Advice needed, choosing a rabbit, or two?

[Italiangreyhound]

It looks like the rabbits have won! DD is very keen to have rabbits and I only have the energy for one species!

Any advice on the best breed and any other important stuff, please?

Thank you

Definitely two, they rely on company of each other - they do all the social stuff like grooming etc. And it's very heartwarming to see how loving they are with each other.

We have two French lop rabbits and they are supposed to be lazy, friendly and all round good pets. They're definitely lazy and excellent pets. We don't pick them up though unless absolutely necessary as buns don't like to be picked up. They'll sit on our knee and beside us on the sofa though, especially if there's food on the go.

Get a male female neutered pair
Go to a rescue centre and rescue them

We've taken on lionheads, mini lops (mini my arse!) Dutch and mongrels and all have been brilliant pets

Treat them like you would a dog or cat, have them in a 6' hutch or free roaming in the house

efore you start the Bunny Search italian:

where are they going to live? In or Out?

Have you considered where you're going to store bedding ? They needs alot of hay.
Rabbits each mainly grass or hay, a scant eggcup of pellets and some veg.

Whatever you do, make it easy on yourself to care for them.
In summer they'll need shade to protect themselves.
In winter they'll need shelter when they require it. (Outdoor rabbits are far more tolerant of weather than my guineas, but I know how difficult it is to protect against heat and damp/cold)
They can die from heat-stroke.

Protection against predators and the space to run around.

Personally, I wouldn't have indoor rabbits, I think they look lovely (if someone else owns them ) I don't think I could cope with the chewing.

A Rescue will match you with a neutered pair. They might offer you a month of insurance (as part of your donation) so you can continue if you want.

With rabbits, the phrase "Three Weeks" is well known. That's the average time it takes for a child to fall out of love with a rabbit. So that's why it'll be YOURS .
You will sign the adoption paper and pay. Or pay the breeder (or wherever you choose to obtain them from)
That's why I stress make sure it's easy for you to do.
Yes your DD will help, but TBH , I wouldn't give the responsibilty of looking after a pet to a child.
I clean our pighouse (sometimes in the pitch dark, rain, snow) I have a garage for storage. A light (very helpful) , storage for their dirty bedding.
My DD does about half the work.

A Rescue will eant to know you've got all this in place.
But when you do, I can think of fewer nicer things than rabbits at dawn, out in their protected run, eating grass

Wow fabulous, thank you for replies.

We are new to rabbits but seasoned pet owners and animal loves.

Besta

Yes, sorry, definitely two.

I am keen on rescue ones and to some extent that will mean little choice but I want to go for docile, friendly, not bitey if I can!

ShouldIworryornothelp

Is a male female neutered pair better than two girls? I know two sets of people who have rabbits, one has two girls and one has a boy/girl pair.

DD (10) keen on lionheads, but I am nervous as she does not like brushing her own hair.

Re Treat them like you would a dog or cat Can you put on lead as I have seen, and take to local green, just down the way, or only in garden or not on lead at all? Does it matter if you do this lead thing from young?

What is 6' hutch - 6 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet or something else?

www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/ahutchisnotenough.htm

70isaLimitNotaTarget where are they going to live? In or Out?

Well I guess out because I am not sure about giving over the whole house to rabbits and the cost of covering all wires etc.

I will store bedding in garage (no car in there).

If they need shade to protect themselves in summer can I put a shelter in the run and leave out all day?

In winter they'll need a heater, how does that work?

I have seen a fox around our place as we are rural but would imagine they cannot get into a standard hutch?

RE With rabbits, the phrase "Three Weeks" is well known. That's the average time it takes for a child to fall out of love with a rabbit. So that's why it'll be YOURS .

Scary!

I won't give the responsibility of looking after a pet to dd but it will be shared.

How old is your dd?

But when you do, I can think of fewer nicer things than rabbits at dawn, out in their protected run, eating grass* So can they get from the hutch to the run by themselves or do I have to get up at dawn, because that could be deal breaker! (I'm serious!!!)

Thanks all.

this is the hutch our two have

As for what gender, if you're rescuing see what they've got already bonded. Most responsible rescues won't let you take rabbits without them having 24hr access to outdoor space, but that's not possible because rabbits spend all day feckin digging!

I prefer boy girl pairs but that's all we've ever had. Does can be quite a handful on their own.

Shade in the Summer is more important than heat in the winter. Ours are 4 now and never had a heater. We change bedding daily in winter and keep 3 water bottles (one on that will freeze, then replace with unfrozen water and a spare for cracks!) you can never have enough hay!

As for leads mine have never liked them but some do, give it a go and see how you get on

Feed is pricey btw. Burgess pellets are better than the rabbit equivalent of McDonald's which is the cheap mix you get.

Egg cup isn't really enough for our two. We give them a bowl each per day and shit loads of hay and dark leafy greens and they get through all of it and neither are fat!

I don't know if rabbits do need additional heat providing they have enough hay /straw to insulate them.

We have guinea-pigs (who are alot more namby pamby exotic and fragile than rabbits)

My DD is 13yo (nearly) we got pigs when she was 9yo, so, YY, I've done alot of cage duty (not to mention the ones I had as a child)

Most herbivores (and I know rabbits aren't rodents so I won't insult them ) are crepuscular "active at dawn and dusk" they like to eat when it's safe then retire to pooh eat at their leisure.

