Caring for your baby Mini Lop
Your new baby bunny has been fed our own special mix of pellets, fresh grass, small amounts of fresh greens and lots of Oaten hay. Please continue on with the food provided, gradually adding new pellets etc to each serving until the gradual changeover is complete. (Sudden changes to diet can make your baby bunny very sick!).
Bunnies need a constant supply of Oaten hay to keep their tummies healthy.
Rabbits up to 4 months old should be fed as much as they will eat, however rabbits under 3 months should not be given excessive amounts of vegetables
You can start introducing vegetables slowly within a couple of weeks or so. Offer tiny amounts every second day, making sure the baby’s tummy is coping with the richer food. Within a couple of months your rabbit should be eating veggies as a regular part of its diet.
Litter training should continue immediately (as below).
Please ensure the transition to your bunnies new home is as stress free as possible. Give your bunny a quiet place away from other pets to settle into his new surroundings. Remember he has not long left his litter mates and this can be very stressful for him. He will most likely feel quite scared going to his new home and will need your reassurance as well as peace and quiet until he feels safe.
Housing
Hutches are best used overnight or while unsupervised during the day. A large playpen indoors is a great option or be able to free roam indoors with supervision. Large outdoor chicken coops are also available from Bunnings and give your bunny much more room to run about and play in their cage. They are only about the same cost as regular sized cages and perfect for bunnies. They are an extra large double story hutch, allowing them an upstairs sleeping area and a huge downstairs play area.
During the warmer months place your hutch in the coolest and shadiest area outdoors or bring indoors.
Ample bedding should be provided at all times. This could be wood shavings, shredded paper or hay.
We recommend covering your outdoor hutch with a shadecloth or flyscreen mesh to avoid disease from mosquitos and flies.
Bunnies also make wonderful indoor pets!
Please not that homes should be bunny proofed before allowing to free roam!
Summer months
The summer months are hard on bunnies. Every rabbit handles the heat differently and you will need to get to know your own bunny and how they are coping.
When the temperature reaches around 28 degrees it’s important to keep your bunny comfortable and cool. Some ways of doing that are:
Have frozen water bottles or ice packs available in the freezer (2 each day per rabbit)
Drape wet towels over the hutch
Have a fan blowing for air circulation
Ensure your cage is in a shaded area of the yard
Set up a portable gazebo or shade cloth over the cage to provide relief from the heat
The best place for your rabbit on a hot day (30 degrees +) is inside.
Teeth
Mini lops love to chew! So please ensure your bunny has things to chew such as sticks or wooden toys and ofcourse UNLIMITED Oaten hay. if no alternative is provided don’t expect your hutch to last very long!
Exercise
Mini lops are playful, love to socialise and enjoy running around and being around their humans.
Bunnies shouldn’t be confined to their hutch all day. Supervised time in the backyard or house is a great fun for everybody. Playpens are a great option.
Companionship
Single rabbits will be very happy as long as their owners are prepared to spend time with them. If you are away you can keep your rabbit active and interested by providing toys to play with and rabbit safe branches to chew on. If left alone without any attention or activity rabbits can become bored and lonely and this can sometimes lead to aggressive or destructive behaviour.
If you decide to have two rabbits please keep in mind it’s a process. Bunnies will need to introduced slowest and fully bonded before being housed together. Some will simply not get along while others will become the best of friends. Some rabbits just like to be alone and are just happy and content with their humans.
Health
Rabbits are generally healthy animals. If a rabbit has a healthy life it can live between 6-12 years. For a longer lifespan getting your rabbit de-sexed is definitely advised, as this can stop cancer developing.
The most common factors that can lead to ill health include:
Inadequate feeding
Over feeding
Overcrowding
Dirty hutches
Draughts
Allowing rain into hutches
There are many health problems your rabbit could contract – Prevention really is the best treatment; so follow these steps to keep your bunny as healthy as possible:
Access to fresh water all the time
A good balanced diet with as few changes as possible
Room and time to run and exercise
Hygienic housing
A stress free environment - as much as you can manage
Toilet Training
To begin, you'll need to make sure the toilet area is easily identifiable by providing a litter tray filled with a suitable litter. Suitable litter can be made of wood shavings with a small amount of hay sprinkled over the top.
When litter training, be careful to put the wood shavings only in the tray. Do not put the wood shavings anywhere else in the cage as it can be confusing.
In the first week, change the litter only if it is really dirty - it needs to be impregnated with your rabbit's smell to encourage your bunny to use the same place in the future.
Training can begin immediately when introducing your bunny to his new home.
If your bunny poops outside of the litter tray, place the poop into the tray.
Hanging a hay rack (a wire cutlery drainer works brilliantly as a hay rack) above the litter tray will encourage your little one to start using the tray as they will poop while they are nibbling on their Oaten hay.
At first you can place food bowls inside the litter tray also (be sure to place on the opposite side of the litter tray to the corner of the cage) to encourage poop to be left in the litter tray. Once your little one figures out that this is it’s litter spot he will continue to return here and you can move the food bowls outside of the litter tray.
If your little one is choosing a different corner of the cage as a toilet, simply scoop up the poops and place them in the litter tray, then place the litter tray in that corner of the cage instead.
Bunnies are fast learners and are eager to please the people they love.
Please feel free to call or message if you have any questions or need any advice and I will do my best to get back to you as soon as I possibly can.