Category Archives: General Care

by | February 20, 2009 · 12:36 am

Regurgitating Information

My main point of reference for rabbit information is the House Rabbit Society website. This is the website every bunny owner must have at his/her fingertips. This is the complete guide to all there is to know about your pet rabbit.

I have gone through many of the articles there. Not really a fan of reading long articles, I normally go through those that interests me. I have read through the neuter/spay page before but that was one of the first few visits to this site.

Now that I am working on this spay/neuter policy, I needed to refresh my memory and boy, did this website came in handy. Very thorough information. I do not need to look elsewhere.

Since it has all been stated there, I would just like to add a link to their neuter/spay page. I especially like all the good reason given to spay/neuter. No point repeating what is much more informative.

So for those who wants to know more about spay/neuter, please go to FAQ: Spaying & Neutering.

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by | February 16, 2009 · 5:30 pm

Extremely RARE Human Death Due to Rabbit Flu

The bacteria is called Pasteurella Multocida and its carrier is limit to rabbits only as this bacteria can be found mostly in dogs, cats, birds and even fish. In fact more human get infected through dogs and cats. Pasteurellosis is an infection caused by the bacteria in question.

The bacteria can be found in saliva & feacal materials of infected animals. It can also be passed to human through bites or scratches from infected animals.

The death of a rabbit farmer in UK in 2006 was the 1st case reported and since then no other reports were made known. Moreover it is believed that he contacted the bacteria through a blister on his thumb.

So before all of you rabbit owners jump the gun and abandon your rabbits, please do understand the probability of this happening, the cause of it and what is the treatment if such thing should happen.

Take note that death through Pasteurellosis has been noted as VERY RARE. The most important thing to remember is not to allow the bacteria to get to the bloodstream.

The first signs of pasteurellosis can occur a few hours after infection, and include pain, redness and swelling around the area of the infection.

Symptoms include fever, headaches, chills and swollen glands if the infection spreads and gets into the bloodstream. Can result in pneumonia or septicaemia, and on rare occasions, death if left untreated.

According to the Health Protection Ageny in UK, this is a highly preventable and treatable disease. Complication will only arise if not treated. Infection can be further prevented through the administration of general antibiotics.

There is nothing to worry about as long as bite and scratch wounds are treated with caution.

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by | January 18, 2009 · 12:00 am

Normal, True Dwarf & Peanut

I would like to take some time to share my knowledge about some terms that are very common among dwarf rabbit breeders. This applies especially to any dwarf breeds including the Holland Lop.

There is something call the dwarf genes in dwarf rabbits and the genotype “symbol” usually used is dw. The normal gene is denoted as Dw.

A normal or false dwarf will normally have the genotype of DwDw. Meaning to say a pair of normal gene. These rabbits do not have the dwarfing traits like short ears, short limbs and big massive head like a midget. But I must say that some may make very good breeding materials.

Now, a true dwarf is a rabbit with the genotype of Dwdw which means, 1 normal gene and 1 dwarf gene.

Lastly, a peanut is a kit that has dwdw genotype.

So you may ask, how can I not get a peanut. Breeding a DwDw to a Dwdw will ensure no peanut. Just take a look at the combination. Each parent will contribute 1 gene to the offspring so DwDw x Dwdw will only give you DwDw and Dwdw. Meaning, normal kits and true dwarfs.

What is not desirable is to breed DwDw with DwDw. This combination only give you normal kits.

To increase the chances of true dwarfs or show compatible Holland Lops, breeders normally breed a Dwdw to a Dwdw. And this combination will produce peanuts.

How do you know that the kit is a true dwarf? True dwarfs normally have thick stumpy legs, big head, short ears and most importantly, the length of the hind feet is not longer than 2 times the width of the feet itself. So if you’re getting long hind feet, this normally means your kit is turning to be a normal.

And if you are getting peanuts, it means that both the parents are true dwarfs.

I believe that in the market today, most of the “Holland Lop” are not only normal with the DwDw gene, they could also be a possibility of being mixed bred.

There you go, some information about the true dwarfs in our modern world.

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by | January 5, 2009 · 12:00 am

Golden Triangles!

