So Our DD Wants A Bunny

[kaddidle]

I will second rats as pets! They make excellent companions. I have had several and my particular favorites were a pair I had when I was in college. They're easily litter trainable and respond well to commands. Similar to rabbits, I feel like males make the best companions as they're calmer and also bigger, which is good when choosing pets for children as they're less prone to accidental injury.

 

[DragonEggs]

Actually, I think rabbits do better alone. Males CAN (but not always) get along if they grow up together. Female seem to fight a lot. Males and females get along great but then theres always the added bonus. I've always kept my rabbits solo. Ive only ever kept one at a time but I always gave it lots of attention and it grew up around my dogs and cats so always had playmates if it wanted them.

 

[kaddidle]

That reminds me of a cute story--my college rabbit, Violet, used to love to play with my rats, Simon and Ricky. It was adorable.

 

[Sachasmom]

Quote:
If you go to the ARBA website they have a list of all the different rabbit breeds. They also sell a couple books about raising rabbits, or most of the farm stores carry Storeys Guide to Raising Rabbits. If you're going to do inside, I would do a Med to small sized bunny, although lots of folks keep large bunnies as house pets. I have mostly larger commercial breeds, and Lionheads.

I'd be careful picking up anything at an auction, Tis where breeders dump the stuff they don't want! You might get something less than healthy, or a nasty attack bunny!

I'd get a younger bunny to start, be careful about age, I've seen folks selling 6 week old bunnies, and while that may be fine for an experianced rabbit person, I would never sell anything that young to a newbie!

The bad? Rabbits poop. A LOT!

For an inside cage, make sure you get one with a wire bottom and a drop pan that can be easily emptied, those cages that you use shavings in will get smelly and nasty FAST! You can put Stall Dry or something similar in the pan to keep the odor down.

Rabbits chew. A LOT! So if you allow any outside of the cage time, make sure all cords are out of reach! You'd be surprised at what they can reach and destroy! (Flashlights, papers, cord to the computer, cord to the vacume, cord to the Playstation!)

Some rabbits are social and will enjoy other rabbits company, others will fight. Depends on the breeding and the temperment of the rabbits. You could get littermates and raise them together, but you'd have to get two females. They may fight though when they reach maturity, so you might need a second cage.

The Ugly? Did I mention the poop?

Some rabbits can be sensitive to changes in diet, so be careful what you feed them. Make sure your daughter understands that a big handful of Iceberg Lettuce or a whole carrot could kill the bunny! I do feed mine dark leafy greens and some weeds/herbs, but mine are used to a more varied diet.

 

[Eggstra New]

I love buns!!! I'm up to four currently. I've had eight in my life time. All of my buns are kept indoors. This is the link I used to make my cages. http://www.michiganrabbitrescue.org/condo.htm They're pretty cheap and easy to make. I prefer males. The females I've had were pretty aggressive, but that's just my experience. I know there are some sweet females out there. My lop was the cuddliest bun I've had. He passed away a couple of months ago. The breed I've had the most experience with is Netherland Dwarfs. I've never had any trouble with any of them, but I've heard others say they don't make the best pets. I guess they can be quite skittish. I just smuther them with love and they come around. My Lionhead is the most skittish one I have. My newest bun is a Flemish Giant. I thought I go to the other end of the spectrum in size. LOL. He is wonderful!!!!! I heart him so much!! He's four months old and still a growin'! All of my buns were really easy to litter train. I just put the box in a corner they liked and put their marbles in the box for a coupe of days and that was that. They've all used them ever since. I feed Oxbow rabbit pellets. I also feed as much hay as they'll eat and fresh greens as often as I can remember to get them from the store.

 

[Emzyyy]

Craigslist also has bunnys for sale a lot of the time. You could try that.

 

[LV426]

I have a Standard Rex. His name is Hermes.

He lives in a doggie exercise pen with a litter box and various toys. I got him when he was 6 weeks old from a breeder. I recommend finding a good breeder near you by going to the ARBA website. The first rex I had was a mini rex and I got him from a 4-H breeder. He was ok but not into being held or snuggled or anything. In fact I'm pretty sure he hated me and only tolerated me because I provided food. When he passed away I went on a scouting mission online to find a breeder of standard rex. Mainly Standards are bigger than minis and in my opinion, smarter.

So Hermes was 6 weeks when I got him. I know that a lot of people and websites say that rabbits are skittish and can scare to death but exposing Hermes to a lot of different situations and stimuli has really made him a well adjusted rabbit in my opinion. We ride in the car, he comes to work with me, we go to the pet store where all of the employees ooh and aah over him. At the end of the day he plays on my bed and binkies and comes up for pets and loves. He likes to get under the blanket and cuddle and will even watch movies with me while I rub his little head for an hour lol.

