anybody know anything 'bout rabbits?

I became the dubious owner of quite a big rabbit last night, totally un-expected. My sister travelled to get a bigger hutch and the rabbit came with it. It hasn't been taken out for a year (kids got bored) and it's nails are so long it has trouble moving. She recognised it was in a state of neglect and took it, not thinking it threw (like her big sister, bless her) and then asked me to babysit while she spoke to her boyfriend about it. My dogs all found it very exciting, but one at a time (with halti and lead on) got to sniff her and all seem to be coping, and not too excited. She is a big bunny, but i managed to handle her without getting scratched or bitten, so it's going ok. I cut her nails to a more appropraite length, and she got to happily run about the garden last night (it's is all fenced to the ground, no escape except to dig) and she seems quite at home. She didn't eat the apples carrots and broccoli I left out for her last night, just her brown little balls labelled 'supa rabbit food' ( ) so I put a bit of fresh grass in this morning. I kinda like her, although a rabbit seems like a pet little kids have. Very soft!
I would like to read up about her breed, but can't seem to find what she is. I guess I am going to have to do some reading on keeping a rabbit too.
If any one wants to hazard a guess here is a description:

good sized but not fat (by dog standards) I can feel her ribs, white body with small black circles around the eyes, -upright- black ears and a few black spots on the rump. I thought she might be an english spot, but no black line down the back and her nose is white, and tail is small and white. She has this weird bit of skin loose at her throat, which at first I thought was a tumor but it's just loose skin. Very big brown eyes, and doesn't move very fast at all (oh yeah and doens't appreciate my laminate flooring!)
Any ideas/suggestions/what not to do's would be much appreciated...

oh and name ideas too!

Aww she sounds lovely Jess and don't be ashamed about having a rabbit - we have two Could you post a picture of her then we might be able to identify what she is cos I have a couple of rabbit books.

Fluffybunny is the one to ask really - she's an expert on rabbits and has helped me a lot with my rabbits - she might be on later tonight.

thanks foxy. I will try to get a picture when I go home at lunchtime today. I have been reading a bit on the internet, and apparently they are quite clever animals! Thing is she just kinda sat there when the dogs looked at her. I would have thought she would have panicked, maybe she was trying to be invisible!
I guess it will take time for them all to be allowed out together, but it good she is so big and not fragile (Akela pawed her last night - either saying ''hello how do you do'' or ''oi what are you meant to be?'')
I think that she might just be a spotted rex (I always thought that 'rex' was just the name of a male rabbit, but apprantly it's a breed too!?!)

She sounds like she is an english spot or has a fair deal of english spot in her....i have an english spot (missmarked) with nowt but blobs n patchy spots, no stripes!

Hello Well done for taking on this bunny!! I agree with the others - she certainly sounds like an English spot (either mis-marked or a crossbreed). Rexes have very short, dense fur which feels just like velvet, so if it's like that she could be a dalmation rex but I don't think they tend to have circles round their eyes. I disagree that rabbits are generally good children's pets though , I have 4 (5 if you count my foster bun) and not a child in sight! Sadly the main reason rabbits end up in rescue is because the children get bored of them - most bunnies hate being picked up and cuddled (because they are prey animals, they think you're gonna eat them!) so the kids get bored really quickly.

The brown pellet food you've got sounds like Excel, is it in a dark green bag? If so, it's one of the veterinary recommended ones so I'd stick with it at the moment. Personally I think there are a couple of better ones but too much change in one go won't be good for her. Pellet foods are far more nutritionally balanced than mixes, it's better to feed a good pellet and to give variety through vegetables - although if you're not sure if she's used to vegetables, just introduce them slowly, not too much at a time as her guts need time to adjust. Pellets should only be given in limited quantities or the bun won't eat enough hay and will probably produce lots of sticky poos.

Also remember that at least 80% of a rabbit's diet should be hay, so it's really really important to find one that she will eat (if she spends a lot of time happily grazing on grass it's not so important but hay or grass should be available for grazing all the time). Hay is great not only for dietary balance, but also it helps prevent their teeth from overgrowing as they have to grind on it to eat it. Dental problems are one of the most common issues in bunnies and lots of hay is the best way to minimise it.

I know of a really good rabbit specific forum where you will get lots of good advice, I'm probably not allowed to mention it here but if you are interested, please pm me and I will send you the link.