The term Golden Triangle was the name given to a number of countries in the Southeast Asia Region in the 50s. These countries are known for their huge productions of opium. Today, the word opium can be used quite loosely to describe a certain addictive. I can refer to my daughter’s pacifier as an opium because it gives her a natural high and the moment she gets the pacifier in her mouth, she falls asleep. It is quite similar to someone taking opium back in the 50s. Since hay is the most important part of a rabbit’s diet and they smell OH SOOOoooOOooo GOOooooOD, I am using the term opium to describe how it relates to rabbits. And sometimes they do look like some kind of “weed” too. LOL!

I am not using this post to promote drugs. I would like to teach the general public how one can recognize a rabbit owner through certain common habits that they exhibit.

The followings are the characteristics of an “OBSESSED” rabbit owner:

1) His/her house smells of grass

2) There is a certain smell that only you (as a guest) can smell the moment you step into his/her house

3) He/she talks, eats and sleeps RABBITS

4) He/she always surf in rabbit forums, websites and blogs

5) He/she spends tons of money buying grass (no one can explain this phenomenon)

6) His/her neighbors suspect him/her of being marijuana dealer (seeing him/her with packs of grasses of all kinds)

7) He/she always have fur stuck to his/her shirt at work

8) Contrary to popular beliefs, he/she do not like carrot that much

9) And this is the ultimate, you can always find a big box of grasses in one of the rooms such as this……

img_9705

On a lighter note, I was trying to arrange the hay nicely in the box above when I found my little girl helping me with feeding Skor his first strand of Bermuda Grass:

img_9703

P/S: These are hay for ruminant household pets such as Rabbit, Guinea Pig & Chinchillas. So please don’t jump into conclusion and accuse me of having “WEED” or “BONG” ok?

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by | January 2, 2009 · 12:00 am

Let Us All Be Good Stewards

Happy New Year again everyone! What a great year 2009 will be for us. I am sure it will be another interesting year for Tru-Luv Rabbitry. I hope it would be a good year for all of you too.

As this is the first “official” post to start off the new year, I would like to touch on the topic of being a good steward.

In order to relate to this topic I would like to mention some characters from my favorite trilogy movie – Lord Of The Rings. We were introduced to this character called Denethor somewhere in the second part of the trilogy. We all know that Denethor was the Steward of Gondor who mourns for the death of his elder son Boromir. He even went to great lengths to deny Faramir (his younger son) of his due rights as his son.

While mourning for his losses, Denethor failed to be a good steward to the people of Gondor.

We can all relate to this story very much. Our daily commitments and priorities sometimes hinder us from being a good steward. We are in our own special ways, stewards on earth. Although some of us may not have pets, we are in this case a steward of our own lives. So, what is needed of us to be a good steward?

God has so graciously blessed us with our lives first and foremost and that should be the main priority for us. We must first be good steward for ourselves. We must be able to manage ourselves well.

When we have pets, we must of course take charge and be good stewards especially in taking care of the daily needs of our pet.

Sometimes I never fail to feel that to a certain extend, we like to play God. This can clearly be seen when breeders make their decision to breed their rabbits, cull their rabbits and also judge their rabbits.

Just like Denethor, rabbits like Gondor, are given to us to be cared for and by being a bad steward to them, we can see how the condition of our rabbits deteriorate. Just like the White Tree of Gondor high above the city was dry and dead before the rightful heir reclaim the throne, our rabbit(s) will also deteriorate as time passes.

It is the same with any pet be it a dog, cat or rabbit. The more we shower them with love and care, the more they thrive to be very beautiful creatures. We should take pride in that if we have a beautiful pet that is full of confidence and shine. Yes, we can get our pets from the worst places but with gentle care and nurturing, they will blossom.

That being said, for me, it is very important that our pets have a very good headstart. It is always good to get pets from a very good environment to begin with for example a breeder that clearly shows that he/she cares for even the runt of the litter. Every single rabbit kit matters and each get their fair share of handling time.

There are many parts to a living creature. Outer beauty that shine from inner beauty is something not easily attainable. When we nurture a pet, we must be good stewards to both their physical and psychological aspects. Then only we will get a wholesome pet.

