Bunny Help

[Oishiichan]

No I want real bunnies not plot bunnies.

My family and I are visiting Serenanna for Easter and we want to bring her a pet bunny as an Easter gift. She has always wanted a pet and has the biggest bunny fetish I have ever seen, not only that bunnies come in small breeds weighing in at 2 to 6lb's which is important due to the handicaps Serennana has we want her to be able to play with it. Now I live in fort Belvoir V.A. and am having a difficult time finding a small Holland, or Netherland any suggestions?

[Mourningstar]

Even at the risk of sounding incredibly uptight, the first step is to make sure that she can actually keep it and care for it properly. After all, a rabbit isn't exactly an animal one can play with, and they require a proper diet, lots of space in which they can run free and regular care for their nails. Not to mention that rabbits are herd animals and should be kept in pairs, ideally two females from the same litter or a female and a sterilized male.

I have no clue about any breeders in your area, but as far as breeds go, I can suggest a Holland lop or Mini lop, or another small lop eared breed, as they tend to have very sweet natures and are very relaxed in temper. Lionhead is another good choice, but they tend to be a bit livelier than lops(I'm not sure how popular/available they are among the regular folks, since I only know of show breeders).

I can't really recommend Polish or Netherland dwarves, unless you're very familiar with the breeder and the quality of their animals, since those two breeds can be extremely temperamental, especially the females who tend to be downright aggressive with their territorial instinct.

A mixed breed might be another good bet, since those are certainly available, but that does leave open the question of its backround (possible health issues?) and nature.

But I wish you luck with your quest. I've had rabbits for the last 15 years and I know what great pets they can be.

[Oishiichan]

My grandparents raised rabbits for eating, so did my step dad for 10 years. We also had a pet Rabbit that lived in the house with the cat and would literally box the cat to death with its back legs if it attempted to use her litter box. All of which is moot considering the pet is not for me but for Serenanna who's father also use to raise rabbits for a different reason. She does have adequate space and I am already lining up facilities for it inside the house. We are not looking for an outdoor bunny but an indoor bunny, a small one which can be litter box trained and is cuddly and friendly.

We are looking for a therapy pet for someone who has limited gross motor skills, and wont become a burden to the rest of the family in the house. So breed isn't as important as temperament and size.

Not all rabbits like other rabbits I have actually seen some rabbits become extremely aggressive around other to the point of killing them. This is how we gained our indoor pet rabbit.

[Guest Serenanna]

O.O . . . I'm getting a bunny!!!!

::faints::

. . .

. . .

. . .

Ok, in all seriousness, I did know about this. This actually came up because an offer to get a dog fell through, and Oishii knows how much I've always wanted a pet, especially after being a lap to warm for her Mrs. Kitty when we visited. Honestly, at this point I'd settle for even a gerbil for a pet, but like Oishii-chan said . . . I got a thing for bunnies.

I already cleared it with the family who gave their consent to help me care for it, including my hard-to-please mother who generally doesn't like pets that are big and a handful. The house we live in is not small, my room especially, just cluttered (we're working on it), but we have a big yard that's more clover than grass. As Oishii said, my dad raised a pair of New Zealand Whites and actually bred them in two litters as a boy back in the early 60's. If he's saying yes, that I can handle a small bunny, then I'm trusting his judgment in agreeing in the first place.

And I'm not that disabled, I just can't handle anything bigger than a few pounds because of my lack of strenght.

But still . . .

. . .

. . .

I'm getting a bunny! ::faints again::

Sere

PS. To confess, I didn't know Hiei, Oishii, and the boys were even coming up for Easter till this post. ;;;;;;

[Mourningstar]

That's good to hear. I used to work in a pet store and now every time I hear about someone getting a pet for present, I get red mist in my eyes and my hackles spring up.

I'd still say that a small lop or a mix with small lop would be a good choice. They tend to weigh from 2-5 lbs, and are generally speaking the friendliest and calmest breeds. Sure, all rabbits individuals, but the ones I've owned and seen have all been great. To use an extreme example, the rescue bunny I own, a Holland lop, was a darling during a trip to the vet which included shortening his teeth and a thermometer up the back passage and he never once complained while he was on my lap on his back. I know I wouldn't have that kind of patience.

They also come in a wide variety of colours.

Have you tried looking up pet forums? They tend to have threads for selling/buying animals.

