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RABBITS

29 replies

Bunni · 12/01/2005 12:46

anyone who has got a rabbit. Just wondered if mine will calm down really at the mo he has been thumping his feet at us also yesterday he jumped at me with his two front paws????? Does this mean he is not gonna every be the friendliest rabbit in the world or do i have to keep going and keep handling him and he will get better? He must be about 8/9 months now. any advice would be grateful......Thanx

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louloubelle · 12/01/2005 12:55

Oooh...another bunny lover! I have an 8 year old house rabbit. I always had outdoor bunnies when little, but he is my first indoor bunny, who has pretty much the run of the house when we are at home, and is in a huge hutch in the kitchen the rest of the time. I have come to accept that they do not like being picked up. Mine is very friendly on his terms, ie if you lie on the floor and stroke him he loves it, but they do not like heights, and therefore feel unsafe being picked up and held. They will tolerate it for a while, but will give you a gentle nip when your time is up. He follows us round like a puppy, and treats my husband like a partner, constantly circling him, and nibbling his elbows. Fantastic pet! Maybe try to get on his level a bit more? Physically, rather than mentally!!

Original poster
Bunni · 12/01/2005 13:13

well I did get him out last night and sat on the floor with him on my knees and brushed him he seemed fine then. then today got him out and sat on bed with him and brushed him but he went off, when i got near him again he thumped his feet at me again???????? makes me like that as he is nice really don't like them like that. we have gone and reserved another rabbit and picking it up on friday(only 7 weeks I think at the mo) and that one is female. So have to wait till she about 8 months to see if they will live together. (he did get is bit chopped off yesterday so he might calm down????)

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Original poster
Bunni · 12/01/2005 13:14

well I did get him out last night and sat on the floor with him on my knees and brushed him he seemed fine then. then today got him out and sat on bed with him and brushed him but he went off, when i got near him again he thumped his feet at me again???????? makes me like that as he is nice really don't like them like that. we have gone and reserved another rabbit and picking it up on friday(only 7 weeks I think at the mo) and that one is female. So have to wait till she about 8 months to see if they will live together. (he did get his bits chopped off yesterday so he might calm down????)

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Original poster
Bunni · 12/01/2005 13:14

oops thats come out twice????

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starlover · 12/01/2005 13:17

I have a rabbit too! Mine is 5 now... but we just moved to a flat so he has to stay at my parents house
He thumps a lot, but he still loves me, so I shouldn't worry too much.
As you have just had him neutered you might find that he calms down a bit. I had to have mine done because he kept pee-ing all over me!!!
Be careful with your new bunny, for the most part they won't live with another rabbit unless they are siblings or have been introduced at a really early age. You may have probs also as yours has already settled into "his" territory.

Original poster
Bunni · 12/01/2005 23:06

I gottold today by the lady at the shop that they will get on fine????? I'm all confused now? They all say that if you introduce a girl to a boy they normally are not too bad at getting on????? If you do it the other way round then that is a no-no? Everyone keeps saying different things great???? I am confused :$

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tatt · 02/02/2005 05:11

now that we've moved I promised the children a rabbit. But I don't know anything about them except that they need to be handled regulary. Picked up a price list for hutches (ouch!) and don't know if side loading or top loading is best?
Is it best to have male or female and how will they get on with a cat that chases everything that moves?

tatt · 02/02/2005 09:45

someone must have one.....

lou33 · 02/02/2005 09:47

dont have one now, but did for 6 years. We had a dwarf male, he was v placid and lovely, never bit UNTIL we got a female and then he got quite aggressive. We had a hutch that opened at the front. I would suggest looking in your local papers, because we found a man who made hutches which were a lot bigger for half the price.

vict17 · 02/02/2005 09:50

We had rabbits when I was younger and the males were by far the most friendly. I think a front opening hutch is easier to clean. If you line it with newspaper and then add sawdust and straw you can just roll the newspaper up with everything in it when you clean which makes it much easier. My dad built us a pen for it to go in the garden. Might help with the cat issue. Try the library for a book on buying a rabbit/hutch etc

tatt · 02/02/2005 09:52

the price list is from a "factory shop". Actually its a pretty small "factory" but still cheaper than the local pet shop prices. We did get a book but it wasn't very informative except on things like feeding and bedding.

