Please can you talk to me about rabbits (novice asking questions??)

[Italiangreyhound]

Hi all

I am a bunny novice but my dd has seen some Lionhead rabbits and she would like two! Our lovely cat was killed this week and we will not get a new pet until next month but dd (10) is keen to have a different pet! Although I would love another cat or kitten, I am worried because our darling cat was killed on the road right by our house and having a new different pet may be better. I am sure we will have a cat another day so here are some questions, please..... my top 5!

1. Please could you tell me, aside from Lionhead's, what are the smaller breeds, please? I really have tried Googling but finding anything that compares bunnies is hard to find! I am also very keen on a traditional English rabbit pair as I feel the long hair of the Lionheads may be quite hard to care for!
   
   
2. If we get rabbits are they compatible with a cat? Does it matter if they are small (would like a small breed)?
   
   
3. As they are happier in pairs does it matter if it is two girls (sisters) or a neutered boy/girl mix (again, maybe siblings)? I have been told two boys is not such a good idea as even neutered they fight. What is better, a boy girl mix or two girls? And what happens when one dies, does they other live on alone or do you need to get another?
   
   
4. We would like the rabbit cage to be housed in our utility area, if we do go ahead. It is a brick built space but not heated. There is little room in the house for a suitable cage and I am not keen on having them in the garden. I want them to be really part of the family and not in the garden all the time but an actual house rabbit is not really on the cards. I would worry about nibbled wires and my four year old son falling over it by accident! Would the rabbit cage need moving whenever we use the washing machine, which is also in the utility (I mean would the noise bother them)?
   
   
5. What are your top tips on choosing and caring for rabbits, please?
   
   Thank you, so grateful. We are not decided on a pair of rabbits yet, just info gathering!
   
   www.rabbitmatters.com/lionhead-rabbit.html

[SnipSnapCrashCrack]

This will be long...

1. I have had an old English spot (large rabbit), Belgium dwarf and a lionhead rabbit. All have had different personalities but personally I found the old English to be the most affectionate. I picked up the old English spot and the Belgium dwarf from a farmer at the same time, he had a van load so I picked the 2 that tried to jump in to the carrier first (I think the rest were heading off somewhere unthinkable...) this was quite a few years ago but I was young and had no idea about breeders or pet shops etc...
   Those two rabbits were inseparable but the old English had awful ear infections which cost £60 per visit and then went in for dental treatment as she was loosing weight very fast and she was put to sleep as she had severe malocclusion where the teeth grow backwards. I was 11 at the time and my parents couldn't keep paying out for a rabbit.
   The Belgium dwarf was lovely and easy to pick up but wasn't too interested in human company. I went to get her a friend a few weeks later to cheer her up and did everything by the book. Carried them on the journey home together in a carrier, bathed them both, made sure they smelled the same and introduced them on neutral ground. My parents even got a new cage for them, all went well until I put them together, I have never seen fur fly so much which even after repeat introductions meant we had to keep them seperate. The lionhead rabbit was gorgeous but at 13 I did start to get fed up of cleaning out the cages and during gcse's I had to be forced in to going out to clean them (take this in to consideration)
   Both rabbits lived till about 5 years old.
   
   
2. I have a lovely picture of my cat In the cage with the rabbits so it completely depends on your cat and the rabbits. Mine were perfectly happy to kick the cat if he got too playful.
   
   
3. They are generally happier in pairs (female and female or neutered male and female) but there is the odd case where one rabbit does not want to live with another as we found out. No matter what we did the lionhead would go for the Belgium dwarf and fur would fly so we kept them in separate hutches.
   
   
4. They will be fine as long as they have hay and straw to stay warm although I always kept the rabbits outside which at between the ages of 11-16 was hard to keep up. I would never have left them but I was always too busy to want to clean them out or go out and feed them when I had homework to do so keeping them inside would in theory be better.
   You can litter train them but if they will not be out most of the time (which means you will have to rabbit proof the house) then you will need a large cage, the cages in pets at home classed as indoor hutches are nowhere near big enough. Think of them as a glorified litter tray but not as a home as many people seem to think they are If the rabbit will be in one of those cages then a few hours running around the house no matter how busy you are is the only way you will keep a bunny happy.
   
   
5. I would go to a breeder that handles the babies from an early age. The rabbits I took on were brought up in their hundreds on a farm and were not tame when I got them. It took weeks of hours of indoor play for them to turn in to lovely cuddly rabbits but I wouldn't want to do it again.
   
   Bare in mind that at 10 the rabbit may become yours in the end but if you do not have the space for a large cage I would look in to something slightly different such as rats where the cages are taller or keep the rabbits outdoors in a very large wooden hutch with a run. My guinea pigs were kept indoors and mainly free ranged but they smelt horrible as they got older no matter how often they were cleaned, I miss them

[SnipSnapCrashCrack]

Here's the cat with the rabbits :) they used to snuggle on the sofa

[Italiangreyhound]

Thank you SnipSnapCrashCrack that is very helpful.