[Oishiichan]

I have been looking on pet finder. The problem I am having is that local breeders currently do not have any of the smaller breeds available, so I am trying a rabbit rescue to see if they have any. Lord only knows how many people get a pet thinking it is cute and realize they do not have the time or money to care for them.

If I can find a compatible pair for my kids I would love to get one each for my boys to teach them responsibility and give my youngest who is allergic to dogs a pet of his own to play with and care for.

[Guest Gaara]

I've been raising rabbits since I was eight. Never choose a Netherland Dwarf as a first rabbit! I swear to God the Devil himself created that particular breed. Definately not a family rabbit. A lop is all good and well, hell, that was my first breed (two English lops actually). And while rabbits may be 'herd' animals by nature they do fine by themselves. Yeah, a Holland Lop would make a good first rabbit, but if you don't care for lops you can always get a dutch or some other breed. Mixed breeds are all right as well as long as you know what breeds it is. Which considering its a rabbit should be pretty easy to evaluate. One thing I definately know is rabbits.

[Guest Serenanna]

On Sunday, Oishii brought the rabbits home, including mine! His name is Buddy, and he's a lop. We picked him because he's not an active bunny (more like a lazy bunny), is pretty casual, and loves being petted, alot. According to Oishii so far, he's absolutely adorable. So far he likes munching on just about everything and digging along with playing a variation of fetch where it's really you doing the fetching. He looks a bit pudgy, but weighs about six and a half pounds while most of it is his fur, which is thick, like an inch thick. Likes bananas the most, and gets them all over when eating, but seems like he'll eat anything. He even ate part of an orange bell pepper.

Anyway, here's a pic, the most adorable one of Buddy and Oishii's Miss Kitty. ^o^

More pics are at my photobucket, password is inabox:

Bunny!

Sere

[Oishiichan]

Buddy is fun, he loves to explore, but he loves to just sun bath too. He weighs 6.8 lb's which should be fine for Sarah, and loves to sit in your lap and watch T.V.

The bunnies for my kids are Rex and Robin they are Rex's. Robin is our gymnast she loves to do turning flips and spinning mid air jumps before dashing under a bed and running out the other side. Rex just slowly hops about and tries to hump everything he sees including your leg.

Robin hates her picture taken so I don't have any really good shots of her, she is really stubborn as soon as she sees the camera she bolts or hides. Probably had to many flashes in her poor wittle bunny eyes. But I have some nice shots of Rex, he was named Ghiradelli after dark chocolate before we got him, but his nick name was Pocket Rex because he likes to be placed inside pockets and carried around. What a lazy bunny! Anyway we are sticking with Rex for our sanity and because my kids cannot pronounce the name the Bunny shelter gave him.

[Guest Acita]

Congrats on your new rabbits! All I have is a parable and a few words of advice.

My own adoption of Babs was a mistake. I had only gone to the pet store to look, but upon arrival a woman, unable to take her rabbit to her new home out of the US, asked if the pet store would take her. They said they could not, so naturally, I did.

I can't tell a particular breed - she's large, floppy ears with white and varying shades of brown patches. I haven't made much of an effort to look up the name of her breed.

All I can say is that the illusion of cuteness wore off fast. They can kick like devils - I've been impaled several times. Most rabbits prefer to not be picked up, though mine will sit on the couch with me or in my lap. She has also accidently drawn blood with her teeth. The victim, my sister, required stitches.

Kitty litter is not a good substitute for bedding. One would think this to be common sense, but I would just like to accentuate this. DO NOT USE PINE OR CEDAR CHIPS. I have lost pets this way. These kinds of wood contain properties that can kill rabbits and hamsters. Go ahead and spend a few extra cents to buy Aspen chips.

Compared to my parakeets and hamster (and frankly, my Mastiffs, too) the rabbit is very high maintenence. Litter has to be changed frequently - every day, two at the most. If it gets too bad the rabbit will find other places to pee. In my case, the couch. Bad Babs. I was fortunate that mine was already potty trained, but if you're getting a new or young rabbit ask the handler if they have been/ how to train them. Once poop gets out of the cage you're going to have a trial of a time getting it back in.

Second, they chew. I've lost a space heater, telephone, and lap top cords and even patches of carpet to her teeth. She ate through my MP3 charger. After the space heater shocked her mouth she has toned it down, but electrical tape and hiding wires is a good idea. Encourage them to chew wood - getting special blocks that are colored are a good idea. Safe dye put into a chewing block will be easy for the rabbit to identify - "Okay, I can gnaw on this because it's orange, but not the couch because that's not orange."

