We've been turned down as adopters of rabbits (but not of children!)

[Somerville]

Apparently, we don't meet the criteria for suitable adopters from our local bunny rescue.
I don't know whether I'm more annoyed or amused!

DH is definitely annoyed... he wanted to do the right thing and get a suitable pair who need a new home, rather than exacerbating, in a small way, the trade for baby bunnies.

I've barely talked him down from sending a very arsey email attaching all the approvals we gained for him to adopt my older children recently.

TilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllThen – That was exactly my take on it.

Really though, I'm just posting as an excuse for another picture.

lyn why is my boot room funny? As another poster pointed out, we live rurally and that's what it's called...although it's also called the rabbit room too!

Just thinking OP - could it be the size of the hutch you have bought? An absolute minimum for two small buns would be 6 by 2 by 2 by 2 with outdoor run available/attached. Caged rabbits must be able to stand fully upright and hop about - most hutches do not offer anything like the space they need. If they are to live outside then giving them a shed (and adapting it a little) is a great idea and can actually be cheaper than a proper sized hutch.

could you and your family move into the hutch and let the rabbits have the house?

Somerville any updates? did you go to a different rescue in the end? you could try guinea pigs, they amazing. i reocmmend them. i have kept them nearly my whole life and more afffectionate, intelligent, cuddly pets you could not wish for

Bunny rescuers are notoriously bonkers the world over.

I like to rabbit on about how I prefer to eat them than keep them as pets....I don't think I have ingratiated myself in the bunny community.

@Somerville have you tried looking at private rescues on facebook? These two monsters came from a lady that rescues bunnies from awful homes/abandonments but not like blue cross/ pets at home with ridiculous adoption rules. Where abouts are you i can try and find a rescue if you would like?

Yes, we heard from them. Very funny email because it opened with an individual paragraph explaining why they thought we were unsuitable, and then another that I think was cut-pasted saying that if we are prepared to “make the necessary changes to resolve the problem” then please let them know and they’ll then reassess us immediately. Only the ‘problem’ was our baby... so it looked like they were telling us to give him up 😂

For cuddly-pet experts, have you heard of keeping a rabbit and guinea pig together when already bonded? Via a circuitous route we’ve been offered a rabbit and guinea pig rescue who need to be kept together? Does this sound right? (Don’t worry, we’re also checking with a family member who’s a vet - they’re on holiday so might take a few days though.) Apparently we’d need to make some alterations to the RabbitMansion so we can feed them separately etc... but that would be fine.

Lol I want to see the email!

It's not usually recommended to start keeping together as rabbits can kick and injure guinea pigs, and the animals would generally be better with company of their own species. But they are already bonded and a rescue is providing them together so maybe consider it?

That wasn't very fair for the first rescue to take you through the application process knowing you had a baby, and then say no because of the baby!

Rabbits and guineapigs advised not to live together anymore as thry get bullied by the rabbits, strange you've been asked to keep both but maybe they are especially bonded?

Sorry xpost. Such a slow typer.

They’re not via a rescue, Penny, but through a hospice-charity (who try to rehome pets without them going to rescues for peace of mind for the patient/their family who can’t meet their needs any more). The info we’ve got is that rabbit and piggie been together their whole lives and been assessed as happiest staying together.
DH a bit dubious about whether this charity knows their stuff, and wants more advice first and to see the animals.

speakingwoman I was tempted but a bit unfair on the rescue.

I was rejected by Cats Protection League because... there were a lot of cats in my road and she would get bullied as the newcomer. I kid you not.

This is very familiar. When I had two rabbits I once had them "kenelled" from their life of luxury whilst I went on holiday with the local Rabbit and Ginea pig "rescuers". It was more than the local cattery were going to charge but I thought they'd be happier. They refused to give back my bunnies for a few days after the holiday. Then tried all sorts of reasons why I was not good enough to home my bunnies, who had our whole garden given over to their safety and play. Mainly because I had a job and the intention of one day having children.
A friend was turned down to take bunnies too. Crackers. Particularly when the rabbits in their "sanctuary" had fairly restricted access to grazing space as a result of the very high numbers they had.

Yeah I’d second (or third) not keeping them together but as with any creatures, you can have the most unlikely of bonds.

Even if they are happy together at this stage, I personally would try them with a friend of their own species and I’d guess that they’d be much happier that way.

I had one bun and 2 g-pigs come to me that were kept in a small hutch together. Their keeper claimed they were ‘best friends’ because they slept together (they had no choice) but the rabbit had many wounds and was blind in one eye from g-pig attacks. The pigs weren’t particularly aggressive, just sharing a small space with a rabbit that ate twice as much as them and so they would become defensive at meal times and lash out.

I separated them and got the bunny back to health before introducing him to a mate. They still shared a garden with the pigs but never unsupervised and were kept separately in every other way.

Their diets should also be a consideration. Pigs need food that’s high in vitamins, like peppers, oranges, spinach - all of which would be no good for a rabbit. Rabbits prefer their stodgy greens which are too rich to be given to a pig every meal time.

As your DH will know, rabbits groom each other, cuddle together, communicate, play together, binky together, share meals, etc and so do pigs (except they ‘popcorn’ instead of binks). Once you’ve seen a pair adore each other’s company, you wouldn’t keep a solo (or one of each).

We were turned down to adopt a cat because we both work! Both enhanced DBS cleared and I hold the highest national level of security clearance, nope not suitable to parent a cat...