Find a good breeder and hopefully they will have some to choose from. Hold them and see how they react. A bunny that freezes up and tenses or one that kicks isn't going to be a cuddler. Hermes was scared from his car ride and the strange noises but when I picked him up he just stuck his head under my chin. Love at first cuddle. He wasn't too tense or fighting me to be picked up.

Food wise I recommend Mazuri or Pfau. I use both mixed. Pfau is hard to get but Mazuri is zoo grade feed and I've never had a problem. I also feed him as much Timothy hay as he wants. I use Timothy because the pellets are made of alfalfa and that has a lot of protein which too much of can cause problems in rabbits so the Timothy gives lots of fiber but lower protein. The HRS site recommends feeding vegetables and hay and restricting pellets but I have some issue with this. First off most people think of veggies like supermarket vegetables but really rabbits need a diet richer in fiber and nutrients. So the "veggies" that I feed are more along the lines of what they might eat in the wild. Dandelions, plantains, cactus pads (spines removed), fescue, clovers, rye grass, wheat grass, and other grazing type of pasture mixes. I stay away from lettuce for the most part and don't give carrots but I do feed carrot tops and beet tops. Rabbits love sugary food and will gobble them up but their digestive system isn't made to cope and it can give them bloat and be fatal. So sticking to leafy greens is the best idea and even then in limited quantities since some rabbits can be sensitive to greens and get runny stools.

I don't like rabbit cages. Any rabbit cage on the market is going to be too small. I have one that's a good size but only use it for traveling if I go on vacation with Hermes. He has his exercise pen and he has plenty of room. I bought a cheap rug for $20 to go under it so if he makes a mess I can easily clean it up but to be honest he's never peed on the carpet. He was mostly litter box trained in 2 weeks. He will leave the occasional poop pellet around but those are easily swept up. The litter box is a rubbermaid sweater box. Lot's of room. I use a combination of barn dry and pine shavings and then put hay on that because rabbits tend to eliminate when they feed. I change his litter box 2 times a week and there's little to no smell. Only hay smell.

**If your child is allergic to hay then a bunny isn't a good idea. **


I prefer males. For one they are easier and cheaper to neuter and they aren't as territorial. Females are territorial and can be gruff and unpleasant. They will sometimes bite and scratch to get you away from their territory. Spaying does help but I've always preferred males.

I recommend you having your bunny spayed or neutered when they are old enough, usually at 4 months. This heads off the bunny teenage stage and you get to avoid the spraying and territorial crap and general bratty hormonal bunny behavior.

 

[PineappleMama]

I've already taken note of the C&C err... Cube (no coroplast) idea... we do have quite a few of those around, so making a cage of them prolly wouldn't be too hard... and since I'm building it the only limitation is in the 14" width of the panels... other than that you can just scooch all around the place.

Riddle me this... IF two boys were raised together (littermates?) would THEY get aggressive at maturity IF there were NO females around? Anyone had two boys before and know?

Like the idea of a boy, one site said that does can breed at 5 months... since I can't be sure the rabbit we get won't be 5+ months (not by eye anyways I have to trust the seller) then it makes sense to get a boy so I KNOW I won't be seeing any kindling! But, if boys are going to fight then that would just freak DD out, so no go.

Okay... ARBA Says...

Smaller Bunnies - Max Weight

American Fuzzy Lop - 4 (OMG SO fluffy)
Britannia Petite - 2 1/2 (reminds me of a field bunny)
Dutch - 5 1/2 (is ALL their weight junk in the trunk or what?)
Dwarf Hotot - 3 (teensy little bugger with the tiny ears)
Himalayan - 4 1/2 (red eyed?)
Holland Lop - 4 (It looks like Droopy!)
Jersey Wooly - 3 1/2 (wooly means long time consuming hair huh?)
Mini Rex - 4 1/2 (reminds me of Velveteen Rabbit GREAT BOOK, pointy ears, but long ones)
Mini Satin - 4 3/4 (looks like it has red eyes though)
Netherland Dwarf - 2 1/2 (What's with the short ears? red eye?)
Polish 3 1/2 (like a black cat only without the moodiness?)

Knock out the red eyes, the long hair, and the shorty ears and I'm leaning towards:
Britannia Petite, Dutch, Holland Lop, Mini Rex, and Polish... add Mini Lop too since that one tops out at 6 1/2

So... anyone want to chime in on those specific ones...
How about a hypothetical...

