Rabbits behavior?

Question

I keep my rabbit in a barn and she has lots of room, when i feed her, (Lots of lettuce... good or bad?) she runs in circles, and she'll kick her back legs, is that normal? Do you think she needs a campanion?

Answer 1

Are you crazy ? NEVER get your bunny a companion ! Unless you really got NO time to spend with the bunny and or already get yourself a good bonding with the bunny u owned now. I used to have 7 bunnies back home. When i bought my first, i thought he was lonely so i get him 2 girls. And only not long after that that i found out they gang up on me. They ignored me completely, they are rude, they dont want me to even touch them, they are naughty, incontrollable, very very stubborn, and more mess i have to clean up. So at the end, i bought another one and i separate this one from the 'monsters'. And keep her to myself. She came out to be a really good bunny and take me as her family. I tried my best to charm the monster gang. But they refused me. After years of patient and more patient. I finally gave up the monster gang and their newborn babies to a good bunny breeder. Hoping she might change them into a good behaviour bunnies.And I lived happily with the one bunny that i separated from the gang.
Anyway, If you still want to have 2 or more bunnies, you got to know that bunny also have territory. And it is not good to mix bunnies into one cage. You have to assign different living quarters for the bunny. And the same sex will usually fight. So better get an opposite sex and introduce them in a place where is not your current bunny territory. Such as your car..the kitchen table, etc.
But as you know, getting an opposite sex may cause more bunnies coming. And a bunny can get pregnant again 24 hours after delivery and the pregnancy period is only 1 month. So if you want no more bunnies in your home, get only one bunny and no more. Or, spay and neuter them.
Kicking its back legs up in the air means the bunny is happy.
Stomping its back feet on the ground means it is not happy or danger is coming.

Go and research on http://www.rabbit.org/index.html
it gots everything you need about a bunny.
Including which litter and why.

Answer 2

Don't feed your rabbit lots of lettuce. You run a very good risk of giving your rabbit diahrrea. Just stick to the pellets and water. If you want to give your rabbit a treat give it a very small handful of stemmy hay (orchard grass or timothy) or a half slice of bread.

A rabbit will normally run around in circles when it is scared. Your rabbit is probably used to hearing almost no sound at all almost all day then she hears a ton of sound when you come in the barn. The sudden influx of sound will frighten her. If she's scared you may also notice her thumping her back feet or holding her ears very erect listening for sound/danger.

If she's kind of jumping back and forth across the front of the pen instead of running in circles then that just means she is hungry for food.

To help keep her from being scared, put a radio out in your barn and turn it on and leave it on basically all the time. This will accustom your rabbit to sound. Then when you walk in your barn your rabbit won't be quite so scared. If you do this your rabbit should only get excited or scared when it hears a lack of sound.

Your rabbit doesn't need a companion. You don't want to put two rabbits together in the same pen. Eventually they will start fighting, fur chewing, or trying to breed each other. If you get a second rabbit put it in another pen, not in the same one.

My dad and I have a radio on in the barn for our rabbits all the time. There is a really good reason for doing so. When your rabbit runs around the cage in circles like that, it stands the chance of running into the side of the cage if it gets too scared. When a rabbit runs into the side of it's cage it stands a very good chance of breaking it's back or neck and becoming paralyzed from the neck down. We used to have that happed a descent bit before we started leaving the radio on. It's been years since we've had that happen now.

Answer 3

She sounds like a very happy healthy rabbit. Feed Romain lettuce or butter lettuce, endive, dandelion greens. Carrots are great food as well. Balance is the answer and a good commercial rabbit food is the best way to start. Everything else fed should make up no more than 1/4 of her diet. All creatures should have company I think, so if you decide to get another rabbit, find out the sex of yours and keep only same sex's together. Even then they might fight, also if you don't check the sex, you may have oodles of bunnies!! There are great rabbit web sites you can gain great information from.

