Anyone has a pet rabbit?

amother

Thu, Oct 23 2014, 8:35 pm

My DH just bought a pet rabbit - a brown, female rex doe. She's a real beauty, luscious and cute. At the moment she's still getting used to us, and the children to her, but she's very docile and easygoing.

Does anyone have any pets, specifically rabbits?

ElTam

Fri, Oct 24 2014, 10:54 am

We have a rabbit. Lots to know about them, but there are great resources on the Internet about what's safe to feed them, etc. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.

doublemama

Fri, Oct 24 2014, 11:28 am

Our 3 year old male lionhead is wonderful! He is snuggly, litter trained, hops around the living room in the evening. Rabbits are great pets!

ora_43

Thu, Apr 23 2015, 2:47 pm

Bumping this up because I'm also curious about rabbit ownership.

I hear that rabbits are smelly - is that true?

Do they make noise?

How terrible is it for a rabbit to be around noisy toddlers? Like, does it need its own quiet rabbit-space all the time, or some of the time, or do they learn to accept over-excited small humans as part of the local wildlife?

How much care do they need? One a scale where 1 is goldfish and 10 is untrained puppy.

I'm using google too of course, just would love to hear first-hand experiences from people I've "met" here, if anyone has experience to share.

ChossidMom

Thu, Apr 23 2015, 3:46 pm

We had a rabbit for a few months. I don't have toddlers. She loved being held and petted by my kids. They don't need much care. We let her run all over the house. She left alot of dry rabbit poop in different places. I felt bad putting her in the cage because I think it was too small. Make sure you get a big enough cage!

Sadie

Thu, Apr 23 2015, 4:12 pm

The main advice I can give about rabbits is not to get one with the intention of teaching kids responsibility- rabbits in that situation often end up neglected. Kids can get bored when the novelty wears off. The parents have to take responsibility for its care.
Make sure that the kids support the rabbit's legs when they hold it, and that they play gently. Rabbits can break their backs and legs if they are treated roughly.
They are social and will get lonely and depressed if they are ignored. But they also need their own space and a place to hide if they are overstimulated.
Good luck and enjoy! Try looking up some rabbit care videos on YouTube too, that can be very helpful.

Scrabble123

Thu, Apr 23 2015, 4:55 pm

I know someone with rabbits. They do not require very much care, but you have to be gentle with them. Hers do smell a little bit, even though their cage is changed twice weekly. They are sweet, friendly, and cute. You have to be careful about what you feed them because there is a lot of misinformation out there!

Amarante

Sun, Apr 26 2015, 3:25 pm

I had a rabbit as a pet for a child. The rabbit cage was in my bedroom and I don't remember it being particularly smelly. Rabbit poop looks like small pellets and is pretty hard so there isn't much to smell.

The rabbit was pretty destructive if not watched carefully as I had some books that were gnawed on.

My mother was a science teacher in elementary school and brought it home for the summer and I convinced her to let me keep it when school started again :-) That said, I don't remember bonding with it emotionally after the initial thrill of being allowed to have a furry pet.

When they brought home a DOG as a surprise for me, that was a whole other world. Such a great dog - it even won the heart of my Bubbe who lived downstairs and who didn't think she liked dogs. After about two weeks, the dog would spend every day with her as a companion. She even made him a special lunch :-)

silbergirl

Mon, May 04 2015, 1:51 pm

And they are social, they need a partner. Preferably a neutered male in the case of a girl rabbit. Two girls sometimes also get along. Dont get an intact male! Rabbits reproduce like crazy!!!!

And they need a big cage (better is something open on the top like a pen, it can be cheap, put waterproof plastic on the floor and then blankets and hay. They also enjoy a toilet (plastic box with shredded flax or something, NEVER clumpy cat litter!!!!) and at least one house in the pen.) or should be allowed to roam freely in a nibble proof room (no electric wires, no wood).

They can get pretty expensive when they get old as they tend to get problems with teeth and digestion. Always feed grain free rabbit food!

I never had rabbits but one of my friends is a big rabbit lover.