are rabbits really such hard work ?

[cheeryface]

i have been told they are! how so ??
was thinking of getting one.
already have guinea pigs but the rabbit would have a seperate hutch and freedom to roam the yard during the day.

any advice please??

If you are already used to guinea pigs the care of a rabbit won't be that much different, they still need clean beds/hay/fresh water etc. In hot weather you have to be much more careful that the hutch is clean because flystrike can kill within a couple of days and it's not pleasant.
I would say the main difference is that you have to be very vigilant regarding possible escape routes as they can burrow/jump/chew their way through things and are inquisitive so will find any weak spots in your defenses. They will also dig up or chew down your plants as well as other helpful little tricks (we had one that would lurk quietly under a sunlounger nibbling gently at the rubber fastenings across the bottom. You wouldn't even know she was there until you fell through the lounger!). I'm not trying to put you off, honest! That same rabbit would come when she was called and play fetch with a foam ball. I missed her terribly when she went.

no, i don't think they're hard work at all! not in the same league as a dog or cat or something anyway.

mine was lovely, although he did burrow underneath the fence and into next door's garden once. luckily he just sat in the middle of the lawn til I came and got him though.

oh, they like company though, so it's best to get 2 at the same time, pref from the same litter

thanx

they are social animals and need company - so you'd need 2. If one dies you need to bond the other, which means 2 hutches for a time and can be very hard work. Unless you litter train them their hutch will need cleaning often as they urinate a lot.

Be careful with free range rabbits - foxes are clever.

They are often treated terribly so if you can provide a good home please get rescue rabbits.

what about cats? are they a threat to rabbits ?

"what about cats? are they a threat to rabbits ?"

[hollow laugh]

You could say that. To a cat, rabbit is like a fine delicacy. Caviar, or fillet steak, or a good bottle of wine. You get stories of people whose cats and rabbits live in harmony, but I wouldn't bank on them being too friendly!

We have two bunnies - they aren't hard work at all. Tatt is right that they like company and it's good to get them from the same litter. We have 2 sisters and they get on well. They are quite domesticated creatures and if you put a litter tray in the part of the hutch they poo in they are pretty easy to clean out.

It's wise to think about your garden. We let ours run free all around the (small)garden and on the lawn in the spring and summer when we are outside in the garden as we find they don't start digging up the lawn then. When we used to put the run on the lawn they would get bored and try and dig their way out. In the autumn and winter when we don't spend as much time in the garden we tend to put the run on the patio and sometimes let them run around in the kitchen. They are lovely pets and have been great in teaching our DS respect and responsibility.

Our rabbit was far harder work than our cats. Lovely, but high maintenance. In the end we couldn't cope with his needs and he's gone to a foster home where he's happier, as he can be free range there and gets a lot of spoiling.

we have guinea pigs - easy, hamsters - very easy, and cats - easy. The rabbit was hard work. I wouldn't get one again.

we have a rabbit (a German Lop) but he is a house rabbit.

One of my cats ignores him totally and the other is scared of him!

His hair gets everywhere and in summer when he goes in the garden, there are clumps of rabbit fur everywhere.

The neighbouring cats sit looking at him whilst licking their lips so you do need to watch cats around rabbits.

yes, I forgot about the fur! One of ours shed fur everywhere as he hated to be brushed.

Cats are fascinated by rabbits. We had an enclosed run and the cat would lie on top of it. Our own cat didn't seem to bother them but other cats would scare them. Before we got the rabbits I was told it was the cats who had to watch out as the rabits would try and mate with them! I guess it depends how big your rabbits are compared to the cats. We felt ours were safer in an enclosed run, an urban fox still managed to get one of them.

Rabbits are definitely a lot more work than cats and its much harder to get them well looked after when you are away. We've never had guinea pigs so I don't know how that compares but I suspect the volume of beding you need to clear is much greater.

You can get very attached to rabbits though and their droppings are an excellent compost accelerator.