them in. One of them is by holding them up vertically with one  hand supporting their bottom and the other across their back.The other one is holding them horizontally with one arm underneath them and the  other securing them onto you so you can't drop them.

The vertical one is usually used for small/smaller bunnies. I prefer to hold mine horizontally as that is how I feel safer picking them up and they don't try to jump off that way as much.

If your bunny does go to jump out of your arms, lower yourself to the ground and let them hop off as then they are almost touching the floor before they jump and they won't get injured.

Here are some bunny products which I thought you may be interested in! Click them below for more information!

If you need any advice on how to hold your rabbit, comment on this post.

Obesity in rabbits

Obesity in rabbits seems to be coming more and more common as more people are getting pet bunnies and are overfeeding them (or giving them an improper diet). Most bunnies that are obese are usually around 20-40% overweight. This causes them not to function properly. Some different breeds of bunnies are more at risk then others.

An easy way to check if they are overweight is to put them straight and feel where their ribs are. If you can feel them, then they are a good weight (just make sure that their not underweight). If not then you know that they are overweight so just think about what you have been feeding them and how much they have been let out to run around and possibly nibble on the grass if you are outside.

Also, if your rabbit is tired a lot and have some difficulty breathing, you may want to look into it as these are some signs of your bunny being overweight.

Causes:
Some of the causes are being in their cage o hutch too much (in other words not being let out). As well as being over fed. This could be from giving them large quantities or you not having a very descent pellets. There should be at least 21% crude fiber in their pellets. Some of the pellets will say the amount on the bag which is sometimes for every 5 pounds of your rabbits feed them (like a tablespoon or something).

Treatment:
You have to make sure that your rabbit is getting the proper diet which is made up of mainly hay, then around a handful of vegetables, a small amount of pellets and only A FEW treats.

The treats part can be quite a common part that people get wrong as they think 'These treats are only small, if I give him quite a few he will be fine'. But the problem is they will give them that many everyday which makes it worse because you should only occasionally give these to them. If you do give them treats, use the healthier one which are the dried vegetable ones.

Exercise is another crucial part. This gives them time to stretch their legs and hop around freely. Click on the link exercise for more information.

Here are some bunny products which you may find interesting, click the pictures below for more information!

I hope this post helped you get a better idea about obesity in rabbits and that you make sure your rabbit is having lots of exercise and a very good, healthy diet.

Rabbit Bonding Day 1

We have just had Pipkin and Pumpkin in the garden and we were bonding them in the paddling pool (it is empty! Also the floor won't rip easily). There is some bunny behavior which I have found out that it is positive in this video. I have been told that when they have their heads under each other it means that they are asking to be groomed and seeing who the alpha buck is.

If your bunnies start to groom each other, I think this is also a good sign. Pipkin and Pumpkin began to do this a bit today but not that much. Pumpkin was behind Pipkin and just randomly decided to start grooming it a bit! Too bad that we didn't get that bit on video!

I think they get on quite well its just that I sometimes get a bit worried when I have them out because I think that they are going to start to fight. I will have them off of their leads in the future seeing as they get on alright and we accidentally left Pipkin's harness on him and he has chewed it so it is ALMOST wrecked.

I will be posting all about my rabbit bonding experiences as it may help some people who are planning on bonding their rabbits. The video below is of me recently with the Pipkin and Pumpkin to show you a bit about how they act around each other. Looking at some other peoples videos about bonding, they all seem to be a bit different.

Here are some bunny products which I thought that you may like, click on the picture for more information about them.

Rabbit Breeds

There are lots of different rabbit breeds. Some may have slightly different personalities to others because of them being a different type. If you were thinking about getting a more suitable bunny around children, Holland Lop, Dutch or Mini Rex rabbit breeds are perfect for this! These are a good size for kids to pick up and cuddle as well as less aggressive then something like a Neverland Dwarf. Below is a list of rabbit breeds:

Angora- 5+ years

Belgian Hare

British Giant

Dutch

English

Flemish

 

Fox

Himalayan

Holland Lop

Lionhead

Lop

Mini Rex

Netherland Dwarf

New Zealand

Polish

Rex

Satin

Silver

Tan

Here are some bunny products which I thought you may like, click on one of the pictures for more information about it!

