should we get a bunny?

okay i fell in love today... with a bunny. it's a lion mane... all white except black ears, black eyes and few black splotches. soooo cute. they said it would get about 5 lbs. how big is a 5 lb bunny? they said another enclosure like the one we just out retired ratties would work... 4'x2'x2'...

does that sound right for one bunny?

now... we had two - they were SUPER stinky and ate my son's room. it was awful... so we know we'd want to keep this one in it's enclosure most of the time. is that mean?

i want you experienced bunny lovers to chime in... let me know if we are contemplating something we will regret in the end.

and i checked... it's a girl. and she should max out at 4lbs not 5. (if that really makes a difference :P)

I'd never heard of a Lion Mane before, so I googled it :) They're kinda cute! But I've got a fuzzy spot in my heart for mini lops.

Lion Manes are cute little tribbles!

Most of the answers to your questions can be found here, if not all! This site is my bunny bible! They're some high maintenance stinkers, especially the ones with long hair, and they do need run around time. And a lot of attention if they don't have a bunny companion. Anywhos, do check out this link, they cover a lot more than I ever could!

http://rabbit.org/

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

okay i fell in love today... with a bunny. it's a lion mane... all white except black ears, black eyes and few black splotches. soooo cute. they said it would get about 5 lbs. how big is a 5 lb bunny? they said another enclosure like the one we just out retired ratties would work... 4'x2'x2'...

does that sound right for one bunny?

now... we had two - they were SUPER stinky and ate my son's room. it was awful... so we know we'd want to keep this one in it's enclosure most of the time. is that mean?

i want you experienced bunny lovers to chime in... let me know if we are contemplating something we will regret in the end.

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I am pretty sure a 5ft rabbit could be great food for a 17ft burm!!:8: So it will get pretty big... Jk JK

I think it will be fine in a cage that is a nice good size for her. You still want to have her out to get some excersise and play time though!! Don't want no fat bunnies!!:carrot:

thanks, already read a bunch of that site... but it doesn't necc give specifics. doesn't even have any pics of home made enclosures which i had hoped to find :(

At least 4 time the size of the bunny is the rule of thumb, but the more time you want them to spend in the enclosure the bigger it should be.

Here's a great site about rabbit enclosures. :) At least this is the kind we have. Easy to make, easy to adjust in size, and lotsa room. Karen made ours in one day. I really need a newer pic of it. But yeah, that is the one thing rabbit.org is missing... Pics! This is a bunch of owner made sites about their NIC (neat idea cube) cages.

http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/nic.html

well that site makes my eyes bleed. who in the world chose that yellow... :eek:

anyway, i never thought to use those NIC - we used to have a whole bunch but gave them all away... i think my daughter may have some at her apartment and i don't think she set them up... so i'm going to see if we can steal them back. at least that way we can always make the cage bigger as the bun bun grows!

http://www.rabbitsinthehouse.org/images/Tumbleweed.jpg

WOW check out this guy. He is wild and crazy looking!

oh my... what a cutie LOL

I am an experienced bunny lover, and I have to tell you they are very delicious! HAHAHA :P

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

okay i fell in love today... with a bunny. it's a lion mane... all white except black ears, black eyes and few black splotches. soooo cute. they said it would get about 5 lbs. how big is a 5 lb bunny? they said another enclosure like the one we just out retired ratties would work... 4'x2'x2'...

does that sound right for one bunny?

now... we had two - they were SUPER stinky and ate my son's room. it was awful... so we know we'd want to keep this one in it's enclosure most of the time. is that mean?

i want you experienced bunny lovers to chime in... let me know if we are contemplating something we will regret in the end.

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Originally Posted by ECLARK

I am an experienced bunny lover, and I have to tell you they are very delicious! HAHAHA :P

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LOL. They are quite lovely, aren't they?

