new bunny questions

Question
I have just been blessed with two of the sweetest bunnies I ever saw in my life and have just fallen head over heels in love with them.  I want to be sure I take the very best of care of them.  They were born August 31st, and I'm hoping I have two girls.  Not one of each.  Although it's hard to tell at such a young age, I've even looked at pics on the Internet and I'm still not 100% satisfied what I have is girls.  But none the less, I love them anyway and will adjust my life as necessary for them.  Like I said I am i LOVE.  My question is... is there vegetation that I should NOT feed my bunnies?  I have fed them some clover, dandelion greens, and plankton.  Is that okay?  Is there any vitamins or minerals I should give them regularly?  Is bottled water okay, as I don't want to give them chlorinated tap water.  I bought food at Wal-Mart for them, is that the best for them?  Sorry so many questions.  thank you for your help.

Answer
Dear Renita,

Congratulations on your new pals!  

Even if both are females, you will eventually need to have them spayed, as unspayed, unbred female rabbits have a *very* high risk of uterine cancer.  Please read:

www.rabbit.org/health/spay.html

The list of unsafe greens would be far too long for an email, but if you stick to commercial greens from the supermarket, you'll be pretty safe.  The only ones I'd avoid are spinach, which is too high in oxalates for normal forage.  But you can find a list of safe veggies here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html

for a description of safe diet.  I doubt that the Wall-Mart pellets are a good choice.  Better are the completely green, alfalfa- or timothy-based pellets you get at a large pet outlet, or via an online vendor such as American Pet Diner (www.americanpetdiner.com) or Oxbow Hay Company (www.oxbowhay.com).

Tap water is safe, and the amount of chlorine is usually negligible.  There is no guarantee that the bottled water you buy isn't just bottled tapwater.  Expensive, terrible for the environment, and the biggest scam ever perpetrated on the public.  

We have a carbon filter attached to our kitchen sink that filters the tapwater, removing impurities and chlorine.  You can get such things (e.g., Brita filter) in the form of a carafe that filters your water, and save TONS of money while avoiding filling the landfill with plastic water bottles.  Here's an example:

http://www.ecost.com/detail.aspx?edp=3356617&source=EWBBASE&cm_mmc=CSE-_-google-...

For all the best and most accurate information on the care of your bunnies, please visit:

www.rabbit.org/

Good luck with your new pals!  :)

Dana