too many rabbits. please help me.

missmissi

In the Brooder
6 Years
May 13, 2013
68
5
48
Quinlan, TX
Im in bunny hell.

I thought i brought home 2 males in february. Turns out 1 was female and they're older than i was told. She had 12 babies total, we lost 2 tho. Now i have 12 rabbits. Mom is Dutch, Dad is Havana. Total mutts, random black and white markings, which makes them all more irrisistable as pets.

I had an atrium built of 120 sq ft with ramps and i open the doors during the day to give extra room the width of 2 dog fences. And man i give them every toy and treat i see, the best alfalfa, feed and litter i can find. It is obscene what this is costing me, but they are sooooo precious. Oh and when theyre ready for spay and neuter, a low cost clinic, 2 hours from home, is still going to be over $600. Plus renting a cargo van big enough to carry them all or the multiple trips and a hotel/hotels to hang out at while i wait....

None of them want anything to do with me, they run like hell as if i had ever hurt them. Im spending $600 per month caring for them to be ignored? My heart is broken, i am a slave to cleaning their habitat 2 or more hours every day and because of these reasons i have begun to resent them.

Now, theyre fighting, even the girls. I dont have space to separate any more than the 3 boys currently residing inside my home, do you have any idea what that smells like? And the additional time cleaning in my house 2 or 3 times per day and changing out their litter boxes, blankets/towels, rugs and cardboard boxes or some other hidey-hole kind of house, to keep up with the odor of little boys spraying. 2 were badly injured and need medical attention, and papa does not want anything to do, with anybody, any more, even me of course. Hes vicious with them and i doubt he will ever be reintroduced to the herd again. Then he chewed the power cord for the surround sound subwoofer.... Thats why these 3 are inside in solitary, i have no place else to put them. So many crates and fences ive bought, the monthly costs and the $1000 aviary i had built for them, im out of money and cannot buy any more-anything.

Ive called, emailed and filled out online forms for 4 rescue orgs, a sanctuary, the SPCA and 2 nearby shelters. Everybody says they are at capacity and unable to help me, even after I assured them all that i can make whatever donation necessary to take some if not all of these precious wonders. Petfinder.com, rescueme.com and craigslist have attaracted 1 person who wanted them for food and 1 who wants a female to breed - i could not look myself in the mirror if i agreed to those terms of use.
I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO.

My fantasy of a pair of house rabbits napping with my dog on his bed or cuddling with me while i read is shattered. Im just going to go ahead and throw this tidbit of info out there too, im bipolar and disabled, the stress this situation is causing is dangerous for someone like me. Im deeply depressed because i dont know how to 'stop the hemorraging' and get some relief from this level of responsibility and physical demands. I cant take a trip, go on vacation or visit my friend in Seattle to 'get a break' for a little while - because i cant get anybody to do what im doing here to get through the day. DH wants nothing to do with them, he sees what this is doing to me and hes beside himself. I am past the breaking point that this is effecting my health. My marriage is suffering and so strained that we are discussing terms for separation, my husband just wants his living room back and for our house not to smell like boy bunny, and i see no light at the end of the tunnel.

Ive considered putting each one in a crate with small amounts of extra hay, feed and litter and leave each one on a different door step with a nice note explaining that their 'person' loves them very much but can no longer care for them properly and "PLEASE LOVE ME" Until then i continue to stay in bed all day, ignoring them now, wait for the next cleaning, and cram bad foods in my mouth while sitting in the dark.

What would you do? Im begging for an answer. I will do anything, take them anywhere.... Please help.

Desperate In (North) Texas
 
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Sorry you're overwhelmed with all this. A place on here that might help get you some rabbit homes is the free re-homing forum.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/16182/animals-in-need-of-free-re-homing

Be sure to mention what breed of rabbits you have. Some rabbits are more for pets and showing, some are raised for meat. Once you give them over to a new home, it's really up to the new owner what they do with them.

It sounds like it's sort of come down to either keeping all the rabbits or keeping your wits & marriage together. Only you can decide what means the most to you.
 
Since you have already built a nice atrium for them, keep 2 that you KNOW are the same sex, and since you cannot find homes for the rest, have someone come and pick them up, or you, or your husband, and set them free in the wild. I know this is advice that people will not like at all, so other BYC members please don't be mad at me, but you are being affected by them, you are trying to find homes for them, and nobody wants them. Pet rabbits sometimes do end up getting into the wild, it has happened to me by accident. I don't think they live long in the wild, but I did have one that ran away, and my husband saw him a few months later. Many wild rabbits don't live long in the wild either, that's why they populate so rapidly.

Please don't stuff them in a box and put them on doorsteps. Please keep us posted.
 
There is a nice place I could take them. On a clean lake so they'd have access to fresh drinking water, dense fountain grass to hide in, in a ritzy condo neighborhood, and it's inside a thriving shopping village. I think the predator population there is less than 10% so if they stay together they would have a great chance of figuring out how to stay warm and dry this winter. It's not their fault I screwed up, but they may like not living in captivity.
 
Are there any farmers/ranchers/livestock owners around you? I'd offer them for butcher to them. Contact FFA/4H groups in your area. They might have members interested in them for meat. Contact your high school, see if they have an ag dept that might process them for you. Have them butchered, put the meat in your freezer, or donate it to a homeless shelter/kitchen. Sounds harsh, but these don't seem to be pets, and it will get them out of your hair quickly. Don't release them, they will suffer and starve, plus with winter coming, they will freeze. Good luck
 
Maybe if you contacted your local newspaper they would do a story and people would adopt them. You don't have to mention your illness but, say you cannot afford to keep them and your marriage is suffering.
 
I would be careful about putting them in the hands of other people. How many pet owners keep their rabbits in little hutches all their lives, and even forget they have rabbits to take care of. Many end of starving to death, and are trapped in a tiny enclosure with no way out. I KNOW this happens.
 
There is a nice place I could take them. On a clean lake so they'd have access to fresh drinking water, dense fountain grass to hide in, in a ritzy condo neighborhood, and it's inside a thriving shopping village. I think the predator population there is less than 10% so if they stay together they would have a great chance of figuring out how to stay warm and dry this winter. It's not their fault I screwed up, but they may like not living in captivity.

Please do not dump these animals. Dumped animals just makes your problem someone else's.
 

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