anyone have a bunny?? Need info!

So my daughter's birthday is in 2 weeks...she announced she wants a bunny....good grief!

What is involved with a bunny? I already have a zoo and I wonder if we can make a bunny happy. There is no way for it to go outside cause we live in an appartment.

How much out time would it need? What kind of vet visits for a bunny?

What kind of cage/enclosure? Care? Diet??

Basically tell me *everything* so I can see what we decide.

Obviously, it wouldn't be able to free roam all day long so it would need out time, regular out time.

Oh what about life span? Breeds? Something that doesnt get huge.

well i have a bunny that i wanna say is about 8 years old now and when its nice outside I let her run out there we have an enclosure for the dogs which they dont use at all whenever we do her cage and so i can wash it down and everything and when its not nice out i let her run around in my room with out the kitties in here and well i block under my bed off of course and I make sure theres nothing for her to chew like wires and stuff so she does get exercise but I dont know her breed but she is fairly big but not that big shes not as big as bella or any of the cats! And we actualy found a 2 story cage for her at the flea market which she travels to the top sometimes when she gets that extra boost of energy! As far as her diet she gets rabbit pellets and i got timothy hay, and of course i get those treats for her and the gunieas every once in a while, also some lettuce and carrots sometimes I will get a picture of her cage and her either tonite or tomarrow and post it for u to show u the cage and her.. I got her at a pet store a long time ago maybe when i was in 5-6th grade I went there with my eldest brother and he called my mom and well I got a new bunny that day

yeah i'd love to see the cage picture. I already know i'll be cleaning everything but this might be a good start for her to help me. She wants to help with the cats but i won't let her touch litter and she is too animated for the birds and she doesn't like their talons.

i was thinking about getting an enclosure like for kids that he could run around in for exercise.

Please, Please, PLEASE do NOT get a bunny for your little girl. They are about the worst animal you could get for a child. They are prey animals.....Cats and Dogs are predatory animals- they do not do well with sudden movements of children and can often be very skiddish. I have a blue holland lop named Sophie- she was rescued. I rescued her - she was a "leftover" easter bunny - a family got her for her kids because she was cute- then found out how much work they are and dumped her off back at the place they got her from I immedately had her spayed- all rabbits need to be spayed and netuered especially females to prevent certain types of reproductive cancers. Also- they are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO messy! They flind poo everywhere as part of a natural way of marking their territory- you'll definitely need a good dustbuster if you get one. Mine is litter trained and does use her litter pan but she does fling poo everywhere so i'm constantly having to clean up after her. Timothy hay based pellets are the ONLY good pellets out there that a rabbit should be fed- just about every "Rabbit food" out on the market in stores/etc is not good for them- they can not digest corn- one of the main ingredients in many "rabbit foods" and it can cause intestional blockages and severe problems. My Sophie eats Kaytee Timothy Complete pellets -oxbowhay also has a good one. Adults need an unlimited supply of timothy hay- it aids in digestion. They do not however need alfalfa or other things like that. Sophie gets timothy hay and occassionaly oat/barley hay. Alfalfa is only given as a rare treat. They need lots of time out of their cage- preferably run of a house- but with a child and other animals- that will definitely not be ideal for a bunny. You also do not want to leave them caged in all day as that is just cruel- they need to get out and hop around. I have a white "puppy" playpen that mine hops around in for exercise. Also as far as vet goes- you must call around to each vet in your city- ask them how many rabbits they see a month, how many they preform surgery on...etc. RESEARCH! Rabbits are extremly sensitive and can not have certain medicines/anestesias used for cats and dogs- it can kill them...so you want to make sure the vet is well experienced in rabbits. Feeding a rabbit a proper (many people do not feed them a good diet) diet can get very pricy as well. They need fresh veggies daily (no corn, kale, or spinach please). I spend at least $10 a week in fresh veggies for Sophie (multiply that by the number of weeks in a year- it adds up fast- that is just for the fresh veggies too) In addition to the fresh vegetable, i feed timothy hay based pellets, and fresh timothy hay. Also- to have a rabbit spayed is much more pricy than a cat or dog- it cost me well over $200 to have Sophie fixed as they are very sensitive to certain meds, hard to put asleep along with many other factors. Rabbits need to be kept inside there are too many dangers for them outside in a cage- they are very easily made a nice meal by predators, can often be frightened by bad weather, etc....the list goes on and on- the safest place for a bunny is indoors. Since you already have a lot of other animals- it is very likely that a bunny will be nervous/uncomfortable around them- especially if the other animals are really playfull/energetic- not to mention if you have a young energetic daughter- the bunny is a prey animal and anything charging it will frighten it. Also- some bunnies become aggressive when put in that situation - you've never lived till you've had a rabbit kick and bite you- it is not plesant. There is an excellent book out there "Rabbits for Dummies" - please pick up the book at your local libary or pet store and read it cover to cover before even considering bringing a bunny home. Rabbits are excellent animals- they really are...I love mine to pieces. But they are prey animals and are not right for every home- so definitely do your research before adopting one- and definitely do not get one because your daughter wants it for her birthday- they look cute and cuddly sure, but if you get one without knowing what to expect/ect...it could wind up being a bad situation. I applaud you for asking about this before adopting and making an informed decision PM me if you need anything!

