# The Cookie Report!



## TurtleShark (Dec 1, 2014)

I've decided to start a little "journal" if you will about my Holland Lop, Cookies and Cream (Cookie for short) 

No, she's not black and white... 

Anyway, I got her several months ago. She's in a temporary cage on the floor probably around 5 foot long by 4 foot wide. The fencing is most likely between 12 and 14 inches high. 

She has a small cat litterbox filled with hay. She eats that hay (I think) and makes a big mess out of the stuff. She has a large cat carrier/small dog carrier (covered) that she uses for a real litter box. I fill this with a thin layer of carefresh to help keep the moisture down (switching to wood pellets soon) and top that with hay. I put fresh hay on top every day and change the whole thing once a week. Cookie also has a hiding place created by putting one piece of shelving across a corner of the cage and putting a blanket over that. 

Anyway, that's her cage. 

My goals (and things I'd like some help on) are: 
1. Teaching her to accept my attention 
2. Sorting out this whole poopy butt thing she has going on.. 
3. Getting her up to the right amount of veggies 
4. Learning what the right amount of veggies is for a holland lop... 
5. Learning how to tell if she is underweight or overweight. 

Those are my goals for now. Right now she gets fed 1/4 cut of pellets (Or around there. No more than 1/2 a cut) split into morning and night feedings and one feeding of some Green Leaf Lettuce (not iceberg... Something that tastes vaguely of raw broccoli...) in the afternoon. She gets between 1/2 and a full leaf of the lettuce. 

I haven't had her for long, but I sure do enjoy her. 

Starting with my simplest and most pressing goal: 
***How much greens should she get per day?***


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## pani (Dec 2, 2014)

1. What kind of attention are you wanting to give her? I've got two bunnies and one won't pay me any attention unless I have food for her.  She'll run over and sniff fingers, _maaaybe_ accept a few head pets if my other bunny is also getting some, and then hop off with a few leg flicks. My other guy will let me rub his head, but he won't often hop over and ask for it himself, he'll just accept them if I offer. Keep in mind rabbits can be quite independent, and won't always ask for attention, but most will be accepting of it if they get to know you. I'd spend some time sitting with your girl doing something quiet - like reading or browsing on a laptop or something - and having food next to you, so she understands that you're safe to be near. After a while, if you start hand feeding her and/or offering her pets when she comes near, I'm sure she'll get used to it.

2. How bad is her poopy butt? If she's having quite runny droppings, I'd be cutting everything except for hay out of her diet immediately, so you can find out if it's something to do with that. Assuming her droppings go back to normal on an all-hay diet, I'd then start re-introducing everything in small amounts, to try and figure out what may have been causing her poopin' problems. FYI: Diarrhea is _extremely_ serious in bunnies, so if she starts showing any signs of that, get her to a vet ASAP.

*** 3. I give my two a generous handful of salad mix each every day. It'll vary depend on what kind of veg you're giving, how big your bunny is, etc. I've got a Netherland dwarf and a mini lop (same as a Holland lop, I believe).

4. See above, although I'm sure someone can provide a more informative answer. 

5. You should be able to feel your bun's spine, but it shouldn't be overly prominent. If it's not easy to feel the spine, it could indicate her being overweight; if the spine is sticking out quite a lot, it could indicate her being underweight. Average weight for a Holland/mini lop can be between about 1.2kg - 1.8kg.


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## Aki (Dec 2, 2014)

For the diet thing, look this up, it explains very well about the quantity of everything :
http://rabbit.org/faq-diet/

Normally, a rabbit should eat about 8% of its body weigh in vegetables everyday, with 2/3 of leaves and 1/3 of hard vegetables. Honestly, I buy a ton of veggies at the market twice a week and I share with my rabbits (or, more exactly, they share with me : I think I wouldn't eat half of those things if I didn't have rabbits, like parsnip or Jerusalem artichoke XD). You can give fruits too, but not much as rabbits get overweigh very easily (I give some apples from my garden, sometimes raspeberries, but not a lot).


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## TurtleShark (Dec 2, 2014)

Okay, and in reply to her poopy butt issue, it's getting better. I think it was a change in food. Now that I've gotten that sorted out she's doing better. I haven't seen anything down there for a few days, but I'm trying to be careful. 

I can't even pet her. While she's eating or drinking I can but she'll move away as best as possible. Otherwise she'll run... I just want to get to the point where she'll accept me more. 

And, is it normal for bunnies to rub their chins on things? Is there a scent gland or something there? Cookie will rub her chin on her cage and on my hand if I put it near her. A couple of times I thought she was going to bite, which she has tried with me, mostly when I am cleaning up the area around her little box. She'll jump in there and grunt at me while I'm putting the hay back. Sometimes she'll even try to bite...


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## TurtleShark (Dec 2, 2014)

And we have progress on Goal #1! I let her out of her cage while I was in the room and she actually hopped up to me and sniffed my arm! She'd then run back into the cage and slowly come back up to me. It's a good sign, a very good sign. :big wink:


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## pani (Dec 2, 2014)

Chin rubbing is normal. Like you guessed, they have scent glands located there. It's the bunny way to say "dis is mine".


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