Dvansmudge Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Hi everyone. We have just got our first rabbit Last week (as parents anyway!), and collecting her brother tomorrow (neutering is v.high on agenda). Both Netherlands dwarf. I have a few concerns which I would love the community to put me at ease or cast their opinion on! We have the Eglu hutch with the 2m run, with the wired base, and have the run sitting on the lawn. The current rabbit seems addicted to the grass, and is eating it constantly! We let her run free in the garden with supervision when cleaning, and all she’s interested in is eating more and more grass! She has plenty of hay, which she is beginning to eat more of daily, and she has a small amount of nuggets twice a day along with a few leafy treats or carrot, so she’s not hungry! Is it ok for them to eat that much grass, and do you think she’s getting aggressive to get out the cage for grass as she’s eaten most of the run!! She’s using a litter tray already which is great, which is outside by the entrance of the run, and apart from eating her nuggets she hardly goes in the hutch! She’ll take shelter in the little tunnel toy we have, but there’s been no droppings or wee in the hutch at all so far! she also has two water bottles, but hardly seems to drink (we’ve spotted her a couple of times that’s it). Is that normal? Sorry for the long post!! any pointers are greatly welcomed! thanks David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Some rabbits tend to drink a lot, but often out of boredom. With her eating so much grass, she is probably getting a lot of water in that way. Eating too much grass can be an issue. They can get a kind of bloat from to much watery greens like lettuce and grass. You might want to limit her grass intake until she has eating her pellet breakfast. Is there anyway you could place the run on hard paving for a while? Hope she and her (neutered) brother are getting along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dvansmudge Posted June 10, 2020 Author Share Posted June 10, 2020 Thanks for the feedback. yes, they are getting along great even after he’s had the chop (she’s next week!). im thinking of paving or Astro turfing the run, mainly as it’s such a nightmare to clear because of the under wire. She uses the litter tray, but he still hasn’t quite got it so where they are not going to the loo in the egg, the grass is impossible to sweep, let alone with the wire base! every weekend I can move and use the leaf blower I have in suction mode to clear it all, but its hard to maintain. I’ve had cramp a few times leaning into the cage picking droppings up with my hands!! the only other option is to try get them to use the Eglu as their toilet, as they only really go indoors to avoid the bad rain? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 From memory, lettuce is a bit of a no-no with rabbits as it causes colic (in humans too, in large quantities) I used to feed ours dark greens instead, which they loved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 When we had rabbits, one of them got ill from not drinking enough water from the bottles. We got them a couple of heavy bowls to have water in and didn't have the problem again. Admittedly, we did change the water twice a day but at least our bunny didn't get poorly again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
