Rabbit Rhythms of April

Green Feed

Every imaginable hue of green assaults our senses in April - green buds on every bush...the lawn finally remembers it has roots...the trees leaf out as though springtime deserves a rowdy welcome. Out come the lawnmower, the weed-whacker and the hedge-trimmer.

The fruit of just one Saturday’s yard-work can leave you with a huge mound of fresh green debris.

Debris?? Or free rabbit food? Well sure! Why not feed that (pesticide-free) grass and those yard clippings to your rabbits? Fresh green recently shorn yard clippings are a nutritious, and free, addition to your rabbits’ dinner-plate.

• Just remember to cut the ration of pellets waaay back - no need to over-feed.
• Ensure that none of the fresh stuff is poisonous. Here's an extensive but not exhaustive list of pet-safe plants.

Both pet rabbits and livestock rabbits can profit from eating green. They’re herbivores - it’s the main natural diet for them, unlike that of omnivore humans. So save your coins and feed green.

Pet Rabbit Living Spaces

www.Raising-Rabbits.com has finally completed the first e-book in the World of Raising Rabbits series, entitled "Pet Rabbit Living Spaces." At $4.99, our introductory price is ridiculously low! That’s because we’d like to make it as easy as possible for you to build a project or two, and then give us your opinions.

• We took a look at the free plans we already provide on the website and asked ourselves: Is this plan clear enough for anyone to build? In order to ensure that the answer would be "YES," we re-did some of the plans, including a ton more pictures, and re-wrote any areas that we thought were not clear. (It's a lot easier without the limitations of a web page!)
  
  
• We also asked, Is this the only way to build this project? And then we 'played' with our own plans. The result was some very creative new ideas for PVC hutch frames and cage sizes! We have two awesome favorites:
  • A much smaller indoor hutch frame on tall legs that supports a small-pet-rabbit-sized cage and an ample drop pan underneath. How cool to interact with your pet rabbit at eye-level!
  • For pet rabbits outdoors - a single-tiered PVC hutch frame that holds 3-4 cages, in case you have several outside pet rabbits. This PVC hutch frame will also put your rabbits up close to your eyes for your enjoyment. Now you can easily check on your rabbits, handle them, and remove the droppings under the hutch without getting kinks in your back.
  
  
• We included a highly illustrated rabbit run plan
  
  
• We also designed a collapsible wire rabbit pen that you can use in the house or outdoors on that lush green grass
  
  
• There's so much more - even a 'self-cooling' outdoor cage!

We think that every single project that you build yourself will save you a minimum of US$10 to $20 right now, and much more over the long term in both longevity of your rabbit and your hutches and cages. Which means that at the extremely low introductory price of $4.99, you can’t afford NOT to purchase Pet Rabbit Living Spaces!

In the News Recently

"Pets bust stress and make you humane"

The emotional benefits of caring for pets are huge, according to the Times of India. "Unconditional love from a pet is a therapy on its own. All one needs to do is indulge in it," concludes the article's author, Nimisha Tiwari. Well put!

Once we can grasp the meaning of unconditional love through the nonjudgmental love of a pet, and then practice that love towards the (unlovable) humans in our lives, our own humanity grows. Who knows, even hurts and wounds can heal, for "love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Pet 4:9). Who doesn't need a little healing now and again?

Dogs and rabbits are two ideal animals from which to observe and experience the reality of true, unconditional love.

Easter is Just Around the Corner!

Maybe that's why, instead of love, you'll hear tales of the Easter Bunny and Easter eggs. The stories are cute and colorful, of course, but you and I both know that rabbits don’t lay eggs!

I know - disappointing...

The Easter Bunny history is linked to pagan gods of fertility. Bunnies and eggs are logical symbols of fertility and new life, which the Germans, apparently, first connected together over 400 years ago.

But I promise you - the REAL Easter history is far more miraculous than an egg-laying rabbit.

What would a rabbit website be without a proper history of Easter??

Healthy Rabbits

In rabbits, dysbiosis is the condition of an imbalance of microorganisms in the hind-gut, or cecum.

• The main precipitating factor is too many carbohydrates reaching the far end of the rabbit’s digestive tract. When this happens, dangerous and deadly germs can proliferate. Their toxins can cause mild to severe diarrhea, and can be fatal in 12 hours to 48 hours.
• There’s another cause - the use of antibiotics to treat some other infection in the rabbit, such as snuffles. The antibiotics might just kill off all the good germs in the intestines, allowing nasty ones resistant to the particular antibiotic to proliferate and overwhelm the rabbit’s immune system.

Does your rabbit have diarrhea? Or, are you seeing the soft round grape-like ‘night-droppings’ officially known as cecotropes? These are completely normal. Rabbits eat their 'vitamins' straight from the hind end in the form of their very soft cecotropes. If one of these soft lumpy cecotropes happens to drop, and then the rabbit steps in it, you might think the rabbit has the runs, because a squished cecotrope is brown, sticky and messy.

But no, there’s no mistaking diarrhea - it completely fouls the rabbit’s rear. The rabbit is bloated, lethargic, and the tummy may make sloshing noises if you pick it up. If your rabbit shows these symptoms, it is critically ill.

Rabbits between the age of 5 weeks to 9 weeks are most prone to sudden death from enterotoxemia, triggered by the dysbiosis (gut flora imbalance). This is because their guts are still making the transition from sterility at 2 weeks old to correct levels of healthy gut flora by age 9+ weeks. But rabbits of any age may fall sick and even die, especially if given too much people-food or certain antibiotics.

What to do:

• Remove ALL food, including rabbit pellets.
• Give lots of grass or orchard hay
• Ensure plenty of clean fresh water (the animal is likely dehydrated)
• Call your rabbit-savvy vet immediately.

Mild cases of dysbiosis may respond nicely to the high fiber in grass hay and some probiotics, such as Benebac.

See See Rabbit Diarrhea.

Like this newsletter?

Your friends at Raising-Rabbits.com wish you a Happy April, and a very Happy Easter...

Enjoy your rabbits!

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