If there was a breeder that happened to have two girls and two boys of each of those breeds and they were just giving them to you (and coincidentally you already had all the food, pens, etc needed aka cost is NOT a factor) which 1 OR 2 would you pick...

Oh, and GSL = Gold Sex Links... so far we're loving them

 

[VelvetDragon]

Free range as a house bunny, or C&C cages with free range time are the absolutely best ways to keep a pet rabbit, in my opinion. Pens also work fantastic, like LV426's setup. My sister-in-law has hers free-range but with a pen like that for when he needs to be shut in. My sister has her bun free range in a bunny-proof room, with a cage as a litter box. I have had many in my life -- all the ones I owned personally were housepets, litter trained and mostly free range. The more time they get out running about, the happier and healthier they tend to be. They also do great getting outside time either on a leash or a moveable pen ("rabbit tractor" hehe!) or supervised in a fenced area. (They are preyed on by the same critters that hunt chickens; safety considerations are similar for outside time.)

Their main diet should be Timothy hay, with some plain rabbit pellet daily (no seeds or other things in a mix), and fresh veggies and forage.

I personally think the mid-sized rabbits make the best pets for children, as they're easily handled but not fragile. They also tend to have nice, laid back personalities. Different breeds have different temperaments, so that's one thing to consider. However, there are always many rabbits that need homes at local humane societies and shelters as well, and some of my best rabbits have been mutts and adoptions.

I am personally partial to mini lops (not Holland lops). I've met many and they all had fantastic personalities (the same can't be said for the Holland lops I've met, or the Netherland dwarfs, though my sister's Netherland dwarf is a sweetpea). My boy Mocha was a leftover Easter bunny rescue, and he would follow me all around the house, let me paint his toenails while lying upside down in my lap, and curl up next to me to watch TV.

I also love Dutch, they're one of my favorite breeds, though the ones I owned were not very typey. Lankier and slightly bigger. Rex are always awesome though I like the bigger ones! One time we found one running loose in our neighborhood. Never found the owners.

And my other best suggestion: Get it fixed! It makes ALL the difference for behavior and personality. Unless it's a show or breeding bunny, the best thing is to get it spayed or neutered. Unspayed does are cranky and even aggressive, and intact bucks will mark. And if your bun is fixed, then you can have two of either gender if you want without as much risk of aggression. Two fixed males raised together would be fantastic together. I've worked with both fixed and intact rabbits, it makes a HUGE difference. I personally will not ever have another rabbit that isn't fixed. Heh.

http://www.rabbit.org/ This is a great site regarding keeping rabbits as pets.

 

[Bunnylady]

In 20+ years of raising rabbits, the only absolute I've observed is that there are no absolutes. All of the remarks and observations in this thread are true, except for when they aren't! Rabbits can live ten years, I have had some that lived to be 12 (outside, in the humid heat of southeastern North Carolina); but I have also had some that died before their first birthday with no prior symptoms and no obvious cause. Smaller breeds do tend to be more "hyper," but I have known some laid back snugglers of those breeds, too. Bucks are reputed to be less aggressive, but the few truly vicious rabbits I have known have all been bucks. Does are said to be territorial, and some certainly are, but I have known many that were very sweet (case in point, my girl Cupcake; a Holland Lop doe that played "Chester" for several seasons on One Tree Hill).

About the information on the ARBA website; those are maximum showable weights. Due to a genetic quirk of the small breeds, animals that are showable weights can produce offspring that may wind up as much as a pound heavier than the maximum showable size. I understand your feeling about the Ruby Eyed Whites. It took me several years to get past the "nobody home" look of those pink eyes, but it's just another color to me now. Remember, most breeds come in many colors (including colors that aren't recognised for show); the rabbits in the pictures are just ones that best represent the breed standard so their colors are mostly irrelevant (other than being showable).

I would advise going to a breeder for a rabbit, simply because they should know their own animals. Handling at a young age (or lack of it) makes a big difference when it comes to making a people-friendly rabbit. A certain amount of personality is inheritable; observing the parents can give you an idea of where the offspring are likely to go. Rabbits stress easily, so the fewer steps between a rabbit's birthplace and you, the better!

Most of the time, two bucks will need to be separated. There are always exceptions, particularly if they are neutered. And BTW, rabbit does are capable of conceiving at about 3 months of age. No responsible person would deliberately breed one at less than 5 - 6 months, but carelessness or accidental breeding can result in pregnancy at a much younger age.