So what happens when we are bad stewards? Like Denethor, I believe there will be a self destruction of some kind. Remember him jumping off the cliff? No, that will not happen to us physically. There will be a death of “character”. We just kill that part of us that like pets. We stop keeping the pet for good. We put our pets up for adoption or we just make a quick exit by abandoning them. No matter what it is, we see death one way or another.

But let us walk down memory lane. What made us decide on making that decision to bring Fluffy or Bunny home? Is it because he/she is so cute? And our love for our new found pet quickly fades away as fast as how they grow out of their cuteness?

No matter what death it may be, the real heir to the things we are given to steward upon will return. Just like when Aragorn returns to his rightful throne, The White Tree of Gondor blossoms again!

As we are faced with the devastation and wrath climate change is bringing upon us, let us also ensure that we be good stewards of our environment. We start with ourselves. Let’s make a difference in this world. We start with 2009. We start in our homes.

We start from our HEART! We make this the starting MOMENT!

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by | January 1, 2009 · 2:40 pm

How Should A 8 Weeks Old Look Like

I have been encouraging people interested in getting rabbits to get those that are above 8 weeks old. I believe it is hard to know without seeing how a 8 weeks old should look like. I personally have not found any website providing such information and therefore, using my own rabbits as an example, I am using this post to enlighten new comers how baby rabbits look like on a week by week manner. I will also be disclosing some common “tricks” used by unscrupulous breeders/sellers. But what’s all the fuss about getting rabbit older than 8 weeks about?

Many new comers to the hobby has been very lucky to have gotten baby rabbits a little older than 4 weeks old and survived till adulthood but I am not about to encourage you taking chances like that. Losing a pet is very devastating and nerve wreaking. I also noticed that there is another big group of rabbit owners who are lucky in the sense that the rabbits they bought were indeed older than 8 weeks. But these are those that survived being kept longer in the shops that has taken them in much earlier.

The main concern that I have for younger rabbits being purchased is that, they are under-developed especially on the part of their digestive system. What you see is not usually what you get in young rabbits. Though they may seemed to be healthy at 4 weeks and nibbles on solid food, it does not mean internally they are fully developed.

I know some of us not only purchase on impulse but also through sympathy. There is nothing wrong buying based on sympathy if you know well enough the consequences or else to save yourself from heartache, I will strongly discourage you from getting the rabbit unless you have a nursing doe at home ready to help foster this little one.

“Those are imported rabbits”. Do not be fooled. If you are given this reason to justify the price tag, please ask to see the imported parents of the rabbit in question. True imports should have tattoo on their left ear. And should come with 3 to 4 generations of pedigree. The tattoo number on their left ears should match those of the pedigree. This is one of the reason why I would like to tattoo my rabbits. But it is a very painful procedure for the rabbits and I do not want them to go through that.

Please take note that it is harder to identify with larger breeds because their sizes do not normally reflect their actual age. Looking through the following photos you can roughly get an idea. Holland Lops are dwarf breeds and I dare say this is applicable for other dwarf breeds as well. Try to look at the overall physical appearance and try to identify them when you pick your pet rabbit.

Enough of words, let’s look at some photos.

1 Week Old


2 Weeks Old



3 Weeks Old


4 Weeks Old

This is the most crucial age. Most rabbits are taken away from their mother at this age and be distributed to many locations. Highly stressful for them. Just don’t be fooled by how matured they look. They are under-developed internally. If someone tries selling you a baby rabbit that looks like this, just say “NO THANK YOU”. Cute it may be but please do not be fooled! That’s exactly how most are being cheated.


5 Weeks Old (approximately)



6 Weeks Old

Most sellers are afraid of this age because they really look ugly at this age. Most baby rabbits look ugly from this age till they are about 6 months old. Some may start to look better earlier between 3rd or 4th month. If I were you, I won’t judge them at this age. But for those using cute-ness as their main selling point, this is definitely a NO NO. If you are a newbie looking for a rabbit, this is also NO NO. Still too young. Rabbits at 6 weeks need their mother’s cecal to help balance the flora in the stomach.


