The Bunny Chat Thread - For Bunny Owners

[FortCluck]

I do not trust people who have adoption fees on an animal. like someone said before, it sounds deceptive. Not sure why people came up with such a term but if I am paying money for a product (like a rabbit) its being sold to me and thats not an adoption, its a sale. I feel that it dehumanizes human children who need adoption. To use such terms for pets and or livestock just does sit well with me.

Adoption of a pet to me means it was rescued from a bad situation and has been cared for by a rescue agency or shelter... it does sound deceptive when someone uses that with a sale of their pet.

It makes the word adoption sound like a sale if you use it for a purchase and makes it sound like children adopted are sold for a profit which isn’t true.

 

[Compost King]

I finally moved my male rabbit out of his cage, but not into a pen, just into a larger more stable and more secure cage. The cage is 9 square feet and half of it is the wire flooring, the other half is concrete pavers. Now he has a real J feeder, nice flat service to hang out on, and a wire floor area to do his business. His old cage was a hanging cage and ropes I used to get it to sit still slowly became loose and his old cage was a swing. Not sure if I am going to get him a pen because he is never going to have a litter of kits. I took him out for a walk at sunrise while it was still cool outside. He was running around and i was running to keep up holding the leash. I did well running to keep up but I outweighs him by an awful lot so when he stopped running I had to struggle not to trip over him or step on him. It takes me 3 steps to stop and he can stop on a dime from full sprint.

The Female rabbits pen is done until she is ready to be a momma rabbit. I have the man made rabbit caves she can find a spot to nest in but I want to put up more splash guards around that area because I do not want a litter of kits getting wet in a storm.

I am going to make a 2nd Rabbit pen for another female when and if I can find another female standard rex. My pens are 4x8 feet and I have no problem with having multiple females in them but they have to be sisters or mother/daughter. 2 strange adult rabbits being forced to live in the same space could be a problem. The 2nd Pen is going to go where I currently have a Chicken coop. 4 Cornish X are in there now and well past processing age. 10 weeks old and I need to get set up to process them. Once the 2nd pen is ready I get to go Rabbit shopping.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I mean it's a marketing thing mostly. It stems from the "adopt don't shop" motto (because many dogs ARE adopted after being abandoned or losing their families, an animal and a human sharing those circumstantial or superficial experiences does not make the human less human) and breeders trying to differentiate themselves from animal mills (like puppy mills).

But to me it's just a sale. A breeder is a breeder. And you don't "adopt" from a breeder, you "adopt" an animal that lost its family somehow. You buy from a breeder. Much better to think of yourself as an ethical breeder and put the standards you hold yourself to in that regard out for public display. Most people shopping for an animal aren't shopping for a rescue anyhow - they'd be going to a rescue for that.

And I will say this, rescues and adopt don't shop have done some serious work over the last few decades bringing our euthanized animal population down MASSIVELY. But I think it sends the wrong message if you're a breeder trying to use it. Making yourself look like a rescue case may get more sales, but it makes you look worse as a breeder, like you're just throwing animals together to make babies that need to be rescued rather than being proud of a product you've created and put time into and is worth paying for, even if that's just the care of selecting your brood stock from other breeders. To me, BUYING a bred rabbit is getting something someone put work and pride into while ADOPTING an abandoned animal is a charity case and done out of love. And both have a serious place, but they're very different.

 

[Compost King]

Above is the male rabbit in his new cage, a beat up old cage but much large, stable, with concrete pavers to hop and rest on. I may add more pavers as I dig them out of places I no longer need them. I need to build him a hay rack too. He is only an inch or 2 off the ground and cleaning up his manure will quite the task.

Above is the female in her pen, took me a while to fix all the issues with the build but its finally done.

The corner where she leaves me nitrogen pellets, time to clean that out. I dump it in the chicken runs because its full of bugs maggots and worms. Chickens love to scratch through rabbit poo.

 

[FortCluck]

I mean it's a marketing thing mostly. It stems from the "adopt don't shop" motto (because many dogs ARE adopted after being abandoned or losing their families, an animal and a human sharing those circumstantial or superficial experiences does not make the human less human) and breeders trying to differentiate themselves from animal mills (like puppy mills).

