Hi - New Mini Lop

Hello everyone.

I've had a mini lop for a week now, Humphrey. He's a hutch rabbit but will be a house rabbit in the evening.
Tonight was the first time he ventured away from his bed/feeding/litter area. He was loving hopping around the lounge!

I had wanted to get two rabbits but his sibling was sold by the time I got him, and his mum was found to be pregnant. What are people's experiences on bonding later on?

Thanks!

Hi!
Humphrey will be fine to have a friend later on,both rabbits need to be neutered prior to bonding anyway so if you had gotten two you would have had to either get them neutered at the same time (which can prove awkward because males can generally be done before females), or seperate once they reach fertile age which wouldnt be far off, a matter of weeks really and then re bond after neuter. So, your probably in the easiest scenario to be honest!

Humphrey will likely be able to be neutered at around 14 weeks but sometimes its a little longer, a vet will advise you on that. After hes calmed down and recovered, and all hormones gone you can introduce a female. She will need to be spayed too, to prevent her being too stroppy with him (hormones!).

But obviously, you could have to wait again for her to reach maturity for the spaying, and then theres no guarentee that they will get along. 9/10 it works, but sometimes it doesnt. Theres lots of rabbits in rescue, and they would be spayed already so he could be tried with one of them once he was neutered and recovered, and then you would have a ready bonded pair!

Hope that all makes sense!! Welcome to the forum, would love to see some photos of Humphrey! x

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I am going to skirt around the issue of my bonding of may pair because they were a bit of a nightmare. But Flo, my doe is half wild and is a bit on the assertive side! 

In general it is normally not too problematic if you stick to the rules of bonding.

1. Both buns must be neutered regardless of sex as hormones cause fighting. The buns need to be about 6 week post neuter before starting a bond as this is how long they take to settle down.

2. Any bonding must be done on entirely neutral ground.

3. For optimum bonding results you should go for a male/female partnership.

4. Where possible take your bun dating at a local rescue centre and let them choose their mate. This can completely cut out the need for bonding time at home and creates happier couples.

5. Ignore preconceptions about the other bun's size compared to Humphrey - buns are not sizeist nor breedist.

Hi there, welcome to HH :-)

Can't wait to hear more about your little chap :-)

I'm Katie, I have three buns - Daisy a house bun and Charlie and Annie outside bunnies x

So, firstly - with regard to neutering both bunnies will need to be neutered and the best match is boy girl. Bondings can be tricky so often the best idea is to go to a rescue and they will bond him to one of their ready spayed girlies for you :-).

It's great that you are getting so much lovely time with him. You might want to bear in mind that as winter closes in he is likely to struggle with the extremes in temperature - ie warm inside and very cold outside. However that said he would be terribly lonely outside in a hutch on his own so it's a very tricky situation especially if his inside time is when he gets his exercise too.

Please can I ask ...... What size us his hutch and does he have a permanent run attached?

Hi there, and welcome to HH

Humphrey sounds like a lovely chap. Mini Lops are gorgeous

With regards to bonds and neutering, I can only echo the above advice. I won't re-type it all for you to read again since I don't have much else to add

I agree with Katie though about him handling weather extremes and getting lonely outside on his own. If you're in a position to have him as a house bunny in the evening, could he not just be a 24/7 house bun? If it's him being loose while not supervised that you're worrying about, lots of people have fab indoor set ups to keep their buns in whilst they can't watch them. I'm sure you'd find some inspiration around the forum. A forum bun, Oggie, recently got a great new one

I'm looking forward to chatting to you around the forum. Don't be afraid to ask questions and get stuck in! We're a friendly bunch

Hello and welcome  


As you can see, you have come to the right place for some great advice  

Hi, welcome to HH! I have a mini lop too (Myrtle), she used to live outside and come inside in the evenings, then one winter we let her stay inside and now she lives in our living room permanently!

If Humphrey isn't neutered yet then he might spray which is a bit yucky but that will stop after neutering and then he can be litter trained!

Hi all

Thank you for your responses  
I'll wait until Humphrey is neutered and then go to look at rescue does to see if I can find a friend.

I will definitely check out the indoor set ups. I was going to bring his hutch inside (it's a hutch with a run underneath) when the weather turns so he doesn't suffer when it gets chilly.