Maybe I've never met a tame one, but they all seem to be nervous and twitchy, and not at all cuddly like my dogs and cats. I know they can be tamed, but they don't seem to be innately social like predators are...they definitely know that the world is out to eat them. Or else they know that I like lapin. :-P

I will never know what it's like to keep bunnies, b/c Mark is deathly allergic to them.. it is the one animal he is allergic to. We do have a little wild bunny living in the horse barn though; he is adorable. :)

Rabbits are extremely social animals, and very cuddly, they just play by their own rules and speak their own language. ;) To me it's like saying cats are all stand-offish and dogs are all clingy. Rabbits are just higher maintenance and need you to earn their trust. After that, they can be EXTREMELY bold and relaxed! My Bowie bulldozes stuff out of his way! And Unut tugs on my pant leg for treats! Every bunny has a different personality, just like every cat or every dog does, and they need a lot of social interaction or else they get depressed or anti-social. But they're certainly not for everybody. :P

And LOL at Tumbleweed! I wouldn't want to have to brush that cute fuzzball!

i'm nervous to get one... because of the smell of them and i'm worried i won't be able to litter train it.

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Originally Posted by ECLARK

I am an experienced bunny lover

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Ummm..Uhhh...Errrr.... :O:P

Only thing I'm thinking here Aleesha is that if it's going to spend a fair bit of time in a cage and being a very sociable creature maybe getting a single bunny isn't a great idea. Isn't it going to end up a bit lonely in there? Maybe something else like a nice chincilla or GP would be a better choice?

i'm concerned about the same thing.

i'm feeling overwhelmed about this decision so i think it needs to be shelved for a bit and then rethought about later.

We saw some cutie bunnies yesterday at a feed store in Pomona, getting cheaper aspen (thank god)...so cuuute! =)

you are not helping! http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1.../psiholog1.gif

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

you are not helping! http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1.../psiholog1.gif

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Sorry...while I was looking at them and thinking of Sheree's bunbuns, I was also thinking how tasty rabbit meat is...sooo...both sides of the coin, so to speak. =D

oh sure now you ARE going to put me into therapy over it :P

should i buy it for a pet or buy it for dinner????

If you get one, maybe you could go through a rescue? I hate to see the amount of bunnies for adoption on Petfinder, etc.. then there are so many people out there breeding them for no reason. I know you though, and I know you always like helping animals in need. :)

actually we are planning on getting it from the spca if we do get one... as long as there aren't too many hoops to jump through. our local spca can be difficult to get a pet from. :(

but we are going to try IF we get one.

It really comes down to, I think, what's worth it to you in a critter.

I love birds, adore them! And we picked up the cutest little cockatiel named Zell. Long story short, we loved her to bits and pixels but she made us smegging insane and vice versa! The noise... oh god, the noise... Constant skeeking and getting underfoot. Eventually an extremely hook-bill savvy co-worker of Karen's offered to babysit her, and ultimately adopted her. Best case scenerio for everybody! Zell got the kind of environment she needed and we got the peace and sanity we needed. (mm, the silence of snakes and rabbits...) We still love birds, but we now prefer to admire them either via birdfeeder or visiting them at friends/petstores. We can visit Zell at her new mommy's, which is great! We do love the little skeeker!. But we're definitely not getting a bird again. Or mice.

All our critters give us drama one way or another. Our cat (cat is a misnomer, she's more like a very short fuzzy grandma) cries if we don't use the toilet "on time" and is hell to medicate, the bunnies don't like getting their toenails clipped and enjoy tearing up carpet, Neptune's getting better but he still wants to take a bite out of me if I touch him, Ma-tsu keeps teasing me about eggs, Irwin always poops/everts when I pick him up, Gomez... well, Gomez is an angel as is Falkor, but still. They're worth every hassle to us, and I can't imagine living in a home that doesn't include these guys in it. I mean, Daphne just cost us... well, everything. We're broke now, but looking into that sweet little face makes it all worth it to us.