Third, do not feed your rabbit iceberg lettuce. It's not good for them, but Romaine is okay. Bunny will need fresh veggies occassionally, but not too much. An inbalance of nutrients can cause problems. Buy Timothy hay or let your rabbit eat grass to maintane the digestive system. I really recommend that kibble be kept to a minimum - I give Babs maybe a cup of it three days a week. Her feces gets really hard if there's too much and hard to pass.

Just a few heads-ups from somebody who's been there recently.

[Mourningstar]

I thought that a free access to hay and fresh water was obvious? As well as the very high water content in salads/lettuce and cucumber, which causes diarrhea, and the lovely gas-building properties of cabbage. Banana is a very favoured treat among my rabbits. They'd probably do my tax reports if bribed with it.

The worst that too much high quality dry food causes is your bunny slowly but surely turning spherical and females develop a fat pouch under their chin. (You should've seen my lionhead after my mom took care of my animals while I was travelling, she'd gained over a pound extra!) Genesis is a very good, Canadian made brand of pellets. Seed mixes are terrible, because they always contain high amounts of fat (this might cause the organs to fatten), not to mention that they often contain rather dubious ingredients (like one particular brand with powdered oyster shell. wtf?). Of course, some rabbits are perfectly fine without kibble, too, but then they need hay even more than the average bunny.

Wow, Babs really sounds like a handful. Of course, she might be one of those proud, independent woman -individuals, but all of my rabbits have been great to handle. They turn on their backs without a fuss and clipping the nails in a quick job.

The only thing I've ever lost to their chewing desires was a tv cable. Mind you, the tv was brand new.

[Oishiichan]

Oh they have had Timothy Hay from the get go, we gave each bunny 1/8th of a cup of the timothy hay pellets and they wont touch the things don't seem to like them and prefer the grass or fruit & veggies, and we use Carefresh litter. Kittie's cat box is not accessible to them and wont be ever. The boys change the litter box's every night before bed. We already knew what to feed them due to myself having raised them with my step father and Sarah's father knows because he raised his own as well. The bunnies have gone through half of a 48 oz bag of hay in 3 days, so they get plenty to eat. They have water bottles and bowls it is their choice on which they use, we will see which they frequent most and ditch the other. All three bunnies are over three years old. All of them weigh 7lb's or less. Buddy is the only one who likes being picked up and treated like a stuffed animal. If you don't pick him up he bites your feet.

Robin and Rex are not cuddly, they are playful and funny, and like to get drive by pettings before they run off to more jumps, leaps, and spinning twists in the air, then dash under one piece of furniture or another. Rex if he thinks Robin isn't looking will crawl on your lap for a cuddle until she comes looking for him and scolds him for not playing with her. They love to wonder around my kids rooms while they read or play with their toys, and think the kids toys are just as much theirs as they are the humans. We find this very cute, Mrs. Kittie demands far more attention then they do. As for electrical cords any cords in their reach have been covered in the tubing used for the air bubblers in fish tanks. It protects the cords and gives the bunny something to chew on, only problem with them is you have to check them frequently to make sure bunny hasn't chewed through the rubber tubing and gotten to the wire.

[Nanaea]

not to mention that they often contain rather dubious ingredients (like one particular brand with powdered oyster shell. wtf?).

It was probably added as a source of calcium.

[Mourningstar]

So they say, but it's a bit like feeding a lion raw brussel sprouts for vitamin c. Not anywhere near their natural diet and unnecessary.

Damn, I really wouldn't want to be the hapless sod who'd have to feed that big cat.

[Oishiichan]

Our bunnies are all settled in and spoiled beyond reason. Serenanna got her bunny Easter Sunday and has fallen hopelessly in love with him. I finaly got some pictures of Robin, she let me take them while she was climbing on my son and getting brushed, It is about the only time she sits still for anything is when she sheds and we comb her.

Rex is of course the ham here. He loves attention and doesn't care what kind it is unless it is from the cat, of all the rabbits he is the only one who doesn't like our Kittie

Of course both bunnies love climbing on velvety couch, it is their favorite jungle gym.

Then of course she lets my son tote her around as if she was a baby ready to burped too, it is funny to watch this because if anyone else tried this she would scratch wiggle and bites he does it and she placid and amiable, she will even turn her head to nuzzle his neck.

I think my favorite thing to watch is when the little cuties climb on the couch and Hiei plops his feet up kitty corner at the L section, they see his feet and immediately go for them, tickling them with their noses and head butting them.