NEIGHBORHOOD SITUATION
I live in S. Florida where my neighborhood has become famous for a colony of “free range”Lion-head rabbits live as a result of an irresponsible owner who left them behind when they moved away. They’ve been on our little island for about 5 years. I love them, but hate seeing them not properly homed.
CURRENT SITUATION
A few weeks ago, I saw one of the bunnies was in serious distress with mange. We scooped her up, get her to a vet asap. She has now had two ivermectin shots, three very stressful medicated baths, and is living in a large dog crate in our garage (temp is controlled).
We can’t move her inside until we get the all clear on the mange because we have two dogs.
We need to start planning for her more permanent living arrangement. Because, I guess we have a pet bunny now! Hahaha. Now what?
She’s going to be a single. She needs more room. She’s sassy and funny and smart. Give me all the advise you can. Go.
Pics show from day one to day 12 progress.
by Hypercraftive
29 Comments
Get her fixed. She will be healthier, happier, and a better pet. ☺️
I’m sorry this isn’t a helpful comment, but this is so sweet!! You’re a kind soul, thank you for helping her❤️
It’s so good to see her hair growing back 🙂
Shes beautiful!! Thank you for saving her life. The only advice I have is give her lots of space (ofc once her treatment is done and she’s more healthy), give her LOTS of hay and appropriate fresh veggies.
She is gonna absolutely thrive!! 🥰
It’s unclear from the pictures if you have one set up, but they can be litter pan trained. Feed them a fuck ton of Timothy hay, it should be like 90% of their diet. Most rabbits love ear scratches.
Wow what a speedy recovery 🥰🥰🥰
If this is the neighborhood I’m thinking of, it was featured on an HBO series called “It’s Florida, Man” documenting the weird lives and experiences of people throughout Florida! Good on you for giving this sweet lil gal a second chance – impressive progress already!
Now you name her Harvey Dent and love her until she defeats the bat man
Thank you for saving her
You have done a fantastic job with her!
Be careful with the puppers. Everyone thinks dogs are safe with rabbits until they’re not. Maybe you can get an xpen to give them more room in the garage while you work out the rest
needs to be spayed if not already
Oh my goodness that poor rabbit, good job on the rescue and glad she is doing better.
I’m sure this sounds obvious but 100% give her space from the dogs and plenty of places to hide. We have a similar situation in my house where we have dogs and rabbits cohabitating but it can be stressful if they aren’t acclimated, especially depending on how noisy the dogs can be or how curious they get. We use baby gates in the doorways to keep the dogs out of spaces where the rabbits are. And even then we have xpens for the rabbits to stay in when not free roaming as added protection
You’re going to also want to make sure she has hay close to where she’ll be using the bathroom, as rabbits like to eat and go at the same time, it’ll help you litter box train her more quickly too- place any spare poops in the litter box when you see them.
I saw you got some chew toys for her already which is fantastic! Make sure she has a bunch of different things to mess with and rotate them out when you can get more.
Lastly you’ll want to make sure the space you are moving her into is rabbit proof. This includes obvious things like wires out of reach, but you’ll also want to limit her access to furniture (one of my bunnies even tried to chew up our wall molding when we first started free ranging him 😖)
These are a couple of quick things I could think of off the top of my head! Wishing you luck with her! And thanks again for rescuing her, based on the recovery progress photos I think you’re already doing a great job
Where in S. FL is there a bunny colony??? 😳👀 asking for a friend…
Edit: Oooh Wilton Manors!
Glad she’s getting better ❣️
You are amazing!!!
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This sub will be a great help! There’s so much good info and bunny lovers here.
Definitely consider the dog proximity like you have and others suggest. It just takes a second (also good advice for people who bring buns outside for fun. Raptors stay hidden until they have a clear shot.)
Thank you for being so kind and caring to take this sweet bun into your home and finally giving it the life it should have, you truly are a wonderful person. I’ve had bunnies for years and the first would be finding an exotic vet, which you’ve found, get it spayed/neutered. bunnies are healthier and don’t pee everywhere. Secondly read EVERYTHING there is to know about domestic bunnies pros/cons, water, food, treats( give human plain wheat biscuits and Cheerios as treats)and how they produce pee and poop very important health wise. You can potty train your bun to use a litter box in a wk. Bunnies should be free roaming inside not outside, traumatizing for domestic buns(cage when you sleep)with cardboard boxes to hide and chew on along with natural chew mats balls, blankets, they’re so much happier though I know your limited because of having dogs. Bunnies chew on everything, natural instinct so you need to bunny proof, they love cords i.e spicy hay. I can’t express how rewarding it is to have a pet bunny, their personalities make having one so much fun. Thank you again for taking in this sweet bun, name?
I keep my bunnies in a 3’ high xpen, just Amazon basics with a couple layers of fleece. I cut holes in a medium sized moving box for a hiding place and destruction project. Big litter box with wood horse stall pellets and Oxbow hay. I also give Oxbow pellets. Aldi’s organic salad mix is good for greens
Awwww. ❤️❤️
Poor thing! On the road to recovery kind soul 🙏
For real…bless you for this!!! She looks so much better!!!!
Thank you so much for saving this beautiful baby
You’re an angel for helping her out. Massive amounts of good karma acquired.
Where is this magical place where I can obtain free bunny?
Be so so so careful with the dogs. I don’t know what breed they are, but if there a hunting breed of some sort, or otherwise very energetic, the likelyhood of them killing the rabbit is very very high. I’m not an expert on dogs, please please please do your research on dog breeds before you let the rabbit meet them.
Omg you are a legend and I hope so many good things come your way.
I don’t have any advice that others haven’t already given, just get her fixed and keep her away from the dogs. Also try to spent as much time near her as you can, you don’t have to play with her 24/7 but single buns really need company. Even if she’s just sitting nearby while you work or something would help a lot
Thank you for rescuing this baby. 💕