7 Weeks Old


8 Weeks Old

Junior (4/5 months)

This is the time they start to blossom…

Senior (6 months & above)

There you have it, not only a repeat of the photo collections that I have but it serves as a good guide for all of us on how to evaluate the rabbits that we are about to take home.

Hope you all the best in choosing your pets!

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by | December 31, 2008 · 12:22 am

Yet Another One of TLR’s successes

I am always envious of people with house rabbits. That is because the rabbits have free range of the house. The other extreme of the spectrum are those caged up 24/7 and the only time they are taken out of their cages is when they are due for mating (for does and bucks do not get to come out as often). Maybe some do get time out from their cages when going for shows and they only get to taste freedom on the show table (not too large a space though). Please don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to implement anything against breeders. There are some very good breeders that do make up for caging their rabbits up 24/7 with loads of goodies. I take my hat off for them.

As long as they are given cages big enough for the rabbits to pace around would be sufficient.

As for me, being a breeder and a hobbyist, I try to give my rabbits the best of both worlds. This is what every TLR rabbit gets whether young or old. They get individual time out to run everyday around the house for at least 30 minutes each. I currently have 6 rabbits and that will total up to be about 3 hours of time for them to spend going wild in the house.

Before hitting the bed, each rabbit gets 10 minutes of “talk time” and patting.

For those of you who owns a TLR rabbit, you can definitely relate that your rabbits has got a little headstart with their temperament.

You see, rabbits that are not handled since young are quite skittish and what good would it be to have a skittish pet?

For me, this is very obvious with Holly Hope. As most of you know, she was a singleton and I handled her every single day because she was so precious to me. And the whole world was watching her progress at one point. I believe they still are. She is the cutest bunny I have ever seen and that makes her more precious to me. She will greet me at the cage door every evening without fail. Although hormones are getting the best of her at the moment, she still begs for her regular pats on her head.

That is one of the reason why I must ensure I keep the number low enough for me to have individual attention for them.

Just thought that you should know…

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by | December 20, 2008 · 12:08 am

Water Bottle or Bowl?

I used to swear by those funky water bottles but after that happened to Noobie 2 days ago, I now prefer water crocks. I especially love those ceramic water crocks. They are cheap and effective.

Just to quote SB’s theory about using bottles. She asked me a very good question which is, “Would you drink from a bottle if you were a rabbit?”. It is a valid question because she furthers supported her point by saying that since it is quite difficult for them to draw water out from the bottle, naturally rabbits on water bottle will just take the minimum to quench their thirst.

Such good points to put something so simple yet important into perspective.

I know water bottles are much easier to maintain and manage compared to the easy to spill bowls, but I now strongly recommend using water bowls because it will help your rabbits stay hydrated at all time. Somethings are good when they are given less but you should never discount your rabbit(s) off their rights to taking more water.

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by | December 17, 2008 · 9:29 pm

Noobie Will Be Just Fine!

I want to interrupt my daily posting to post this very important post.

Just about less than a week, Noobie will be due to kindle. I was in for a rude shock this morning when I found her litter tray squeky clean just like how I have left it the night before. It was very obvious she has not been pooping and peeing the entire night! The only thing that struck me was GI Stasis! Having lost Unix to GI Stasis, I do not think I could handle this happening to my Noobie!

It was only the night before that I was agreeing with D over MSN how we can’t accept the death of our beloved buhnies.

The thing with GI Stasis is that, like AIDS it does not discriminate. This is proven by the fact that although your rabbit is put on a stringent diet of Hay and good pellets, sh*t still happens. When it strikes, you better prepare for the worst. But I am not about to prepare for that! It is just too much to take away from me!

After realizing that she has not been eating her pellets and hay, I quickly put in some alfalfa hay for her and she started munching away. Off I went to work and while at work, my wife helped me chop some green vegetables for her (she took half the bowl) and my wife informed me that Noobie has peed in her litter pan. I was relieved, at that moment.

