To get a load of bunnies for the kids?

[JoanCollected]

Any rabbit owners who do it properly here who can advise me? I have finally agreed to get rabbits for my daughter and other kids. Mostly daughter (9) as she loves animals and has proven to be very responsible minding other pets and animals, as well as being organised and mature in general. I’ve tried googling and have a pretty good idea but it’s not the same as hints from real owners in the context of my own set up.

Ive an omlet run which I’ve bought a long tunnel and additional fox proof run off it for them to be in safely. They will be in a larger area that is chicken fenced and walled full of grass and trees. My chickens live there and I am planning to slowly introduce them to each other. (Anyone ever done this?).

Bunnies would be able to dig out of the area when let loose, but anyone know if I can get them to imprint enough on their big fenced area to at least go back or stay close when given freedom? We could only let them loose when supervised but ideally I like them to have as much freedom as possible while making sure they’re in their safe runs at night.

I think we’ve loads of space for 4 but is 2 better to make pets of? Would they be less friendly if they’ve more of their own buddies?

im planning on wood shavings in their hut as I’ve loads for my chickens. Is there anything easier for cleaning? Or better for bunnies?

I haven’t a good or water dish yet, any recommendations?

Anyone know if they are wise enough not to fall into a pond?

Thanks for any advice.

Oh and anyone know how much it typically costs to neuter both male and female? I don’t want to end up with a colony!

Rabbits aren't like guinea pigs and need a collosal amount of space. Think house and free range rabbits.
They're more like a cat or dog.
They won't fall into a pond, my free range one never did.

That doesn't sound like a particularly safe set up. Rabbits are also pretty hard to keep properly and generally don't like being handled.

Do not buy 4 rabbits. I can’t describe just how much work this would be! Keeping rabbits takes a lot of time and effort. I’ve had two (separately) and wouldn’t get any more, my dog is way easier to care for. We always brought our rabbits into the house at night, foxes are very clever!

If you are getting some get a bonded pair from a rescue. They're not the cute starter pet many people think they are.

To put it bluntly, rabbits are wonderful animals but they're shit pets.

They hate being handled and they need a huge amount of space. Is there a reason you've settled on rabbits rather than guinea pigs or rats?

Your daughter loves animals but is she really going to enjoy caring for rabbits that she's probably going to never be able to stroke or get close to?

My understanding was that rabbits are hard for children to handle.
Guinea pigs are generally much easier as I understand it.

I'm not a rabbit keeper myself.
Friend has 6 or 7. They live outdoors and generally in pairs/small groups. They have hutches that open to an outdoor run and when they're home they get let out into the garden to run around. Not quite sure if they're neutered but no baby buns so they're doing something.
Area is securely fenced and the buns haven't dug out.
They're really not novice pets. They need quite a lot of vet attention - vaccinations and tooth/nail care.
Theirs are friendly and will come for food, not sure how cuddly they are though.

I got my DD Guinea pigs as pets but she found them a bit scratchy and was a bit scared of them. So I got guinea pigs as pets! With hindsight - I should have got rats. But we also have cats and it seemed unfair to keep a rodent inside with predators.

I had 10 at one point. Wouldn’t recommend them as child friendly pets at all. Lovely animals but the commitment is like a dog or cat.

Remember they need vaccinations and specialist exotic veterinary care too.

I had a rabbit as a child and then got a pair of rescued siblings when my own DC were little. As someone who never wanted a dog, but now has one, I can see that dogs make a zillion times better pets than rabbits do. For one thing, it's in the house and refuses to be ignored. There's inevitably a self-sufficiency about rabbits, and my pair were tolerant of being handled at best. Even when outside and free to roam, they invariably sat in a corner and refused to move, definitely at odds with my dream of free range bunnies hopping about. We had the pair for almost ten years. I don't regret having them, but if I knew then what I know now, we should have got the dog that DH wanted.

Hard agree with this. Keeping rabbits bring me much joy but they are terrible pets for kids. I always say it’s like keeping tiny sheep. They are happiest when grazing in a grassy garden and have little human contact. My rabbits are friendly with me, that is they run up to me when I’m in the garden but they don’t like stroking or being held.

We had rabbits, not the best pets for my children as they kicked when we tried to pick them up.
One thing that helped was a litter tray in the corner of their hutch. Which they used all the time and made cleaning them easier.