www.rabbit.org

I don't own a bunny but I do a lot of bunny adoptions.

For the most part most commercially made hutches are too small. You are better off making your own or using an "x-pen" (exercise pen). Wire bottoms are inappropriate as it is painful for the bun.

The living space should be 6-8 times larger than the ADULT rabbit. Bigger is better, of course.

The bunny should have access to hay AT ALL TIMES. It should be at least 70% of their diet. Alfalfa is not appropriate for an adult rabbit, however it is fine for a baby bun. Either timothy hay or oat (3-way) hay is fine for adult buns. They should a serving of fresh veggies everyday. We use romaine lettuce, a bit of kale, parsley and cilantro b/c those are cheap. Any leafy green is good. They get an inch of carrot and an inch of apple. You can vary those but remember that too many sweets are not good for your bun.

You should find a pellet that is pellet only. It shouldn't have cereal pieces in it. those are fattening and bad for your bun. Also, commercial treats, in general, are inappropriate. They contain too much fat. If we think about a rabbits natural diet, they consume almost no fat. We should respect that. You should give a small amount of pellets (measured, of course) and not just keep a bowl full or your rabbit will get terrifically fat.

Rabbits in general do not like to be picked up and held. they like for you to repect that. all rabbits will bite and they kick and scratch, even on accident, it still hurts.

they should absolutely be speutered!!! I cannot stress that enough! Rabbits can be very territorial and will charge and attack to defend their area if they feel like they need to. My coworker got the crap bitten out of her by a bun and needed stitches but he had torn off too much skin! He just got neutered yesterday so hopefully he'll stop doing that.

Rabbit vets are much more expensive than normal vets so keep that in mind.

And rabbits do better in pairs.

There's A LOT more, read up on www.rabbit.org

I was thinking that about the wire and that it couldn't be nice on them.

But I wouldn't be really getting "for her" so to speak. I know there is no way she is old enough to care for it but she could help me for sure.

I already figured for the cage to look for one big enough for the adult. People do the same for fish, they buy this 1inch fish not thinking that it grow to be a foot long.

I already buy a lot of veggies for the birds so that's all good.

I'll have to see about the vet though and see where one would be here and what their costs are for spay/neuter.

I did read that about prey animals and I will tell her that she won't be able to pick the rabbit up like the cats and play the rabbit the same way at all and see if she is even remotly still interested.

Are some breeds better than others? I don't know the breeds but i'd rather get a smaller one. I'm going to read that rabbit.org site now and probably will have more questions after that.

Originally Posted by Rosey

I was thinking that about the wire and that it couldn't be nice on them.

But I wouldn't be really getting "for her" so to speak. I know there is no way she is old enough to care for it but she could help me for sure.

I already figured for the cage to look for one big enough for the adult. People do the same for fish, they buy this 1inch fish not thinking that it grow to be a foot long.

I already buy a lot of veggies for the birds so that's all good.

I'll have to see about the vet though and see where one would be here and what their costs are for spay/neuter.

I did read that about prey animals and I will tell her that she won't be able to pick the rabbit up like the cats and play the rabbit the same way at all and see if she is even remotly still interested.

