Talk to me about rabbits please

[Dancergirl]

Saw an article about lop-eared rabbits in the paper at the weekend and the dds and I have fallen in love!

There is a breeder not too far from us and the plan is to wait till the spring and get 2 rabbits.

We are complete pet virgins....so what do I need to know?

Eg
-best place to buy a hutch/run and what sort?
-feeding them - how often and what to feed?
-cleaning out - how often?

Anything else I need to know? Thanks.

ours was a dutch rabbid

My bunnies are currently snuggled up in the kitchen. They were both rescue bunnies. They are lovely, love being stroked and safe with the dcs. I do have a lovely memory of ds aged about 18 months climbing in with them and the doe frantically pulling at his shirt trying to get him out.
I vote for rabbits.

see my previous one was a dutch marked, and he was LOVELY!
i guess like with anything a lot depends on the individual animal too

We've had an evil one, again a rescue,a dwarf lop who had lots of medical problems so associated being handled with treatment. She did get better with some tlc but loathed the cats so they had to run across the kitchen and if they dared sit on a chair they'd end up with a fluffy ball dangling off their tails by her teeth.

my rabbit is lovely, if you are a novice I would avoid rehoming this can be hard. The rabbits we rehomed had to go back as they were very frightened and difficult. I could not contain them at night with out them bucking, kicking, bitting and scratching.

I have a dwarf lop female who is very happy with contact but not cuddly, they dont like to be lifted often but can be trained to be hearded around.

she is currently out side and remains happy, but obviously recives less company. I was adviced by vet it is detrimental to bring into sleep at night due to the cold as if out in day it would thn freeze to death due to malting to match cenrtal heating.

My friend however has brought her rabbit indoors for duration of winter. I dont like the smell of they hay, clean hay by the way, so cant tollerate it.

There are legal requirements about hutch size no less than 3ft square I think or something like that.

do you have a pets paradise shop near you, they tend to give great advice and stock healthy bunnies.

you just need to go to a decent rehoming place.
i asked about a couple recently but was advised against taking them specifically because they disliked being handled- as i have small children

a good re-homing centre ought to be able to tell you if they have any rabbits that are suitable for your family, and shouldn't give any particularly nervous/angry rabbits to someone who isn't aware of how to deal with that.

I wholeheartedly disagree, tomhardy - the bonus of going to a re-homing centre (a good re-homing centre) is that the animals are all assessed and they're matched with the right home.

Go to a breeder and you don't know what you're getting.

I agree pastaplease I've had several re-homed rabbits and if you are going to get a pair they will match them for you and usually have a really good idea of their personalities. When we got our agressive little monster it was pretty obvious what she was like within minutes of getting her home but I couldn't take her back as she had been even worse at the RSPCA due to all the noise of the cats and dogs. The RSPCA knew I didn't have children at that point and that I had re-homed before so would cope.

We played taboo at the w/end. A friend's DD description of "rabbit" was "animal, doesn't do very much"