New zealand rabbits and some care questions

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Hello, I have decided to get more rabbits after enjoying my little mini rex so much(I still have her), I was thinking of getting three from a guy who breeds & sells them as snake food, but I was really looking for larger rabbits and came accross the new zealand white's, I found a guy who breeds them and sells them as meat rabbits, anyways I am going to get three of these guys(females), I am wondering how much should these be fed daily? also the pen I will be keeping them in for awhile is 42x28, how long can they live in this? also will a half hour/45 minutes of out of cage time daily be fine for them?(this is what my mini rex gets daily), I am not getting them with the intent that they can live with my girl but is there a possiblity that she will get along with them and enjoy some company? the guy isnt really sure what age the bunnys are normaly weaned since he normaly sells them full grown I assume, he said about four weeks is this correct? I wouldnt want to have them die shortly after I get them, I will be feeding martin rabbit pellets to them for a few months then add some kaytee or hartz timothy based pellets to the diet so that it isnt so high in fiber(I heard that too much fiber in an adults diet can be harmful), I can offer hay every three/four days(several handfuls), I can offer a smalla mount of vegtables everyday... is this all ok?, any extra info or tips are aprecated, thanks.
Answer -
For the amounts to feed them, check out http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html.  It varies by weight and by age.

The pen ought to be ok, as long as they do get some out time every day.

Rabbits are weaned at between 6 and 8 weeks.  However, if you get them that young, you can't guarantee the gender since their gender doesn't become apparent until 4-5 months and even an experienced vet has trouble telling gender.  So you could end up with 2 boys and a girl or some other combination.  I would not get 4 week old bunnies, they are too young to be away from their mother.

Generally fiber isn't bad for a bunny, it's high levels of alfalfa in adult life that can cause issues.  I'd make sure they have hay every day and not just every several days, they need it for their digestive tract.

You might also want to check out the link to suggested vegetables on the page I gave you the link for earlier.

And make sure all 3 are from the same litter, that will make things easier, since they already know each other.

Kim





Hello again and thank you for your help, well I will be getting them from someone else... she also breeds these big guys as meat rabbits, shje will weane them at six weeks of age as she normaly does, they will be from the same liter so should get along, not to question your knowlage but they are easily sexed at this age I boguht my mini rex from a pet store when she was small enough to fit into two cupped hands(5/6 weeks old), I checked in the store and when I got home in better lighting and sure enough Eileen was a girl!, new zealands get about ten pounds correct? about how long is this? I've never seen a large breed adult rabbit in person before, also how offen should wood chews be provided? a few times a weeks or everyday? thanks in advance for your help.

Answer
Well, I am only telling you what I have experienced, but if your experience is different, that's ok.  New Zealands do grow up to be about 10 pounds.  They generally hit their maximum growth somewhere between 9 and 12 months.  Also, female New Zealands tend to get dewlaps, so don't be surprised when you see them with double chins.

As long as they have something to chew on (cardboard, phone books, wood) every day, it doesn't have to be wood chews.

Kim