Where do you get advice on rabbits

[BunniesLoveBananas]

Where do you go for advice on rabbits?

I find there is a lack of knowledge and conflicting advice.

A lot of the Facebook groups seem to be run by breeders who have a different outlook.

I was on a group yesterday and the admin wouldn't allow advice they didn't agree with (not from me, from someone else).

I ended up starting a new Facebook with the that other woman but obviously it needs members.

I just find that everyone I know has dogs or cats, Pets@Home give rubbish advice and even my vet surgery is not great.

@becsr tbh I wouldn’t use a breeder at all while there are so many rabbits requiring rehoming from rescues, including litters born at rescue (so still very young). Also, by giving money to the breeder who obviously doesn’t know much about rabbits, you’re effectively encouraging her to continue.

I agree with @Passthecake30

Try your local rescues and Pets @ Home have in wanted bunnies for adoption. I got two 8 week old baby girls who needed rehoming from Pets at home

Be careful with PAH. The adoption rabbits are sometimes just unadopted ones moved over from the shop floor. They won't be vaccinated or health checked and can also still be miss-sexed.

Also - there's no guarantee two babies will get on still when their hormones kick in. I don't recommend babies for beginners!!

@bunnygeek I had two bunnies already that I've had four years though I suddenly lost one so I'm not a beginner. I don't believe they are bunnies from the shop floor as I'd spoken to the same shop earlier in the week and they didn't have any.

I do agree about Pets at home. They don't tell you that same sex pairs often fight! I had the same issue with my boys and they ultimately had to be separated. I took these girls as I was worried about my boy being alone after the other one died and I know I can house them even if they all need to be separated. Ideally I'd bond the three of them together but otherwise they can stay as they are (girls together and boy separate) or even get a fourth (male) and have two pairs. We'll have to see how it goes.

My bunnies live in our large garage with separate enclosures made from C&C cubes and we bring them in the house or garden to run around so we can configure the housing to suit. The main thing is that they have company.

I'll ask the vet to double check their sex when I go in for vaccinations in a couple of weeks.

Hi just wondered if you can shed some light on my bunnies

Ok last year I got a male bunny who was gorgeous sweet boy.
Mixi vac done.
All well.

A few months later I got another bunny.
Mixi vac done.

In time I bonded them.
A few weeks later my first bunny died suddenly aged 13 months!!!

This was Christmas Day last year he died.
So left with one bunny.
At the weekend he died suddenly!
She's 13 months.

Spoke to vet.
She said that the second bunny I got could been a carrier for a virus that he got from his mother.
And my first bunny once shared a hutch picked it up from the urine.

I be had rabbits for 19 years!
Never had bunnies die so young.
They usually live to old age.

Didn't have any symptoms before they passed just hunched up and died within hours.
Any ideas please

The next bunny I get I will have vaccinated against RHD as well

We had the same experience with our 2 male babies from PAH ( not being told they would fight) but luckily I worked with someone who had quite a bit of bunny experience & she helped me with it all. Having said that about PAH, we have had outstanding service from “ Vets for Pets” above our local store. I get quite emotional when I think about how brilliant they have been with our 4 precious buns. There is a Portuguese vet who has gone above & beyond & I can’t thank her enough.
You might also find useful information from the RSPCA. And there are rabbit sanctuaries, although we have had mixed experiences from our local ones. One lady clearly loves rabbits but she feeds them on a lot of pellets, which isn’t ideal. We had one of our does from her & she was quite overweight but now on a diet of hay, grass & greens she has slimmed right down.

Hi bunnies should be classed as exotic pets really. For so long they’ve been seen as easy children’s pets stick then in a hutch and forget about them.

The advice from your breeder sounds way wrong, the general advice is to always keep buns together even going to the vet together to keep the bond. So getting one, then another 6 weeks laters sounds very odd.

We had sisters both neutered all good until one died of stasis out the blue, we then rehomed a boy, got him neutered and started the long process of bonding them. Thought they would never get one but they did and they are like an old married couple now. I would say forget the breeder, go to a rescue they will have lovely bonded pairs (and triplets) already, the one I support definitely does. Definitely not Pets at Home, it just adds to the unwanted buns in rescues problem, our boy was found on the street he was chipped but owner didn’t want his back.

Our two finally bonded and loved up

Awww I love looking at bonded buns! I could look at pics and videos of bunnies all day to be honest.

I agree Pets at Home can be a bit rubbish and but I've found Vets 4 Pets to be good too.

I started a Facebook group about bunnies if anyone wants to join the I'll PM you. My DH gets bored of me talking about the rabbits!

FYI I find rabbitsonline.net the best group by far. They are really keen for people to learn so you are not judged at all unless you are mistreating your rabbits and won't take advice. Basically no question is a stupid question and they have loads of reference info ready that answer most basic questions.

By the way in case anyone else reads this in future, I've had loads of rabbits and if a breeder told me take one rabbit then get the other one later I'd walk away. By the time the first is settled the rabbits may be unbonded and the first one will see the hutch/cage as their territory. I understand some reasons behind it like making sure the rabbit is still pooing so they don't have guy stasis through the stress of the move, but it's less stressful to move with your mate and you can keep one if a cage and one in a run to check they are both pooing still.

And here endeth the high horse!