Rabbits are quiet, sweet, cuddly, lots of personality, playful bundles of love that can live a good 12 years or so if spayed/neutered etc (also, easier to litter train when they're altered). They're also destructive, curious, mischevious, high maintenance, co-dependant little monsters that will test you and don't like to do what's best for them. It just all comes down to what's worth it to you, and if they're a good fit for your home. Everybody's critter needs are different, the tricky part is just determining what they are before it's too late!

Anywho, I hope that helps you make up your mind. We do the same song and dance over lizards (cute leezards!) all the time, but as we have no room or money currently that's solved that puzzle for us. A list of pros and cons may be a good idea, and if you love that bunny so much the cons don't matter? I say go for it. If they do, then it's probably not meant to be.

BTW, Ginevive, we got our Bowie boy via Petfinder! :D I love that site. We planned to get our third bunny there too, but Unut was a love at first sight situation. Someday, after we move to a bigger place and have money again, we hope to get a lop through there. ;) It's also nice when a critter comes spayed/neutered, yeash that gets expensive, especially with girls.

As for the smelly cage we have use lot of different bedding for are boy and the one we like and think works the best is the cell-sorb pellets, most pet store use it its a blackish color and its super asorbent, use just change the corners daily or every other day were he/she goes and its not a problem, as for training it's not hard start off with a litter box in her/his cage in the corner they frequent. we were lucky that ours was trained when we got him, but they are great little pets...

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

i'm nervous to get one... because of the smell of them and i'm worried i won't be able to litter train it.

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now this is the kind of response i was hoping to get... some ideas and honest experience!

thanks!!!

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Originally Posted by MedusasOwl

BTW, Ginevive, we got our Bowie boy via Petfinder! :D I love that site. We planned to get our third bunny there too, but Unut was a love at first sight situation. Someday, after we move to a bigger place and have money again, we hope to get a lop through there. ;) It's also nice when a critter comes spayed/neutered, yeash that gets expensive, especially with girls.

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Awesome! A friend of mine does cat and dog adoptions through there.. it really is an awesome site.

i checked... petfinder in canada doesn't have a single pet in bc for adoption.

:sweeet: we wanted to get a pet for my 4 soon to be 5 year old girl, she just LOVES animals but my boy is allergic to dogs & cats so he got a snake and oddly enough he's not allergic to the bunny so we got him for her. she gets the water for him and food but we clean the cage and when we do she holds him and plays with him and gives him BIG squeeshy hugs...lol..

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

now this is the kind of response i was hoping to get... some ideas and honest experience!

thanks!!!

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ya my daughter has a bunch of ratties... 10 i think. a giant african land snail, a giant african millipede and a 29 gallon fish tank. she does the care for them all.

and now... a bunny. all of these reside in her room - which isn't all that large as it is... which is part of my concern.

so... we'll see.

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/...?petid=7268095

oh how cute is she!!! i wonder if she's already spayed? i'm going to call tomorrow and ask about her.

Here is my two cents...coming from a former bunny owner and pet store employee who had to deal with a rabbit that lived in the back room....


