samll lionhead rabbit care

Question
Hi,
We just purchased a Lionhead rabbit. We were just wondering what you thought the best rabbit food was. We think the rabbit is a few months old. Since we brought it home 3 days ago, it seems like it eats quite a bit. Do you recommend keeping the dish in the cage all day and night? We have about a 4 inch round ceramic dish. We have been filling the dish 3/4 full and leaving it there all the time. We also have hay for it in a bin that hangs on the cage.We bought the LM animal farms brand,  Timothy Hay Kob and the feed is called Vita-Vittles. We also have a litter box in the corner with Critter Litter.The rabbit pees and does most of the poops in the litter, but then sleeps in the litter pan. Is there anything we can do to stop it from sleeping in its own poop,lol? It seems to eat quite a bit. Almost all the pellets in the dish  are gone every day. It doesn't seem to eat the corn bits and vitabits that are mixed with the pellets. Is there a better feed so maybe it wouldn't poop quite so much, lol? I know we own a bichon Frise and it used to poop quite alot, but we changed its food to one with less fillers and then it pooped less. We know about dogs, but have never owned a rabbit. It is an indoor pet and it is in our 22 yr old daughters room. I have been changing the litter corner box 2 times a day because it poops so much and then sleeps in it. It does also sleep sometimes in the Woodland Getaway house that we also have in the cage.  It has a salt wheel and obviously a water bottle. Do you think we should add the vitamin drops to its water, also? I stumbled upon your nice website. People in this area seem to know very little about the Lionhead rabbit, and I noticed your site said it didn't mind questions. We also use CareFresh pet bedding  for the bottom of the cage.The rabbit is very gentle and we plan on taking it to a rabbit vet this week to find out if it is a girl or a boy, and have it checked out. It seems very alert and clean. We did buy it from a pet shop. We are responsible pet owners with no young children and just want to make sure we are doing everything right.Can you tell me how big these rabbits usually get. As I mentioned before there is very little information about them in this area. Do you recommend neutering them? We live in western Massachusetts. Thanks for any help you can give us.


Answer
Congratulations, Lionhead rabbits are very cute, and they also don't get very big (adult weight about 4 pounds).  

Rabbits do love to lay in the litterbox.  If the cage has a wire floor you might put a piece of wood or carpet down for him to lay on instead.  Otherwise, he may or may not continue to do that.  I've seen a lot of adult rabbits do it, and what you are doing is really the only thing to do.

I am guessing he is a young bunny.  If so, giving him all he can eat at this age is fine.  Plain pellets are best for him.  If you can get Nutriphase or Purina or Kaytee Forti-Diet or Mazuri or any other kind that is just plain pellets with no colored things added, that would be healthiest for him.  Also, alfalfa or timothy hay is great.  Messy, but a necessary part of their diet.

Rabbits do poop a lot, I've never found a way to decrease the output.

I wouldn't add the vitamin drops, they are really not necessary.

I would suggest having the rabbit neutered, a lot of undesirable behaviors occur when they reach their sexual maturity, and neutering will cure these.

You might also find http://www.rabbit.org/care/new-bunny-index.html of use, it gives you amounts to feed at different ages as well as what to expect from a rabbit.

Good luck.

Kim