I was surfing the net for more information. Most of the information has been read and forgotten so I needed to refresh my failing memory. I got to know about Pedialyte which sadly is not available in Malaysia. Pedialyte is a an electrolyte solution that is used to rehydrate children that has lost too much fluid due to vomiting and diarrhea. I also found out a good alternative for it is Gatorade but I try not to use it since the Gatorade that we have in the local market is either lemon or orange flavored. When a rabbit goes into GI Stasis, it is important to keep them hydrated while they get out of harms way.

Please bear in mind that I AM NOT A VET. And The reason I am writing all these is for the sake of our rabbits. We know it only takes a few hours for us to react and sometimes in hours when a vet is not available, these are the least that you can do to help your poor rabbit. And also, even during broad daylight, there is very limited expertise in the local vet market. By the time some vets take their guesses, your rabbit may well be 6 feet under. Sorry to say this but I am totally faithless in the local vet except a few reputable ones which I have highlighted on the REFERENCE page. The reason local vets could not careless about rabbits is because treating rabbit does not fall under the upscale group where the money is. Most of them only care about dogs and cats where more can be earned. I bet if you ask a regular vet what is the staple food for rabbits, he/she may say CARROT!

Another drug that I keep in handy is Simethicone. When GI Stasis strikes, the stomach stop working and no peristalsis is happening. There will be a build up of gas and rabbits unlike other animals cannot burp or fart. So in order to help them cope with the gas, they need the help of any drug with the active ingredient of Simethicone and the one that is available in the local pharmacies are names like Mallox or Zellox-II. I personally went for Zellox-II. The dosage to give for an adult rabbit would be 1ml an hour apart for 3 hours (3 doses in 3 hours 1 hour apart).  Thereafter every 8 hours.

Most importantly keep those syringe in handy and pump clean drinking water regularly.

Back to Noobie. I checked on her the moment I stepped into the house and it did not look good at all. She only had one puddle of pee in her litter pan and the poops were those from morning. Not good at all. I started panic and text messaged, our dear friend over at FurryButts. How can you live without a fellow bunny enthusiast at times like these!?

I am truly grateful to have known SB because when I panic, I just go blank! Especially when it comes to the most feared situation for a rabbit.

SB reminded me all over again about rehydrate, administer Simethicone if there is gas and keeping Noobie warm. She also mentioned about giving pineapple juice which I have done earlier. I just needed all the information that I lost when my brain crashed after accessing the situation. I really really appreciate her help a lot! Most importantly she asked me to calm myself since my rabbits will be able to detect my emotion.

So here I was pumping all the drinking water into Noobie and also administering the first dose of Zellox-II. I place Noobie in the kitchen and she was acting quite normal. I gave her some alfafa and she started chewing on some straight away. After a few syringes of water I decided to put her back into her cage.

And there, right after stepping into her cage, she “released” a huge puddle of PEE and proceeded to hop onto the litter pan to deposit some small black cannon balls.

But I am not taking any chances. She is pregnant and needs a lot of fluid for her kits and herself so it will be a sleepless night for me being awake to ensure she is fully hydrated at all times.

All friends of Tru-Luv Rabbitry, please pray for me. Let us all pray that 2008 will not end with a bad note for TLR. That’s the last thing I want happening in Meadow Haven.

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by | December 16, 2008 · 12:01 am

Your Rabbit Stinks!

You spend the entire day cleaning and scrubbing your rabbit’s cage, litter tray and all the accessories in it. But somehow your nose still detects that funky musky smell. What is wrong with your rabbit you wonder.

Besides from the regular nail clipping and ear checks, you should remember the SCENT GLANDS. Rabbits have 3 scent glands. One under their chin and two in between their genitals and poop hole. When you see your rabbit rubbing its chin on something, it means he/she is using the scent gland under its chin. You do not normally need to clean this gland under the chin.

The funky odor normally comes from the pair of scent glands located at the vent area. Where exactly are these scent glands and what should I clean? Flip your rabbit over and follow the diagrams below. You will soon find the source of your odor problem.

scentgland

You will soon find some secretion build ups which are brownish. I normally use cotton soaked in lukewarm water to clean up these 2 regions. When my nose detects the funky musky smell, I will repeat the process.

scentgland2

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