So Our DD Wants A Bunny

[PineappleMama]

She will turn 8 in August and she's been nudging for years for a bunny.

Or a horse... don't know where she thinks we could put a horse, but there ya go.

ANYWHO, here's the official call for info.

The Good

The Bad

and The Ugly

Need the facts from those who've had them... your opinion on if they're worth the fuss or not and WHY.

Cage Recommendations, Space Recommendations from those who know.

I've been snooping, I've seen TONS of different options in caging, in breed, in everything... but a lot of it is the manf. recommending this or that... not exactly unbiased.

Being as we're in Texas I'm thinking it'd be homicidal to put a bunny outside... so leaning to inside, her room, pen options THAT WORK.

Any feed that is great... or any to avoid at all costs.

Any breeds that, from experience, are happy go lucky okay with snuggles from a lovey 8 year old girl... vs breeds that aren't so much the snugglers...

Really anything you have to say one way or the other to help us decide if now is a good time to bring a bunny into our home or not is greatly appreciated.

Edit... one more thing... the red eyes (on any animal) FREAK ME OUT... makes me think of lab rats, and that whole concept just whigs me... critters are worth having because each is unique... not because they're all the same...

 

[muddyhorse]

First off keep in mind a bunny lives 10 years.....this is a long time to be cleaning cages and watering.
that is how we ended up with Brutus, our neighbor let him go because he was too much work. we kept him for several months trying to to make a pet of him, It didn't work. I found a knowledgeable angora breeder that really wanted him he is now a happy man.

We now have our second bunny, who is still nameless. although hubby keeps pushing B.A. Barabbits (Ateam reference) one of his litter mates scratched his eye, so the breeder gave him to us ( once word gets around that you took a chicken to the vet you might as well tattoo sucker on your head ) since he is only 11 weeks he is much tamer.

I would avoid a long hair for a beginner and giant breeds.
Nameless

see we had to bring it home

 

[DragonEggs]

PM, you and papa are making a great decision! I just LOVE bunnies! I ALWAYS have to have one!

I know all different bunnies have different personalities, even within the same breed. A lot is how you raise them. I once bought a white rabbit from a feed store just to use for a photo shoot I was doing. The shoot came out great! I had fully intended to find a home for the bunny afterwards but kinda got hooked on him, until he got HUGE (it was an eatin rabbit, LoL) And the cage I had was meant for dwarf bunnies. I found someone who took him in and house trained him to use the litter box with her cats. She sent me a pic not too long ago of the little (well, I say lttle, hes bigger than any of her cats) snuggled in a bed with 4 cats.

Personally, for your 8 year old, you can't go wrong with a dwarf lop. It will stay small and lovable and those floppy ears are just darling! If you're looking for affectionate and personality, get a mutt rabbit. Lionheads are wonderful bunnies too and just as cute as can be! I don't know what chicken swaps are like where you are but here in FL someone always has some bunnies at chicken stocks. I say avoid feed stores cause their rabbits are usually bred for meat (see above short story) and pet stores get a breeders cull rabbits and mutts but they're usually roughly handled and overpriced and you risk getting a bunny thats had a bad experience with people early on in life.

So, try your next local swap. I don't know what your 8 year old is like but if she's like my cousins she wants cute. Lops and lionheads in dwarf are the epitome of cute. As long as shes gentle with it and handles it right it will be a very lovable little critter.

Good luck!

 

[PineappleMama]

Oh Nameless is SO cute. The long haired ones always are, but I agree that long hair is hard on a newbie.

10 years, means she'll be 18... maybe still home, maybe already at college... good point.

Hehe... us being suckers is how we ended up with THREE dogs... we adopted one, Mom and Sis combined forces over the course of 12 months to dump the other two on us... so I hear ya.