The advantage with rabbits is you can arrange their accomodation to let them choose (providing it's safe from foxes etc)

Have a good look at some commercial hutches and ask yourself "if I was a fox and I had all night to break in, could I?" I reckon in the case of 90% of the hutches out there, the answer would be "Yes. Easily"

We had a cat years ago (before the DC, she was with us for 15 years. Welcomed DS and DD into her house. At the age of 17yo we had to let her go (PTS) .
DH would much rather have a cat than the guineas. He doesn't trust them not to pee on him.

Would another cat not fit better into your house? The road is a huge worry but lots of cars are house cats or have secure gardens (my mate lives on a horrible busy road, her cats are indoors, will venture out but not far. Quite happy)

Sorry to be dim but what does 24hr access to outdoor space mean? Thanks

70isaLimitNotaTarget I'm not sure how I feel about cats not going out at all.

Can anyone tell me about keeping a bunny in the house please? If so could it be only one, the local rescue place seems to think so.

We have converted our DD's outdoor shed/playhouse into a bunny home. Our 2 girls seem very happy. They have a small patio area outside the house that we have fenced in with a temporary run thing that we can move onto the grass on nice days - they love that. DH is in the process of building a more permanent fence to enclose the patio and then will install a cat flap or cut a hole so they can go in and out as they please.

I started off with indoor bunnies. They chewed a large hole in the carpet one night (think almost a foot square!) and shortly after they became outdoor bunnies... They had never chewed a single thing until then and the chewer had been an indoor bun for more than three years!

I would suggest a neutered, bonded pair from a rescue. If they are adult then it won't matter what sexes they are. Pairs can be any combination if they're neutered and you are likely to have huge choice from a rescue, there are around 70,000 bunnies in UK rescue at any one time sadly.

Accommodation wise, a 6ft x 2ft x 2ft hutch with permanent access to a run of at least 6ft x 8ft (it used to be 6ft x 4ft) is the minimum size requirement. Welfare hutches are apparently ok and do the appropriate sizes and so do Ryedale hutches, but the latter are much more pricey, although that's reflected in the quality. Sheds or Wendy houses work out a more cost effective and practical solution if you have the space and you can attach a run and provide access to it via a catflap. If you put the run on paving slabs then nothing can dig in or out and it's easy to keep clean. You could also use a runaround pipe (you can google runaround) to attach an extra run in grass if you wanted or some people grow trays of grass to put in the run.

I have a 10ft x 5ft kennel and run for one of my groups at the moment and that is attached to a 12ft x 12ft aviary using a 24ft runaround pipe. Hopefully I'll bond all of my bunnies into a group of six and that, plus an extra runaround and run, will then house them all, but I'd like it to be bigger ideally. Give them as much space as you can provide and afford, it's worth it to see them so happy and 'binkying'.

The rabbit welfare association page is good for advice and the rabbits united forum is good too and promotes good welfare standards.

WhenMarnieWasThere what a fablous idea. Is it safe from foxes? We are quite rural here. Sounds fab.

Midori what does with permanent access to a run of at least 6ft x 8ft (it used to be 6ft x 4ft) is the minimum size requirement mean? Does it mean they get out of hutch themselves?? or just they can go in it whenever you let them in it? Sorry to be a bunny dumbo!

what is 'binkying' I feel like I need to get a bunny dictionary!!!

It means the hutch door stays open all day and night and they can free roam in a safe environment

Binkies are brilliant and a sign of a very happy rabbit! They sort of go all silly and jump around flicking their bodies at odd angles. Have a look on YouTube it's lovely

I caught my pair purring on my lap the other day

ShouldIworryornothelp what about foxes etc!

I will look for Binkies.

rabbithaven.org/binkies/

I love watching them do the Binky jump. It looks like they are being bitten on the bum and jump up and off to one side. :) :)

We have foxes in the field at the bottom, but they are currently locked up at night with the temporary enclosure. When the permanent one goes on it will have a roof so it can't be jumped into/out of. And it will but right up to the patio bit so can't be tunnelled into or out of either.

Tunnelling, good point! I have so much to learn. I need a master-class! And I have seen The Fantastic or whatever so I should know!!!

Yeah. Tunnelling is a fucker

We thought we'd rabbit proofed the garden, evidently we hadn't, they got behind a storage box and dug themselves a nice tunnel under the fence and into the woods behind. God knows how long they'd been going in and out for before we found it!

Btw always always get your bunnies vaccinated more so if you have wild bunnies nearby

vaccinated more more than what?

The rescue centre will advise and we play by the rules, I am big into vaccinations, kids, rabbits, the lot!

Lol it's only because myxi is more prevalent in wild rabbits. It's a horrendous disease and no animal should go through it. Can't remember what the other vax is for but equally ghastly

Yes, permanent access means the rabbits should be able to get in and out of the hutch themselves. The whole hutch/run needs to be foxproofed.

I am thinking second mortgage here!!!

Any advice where to get this rabbit fun palace, please? (Genuine question!)

Ha ha ha no it's not that expensive once you're set up

Hutch I linked to is £120, rescue I got mine from asks £40 a rabbit, bedding and feed are where your running costs are really

It's as expensive or as cheap as you want to make it. If your husband or a friend is good at woodwork then get them to make a run

Welfare hutches do a few hutches with runs underneath.

www.welfarehutches.co.uk/product/6ft%20rabbit%20hutch%20with%204ft%20under%20run

I have a kennel and run like this, (10ft x 5ft) from this seller:

m.ebay.co.uk/itm/181684146878?nav=SEARCH&varId=480638282040