Water Bottles vs Bowls

Many breeders and pet owners use water bottles over bowls in an effort to keep water cleaner and reduce the need to clean water or change it out. However, we have found that not all newborns will drink from bunny bottles, and the largest bunny bottles on the market are two quarts, which do not support the scale of our herd size. A water bowl is superior for these reasons. A water bowl should not be so tall that a bunny needs to put its to front feet on the sides to get a drink, as this is a sign the bunny can drown in the bowl through inability to swim out, or due to fright. A dirty water bowl is usually not a sign of a mischievous bunny but of a incorrect water bowl height. We recommend not going above a one gallon bowl for bunnies unless it is a gravity water bowl. Water bowls are also superior when temps go below freezing, as a heat lamp can be placed on them to keep them from freezing. Most importantly, nearly all bunny bottles are clear, which promotes rapid algae growth in the bunny’s water if left in the sunlight in a way a water bowl does not.

Feeders

We autofeed like there is no tomorrow. As long as the feed is dry, airtight, kept away from varmints, the buns do just fine on it and treat it like it is fresh out of the bag because it is! 5-10 pound auto feeders are recommended for pet homes as it allows owners to fill the food once or twice per week and spend more time with your bun instead of with mundane chores. Free roamed bunnies do not have weight issues. We have a large colony, and no Holland Lops, Lionheads, or Flemish Giants have any weight issues. Please select a feeder with a base that is not too large, as some bunnies find it quite fun to play in their food and will dig out pellets and throw them everywhere. Further, if you take time to observe your bunny, you will notice they are the master snackers of the animal world. Bunnies love to nibble. Many a time I have gone out to the bunny enclosure in the dead of night to see dozens of bunny cheeks full of pellets just nibbling away.

Bunny Shock

When a bunny experiences a traumatic event, it can go into shock for up to a week or more. During this period, the bunny will barely move, but will be able to be bottle fed water, milk replacement, and event pellets or pellet gruel. Some bunnies can die from shock immediately from any form of loud noise, such as a lawnmower, car backfire, thunderstorm, fireworks, gunshots, power tools, dog barking, yelling, etc. It is important to plan to have your bunny in as quiet of a place as possible. We have unfortunately come into the nursery after a thunderstorm to deceased babies due to the sound of the thunder scaring them. It is important to know too that the sight of a predator is enough to shock a bunny so bunny enclosures should have opaque areas to prevent predators or other family pets from visually stressing them.

Hay vs Pellets

Much of what you will read online will suggest feeding alfalfa hay up to one year of age along with pellets, then switiching to timothy hay along pellets after one year. We have a slightly different approach, autofeeding pellets and grazing our bunnies for most of the year, with the exception of winter. We have had no issues with taking the bunnies off hay and switching to a pellet only diet. Pellets are made of hay after all, so the buns are getting the same nutrition. Removing hay also removes the risk of disease and mold carried from buying hay, as hay is cut and bale right from the ground, and can often become moldy before or after being baled. Bunnies also do not do well with hay dust, which comes hand in hand with feeding hay, especially at scale. If you feed hay, you will find buns don’t eat all of the hay, but mostly the flower of the the hay, often leaving much of the stem alone, leading to unwanted waste. They also love to pull out and play in the hay, leading to the risk of other colony member eating soiled hay.