But to me it's just a sale. A breeder is a breeder. And you don't "adopt" from a breeder, you "adopt" an animal that lost its family somehow. You buy from a breeder. Much better to think of yourself as an ethical breeder and put the standards you hold yourself to in that regard out for public display. Most people shopping for an animal aren't shopping for a rescue anyhow - they'd be going to a rescue for that.

And I will say this, rescues and adopt don't shop have done some serious work over the last few decades bringing our euthanized animal population down MASSIVELY. But I think it sends the wrong message if you're a breeder trying to use it. Making yourself look like a rescue case may get more sales, but it makes you look worse as a breeder, like you're just throwing animals together to make babies that need to be rescued rather than being proud of a product you've created and put time into and is worth paying for, even if that's just the care of selecting your brood stock from other breeders. To me, BUYING a bred rabbit is getting something someone put work and pride into while ADOPTING an abandoned animal is a charity case and done out of love. And both have a serious place, but they're very different.

If a breeder told me I was adopting I’d probably laugh then ask them was situation I was rescuing it from.

That being said I did save a dog from a breeder... nothing was her fault. A puppy was born as a runt and the pups wouldn’t let her eat and were fighting with her so the breeder removed her and started bottle feeding her then kept her on a heat pad in her room. This woman stayed up for weeks caring for her then brought her to the vet.

The vet told her it would be best to put down the puppy because it was weak and not thriving like the others. She came back home sad but brought the puppy home so she could sleep on her decision. The puppy was to be put down the next day.

I called and asked if we could go see the puppies and I had a certain one picked out... until she brought out the runt because it was time for her to feed her (She was on solids by then). My husband fell in love so I offered to pay full price and bring her home to try to work my magic knowing she might not make it.

I brought her to my vet and he gave her worming treatments in a higher dose than can be sold because she had a very bloated stomach. The breeder had done working treatments but they weren’t the same as what’s vet has on hand. He told me she needed to gain 5 lbs in a week... she was 2 lbs 4 oz at 8 weeks and she’s a pit lab.

I fed that dog 4 times a day and added steak pieces or chicken to the bottom of the food. I brought her back to the vet a week later and he laughed when she weighed 7 lbs 4 oz... exactly 5 lbs gained.

She’s now 50 lbs and the sweetest dog I’ve ever met. She has a deformed foot too from birth but it doesn’t bother her and fully functions.

 

[Fishychix]

Are you renting?

Nope. I was told it had something to do with my mortgage, I think. It doesn’t make sense and I could be misremembering, but I know for sure I can’t run a business

 

[Fishychix]

View attachment 2301144
Above is the male rabbit in his new cage, a beat up old cage but much large, stable, with concrete pavers to hop and rest on. I may add more pavers as I dig them out of places I no longer need them. I need to build him a hay rack too. He is only an inch or 2 off the ground and cleaning up his manure will quite the task.View attachment 2301145
Above is the female in her pen, took me a while to fix all the issues with the build but its finally done.View attachment 2301146
The corner where she leaves me nitrogen pellets, time to clean that out. I dump it in the chicken runs because its full of bugs maggots and worms. Chickens love to scratch through rabbit poo.

Really?! Hmm that will make cleaning them easier. Anyone notice there isn’t an emoji for thinking?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Really?! Hmm that will make cleaning them easier. Anyone notice there isn’t an emoji for thinking?

There isn't? XD

 

[Compost King]

Really?! Hmm that will make cleaning them easier. Anyone notice there isn’t an emoji for thinking?

I have to pull the cage out of the tight spot to clean out the valuable garden suggest that the rabbits poop out
(my name is compost king, those nuggets they poop out is pure gold to me)

 

[LizzzyJo]

As a holland lop breeder I completely agree. I take great pride into the ‘sale’ of my pedigreed buns. Rather it be for 4H or family pet, they are sold into good healthy homes. No one is adopting from me. I have an adopted dog from a shelter that is the great animal love of my life. She is flawless AND adopted. I support adoption.
But my buns are sold for $100. Not an adoption fee!