Unwanted bunny

[piggie78]

Hi, I am reasonably new to this forum and was really hoping for some advice please. The place where I work has a variety of animals which I have always been very against as most people wont even provide the basic care for them and it has been left to a select few. The boss has now decided they all need to be gone and I have been asked to have the rabbit.
I am beyond furious that they think it is acceptable to bring animals in and then just get rid of them like this. We already have 5 pets, and we were in the process of adopting a cat also. I really can't afford to take on any more pets ideally
I also have absolutely no idea as to what they need? I have piggies and I am training to become a rodentologist so know an awful lot about them. Someone said they are very similar in their requirements healthwise/food etc but I am not so sure? Would love to hear from other bunny people please as to what to expect, what they need etc so I can prepare myself? Thankyou.x

Basically a rabbit needs a lot of space to hop and run. They need pellet rabbit food and hay to eat. They can also have some veg although they can't eat as much variety as pigs as their tums are very sensitive. They need a safe space to live where they have room to move and daily access to a large run. They can live outdoors but will need protecting from the heat in summer and the cold in winter.

Sounds like you have a lot already. If you aren't able to take on the bunny can you approach a rescue centre? What sex is the rabbit and how old is it? Rescues seem to be overrun with lone males but a female could be bonded with one.

Just curious but what kind of a place are you working in that has pets?

Hi Fernie I could approach a rescue centre and I know one who would take the bunny. I volunteer in a rescue a lot myself though so don't really like the idea of adding to their load as they are inundated there selves? The rabbit is a female, around 4 years old, neutered and is extremely tame/friendly.

I work in a nursing home. The idea apparently being that the animals enhance the residents lives ( but no-one seemed to give a toss about the animals) but now a new bloke has come in who runs the company and has told our manager that they need to go basically.

Would a 6ft hutch be adequate with an upstairs as well? When you say that they can live outdoors, do they cope a lot better than piggies? My piggies have always been indoor ones? Ii was thinking of trying to train it as a house bunny, but we have a small dog and unsure at the moment how he will react although he is non reactive to the piggies in their cages.

I know this may seem a stupid question but I really am ignorant to rabbits but would it be safe to give them the run of the garden (supervised) with them being so much bigger than piggies? I know a few who have had rabbits who allowed them the run of the garden but not sure how advised this is because of cats?

A house bunny and a small dog is a recipe for disaster. My bun is a house bun and he's lovely but he has free range unsupervised - you couldn't do this with a dog and it's not practical to supervise all the time.

She could free range in the garden with a large hutch but as she's never done this before it may take some time for her to get used to it.

Cats could be an issue for her. A large hutch with a run would be fine but as she is an only bunny give her plenty of attention.