Are some breeds better than others? I don't know the breeds but i'd rather get a smaller one. I'm going to read that rabbit.org site now and probably will have more questions after that.

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u should def go and check at ur local shelter I know our one shelter has a lot of rabbits and they take care of everything but there is an adoption fee of course, but i am sure that someone would be there to help u look at breeds and which are small and what not! But here is a link i just found for u on sizes and the breeds and what not http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/rabbi...itbreeds_3.htm

and here is a link with pictures http://www.arba.net/photo.htm

well that rabbit site didn't have vets listed in oklahoma but i googled and found that my avian vet also does rabbits. I will give him a call in the morning about bunny care and neuter.
The only shelter I found that had rabbits is over 2 hours away. There was one here in town and i emailed them just asking about procedure etc.

I'm going to read some more, call around and price things out before deciding.

What's the life span of a bunny?

Thanks for that link..other than angorra, i had no idea what breeds bunny's were

Originally Posted by Rosey

well that rabbit site didn't have vets listed in oklahoma but i googled and found that my avian vet also does rabbits. I will give him a call in the morning about bunny care and neuter.
The only shelter I found that had rabbits is over 2 hours away. There was one here in town and i emailed them just asking about procedure etc.

I'm going to read some more, call around and price things out before deciding.

What's the life span of a bunny?

Thanks for that link..other than angorra, i had no idea what breeds bunny's were

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I have heard from 5-10 years some longer than that, my brothers rabbit was up there in age before she passed but she was a huge rabbit now my sugar is 8-9 years old now but it usually depends on how u take care of them and well some breeds are different than others from what I have read

ok good to know. Lots of reading and talking over and thinking to do.

Cage-wise…I would strongly suggest making a C&C condo since pet store cages are way too small. They are easy enough for anyone to put together and my rabbit absolutely loves it. I was inspired to build one for my bunny after seeing the guinea pig cages at www.guineapigcages.com, but made some modifications for my rabbit since she is litter trained and needs a top on it.. The total cost was about $50…would be less if you had any supplies on hand.

Here is a picture of Breeze in the cage I build before I put her new supplies in- it is the minimum I would go for a smaller breed (she is a dwarf mix) and will need an addition when her new bunny friend moves in. It is 28x42x28. I had enough grids left to build her a large exercise yard that attaches to the cage as well. (not in this picture)



About spaying and neutering…the cost can vary greatly but it is very important to find an experienced rabbit vet. The rabbit.org site has a list of questions to ask the vet to help determine if they really know what they are talking about (some exotics vets Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve been to donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t know what they are doing). My vet charges $290 for a neuter and over $300 for a spay. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve heard some people pay much less and others pay much more. Adopting an already altered rabbit from a shelter or rescue is often much less than even the lower end of what youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]d pay for the surgery on your own.

The only thing Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]d like to add is to keep in mind that the individual temperaments can vary greatly if you do decide to get a rabbit and to look at temperament above all else. Since they will be with you for many years it pays to wait or travel to find the right rabbit(s) that is a good match for your family. It might be worth checking if your stateâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s HRS chapter knows of any good bunnies or pairs that would be a good fit for your family.

I actually found a pair that needed to be adopted..both males. I emailed to see if they were still available and asked tons of questions, are they neutered? are they together now? etc etc. They are smaller breeds

I LOVE your cage, can you tell me what you bought and how you put it together? I can build things I just don't know what anything is called. Home depot is next door

I will call the vet tomorrow to see what his costs are. I know him and I like him so that's already a plus. He takes care of my birdies.

When you put the addition are you going to make it so you can seperate if need be?
You put tile on the bottom? That's awesome for cleanup though. And then litter on top of that?

Man I have a lot of reading to do. I am going to go pick up that book tomorrow.

I am horrible at explaining things so if this sounds confusing at all…well it is way more straight forward than I made it sound. There are several sites that have decent directions (like the link in my previous post) that you can find by Googleâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ing cube cages and rabbits- it is neat to see all the different ideas and materials people use to meet the specific needs of their pets.

