Rescued carnival bunny

Question
I took my daughter to a local fair and as I walked past the game that gives bunnies as prizes I noticed one rabbit that was smaller and less active than the rest with one of his eyes almost completely shut! After wasting like $20 I begged the man so persistently that he finally gave in and gave me the rabbit! He/she (need to check) seems to be much more active now (4 hrs after getting to my house.) I have never owned a rabbit but it was so sad! He is I would guess a little under a pound, white with grey ears feet and tail, and has red eyes (well eye because the other is almost shut and seems wet.) He ,for the night, is in a cat kennel with a towel and has eaten lettuce and carrots (no stores open in small town after I got him) extremely friendly and easy to handle! Can you just give me the run down on how to properly  care for this poor little thing (ive already grown rather attached) i need the whole kitten kaboodle! And what do I do about his eye??

Answer
Hi,

hay.  He needs hay.  They are designed to eat hay.  Good timothy hay.  It is vital to good health.  Pet supply stores - Oxbow brand is best.  Needs to smell fresh, and be green.  They should have hay all the time.

Food pellets.  Timothy food pellets without extra junk, just pellets.  Again Oxbow Bunny Basics T food pellets are superior.  Every rabbit I know likes them.  Guidelines are 1/4 cup (a 1/4 cup measuring cup) per 5 pounds of body weight per day.

I would avoid greens and fruits until you know she is eating well and not stressed out or over being sick.  Their gut is extremely sensitive and greens and fruits can really throw them off if they are not used to them.

So you need to get hay and food pellets as soon as you can tomorrow and get her back into a proper diet.

Water.  She needs a heavy, big crock of fresh water, changed once or twice a day, depending on how much she drinks.  Needs to be heavy so it can't tip over.  Pet supply stores have small crocks (for food pellets) and larger crocks for water.  She will drink more if it is in a crock rather than a bottle.  It is more natural to drink from below than to lift the head up.

Litterpan.  Get several regular rectangle litterpans and place in the corner she seems to use as a bathroom.  Pet suppl store.  For litter for the litterpan, use hardwood wood stove fuel pellets.  They are inexpensive, come in 40 pound bags, safe for rabbits, and easy to remove the used part and replace with fresh litter.  Get several pans so that you can just swap out the used pan with a new clean one.

bedding.  Soft cotton towels to rest and lay on, or if you want to get a synthetic sheepskin bedding or soft medical pet bedding, that is great too.  Pet supply store.

Cage/Housing.  Bigger is better.  A 2' x 4' cage is a good minimum size.  Especially if they spend most of the time in there.  I recommend Prevue Hendrix pet cages.  Pet exercise gates allow you to partition off part of a room that she can play and hop around in.

Bunnyproof any area she is in.  Either remove cords, or place cord protectors over cords she could get to.  Remove all plants from her reach.  There are lists of safe plants but until you know, just get them out from where she is.  If there are tight spots she could work into and get stuck, either move furniture to hide them or block access with the pet exercise gates.  Any hanging blind ropes need to be way off the floor, they can hang themselves or lose a limb if they get caught up in them.  Any things on tables that can fall and break, remove.  Don't put anything she can climb and leap over near the pet exercise gate.

Books: pick up the House Rabbit Handbook.  Also, spend a lot of time on the House Rabbit Society web site (www.rabbit.org).

Vets: you must get her to a good rabbit vet right away to have her looked at and the eye problem diagnosed and addressed.  The House Rabbit Society has a list of recommended vets, go here:

www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

The vet will also help sex the rabbit (I'm just assuming she).

Thanks for feeling moved to care for this little one.  She will love you forever for it.  You will find they are as smart as any cat or dog is.  And they do express emotions, you will really enjoying it when they do so.  They are wonderful, happy little guys.  

Write back anytime.  Also browse through my past questions too.  Lee