Topic: Meet Minnie and Mr Sweets

[Heldi]

Thought I would introduce our two new pets.  New to keeping rabbits and guinea pigs so ANY tips are welcome. Especially about what not to feed them and bunny toys! Minnie is about 10 weeks old and Mr Sweets is about 11.

What does one use to clip their nails...dog nail clippers or something else?

[eileen]

www.klsnet.com/rabbit.html

www.rspcavic.org/animal_care/rabbitcare.htm

www.ahc.umn.edu/rar/MNAALAS/GPig.html


Hope these webstes answer any question you have about GP's and rabbits Heldi.  :D

[Merlins Mum]

O Heldi they are are so sweet.  I've had both in the past but I particularly love rabbits.  Mr Malone, Bugsy to us, used to come in the back door and if we didn't keep an eye on him he'd make his way up the stairs and into the bedrooms.  Chewed through a telephone wire once ::)

He spent his time lose in the garden if we were at home so he didn't need his claws cutting often.  But when they did I used cat nail clippers, they are that much smaller but do be careful because if they wriggle you can so easily cut into the quick  :( 
Give them root veg if they'll eat it as it helps to wear down their teeth as they just keep growing and growing.  You can also have a length of wood for them to chew on.  It can mean a visit to the vet if they don't wear their teeth down naturally to have them shortened. :)

MM

[Hyacinth]

Minnie's beautiful :)  Mr. Sweet's a real character 8)

[stuffed]

Most imprtant things are:
Guinea Pigs can't make their own vitamin C so need to have a supplement.
Both need to chew to keep teeth down.  Best thing (for GPs anyway-not kept rabbits) is lots of hay, they often are not interested in chew 'toys' and subsiquently don't keep their teeth down enough. A plentiful supply of hay is essential for GPs diet anyway but they usually get enough chewing action with this aswell.

[Heldi]

Thanks stuffed!

[Doris_Pinks]

Heldi, We use this site to see what we can and cannot feed our guineas, find it very helpful

http://www.aracnet.com/~seagull/Guineas/

And ours would do backflips, (if only, then they would earn their keep!!) for my fennel plant.
Ours also have a small log they chew on, keeps their teeth down, and they get their nails clipped, usually by the vet!
A very cute pair you have there ;D

[Ceratonia]

Our GPs love parsley and rosemary, never thought of trying them on Fennel. Dandelions and chickweed are popular with them, too - I sometimes have GP and non-GP buckets when weeding! Brassica leaves (eg old sprout plants) are another thing they like.

They don't all have the same taste, either - two of ours love celery, but one won't touch it.

If you put their run on a hard surface (eg concrete) for a hour or so, now and then, it wears their nails down so they don't need cutting so much.

[Heldi]

Thanks DP and Ceratonia. I'm really pleased with all the info and tips you guys have given me.

[littlegem]

Heldi, hope you dont keep them together, rabbits have a tendency to kick and hurt the cavvies the foods are different aswell, as stuffed says. Also you should think about keeping the cavvies in groups of two or more, they get bored and lonely otherwise. Happy petting, my two cavvies (or piggy wigs as i like to call them) are lovely little things and so sweet when they start chatting to each other.

Gem x

[stuffed]

My nieces breed piggies so have lots, but they also have one bunny.  This rabbit loves the guinea pig it lives with and there have been no problems at all as they grew up together.  However these two have to be kept completely seperate from the other cavies as the rabbit will fight with them and even the smell makes her cross. 
It is certainly not recommended to keep the 2 species together dispite what pet shops do but they can get along.  The main problem is the food as the piggies need the extra vitamin c and their food is slightly different, having said that many people do keep them together and seem to have no problems.

[Heldi]

They do live together  :o   Mr Sweets has his own special bolt hole where Minnie can't get into. Minnie is a Netherland Dwarf and won't get much bigger,if at all and currently the one doing the bullying is Sweets and he is growing! He puts his head under her and flips her up then nicks her carrot,dives into his igloo and scoffs the lot!  He comes indoors whilst Minnie is in the run and gets extra food away from Min. Was aware of potential for bullying and have been keeping an eye on them, they seem to enjoy each others company,maybe because Sweets was sadly on his own in the pet shop because no one wanted him and Minnie was in a big group and suddenly extracted??!! They needed each other  :D . Min has got loads of toys to keep her from getting bored too.  ;D

[Hyacinth]

Bloody men and their carrots :P

[shirlton]

there is a site called rabbit secrets which I have found invaluable. They will send you free emails to help you learn all about your bunnie. Hope this proves helpful to you

[Heldi]

Thanks Shirlton. Will check it out.

Have recently bought Minnie a tunnel and she goes nuts for it. Hilarious to watch her jumping over it then going through it and popping up in the middle.

Sweets has got some new camping gear...a little tent! He gets to play in the tunnel too and had a ride in my daughter's wheelbarrow this morning  ;D