Lion heads are very cute and are considered a dwarf species of rabbit. They have a mane that will grow as they do (usually).
Rabbits have a rabbit smell...just like anything else. Next time you can, smell a rabbit. Get close and take a whiff....thats what you have to get used to. They have a strong smelling urine too. Rabbits are fairly easy to litter train when they are in their cage but when they roam free expect them to just go wherever. They like to keep their homes clean but could care less about yours.
Male rabbits can spray urine (although if you get them altered they usually stop just like a cat)(btw, you gonna pay70-100 bucks to get them fixed?)
Generally, while rabbits are social animals, it is best to keep them seperated and only keep one bunny per cage. Obviously m/f will breed m/m will fight as will f/f although sometimes f/f will be ok but I personally do not reccommend it.
Female rabbits can def. be bossy!
Lion heads and other dwarf rabbits must be kept inside but many regualr rabbits can live outside.
rabbits have more taste buds than we do and can become quite finicky with what they eat..thankfully, there are many different types of foods, hay, and treats to keep them happy. SOme even play with toys!
With cages, I recommend a wire bottom cage that is lifted off the floor pan, they are much easier to clean as the droppings fall to the floor pan. If it is a plain plastic bottom and the bunny is sitting on the actuall bedding, they tend to kick it out everywhere and sometimes pee in it.
Generally rabbits are inexpensive to care for and when you get into the routine, it really isnt that much work (every animal takes some work!).
If you have small children, you have to teach them how to hold a rabbit correctly or those back legs with kick the living tar out of them and bloody them up, their nails are sharp even with regular clipping. Their kick is strong, so strong that baby bunnies in small cages have been known to get so excited and jump so hard that they break their own neck/back and die.
The choice is yours, I don't want to sound negative, for some people a rabbit is the ideal pet and sooooo flipping cute. Whenever I get a new animal, I research the crap out of it until I am almost sick of hearing about it!
Anyways, sorry for the long post, hope I helped!

thanks for sharing your thoughts... i appreciate it!

Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention was that they chew! They are a lagomorph, not a rodent, but they still chew everything that has that "special" taste or texture. The rabbit I worked with was chewing through the walls and through stock (dog food and bird food bags) we kept in the back room. That bunny cost the owner more than she should have...lol.

And if they chew through wires.....well, rabbit stew anyone???

Man, what a cute little dude you found on Petfinder! Linking me to that site though is dangerous, as I fell in love with this little local face, but as Daphne has cleaned us out there's no way that's gonna happen. :P

I gotta disagree with you though, Wolf, on a few things.

Wire floors are bad for a rabbit's feet. It may make cleaning easier, but it's very painful for them and not at all recommended. Outdoors is no longer recommended either for a number of reasons.

Petshop situation is very different from a house rabbit situation. At a store, the rabbits tend not to be spayed or neutered (WELL worth the money) which of course leads to behavior problems and pregnancy. They also do not get to pick out their roomies. Rabbits are NOT solitary creatures, and if you keep one by themself they need a lot of attention to stay psychologically happy. They live in warrens in the wild and have a complex societal structure. Like dogs, most rabbits need to feel like a part of a group to be happy. Although there is of course the occassional hermit who likes it that way, exception to every rule and all that. But bonding is more than possible and extremely rewarding.

When we first took in Daphne, she was very depressed. She'd just been seperated from the sister she grew up with (before we came into the picture, otherwise we'd have taken them together) and had an extremely low activity level and appitite. When we took her to the rabbit rescue to "date" potential roomies, she took to Bowie right away and perked right up. So did he, having been in a foster home with no other rabbits, and they've been extremely close ever since. They huddle together when afraid of the vaccuum, they groom each other, they lay together, etc. Bowie's foster mom described him as very shy and nervous, but here he never was. Very outgoing friendly and feeling more secure. Huge difference in both of them, and they get very nervous being separated.

Of course, a lot of rabbits will fight with each other which is why either you let them pick each other out or you need to take time to get them to bond. They all have different personalities, and personalities clash. Male/Female bonds tend to be the easiest (and of course, need to be altared) but it varies with the individual rabbits. Some rabbits love each other, some rabbits hate each other. First impressions and introductions are important. With babies it's a lot easier initially but you have to wait to fix them, which can be a problem. Hormones create personality changes that lead to fighting. We were really lucky with Unut.

Anywhos, yes, there can be smell depending on how often the litter is changed and man... they chew EVERYTHING. Chew toys, blocks, etc are a huge help there. But the socializing stuff I feel is important too and had to pipe up. I don't just want critters, I want happy healthy critters. :) And well socialized indoor rabbits are healthier and happier than isolated outdoor ones. They live longer too.

i just called and it's $118 plus tax to get a bunny spayed or neutered here.

we 'think' we've settled on getting a holland lop. with all the reading i've been trying to do, it seems a nice choice for us. they get 3-4 lbs... so not too large.

now just to figure out how to make a cage which won't have shavings everywhere...

i'm hoping to find a rubbermaid type bin on the bottom and build the cage out of the cube shelving within the bin bottom... but i have to find a bin large enough...

now... i have a question for you sheree. seeing as you have bunnies.

getting one bunny and her living and being socialized... in my daughter's room where my daughter spends 70% of her day... will this be okay? cause i honestly don't have room for two bunnies.