To find out how long each of these rabbit breeds live, click rabbit lifespan

Homemade Rabbit Treats

Homemade rabbit treat are generally healthier then the store bought ones.When you make some at home, you will know exactly whats in them and you can choose to make them better for your bunny or more like a treat. If you make them more like a treat, I would recommend not to feed them regularly. Here is a recipe that my bunnies enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of your rabbits food (I used excel)
• 1 banana
• 2 carrots

Instructions:

• Start by putting parchment paper onto a cookie tray and preheat the oven to 180 degrees C

• Blend your bunnies food until it is really ground up like in this picture:

• Chop the banana and carrots into slices
  

 

• Place all of this into the blender and keep it in there until there is no more lumps or only a few

 

• Put the ground up food and pureed vegetables into a bowl and mix until combined 

 

• Grab a bit and roll it into a ball

• Place it onto the parchment paper on the tray and squash it in the middle to make a small biscuit thing

• Cook them for 30 minutes in the oven to harden them. When you take them out, they should have hardened and look like this:

 

That is a simple homemade rabbit treat recipe. If you are interested in cooking and baking, then click here

Fruit for Rabbits

I'm sure that your bunny would enjoy to have something sweet to eat once in a while. You can give them some fruit! they are only allowed 2 tablespoons of this a day due to the amount of the type of sugar that is in them. In the information below, their are lists for the safe and unsafe fruit for rabbits.


Safe fruit for rabbits:

      Apple

Apricot 

Blueberries

Cherries

Grapes 

Melon

Nectarines 

Oranges (not the peel)

Papaya

Pears

Pineapple 

Plums

Tomatoes 

Blackberries (and leaves)

Raspberries (and leaves)

Strawberries (and leaves)

Banana (high in potassium)

Unsafe fruit for rabbits 

Rhubarb

Peach leaves  

Plum leaves

tomato leaves 

Here are some bunny products which I thought that you may like, click the pictures below to have a look!

There may be some that I have missed out. Comment on this post if you are unsure about one.

Heat Stress in Rabbits

Heat stress in rabbits can end up being deadly. Make sure in the hot summer days you provide them with something to cool them down and keep their hutches in the shade. Their are many ways to prevent it and for what to do t make sure that they stay a bit cooler around this time of year. For information about the symptoms, treatment and prevention, read the information below.

Cause

The cause is quite obvious, it is when a bunny becomes to warm and may have a stroke or just heat stress. This would usually happen in the summer time when the weather  is generally warmer.


Symptoms

The symptoms for heat stress in rabbits are:

stretched out and panting

flaring nostrils as they breathe

and

moister around their face and/or drooling

When their body is unable to cool down, their body temperature rises a lot and could become heat stroke.The symptoms for that is:

heavy panting

salivating

they may become confused

and

inability to move around. This can lead to death of your bunny.


Treatment

If their body temperature reaches 104 degrees F it is recommended to seek a vet as soon as you can. If their body temperature is really high, a full recovery is poor. Once your bunny becomes overheated, quick action can determine life or death, but bring the temperature down too quickly can be dangerous. Put them immediately into some room temperature water without getting their head in their.

You have to keep their stress down and you could have a wet towel round them. Then gently rub some water into their fur to get to the skin to cool them down. You have to make sure you keep them cool until the vet sees them.  

Prevention

If they are kept outside in a hutch, make sure you have it in a shaded area. Even if it is a shaded area, it can still get warm.

make sure they have lots of fresh water everyday and if you want, put some ice cubes in it as well if you want to keep the water colder for longer.

Make sure you groom them on a daily basis in the summer so they don't have any loose fur left on them. This will keep them cooler because the loose fur can give them some heat so it does help by doing this.

Here are some bunny products which you may be interested in, if you are, click on the picture below!

Comment on this post if you have anything to say about heat stress in rabbits.