New Rabbit!

Question
My wife and I just got a new baby bunny! We got it from the local pet store and they estimate it's about 6 weeks old. It's a Mini Lop.

Not sure if it's a male or female just yet, the lady at the pet store couldn't tell yet. We will be taking it to the vet tomorrow for a general check-up and such.

The questions we have are:

-How much should we handle him/her right now? It was a bit shy at first, but we made it's cage pretty comfortable and it's running around happily in there. It's kind of hard to put it down, but we gave it a bit of room also - to get used to it's new surroundings.

Also - what are a good selection of toys to keep it busy right now? From what I've read so far, maybe some pieces of wood or cardboard? I'm not sure - the cardboard won't pose a threat for it at this age will it? I wouldn't want it getting too much of that into it's system.

I guess any other helpful advice you can think of for a first time rabbit owner would be great!

Thanks so much!

Answer
Handling your new bunny is a good thing.  Obviously, you can't hold it all the time, but the more you hold the bunny the more it will bond to you and your wife.

www.rabbit.org has a good list of healthy fruits and veggies to give to your bunny.  Just click on the "diet" section.  They are a rescue society and are pretty strong in their views on spay and neuter, you can look at those pages or pass them over.  I don't like to put rabbits under that kind of surgery because they don't always do well under general anesthesia.

I prefer toys to be untreated wood blocks.  Check out my friend's supply on ebay, just search under seller name alikat21.  Pet stores might have something like these too.

I always feed a high quality pellet called Manna Pro.  The foods you get a pet and department stores can be high in sugar and other things rabbits don't need.  Manna Pro can be purchased a farm feed stores, it is the perfect mix of everything a rabbit needs and in my area 50 pounds is only $10.00.  The rabbits waste very little of it and it contains very litte dust.  For the baby I recommend the GRO formula for one bag then the PRO for the rest.

Hope this helps.

Brenda