rabbit advice please!

[lozza1985]

hi me and my husband are looking on getting a rabbit for my dd 5th bday in august the only thing is we havnt a clue what we need or the first thing about rabbits ! has anyone got some practical advice please ?

Wah! I can't. Have to take the dcs to their French lesson/enormous social riot group.

Skip it. See you in an hour

hi we have amini lop she is very placid we got her from a lady who rehomes rabbits.she lives in ahutch at the bottom of the garden all year round we put a duvet over when really cold.i am a childminder and we have had other rabbits and none of them had been grumpy or bitten anyone i would recommend rabbits to any one we love them

We built our own 6ft x 3ft, 2 story hutch. All the wood and stuff still cost about £200 though! We rescued one that didn't like other rabbits but does like people as we only wanted one ( he's a massive French lop) and have a 2 year old ds. Our rabbit has free range if our garden when we're in it and likes to play with ds's toys, especially footballs. He eats pellets, veg and hay and loves the odd grape or bit of apple ( never lettuce as pp has said). They do need cleaning out a lot so you need to consider if you have the time/ inclination to do this.

OP, rabbits can live for 15 years. Are you happy to invest that long in a bunny?
If you're going to get buns from a rescue, most insist you get a bonded pair, unless you get one with problems (not ideal for a child), try rabbitrehome.org.uk they have a list of most buns wanting a home in the country.

One of my buns has gastric problems so gets massages quite often (to 'help' her along) very pampered!

I wouldnt put anything in the hutches linked to below, far to small, even my lone piggie (aggressive to other piggies) has a double four foot long hutch. a single level for two rabbits is no where near the recommeded guidlines for happy buns. My two share a chicken run (i use chicken runs with apex roofs as they are much taller than normal rabbit runs and the bun get a good jump and stretch in them.) then chicken house is 1.5 meter by 1 meter, with an attatched run of 1meter by 3 meters, tis fab, they love it. Id still try for bigger if i didnt think my DH would divorce me for it

Think about insurance
We just had a very poorly rabbit which has cost us over £160 in vet fees so far, hopefully most of he will reimbursed fron the insurance company

Our bun is a house rabbit
he's toilet trained
comes when we click our fingers but does expect a treat for that ( except when you want to put him in a carry case for vet trip )

hi we are finally picking our new buns up on friday after waiting very patiently ! have got most the equitment now but a bit stuck on which bedding to use ? we have gone for a big 2 storey hutch but are unsure what bedding to use and where to put what any advice greatly appreciated !!

We use just wood shavings with hay as well in sleeping compartment. Tried paper which got shredded, straw which got shoved out the front of hutch, and some pet fresh bedding thing, which was expensive and not much improvement. At least by using hay, it supplements their diet.

I have just started to swap my furry pets onto carpet. All the hutches now have 2 pieces of carpet cut to fit, a wash and wear. I hoover out the poop everyday/other day and wash the carpet once/twice a week, depending on use obviously. So far so good, no ones eating it yet cheap as chips and easier than fleece as the hay doesnt stick to carpet as much and i just put it all in the bath and shower it off.
Used shavings and hay for years though with no problems, just found it expensive with how many animals we have.