Keeping rabbits

gayleygoo

Hi all, our family is bringing home 2 little bunnies in the next few days, and I was hoping for helpful advice or tips from those that are experienced in keeping them!

We have an outdoor hutch (quite small, but saving towards a new one for when they are bigger), and OH has built a large run. Is there a pet-friendly varnish/paint/stain that could be used to treat the wood? I know the bunnies will chew on it, so don't want to use anything that will harm them.

What do you use for disinfecting/cleaning out the hutch?

What do you save from around the house for bunnies to nibble or play with?

Our bunnies have relatively short hair - will they need brushed daily, bathed at all, etc?

Can anyone give me an idea of how much vaccinations and neutering cost? I know I should probably just phone the vet and ask though, I imagine prices vary wildly.

What are your views on bunny insurance? The cost for our two would probably be £15-£20 per month, but I'm thinking if I just saved that up for when needed, it might be more effective than paying insurance that might not cover all costs or illnesses anyway.

I'm very excited, although I can see these little flufflings are going to be a lot of work! I would be grateful for any advice to make their stay with more comfortable and fun

ChasingButterflies

gayleygoo wrote: »

Hi all, our family is bringing home 2 little bunnies in the next few days, and I was hoping for helpful advice or tips from those that are experienced in keeping them!

We have an outdoor hutch (quite small, but saving towards a new one for when they are bigger) and OH has built a large run. Is there a pet-friendly varnish/paint/stain that could be used to treat the wood? I know the bunnies will chew on it, so don't want to use anything that will harm them.

How small is the current hutch and what type of rabbits are you thinking of getting? I bought this hutch http://www.bunnybasics.net/5ft-x-2ft-double-cottage-hutch-p-1397.html for two dwarf lops... It doesn't take long for them to get to full size so I really would wait until you have a big enough hutch before getting your pets.

What do you use for disinfecting/cleaning out the hutch?

This http://www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/Products/CA4403/johnsons-clean-n-safe?utm_source=google&utm_source=cpc&utm_campaign=ps_productTargets&CAWELAID=720017470000018836&gclid=CMe0qKa47L4CFW_LtAodvQ4AgQ

What do you save from around the house for bunnies to nibble or play with?

Have a look here http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/forum.php?

Our bunnies have relatively short hair - will they need brushed daily, bathed at all, etc?

You will find that with 2 they groom one another, sadly one of our 2 passed away at 18months and his sister needs extra help keeping herself spick and span. Brushed once a week and bottom washed as needed.

Can anyone give me an idea of how much vaccinations and neutering cost? I know I should probably just phone the vet and ask though, I imagine prices vary wildly.

As I recall our 1st vets bill was circa £240 for both to be neutered and injections. Be aware we got our rabbits from a breeder, she did say she thought they were both girls (although it is hard to tell!) and during their op's I had a phonecall to say one was a boy! Just as well they had non gender specific names!

What are your views on bunny insurance? The cost for our two would probably be £15-£20 per month, but I'm thinking if I just saved that up for when needed, it might be more effective than paying insurance that might not cover all costs or illnesses anyway.

We don't have bunny insurance and we have had bills for emergency visits to the vets, for us we still choose to "self insure"

I'm very excited, although I can see these little flufflings are going to be a lot of work! I would be grateful for any advice to make their stay with more comfortable and fun

I have 4 kids and I think they have collectivly cleaned the hutch once between them :rotfl: It takes around an hour for me to do but then it was me who wanted the rabbits in the first place

Please do not bring your rabbit home until you have suitable accomodation for their future size. Look round and I am sure you will find a breeder who you would be comfortable to take a rabbit home from. I know one based in Edinburgh if you want to travel that far

ETA sorry just saw that they are on their way to you... Does your hutch allow for them to be separated if they don't get on?

Also ours did everything together, if one needed to go to the vet they both did, something I read about not separating litter-mates

All the best.

gayleygoo

Thanks for your reply ChasingButterflies. Yes we'll be getting the rabbits soon, they are coming from MIL who bought a rabbit for herself and it gave birth a few weeks later! She hasn't room to keep them any longer, so the space we can provide for the minute is far more than they have now. We will get a bigger hutch in the next few weeks, I hadn't considered needing to separate them and this hutch only has one "room" behind the door, with a larger space with the wire over it. We only have it because it was given to us for free but I can see that they will need more space soon.

Had no idea it might be that much to get them neutered etc :eek: - it cost far less for cats, and I thought it would be similar in price. We can afford that though, for the sakes of their health. I'll check with our local vets.

And thank you for the link tot hat forum, it should prove very useful

ChasingButterflies

gayleygoo wrote: »

I hadn't considered needing to separate them

With litter mates they tend to be ok (in my limited experience!) but I think possibly more likely to be a problem if they don't know one another or hormones kick in...

Had no idea it might be that much to get them neutered etc :eek: - it cost far less for cats, and I thought it would be similar in price. We can afford that though, for the sakes of their health. I'll check with our local vets.

tbh I didn't really check if that was the going rate but our vet was one of the few that has staff experienced with buns so I went with them... also Fudge needed extra follow up appts after his op so that could have been included in the cost above.

And thank you for the link tot hat forum, it should prove very useful

I have spent days of my life on that forum there are some very cool bunny homes out there

Don't forget to post a pic up so we can all "aww" over baby buns!