Thinking of getting a baby rabbit.

[Aerliss]

Skye's ducks is a really good post. There is SO much to taking care of rabbits that it's difficult to get it all in one post here. So I'll just give you a couple of good links for the most part. But I do want to emphasise one thing; do not keep rabbits with Guinea pigs.

Will there be people who say "my Guinea and rabbit lived just fine together"? Yes. In fact I had two live happily together for a couple of years. But we also lost three guineas to over rambunctious rabbit play/hierarchy displays. Guineas and rabbits have different food requirements, different space requirements, communicate and interact differently, and even a small lop is big enough to accidentally kill a Guinea with a simple dominance hump. It is far, far better to keep rabbits, (which live in small social groups in the wild) with other rabbits; http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Relationships_with_rabbits#Guinea_pig

Number one best place in the whole internet for rabbit care advice is the rabbit sub reddit. Any and all questions about rabbit care will be answered by one of the long standing, highly knowledgeable users. The sidebar also has lots of links to the rabbit wiki these folks have put together and other sources. It's utterly comprehensive; https://www.reddit.com/r/Rabbits/

I linked to the wiki above, but this is the "beginners" care page; http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Getting_started_with_a_rabbit

In the US, the biggest rabbit org is the house rabbit society; https://rabbit.org/category/care/

Rabbits make amazing pets, but only if their needs are met correctly. I have three house rabbits and they make me laugh every single day with their antics. I've kept rabbits, not including when I was a kid, for six or seven years (my oldest is about 9), and I can't imagine being without them. But they are hard, hard work, way more than my chickens, and I can't even begin to add up their vet bills! One single ear infection amounted to £2000! I have them all insured though, so I only paid £55...

 

[Nats Chickens]

Thanks! If he turned out to be rambunctious, we have a spare hutch.

 

[Aerliss]

Unfortunately you likely won't find that out until he's killed a guinea. Believe me, finding a guinea with a broken back is horrible. We didn't know, twenty five years ago, that this was a risk of keeping guineas and rabbits together. I cannot stress enough how rare it is to be able to keep both together healthy and happy for their full lifespans (rabbits 8-14 years... where you gonna be in life in ten years time?).

The fact their food requirements are so different really does mean you have to either keep them separate or work very hard to make sure that guineas get enough food and the rabbit isn't overfed. Remember; guineas need vitamin c in their food, rabbits do not. So they have different food requirements. If the rabbit scoffs all the pellets, before the guineas can leisurely munch their way through them, the guineas will become malnourished. If you leave out a huge amount of pellets to make sure the guineas get their share, the rabbit will just eat all of them leading to obesity, poopy butt and dental problems.

I really cannot rec keeping them together now that rabbit neutering is so routine, and rabbits can be kept in pairs without fear of breeding. We used to do it because we knew rabbits enjoyed company, but couldn't keep them together because rabbits are difficult to sex, and a breeding pair will breed like crazy. We also thought rabbits didn't need much hay, space, or live very long. But now we know how to neuter rabbits successfully we don't need to substitute another bunny company with guineas, and we know more about their specific needs and that poor care was resulting in shortened lifespans.

I also have to stress that a hutch needs a run, particularly for a lone rabbit. Even breeders, the good ones out there, are now moving to keeping their stock in pens, rather than small cages, because a large living space reduces stress in a variety of ways, and a stress free bunny mama is a good bunny mama. I missed out the biggest UK rabbit society in my previous post. Their main campaigns are to move people away from muesli type feeds and A Hutch Is Not Enough; https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-housing/why-hutch-not-enough/

I know, I know; I've posted a lot of words of warning. I'm a big, big bunny care advocate because I've seen the repercussions, and nursed my rescues through the results of the poor info out there. I cannot say enough how important it is to do lots and lots of research before getting any pet, but particularly rabbits, as their needs are so misunderstood.

 

[Bunnylady]

Well, in spite of the fact that most of my rabbits have been healthy for what most agree are reasonably normal lifespans, and most of my does have been excellent mothers, I've been doing everything wrong (keeping rabbits in cages, one to a cage, and feeding alfalfa-based feed) for over 30 years, so you obviously shouldn't listen to me.

I will say this, though - how common is myxomatosis in your area? It is very much still around in Oz, and the last I heard, you can't get your rabbit inoculated against it. It's a horrible, mosquito-borne disease, most often fatal, and any rabbit that lives outside will be at risk for exposure. If you don't have many mosquitoes or fleas in your area, your rabbit might be fine outside, but the usual recommendation is to keep the rabbit inside as much as possible, and to build a mosquito-proof hutch for the rabbit outdoors.

 

[Nats Chickens]

I know about that and RHD. We will get him vacced every 6 months and we don't have very many rabbits in our area, so he should be fine.