What Rabbits Do You Have? Show Off Your Rabbits Here!

[ChocolateMouse]

Never had a bunny that didn't looove chewing on wires.... :/ Just gotta keep them out of bunny level, really. You could try giving them other things to chew on but something about wires is just really tempting for rabbits.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Somewhat topical, I just now (not ten minutes ago) had a really frustrating customer experience. Had a couple visit me, looking to buy four (10lb) rabbits. Turns out they wanted house bunnies and they wanted unfixed pairs to breed so they could have more cute babies as pets (that's just asking for a hoarding/rescue nightmare) and didn't say. They had no idea what rabbits were like, it was like they'd never even picked one up before. They showed up and were immediately offended when they found out that the rabbits kicked. They were upset that the rabbits shed. They were mad that the rabbits didn't want to be held and cuddled. The girl had these rediculous inch-long fake nails and a coach purse and when one of the rabbits kicked off one of the nails (because she insisted on holding one of the hormonal BUCK rabbits) she was upset that the rabbits were so flighty. They were upset that the rabbits didn't have their nails clipped (they had their nails clipped last week). She was upset that she couldn't hold the rabbits and her purse at the same time. (Mind you, these are adolecent rabbits and are extremely hormonal and flighty, like all rabbits at that age.) And you know why they SAID they wanted rabbits? And I quote, the lady said "I want rabbits because I love them, and animals are my life".

This is why I don't like selling to pet owners. They walked out without my rabbits, probably thinking that I am a bad breeder because my rabbits aren't indoors or some other preppie-upper-middle-class-white-girl nonsense. I don't think I would have sold to them even if they wanted 'em. I told them that all rabbits shed, kicked and were not fond of being held, especially at this age. I genuinely hope they reconsider rabbits as pets but they probably won't. They'll just go to someone who pretends to be sweeter but probably has a lot less sense.

Customers can be the best part of the job when they're attentive and want to be educated. They can be the worst part of the job ever when they are high on themselves and preconceived notions. And they will lie through their teeth to get you to sell to them if they want it that badly.

Heck, my ad is on a FARM page and even says; "The four rabbits would make a great starting herd for cross-breed back yard meat rabbits or possibly 4H projects.

These are not minis. These are big bunnies with 8-11lbs parents."

Not "Sweet loving pet rabbits to a good home" or some other nonsense.

People like that completely ruin my day and this job.



Edited by Staff

 

[laura s]

@ChocolateMouse
Hello, my name is Laura and I have a 7 month old Flemish giant Named Hauss. I am thinking about having him fixed. He's very sweet and I don't plan to breed him. Your earlier comment about testicular cancer caught my attention. Any reason not to neuter him? Thanks

 

[laura s]

Hauss

 

[ChocolateMouse]

If you're not looking to breed, then not really... Get him fixed. The biggest downside I can think of is that he might be more prone to gaining weight, but keeping him on lots of hay, plain pellets and giving him the space and environments that keep him active will help with that. If he were a smaller breed you may have had to wait for him to achieve a larger weight for safe anesthesia but since he's so big there should be no problems.

Neutering male animals is extremely safe and fairly non invasive (though all surgery carries risks including infection and death, which a vet should go over with you). Neutering male rabbits eliminates the risks of testicular cancer but it also helps them have calmer personalities (less testosterone) and they are less prone to spray urine or try to hump you and your stuffed animals or experience sexual frustration that leads to aggression. It can also mean that, with careful introduction, they will likely live with other rabbits better. Two unfixed males or unfixed females are MUCH more likely to fight tooth and nail for dominance. This goes double for animals who have bred before. Nesting does can rip each other to shreds from hormone changes, and so can hormonal bucks. Spay/neuter dramatically reduces those issues.

Personally, I see no reason not to get him fixed. It's much more important for females (almost a requirement if you want them to live a long time). But bucks can benefit from the operation as well. Just make sure you have an experienced rabbit vet preform the operation.

 

[laura s]

@chocolatem
Thank you. That makes my decision a bit easier.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

@ChocolateMouse
Hello, my name is Laura and I have a 7 month old Flemish giant Named Hauss. I am thinking about having him fixed. He's very sweet and I don't plan to breed him. Your earlier comment about testicular cancer caught my attention. Any reason not to neuter him? Thanks

Rabbits who are spayed\Neutered live longer and are not as aggressive and are calmer.

 

[BantamLover21]

@ChocolateMouse
Hello, my name is Laura and I have a 7 month old Flemish giant Named Hauss. I am thinking about having him fixed. He's very sweet and I don't plan to breed him. Your earlier comment about testicular cancer caught my attention. Any reason not to neuter him? Thanks

If you don't plan on breeding him, it would probably be beneficial to neuter him. That helps eliminate annoying "bucky" behaviors like spraying and gets rid of any chance for testicular cancer.

With that said, neutering can be expensive and there is always the risk (however slight) of the surgery/anesthesia affecting him negatively. Also unneutered rabbits can be perfectly friendly and long-lived. I know a breeder who regularly has rabbits (unneutered/unspayed) live to 10-13 years of age, with no cancer problems. None of my bucks are neutered, since I use them for breeding and showing. In my experience, they do go through a particularly hormonal stage at 5-10 months old during which they spray, but after that, they mellow down and are fine as long as they aren't in close contact with does. None of my bucks have ever been aggressive, though that probably depends more on the individual breed and genetics.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I thought I'd drop a picture of one of my meat rabbit cages, since there was some discussion of toys in cage setups earlier for simple enrichment for meat bunnies... And I just gave most of the bunnies some new toys this week...


So here is the cage for the otter rex I showed before. You can see that it's a very big cage (big enough to run and stand up in) with clean hay bedding that she loves digging in, but you can also see that she has a box that she's using, a branch from a rabbit safe plant suspended in her cage, a TP tube stuffed with hay and a hanging rabbit "kebab" toy in the upper left with some brightly colored plastic/wood/lava rock chews on it. Kibbles (the rabbit) has been much more relaxed in her cage since we gave her a new box this week as she's been without one for about 3 weeks. (Her old one got chewed to bits and we didn't have an appropriately sized replacement.) In fact, we gave all the rabbits new toys this week (and new boxes where needed) and they are all thrilled. Some of the cages got the simplest toy I could think of... We get our dog food shipped in boxes with plain, brown packing paper. I just took a few pieces of them, crumpled them up and tied them in a knot and then put them in the cages. I've seen several of the rabbits chewing on and throwing these crinkly, rabbit-safe paper knots around their cages. I really feel like any small homesteader can take the time to give their meat rabbits at least a few toys to play with and a box to sleep in. It really keeps the rabbits feeling happier and lower stress means better health.

 

[CyndiD]

I spent a few hours making wood & hemp toys for my 4 cages. 2 i hung in the cages and 2 i just layed in there.
so, is it ok for rabbits to eat the cardboard, paper, hemp, cotton rope, etc?
i will take some pics in the morning to share. i havent seen them play w/the toys, just sniff them. one buck did chew and eat some of the wood. i give them tree branches w/leaves, so i know they do eat wood.