Rabbit advice please

dolally_2

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

If you dont feel the pet shop is a good place for them to be, then please dont buy from them. If everyone boycotted these places they would soon stop selling animals, by buying from them you encourage them to keep trading in animals.

Where abouts are you - someone may know of a local rabbit rescue?

I completely agree with this. There are plenty of baby rabbits in rescues too so if you are looking for babies I am sure you will find some. A lot of rescues do not have the funds for advertising but they do exist and there is bound to be one a lot closer than you may think. The folk over at rabbits united do bunny runs too so there are loads of options.

I think you will find that a doe who has phantom pregnancies has a more stressful time than a spayed doe and whilst not all does will suffer phantoms the ones that do need spaying.

Piggies and rabbits are very different and, IME, guinea pigs tend to live together in pairs or large groups quite happily. I have had a pair of female rabbits that were litter mates and got on well but be prepared for problems as they do happen.

Turtle

I agree with the majority of the advice here. If you can't afford the neutering (of BOTH) rabbits you can't afford the rabbits. I had to have my beloved house bunny Bob put to sleep two weeks ago, he was adored by both me and OH and we miss him such a lot. He had several trips to the vet in his 7 year life including neutering, tooth filing, GI statis and other things and all this did not come cheap. We were lucky to have a house sitter who loved him too when we went on holiday, so we didn't have to take him out of his environment or pay for boarding. There are lots of things to consider.

It's nice you want to give 2 buns a home and if you really want to get the rabbits then I guess you will anyway. If this is the case there's bound to be a rescue near you and it's highly likely the bunnies will already be neutered and vaccinated but please consider the bunnies might be back in the rescue if you can't afford to look after them properly. Please don't go to a pet shop, it just encourages further breeding. If home checks were done at pet shop stage, a lot less bunnies would end up in the rescues.

gerad_way

Thanks to everyone who replied to me although I think some people got the wrong idea.
Although I still think neutering is expensive if there was no other way around it, it would be done. I was thinking more on the lines of if I bought 2 bunnies and then 1 had to go to the vets I was worried about time spent away from each other for bonding etc.
As I have already said I currently own 2 Guinea pigs, 1 hamster and several fish, all have a lovely life with visits to the vets when required.My gp have free use of my garden all day.
I just think bunnies look so sad at Pets at home I could buy them all.
Anyway I went on rabbits united as advised and left a message asking if there were any rescue centres in south Cumbria, luckily someone replied to me straight away. Although the nearest is about 1.5 hours away, when the weather warms up I am going to give them a call to see if they have any bunnies needing a home.
So thanks for all your help, but I would consider not jumping to conclusions about every post , I was quite upset by some of your replies. If I couldn't afford correct care for my animals I wouldn't consider having them.;)

clutterydrawer

I admit i do sometimes jump to conclusions - but I see sooooo many people get a pet on impulse and then refuse to spend the necesssary time and money caring for it, that it makes me always expect the worst. *ashamed face* I'm glad that's not the case here People here don't know you though so could only go on what was in the initial post, and sometimes things don't convey well by being typed.

annnnyway I hope you enjoy your bunnies and I wouldn't worry about splitting them for vet trips - I have a bonded pair and I split them for 24 hrs every few months as one of them has to go to the vets to have her teeth burred down. they are always fine with each other afterwards and its as if they'd never been apart.

Although if my vet allowed it i would send them in together just so she had some company when she came out of the anaesthetic - but that's another issue

MoneySavingStudent_2

Hey everyone!

My bunnies are getting alot of fun out of easter egg boxes atm! one of my little bunnies likes to try get in one and look out the little hole in the side!

i bought one of them fabric tunnels and they seem to love that! im guna buy some more of them from ebay and add some cardboard boxes! there guna have great fun! xx

lindsaygalaxy

DD who is 4 (starts school in september) wants a rabbit. We have the space and it could go inside or out, but i am also expecting a baby soon and not sure on the upkeep (and cost) needed for them.

Advice really appreciated. Thank you

ellawood

mmm.... we had one and a pig when dd was 9 fine at first no problem but a year on and she was bored of them would not even feed them or play with them and I ended up having to do everthing with them pig died after 3 years and rabbit was on her own anyway dd was 17 when I found someone to take the rabbit on as I was finding it hard at the time I was pregant and really had had enough so if you are happy to do everthing then I would look into work out the cost and time we have other pets to think about the long term I do like them but I will not have any more

chazsucks

I think that might be slightly too young...
Children tend to get bored quickly and they need lot's of care... being played with every day, cleaned out every few days, you need to cut their nails if they don't run around on concrete a lot, they need a LOT of excercise too! They don't like being picked up too high, or moved around too fast, and even the friendliest rabbit will 'thump' do a big kick if they get scared or shocked or anything, which could make your child frightened.

Also if you're pregnant I wouldn't advise cleaning them out as you can get toxoplasmosis (think that's how you spell it) from their poo which can be passed on to your unborn baby. So do consider that when you decide, as someone will be needing to clean the bunny out every 2 or 3 days and it can't be you, and I don't think a 4 year old will do a thorough enough job

Just trying to help!

jackomdj

We have a couple of rabbits & DD loves helping me feed, water & clean them - however as she is 4 (like your DD) ultimately it is me that has responsibility for them. My younger daughter (2) loves looking at them in the cage, but does not like them running round the room!

We do like going on walks getting a bag of free food for them.

Sorry could not help with costs as we just buy the food in with our shopping. They get all the veg scraps when I am preparing dinner & I also pick up the reduced food in the supermarket for them.

Ours are quite messy & we end up with their bedding all over the patio! I don't remember any of the ones I had growing up being this bad!

We also have a dog & he gets on well with them when they are in the hutch, they do get nose to nose - he is a hunting breed so I have not risked having all 3 animals running round together!!!!

Francesanne

My sister works full time but has no kids. Her pets include 2 cats, 2 tropical fish tanks, 3 tortoises and 4 rabbits. Believe me the rabbits cause more work than the rest put together. She adores her rabbits but they are jolly hard work. Having 4 are obviously harder work than 1 but I would really think before making any decisions, especially with a baby on the way. They really do need special looking after and can't be just left in a cage with a couple of cabbage leaves.