Tips and Tricks

• To remove calcium deposits from plastic dropping pans, pour 1 gallon of vinegar into the pan, let sit 30 minutes, then  pour vinegar into next pan and rinse calcium right off with hose. A bit of scrubbing with a bristle brush will remove stubborn deposits. To clean  deposits from cage wire corners, apply vinegar with brush or cloth, let sit 15 minutes and rinse.
  

• Angoras that have a tendency to wool block benefit greatly from a strict wool harvest regimen. Should your bunny  ingest too much wool anyway, try this recipe to help pass the blockage : Purchase one ripe banana, some old fashioned oat meal, a bottle of ADOLPH's meat tenderizer with no spice added and some wild bird seed.  take a 1 inch piece of banana, smash it  in a small bowl, add 1 teaspoon of meat tenderizer , mis it, add oatmeal and bird seed to  get a firm, cookie dough consistency.  Offer this to your bunny once a day for 3 days.  If your bunny likes banana, it will eat this mix. The meat tenderizer has Bromelain in it, an enzyme similar to papaya, just stronger.  Feed plenty of roughage during this period, hay, dark greens, wild bird seed mix, to help snag the wool blockage out of the stomach and through the digestive tract.   It will take some time, but it should work.
  Don't forget to offer plenty of fresh water to a wool blocked bunny.
  

• Wool blocked Rabbits do not want to drink their normal ration of water, for some unknown reason. So, if bunny doesn't want to drink water as usual, assume wool block if it's shedding or has been eating / chewing it's wool.
  Offer fresh water in a ceramic crock or plastic feed dish at that time,  while you follow wool block treatments at the same time.  Once bunny has passed some of the blockage, it will resume normal water consumption.  It's very important to offer water in a dish at that time, to help pass any blockage.
  

• If your bunny is prone to sore hocks or if your cage has rusted floor wire, consider the purchase of one or more plastic foot rests now offered through Cage Manufacturers ( see my links page).  These boards  attach easy to the wire, give your bunny a soft sitting place to rest on and are very easy to clean.
  I have healed up sore hocks on some older bunnies just by placing 2 boards in their cages and keeping the wounds and floor clean for 2 weeks.
  

• VERY dirty cages to clean ??  take them to the  car wash in town and use the power sprayer  to clean the tough stuff off.
  

• Wool sticking to you during harvest on a very dry day ?? Wipe your hands with a dryer softener cloth to kill the static cling .

• Nest box wool has to be cut by hand after the litter is born.  Take out the babies, gather all of the wool mom had pulled and cut it into 1/2 inch pieces before you return it to the nest.  Babies are born spinners and will create nooses and tangle wool around their feet.  Prevent injury and death by always cutting up the nest wool.

• Bunny Popsicles : if you find a cold baby on the floor wire , born there or  dragged out of the nest during nursing, try to warm up the baby in your Bra , or bring the baby in the house  to give warm it up again. NEVER return cold babies to the nest.   Place the cold Baby into a quart size zip lock bag, leave the top open for air. Fill your sink or a  basin with  very warm ( not hot) water and float the baby in the water while holding the bag upright.  Massaging the baby gently will help hasten the circulation and distribute the warmth better.  Make sure that the water will not get into the bag.   Make sure the water stays warm and doesn't cool down too much.  After the baby feels warm again through and through, you can return it to the nest and siblings.