Right now it's 4 chickens (outside) + 2 in the shower (illegal trying to decide if we want to keep them and rehome two GSLs or keep our GSLs and rehome them) + 3 dogs + 1 Gerbil + 1 Betta.... Mattie (our pound puppy) is Mine 100%... Riley the Gerbil is all DSs'... Betta is all DHs... the birds were my idea, but it's a joint effort... and they're outside... basically DD is the only one who hasn't gotten to pick a friend.

I am sucker... hear me roar. *meep*

 

[DragonEggs]

Quote:
How could you resist that face! If you don't want him I'll take him *hinthintwinkwink*

 

[PineappleMama]

^ Right!?

Dragon thanks for the ideas... the lops ARE cute... and I had thought about the fact that the feed store doesn't exactly label what they are other than Bunnies $20... so that just seems to ask for trouble.


Edit... and what about the "Social animals, you need a pair" advice... true, false, depends??

 

[muddyhorse]

sorry GSL ???? I've figure out most of the abbreviations but that one has me stumped. We live in rural MO so as long as its not a meth lab its not illegal. after this weekend we will be at about 75 birds. over 100 and we have to pay personal property taxes

 

[loot4louie]

Holland lops are notorious for being friendly and adorable. We have 3 bunnies at our farm- all littered trained easily. I personally love big bunnies and have a flemish giant, but they are BIG!! I have also had English lops which are wonderful. I have heard that females can become territorial, especially the smaller breeds. I find them simple and sweet. The bigger the cage the less outside time needed. They will eat cords. Don't put on damp ground. Vets are not super helpful when they are ill- find somebody comfortable carrying for bunnies. I also loved my guinea pig and they only live 5 years and make great pets.

 

[kaddidle]

I grew up with pet rabbits. My grandparents raised them for meat and made pets out of their breeding stock and my parents let me have my first pet rabbit when I was about ten. She was my sole responsibility to care for (after some help from my dad and granddad to make her housing) and I was able to handle the responsibility just fine.

In my experience, boys tend to be more friendly and laid back than girls. My most docile pets were always bucks. The does tended to be more high strung and prone to tearing things up to make nests.

I highly recommend having a house or garden bunny with an outdoor enclosure that is safe from predators. It is a lot easier to enjoy a rabbit as a pet when you can have it hopping around freely with you, but they can be destructive in the home or the garden. If you let a bunny free range in a home it must be supervised. I'll never forget when I was in college and brought my rabbit, Violet, to meet my now-mother-in-law, who was smitten by her. She sat on the couch petting her and watching her sniff things. Violet scampered over to the TV remote and my MIL thought, "Oh, how cute! It's like she's going to change the channel," and by the time the thought was finished Violet had chewed all the buttons off the remote. The same rabbit also ate through all the wires at the back of my computer.

 

[LindsayB]

I have only had one rabbit and it was one that we found in our neighborhood last summer...I'm sure it was a kid's easter gift that was 'set free'. some people.......ugh......It was white with black spots, I think an english spot or something?? Pretty big rabbit. Keep that in mind if your getting her one, some breeds get large which means more space and more smell. We had our rabbit for about 4 months and kept it in the house, I agree, this Texas heat would be torture for a bunny. I cleaned the cage 2-3 times per week and cleaned the litter box out daily and it still smelled the house up. That was the big problem, rabbit urine is very strong. the other problem was when we would let her have playtime in our office she would attack us lol. I guess it must have been a territorial thing but it would scare the you know what out of me! LOL, I didn't know rabbits were so aggressive and could growl! We eventually found a really good home for her with a lady that had 3 other rabbits in her home and knew what she dealing with. I would do your research and try to look for small docile breeds. As for the cage requirements...I know its not really good for their feet to be on wire, even though most of your rabbit cages have a wire floor. I would look up how to make rabbit cages out of the cubed wire shelving. you can make a pretty big 2-3 story home for a bunny in a small space. You can even train them to go to the bathroom in a litter box, ours did! If you go to the house rabbit society website they have TONS of info!! And if you decide a rabbit is not the right pet, give rats a shot! I've had them as pets since I was in high school. I LOVE them!! They're just like dogs, affectionate, playful, and you can train them!