Answer 4

If you decide to get her a companion, be aware that they will probably fight unless you introduce them properly. I would get a rabbit about the same age and size and introduce them in a neutral place at first (for example, a room in your house where neither rabbit has been -- it can be good to provide a litter box filled with hay which can make a comfortable place of refuge during the introduction). When you put them together, be ready to pull them apart -- some suggest using spray bottles filled with water to help if you can't get them apart. If you can, put them next to each other at first and try to pet both of their heads at the same time so they begin to enjoy being together. Then, let them go and see what happens. If one mounts the other (even if they're the same sex), it's normal -- it's just a show of dominance. If one puts their head under the other's, it's a show of submission. As long as there's not fighting, it's going well. I would do this a few times for about 10 minutes each time before putting them together permanently. Regarding diet... for baby rabbits I recommend Oxbow Alfalfa Hay pellets (or other commercial alfalfa pellets). For adults, I recommend Oxbow Timothy Hay pellets (or other commercial timothy pellets -- alfalfa tastes better than Timothy but is also more caloric, and to make the switch, you may have to blend the two types of pellet together and gradually wean the rabbits off the alfalfa pellets). Rabbits like the alfalfa and timothy hay cubes that you can find in pet stores. And Alfalfa (for babies) and Timothy( for adults) hay is essential and clean hay should always be available. One more thing... when I started giving my rabbits water in a ceramic bowl, they drank much more water -- just change it daily! Oh, and if they're in a barn, make sure the temperature never gets too cold or hot... it's a myth that rabbits can live in good health outside in all temperatures.

Answer 5

As far as the feeding, use more variety of vegetables. Also, don't use Iceberg lettuce, it's pretty much all water and has no nutritional value. Use romaine instead. I feed mine romaine lettuce, mustard greens, cilantro greens, parsley greens, carrots, etc. not at the same time but just buy what's on sale. Here's a link with some good veggies to feed. Also you want to make sure they have a fairly constant supply of timothy or alfalfa hay to eat. Helps their digestion/hairballs that their prone to get.

As far as the running in circles, I'd say she's more excited to see you and wants to play, but I'm no expert on rabbits. Search around on the link below, has good info on whether to get a companion as well as other care.

http://www.rabbit.org/behavior/body-language.html

Click on diet, then suggested veggies/fruits on the right side of page.

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/index.html

Answer 6

The behavior isn't anything to be concerned about. Go easy on the lettuce. Instead, feed her rabbit pellets and, occasionally, carrots. For a special treat, give her some Quaker rolled oats (the ones that come in the tall, round tubes). My rabbits used to go crazy for that stuff. Also, I think a companion would be a very good idea. It's good to have friends.

Answer 7

It sounds as if she is being a typical bunny. They love to run and jump - we call it doing the bunny 500. Ours will kick their back legs at me when they're upset.
She might want a companion, but be sure before you get her one that
1 - get her spayed and let at least 2 weeks go by before introducing her to another bunny, and
2 - contact a local rescue and set up appts for her to meet another rabbit. Rabbits are social, but first intros don't always go smoothly, but if your bunny picks out her friend, you'll have better luck

Lettuce is just fine for bunnies, alhtough iceberg lettuce is low on nutrients. They also love other types of greens, like dandelion, kale, parsley. They also need unlimited hay - if she is at least one year old, she should be getting plenty of grass hays, like timothy, broome, orchard grass. Plain pellets are also fine.

Here is a link that has wonderful rabbit information that will help with diet, behavior, spaying, bonding...all things rabbit including links to rescue groups
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabrefs.html
and this is a fun link to communicating with your rabbit:
http://www.muridae.com/rabbits/rabbittalk.html

Answer 8

Don't feed iceberg lettuce. She is showing you she is happy. Most rabbits can benefit from having a friend. It helps with boredom and rabbits are social. The best companion would be a neutered male rabbit. Go to http://www.rabbit.org to find a local chapter for bunny dates.

Answer 9

rabbits are so funny!! never feed your rabbit lettuce!!! it causes diarrhea. she would probably love a friend, but make sure its the same sex or you will have lots of bunnies running around. and yes it is normal. get a book on rabbits or find a good website. rabbits like to play with toys check your local pet store

Answer 10

Lettuce is only good in small amounts. She should be fed 90% hay, 6% veggies and fruit, and 4% pellets (give or take).

She may be either binkying (jumping in the air with excitment) or, most likely, she is bored. Try getting her a friend. The more bunnies the merrier I always say!