Boy rabbit was about 60 - 80 to get neutered.

We had rabbits and they are really hard work. They produce a huge amount of poo daily, need far more space than people give them and they live a long time.
Ours lived to over 9 yr old.So they are quite a commitment.

Bear in mind that you will be doing most of the work and going by experience, the kids will lose interest very quickly once the novelty wears off and they will be your rabbits. If that’s what you want, thats all well and good.

They won’t fall into the pond but also they don’t like being handled much.
Free range with plenty of space in a fox proof area sounds the best option. The Omlet is too small for general living but ok as a sleeping area.

Over the years, we had hamsters, chickens, a couple of geese, Guinea pigs ( also high maintenance) and rats.

By far the easiest for kids to care for were the rats ! The rest all ended up being my pets which was fine as I had plenty of time to look after them and I enjoyed it.
The rats are very interactive and intelligent, able to learn tricks and like being handled. We found them to be like mini dogs and our kids loved them.

I will also echo that rabbits do not make good pets. They require so much in return for little interaction. We had a pair and I wouldn't have them again. They can be litter trained though as previous poster stated

Will stick with two, thanks for that! And I promise it’s not an unsafe set up, it’s an excellent hutch with run and tunnel to other run. Totally fox proof. It’s more the 30 x 15m grass area I’m wondering if they need to be monitored only or can be let free for a few hrs a day or not.

I had guinneapigs as a child and they were well loved and cared for, lived to about age 9. But I badly wanted a rabbit and was given a guinea pig so want to now get the rabbit I always wanted and it’s rabbits my DD has been begging for. My DD won’t get bored, she has done serious grunt work with chickens, ducks and lambs off her own steam setting alarms to go check them at crack of dawn and trudging out in the pitch dark and rain with no complaints to check doors are secure etc. she’s unusual. And I always keep a careful eye just in case she misses something.

I love my bunnies for all the reasons people are saying they're shit pets 😂

I like to care for them but have no interest in cuddling them or picking them up. The only time they get handled is for a thorough brushing and check over monthly.

They have full reign of the garden to the point they get mad when I hang the washing out 😂

I love my grumpy little fluff balls.

My only plea is to please speak to a rescue, they are drowning 😭

I got my daughter 4, 3 females and then we were given a male. All females fell out despite growing up together and wont tolerate each other now. They all have to have large paved outdoor runs. Only the male is nice about being handled, the females just tolerate being held if you're confident. My daughter doesnt ever look at them. Luckily i like them and am happy with an arms' length relationship but as a kiddies pet i'd go rat or guinea pig.

We had Dutch rabbits as pets when I was a child, and I had a couple in my 20s. They were really friendly, and much loved. (Dutch is a particularly friendly breed if handled well from the start.) I don’t think rabbits are as difficult to look after as PPs have said. But we had them in hutches high off the ground so the foxes couldn’t reach them. There was only one night when one bunny was left in their run on the grass overnight by accident. It was fox proof, but the fox took a huge bite out of the bunny through the wire 😢

With my own kids, we have guinea pigs indoors, and they are wonderful. Not quite as friendly as the Dutch rabbits, but brilliant pets with massive personalities. They are really interactive, always communicating with you and each other, and I would recommend as an indoor pet.

Can you afford the insurance, the vets fees when they get ill? Many rabbits need regular dentals as they grow older: can you afford that willingly? The annual vaccination? Do you even like rabbits? Are you prepared to house one or more separately if they don’t get on? They need a large amount of space. Are you ok about picking them up? Have you researched where you will get decent hay, preferably Timothy hay? Where will you board them when you go on holiday and can you afford that? What will you do if the children aren’t interested or lose interest? Try to re-home them? Rabbits are the third most neglected and dumped animal in the country . Please read everything on here https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk

My old neighbour had super friendly rabbits who would come up and nuzzle against you, slept inside the house in a cat basket! It might be breed specific, these were huge

Rabbits don't make good children pets. They prey animals so bite or kick if scared. You have to let them approach you on their terms. They need a lot of space too. I've a friend with two in a massive walkin aviary in the garden with lots of things for the rabbits to his, jump on etc. I have chickens and it's not recommended to keep them together.

I looked at rescues and most said they no long take small furries.

Interestingly our male is dutch and couldnt be nicer!