Help! DD wants a rabbit!

[clam]

I've put her off for as long as I can. But she's so desperate that now even DH, not an animal-lover has said, "Could she not have one? Come on, let's do it."
So, looks like I'm beaten. How? When? What? Male/female? One or two? Inside or outside? What sort of hutch/run is best?
All advice welcome.

Can't help much, but only to say that they don't have to live in a hutch/cage, both MiL and friend have had 'house rabbits' that are trained to a litter tray and run free in the house (and garden within fenced area).

weve had male and females all just as lovely.weve had indoors and outdoors-i prefer indoors as dont have to go in rain to clean them out and they are great company!we had 2 at one time-was lovely but they do get big so youll need big hutch-standard ones wont do-we converted a dresing table for them!we currently have candy the lionheaded rabbit(on my profile!)in an indoor hutch.she hops round the house and is very friendly.she loves our kittens and theyre becoming used to her!theyre easy to look after.

sorry ive probably not helped at all!

Two are much happier and healthier than one. We had 2 females for years (eight years!). They need to be neutered which is quite expensive.
Ours lived outside but had the run of the house downstairs too. They were very clean but they could not resist biting through electic cables. And chewing up bath mats.

cheesesarnie... I take it that wasn't male and females at the same time?
If we keep it/them in a hutch outside, do we also need a run? Or do they come combined?
Oh dear, I can see a lengthy bout of research coming up.
Bit worried about the electric cables point. We have lots of recently-installed, highly expensive outside lights!

We are about to get guinea pigs who will live indoors

In my completely biased opinion GPs are nicer!

I think rabbits need vaccinations which cost £££ each year - GPs dont! That was one of the reasons for use to opt for gps

I've had both a Rabbit and Guinea Pig in my lifetime and neither liked being handled....I must just have bad luck. I went with a dog instead , got two now!!

i have 2 rabbits who i cannot pick up beacause they hate being handled....
they hop around garden all day and eat everything in sight, then go into hutch at night...

sweet to look at though,

We tried to have our rabbit as a house one but after she had eaten through the umpteenth cable (dp playstation) she now lives outside. We have normal hutch and let her out in the garden in the day but it's very safe!

Blast. Does this mean the wretched thing is likely to decimate the plants in my 'new' garden?

if you let out into the garden then def yes.... they eat everything in sight....

they do need quite a goo hop around imo!! which is why i let mine into the garden - i have had to invest in very high pots that they cant jump onto, and hanging baskets are safe, although one of mine did jump onto the bike store once!!!

They need company so you'll need to get two rabbits. a male & female get on better than male + male or female + female generally but obviously you'll need to get one or both of them neutered/spayed to prevent baby rabbits!

you'd also be better off adopting a rabbit rather buying one, there are always plenty looking for homes. I think they are one of the most dumped pets after dogs and cats.

as for accomodation, a hutch will do but you'd be better off getting a garden shed and putting the hutch in that, it's safer & warmer. you'll also need to make a decent size run (about 10' x 10' minimum) as they need to go outside for fresh air, exersize etc!

Good luck!

OK, so obvious question following that, countrygirl is, WHY do people dump them? What do they discover later that is too much to deal with?

Our rabbit is adorable, really friendly and she snuggles into you and makes tiny squeaking noises - she has a hutch in an unused stable, and most of the time is free in that rather than the hutch itself, then we have a pen outside for better weather. They are really easy to look after as well ( v. low maintanance cf eg dog, horse etc)

We found our rabbit to be very high maintenance. We had him for most of the last year but he's out at foster care now (with a tender-hearted rabbit-loving mumsnet friend). He was adorable (if he got his own way) and beautiful but NEEDY. We put lots of effort into keeping him happy. When he was happy he bounced around. When he wasn't, we all knew about it. He moped. And I felt guilty. For instance he liked living in our living room, hopping around, resting in front of the fire. All very cute but he couldn't live free in our house, it wasn't possible. And he'd strop and sulk when put back outside.

We liked him but he was a lot of work. I wouldn't get another.

We have guinea pigs as well, they are a lot less demanding. Also easier for small children to handle. But hamsters are much better, we have them too. In terms of being easy and handleable by small children.

We have two female rabbits and IMO they are fantastic pets. We got them just over a year ago (as "kittens") and it has taught our DS (aged 8) so much about responsibility and looking after things carefully. He absolutely adores them. They need 2 lots of vaccs a year, which total £60. They live outside in a double decker hutch and they also have a run. We recently did our garden up and the guy who did the planting put in stuff that they don't seem to want to munch. When we use the run we tend to put this on the patio where they can't dig. I would suggest you get two - they like the company and it's really entertaining watching them interact. Our vet and the rabbit care book we have have both said that the more you handle rabbits the more tame they become and this does seem to be the case.

rabbits - pain in the bum! they bite and kick (scratch very hard with their back feet), get fly strike if you aren't careful and often don't much like being caught/handled

guinea pigs - gorgeous! they don't bite, they talk (squeak) at you, come when the are called and are very sweet