Big kisses to your lovely new addition!

Fluffy x

hello fluffy bunny, and thanks for the note.
I have been doing a little reading and what you have just said confirms my suspicions. Firstly I have had a few rotten days, as my jack russel is going a little mental, and I don't want rabbit to be stressed out. But things are settling, and I think I really really like her. She is clever! She will come to me if I don't have the dogs near me, but runs off if i have the dog even on the lead! I am lucky to have an enclosed garden so she can hop about (she looks like she is having a great time around my pond! so sad to think she has been locked ina shed for over a year now) but this morning I didn't have time to play with her, so put her in the garden and went for a walk, luckily there are no cats around my area, but she had somehow escaped into my neighbours garden when I returned!! I am not sure how exactly, as before I got dogs I buried bricks around the perimeter of the fence incase my pup was an escape artist (he wasn't in the end so my efforts were wasted!) so I am going to have to do some hunting and find out how she escaped. She is big, but I remember my sisters fat hamster could flatten himself so much as to get under the bedroom door, maybe rabbits are elastic-y like this too!
As I said I am really starting to enjoy having her, and she likes nothing better than to sit on my lap and get a cuddle (I have read that lots of rabbits don't like this, but she closes her eyes when I scratch around her head and neck). I guess she was probably handeld alot as a baby before the kiddies got bored. I absolutly agree with you that they are not kids toys. They are actually boring for kids!! I am happy to watch her hop about my and appreciate that she is enjoying a little bit of freedom, but kids just want to prod and poke and get love back and I think this type of animal is more for the sensitive types. Makes no sense to me at all that people by them for kids, I find it quite upsetting that they are abandoned to the shed- I mean they are clever animals, they must be bored out of their minds. I guess I have never thought about it before, until this little one came along. I can't even describe it to my parents (they just rolled their eyes!) but she is such a little sweetheart...

Yes the food is excel, I was reading up on feeding (natural as possible thanks!), and they didn't give her any veg at all just this dry food, water and sawdust!!!! I am just using hay from my horse, fresh off the bail, and she is eating it! And straw for bedding, sawdust sucks! So i just give her a few dry pellets for a night time feed, and been putting in little bits of veg, although she didn't eat it at first, she is now devouring it. I got her these treat sticks and this wooden toy that i hid brocolli in and she loved it, she held it in her hands and turned it over to get it out!!! I got her a salt lick thing too, but she hasn't touched that yet. I am tryging to find an apple tree to give her some twigs, but no luck there yet.
I made her a 'den' using my pups training crate, which she no longer needs as is house trained and not destructive, and cut holes in two cardboard boxes, one inside the other, so she can sleep in there. This is in the living room so she can see the dogs but they can't touch her. I thought that would help her get over her fear of them, but she doesn't seem bothered. (This was the excuse that her old owners used, that she was scared of the dog so had to go into the shed so he couldn't get her) When we sit on the sofa at night, my puppy licks her face, and she doesn't try to escape. I know she could be terrified, but she doesn't seem to be and hops about to see them in the crate (whereas if she was scared I think she would hide in the box and not come out). I also took her hutch into my bedroom, which I know sounds daft, but I feel like I am abandoning her by leaving her outside. She goes in her hutch at night, and when I am at work.... don't trust the dogs enough yet, they might grab her tail or ears or something through the bars... they aren't that bad but you never know.... the russell is muzzled just now when she is out, as he likes her TOO much!!
Can't believe how much I have written about a rabbit! So strange. Oh well, you know how I feel, just don't tell anyone else, they will all think I have gone soft!
Please send me the link, I can always do with finding out more!
x.

I think I've sent you the link, Jess, please let me know if it doesn't arrive!

Fluffy x

Hi i don't think i see this answered but the flap of skin is called a dewlap, and think its only on females (maybe wrong) i had a mini rex male that sounds exactly the same with regards to colour and markings.

thanks for that, I just looked it up, and it says that it is common on females on the meduim to larger sizes.

Getting on really well with the dogs now, although they can't all run about together, she can sit on my lap at tv-time up disturbed. Dogs are getting used to seeing her about now...

Oh yeah I never noticed the skin query!! Occasionally males get small dewlaps but only really if they are overweight, it's really a female thing, it's because that's where they pull the fur from to line their nests - presumably it develops due to hormones as most female bunnies that are spayed young don't generally seem to develop big dewlaps.