Kelly1978 · 02/02/2005 09:55

I used to have a rabbit, and like most animals, males are more friendly. We actually had to take a female back as she was untamable - she hated men, and would bite any male.
I found frequent handling with treats such as dandilion leaves the best way to get them used to handling. Mine was adorable, used to get so excited to see us and jump up the wire. He loved being stroked on top of the head too. We also had two cats and a dog. The dog had to be kept away, but we never had any probs with the cats, my rabbit would chase them round the garden.

babster · 02/02/2005 09:56

Hi Bunni, I had a male rabbit and once he'd been 'done' he was very placid (stopped scratching and spraying us with wee - yuk!). Hopefully once your rabbit's hormones sort themselves out he'll be fine. The House Rabbit Society (www.rabbit.org) has a great website with atricles on health, behaviour, socialization etc... a bit like Mumsnet for bunnies!

Megali · 02/02/2005 09:57

We have 2 males who we got from a shelter. We introduced them to each other when one was about 4 mths and the other about 4 weeks - with advice from the shelter.

They live in a pen outside which is big enough for my dds to crawl into. There is a tunnel so they (the rabbits!) can crawl into a box in our shed so they are cosy at night!

They tolerate being lifted by my dds - but don't seem to enjoy it much. Great pets!

lou33 · 02/02/2005 09:58

pen is a v good idea, we had one. You can just move it about and they eat the grass for you

NotQuiteCockney · 02/02/2005 09:59

We used to have a rabbit and cats. One of the rabbits was a large male (French lop), and neutering wasn't available to us. Unneutered male rabbits are very ... open-minded shall we say ... about what will do as a female rabbit. He was often affectionate with the male cats. The male cats did not like that much.

So I'd get a neutered male rabbit, or a female. And maybe go for a larger rabbit, so it's safe from your cat?

Kelly1978 · 02/02/2005 10:02

lol @ NQC. Mine was unneutered too, he would get affectionate with the gunea pigs. Poor things would be terrified!!

NotQuiteCockney · 02/02/2005 10:04

Ours was crafty. He used to trap a cat between an open door and a wall, if you see what I mean, so they couldn't get out. The cats made some unhappy noises, and would scratch the rabbit later. It was funny, but also more than a bit gross.

tatt · 02/02/2005 13:20

well the cat's female and can be quite timid so I think perhaps I can stop worrying about the rabbit and worry about the cat instead! The kids want a dwarf rabbit but the books said they were more likely to get ill? Sounds like a larger neutered male......

There is somewehre we can buy a rabbit but does anyone know if the RSPCA would be likely to have young animals needing rehoming? Also why do runs need a floor - is that to stop the rabit digging its way out?

starlover · 02/02/2005 13:30

Tatt... the bigger the rabbit the more docile they tend to be... we had a dwarf rabbit and he was SO sacred of everything, and hated being picked up... I would go for a larger breed if I were you.

We made the hutch for the rabbit I have now... MUCH cheaper than the overpriced ones from petshops.
Sid has a front opening hutch, with a bedroom compartment. It's in a HUUUUUUGE run in our garden and we leave the door open so he can hop in and out.
He doesn't have a floor on his run, and he has only dug out once! (have had him for 6 years)

sid's place!

starlover · 02/02/2005 13:31

obviously he WASN'T sacred of everything... just scared! LOL

tatt · 02/02/2005 14:01

wow - that's an amazing run. I was thinking more of the type that come with a hutch. Dh is busy fixing a leaxing toilet - if I ask him to do a hutch too I think I'd be on the wrong end of the hammer

starlover · 02/02/2005 14:04

yes... my rabbit is actually very spoiled LOL...
it is also a result of us being so lazy that my dad has made it so that we can just pull the net aside and climb in!
So I think it's more for our benefit than his... we keep moving him round the garden and it tends to get a bit bigger each time!

starlover · 02/02/2005 14:06

ooh one other point though, aside from stopping your rabbit digging out, a floor will stop anything from getting in...

we found 2 rats in sid's run the other day!!

BUT... beware of wire flooring because they can hurt their feet on it, so if it's on a hard surface make sure you cover it, or sprinkle sawdust inside or something... should be ok on grass I would imagine

tatt · 02/02/2005 14:09

Ok lare male it is. Off to help with the toilet....