I look forward to reading all about your lovely buns.

It sounds like you love him to bits. A hutch and run set-up for his indoor home would be just as good if you didn't want to go to all of the expense and hassle of finding him a new indoor set up, and wasting your current one

Hello and welcome

  Hi and welcome

Thanks all  
Great community here!

Humphrey is settling in well and now he seems less shy I am looking forward to him meeting more people!

One question - I was advised by his breeder to stick to hay, and mix in the pellets provided with whatever I buy until he's six months. That's fine. But I have a dying house plant that he has taken a liking to. I don't mind him eating it, as provides him with so much enrichment, but is it ok for him? I don't want him to fall ill!

I wouldn't let him eat the plant as you don't know if it will harm him.  Also bunnies have very sensitive digestive systems and new foods are better introduced in small amounts to see if they trigger any problems.

As he is a young bun, I would stick to plenty of hay - it should make up about 70/80% of his diet anyway.  Keep him on the same food that he is used to eating until he is settled and a bit better able to cope with a change of diet. 

When you change over pellets or dry food, you should change it by 10% a day so that it takes 10 days or so to make the change.  That gives the bunny's system time to adjust.  

If you introduce anything new - even when your bun is more grown up - you need to do it slowly and in little amounts. 

Glad that he is settling down. 

Thank you!
I know they have a very sensitive digestive system so was worried. I'm going to have to remove it; the little monkey knew he was naughty to have ripped a leaf off and kept running away with it!

I am slowly mixing the food so he gets used to it. But he doesn't seem to eat enough hay. Should I restrict the pellets to force him to eat more hay?

Must admit, I had a netherland dwarf when growing up and we did none of this with her, but then the internet didn't exist back then! She even lived with a guinea pig. I think we were lucky she survived to 11, but obviously I don't want to risk anything with Humphrey given all the advice so easily available. :-D

Howdee Sandie from the US of A! Glad you and Humphrey joined our little group here.  This is a friendly group and we are happy to answer questions.  Looking forward to learning more about you and your bunny.

I'm Rory's bunny slave.  He is a little 18 mo old lionhead.  I've had mini lops in the past and they are the friendliest bunnies! 

Here's a good article on rabbit nutrition you may find interesting.
 

Other References:
Diet
Bunny Diets

A very warm welcome to you and Humphrey (love the name) to our happy family love.

Hugs

Jo xx

Please redirect me as appropriate...

We've had a good week, and Humphrey met most of my family last night (5 new adults). We was very lively and didn't hide :-)

Litter training isn't going so well. He was very good to start with, but now poops everywhere. He hasn't peed yet, but as he gets nearer "that" age, it's only a matter of time :-/ I know peeing is going to happen before he gets neutered, but can I do anything about his pooping to encourage him back to the litter tray?

Also, how do you first get them to the vets? Just for a check up? My childhood rabbit went to the same vets and was very naughty, I hope they don't have our surname on record!

Thanks,

Sandie

Hi there :-)

So the litter training can sometimes be tricky but you can get there with patience and routine. The first thing to do is to make sure you have hay in the litter tray - they like to eat while they pooh.

Secondly, when he poo's somewhere else show him the poo and pop him and the poo both in the tray.

Normally buns like to choose a place to do their business so wherever he chooses pop the tray there at first - once he is used to using it you can slowly move it to where you would like it :-).

He is bound to make you feel guilty for taking him yo the vets but just pop him in a pet carrier and hay presto! It's really important to do a bit of research to find a bun savvy vet .... You would be amazed at how many vets are rubbish when it comes to buns x


Good luck hunni :-)

Thank you :-)
I keep putting the new poo in the litter tray. And he does sit in the tray...I have hay, pellets and water next to the tray so he knows where it is! I will keep going!

Also I'll book him in at the vets. At the moment he is very good when placed on people, so I should encourage that as soon as.

He peed for the first time tonight. In his tray!  

Was concerned about what to do with the storm approaching as he normally goes outside. Decided the utility is fairly safe (I hope) with no wires he can chew. I dread to think what the lino/skirting will look like in the morning, but so long as he is safe! I've set up then pet carrier as a bed, then a litter tray and feeding/watering bowel. Fingers crossed for him :-)