The cage is actually built using the grids from the storage cubes kits you can find at Target. There are 23 grids per pack and each pack was on sale for $13. I bought two packs to be safe and used the extra to build a collapsible play pen. Once I drew out the plans for my cage I secured the grids together with white electrical ties- I did about 5 per grid side to make sure it was extra sturdy (that might have been going overboard) incase the cats jumped on top. The edges can be sharp when you cut the ends off so I know some people use a dremel(sp?) tool to sand them down. You can buy large packs of the ties for cheap and I know I at least used a few hundred. I did not use the connectors that came with the grids.

I also used the grids to build the two levels (Breeze likes to climb), but secured a metal bar I had on hand underneath of each with electrical ties to support the level when the rabbit was on it. I know some people use wood for that, but I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t know which types would be safe for rabbits incase they chewed on it. For the door I simply did the ties a little looser and staggered the ties so the door grid would rest a little higher and open easier. You can use a carabineer to keep the door shut (My latch was not on in the picture).

I covered a piece of wood that was several inches longer than the cage with linoleum (so the rabbits canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t chew on the edge of the cage), and secured linoleum to each of the levels by cutting slits in it and running cable ties through so the rabbits couldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t lift up the corners to chew on them. I chose linoleum because it was easy to clean and sweep up any stray droppings if she missed the box. Tile would probably work nicely, but I was worried about making everything too heavy to lift, how I would secure them to the grids and cleaning between the tile. I got the linoleum on sale at Lowes for $15-look for their end of the roll deals. I still have quite a bit left if I wanted to use it for a floor under the playpen or ever needed to replace any in the existing cage.

Breeze is litter box trained so I do not have worry about putting litter or bedding down on the floor of the cage to absorb urine accidents, and any stray droppings are very easy to sweep up when cleaning the cage. But with a young rabbit like Jaybee that is still learning and poops everywhere you could build a bottom like those guinea pig cages in the link that has raised side so they donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t end up outside the cage.

When I build an addition I will probably make it detachable from the main cage so I can clean under it easier and so I can fit the cage through doorways when we move. I also read on one of the cube cage sites not to make the cages too big or too deep that you canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t get the rabbit out if there is an emergency. Thankfully I read that before I built what I originally planned!

I've only ever had outdoor rabbits (perfectly do-able in the mild SE of England) so can't offer any advice about keeping them indoors.

However I just want to emphasise that they are extremely skittish and easily terrified, they should always be approached in a soft gentle manner, and handled gently. A scared rabbit will fight and scrabble, and they have very sharp teeth and powerful back legs. However, if handled right, they can make great pets. One problem I remember from bringing them indoors to play is that they try to burrow in the carpet and the sofa, it is in their nature to try to dig!

I am pretty certain that neutering for rabbits didn't exist when I was a child, but I would say it is essential, having had one doe that became extremely aggressive and territorial upon reaching maturity (would actually run up and attack, biting and kicking and causing quite bad wounds), and who later died of cancer. I was going to say that males are less territorial and make better pets, but I daresay these days with neutering/spaying it doesn't make as much difference as long as you get them fixed at the appropriate age

that's awesome yorda, it made perfect sense. Thank you!

C & C cages are great. Check out exercise pens too. http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...rcise+pnes&N=2

You can put a litter box, toys, a hidey box food and water and also a stool or little bench for a bun to climb up on. We recomend (and use) these at my shelter.

That's awesome. I was thinking about letting the bunny have his pen in the living room while we are home so he can be with us and stuff.

We'll have to see. I'm still thinking but thinking about how it would all work if we did this.
I think i am going to do a c&c cage..seems like the best way to get a cage the way you want it.

Bunnies that have been handled from day 1 seem to do well with being held in my experience. We have a holland Lop and he LOVES being held and scratches on his hindquarter's He will sit really still and lean into the scratches and then start licking at...well..at nothing really! His little pink tongue just licks and licks.
He is the sweetest thing and he's never bit or scratched anyone. My kids love him and take most of the responsibility when it comes to feeding him and giving him treats. He eats a high quality food from the feed store and Timothy Hay and loves carrots and bananas. He also does well outdoors on a leash.
He has a litterbox with wood shavings in his cage and 'mostly' goes in it . A cage with a removable bottom or pull out tray works the best for deep cleaning. I just take the cage outside and hose it out when it get's grimey
Good luck finding your perfect bunny.

where do you buy timothy hay?