70% of her day, that should be just fine. :) Long as she gives the little sweetie lots of affection and run around time. I'd also get the bunny a plushie. We use a "vet/hospital cage" bunny plushie* so they don't feel too lonely in there at night or when they need to be isolated. Long as she feels included and that your daughter is the head bunny of her "warren."

Rubbermaid is a good idea! We still get a lot of ours kicked out. Some folks use stuff called Coroplast too for the bottom, which might be easier to get at the right size. We plan to try that eventually too. http://www.guineapigcages.com/rabbits.htm

Holland lops are gorgeous, when someday in the distant future we can get another, that's our breed choice too. :love:

Edit: *Don't be alarmed if bunny chews on/tosses around said plushie. Sometimes they just take out bad moods on them as much as they do groom them, lol.

look at this site!

does the stuffie need to be a bunny or can it be anything?

My only input here as a past bunny owner is if it is a male bunny, get it fixed. It's way worth the money to stop that awful spraying and made our male bunny a much nicer pet for inside (he lived part of his life in an outside huge home and the winters indoors). We lucked out as our vet only charged us $45.00 to neuter the bunny but that was years ago granted and he was a vet that tended to be very reasonable in his fees.

if we do get one... it'll be a female. ;)

D'oh, that was where I meant to link you too, lol! And as for the plushie, ours is a kind of funny looking tiny rabbit so I assume anything cuddly with a face'd be good. :)

And neutering is definitely cheaper and less invasive than spaying, if our next future bunny doesn't come altered from a rescue then we'll probably hope for a boy! Girls live a lot longer when spayed too, as they're very prone to ovarian cancer. S'all about the fixins. ;)

when i called they said it's the same for any "exotic" regardless of sex. my regular vet won't do bunnies so they recommended someone who does.

i'll find a stuffed bunny then... should it be the same size as the live bunny?

and one more question... the bunny will be in her room... with all her ratties and the kittens are in there all the time laying on her bed. will this cause any problems with the bunny's space feeling 'invaded'?

Prices vary a lot with individual vets, good to get a referral anywhos. *nods* Rabbit savvy vet is handy.

Ours is baby bunny sized, and they still like it. I figure anything cuddly with a face is good, it may depend on her age etc if she wants a big fuzzy mommy or a little baby plush. It's hard to say. If you have any spare old plushies around to experiment with, I'd go with that. :)

And naw, all part of the warren. ;) In fact, all of our bunnies tried real hard to make friends with our cat before giving up. They consider her part of the warren, just... a grumpy part, lol! They love her, and Unut even "bowed" his head to her for submissive bun kisses trying to get on her good side for ages before giving up. Here's an article about rabbit/cat introductions. Who knows, she may make good friends with the kittens!

that article would be way easier to follow if she left the names out of it. i had to keep thinking... and who is daphne and who is felix?

:P thanks for the info sheree.

Anytime!

And yeah, if they wanted to go with stereotypical names they should have said "Bunny" and "Kitty", "Daphne" and "Felix" are a bit too species flexible. ;) We also didn't know Daphne was a "typical" bunny name till way after we named her, Karen's just always liked that name. :love:

well we made the cage today... wow is it ever big! 2'x2' and 3' high. we've made three levels for her.

the litter box can go on the bottom and i'll make the top with an enclosed area for privacy...

i'll post pics when we are done. still need to get the plastic cardboard stuff.

Get a jackalope, those are sweeet!:D

Bunnies are fun! I used to breed Netherland Dwarves, it was definitely nice to have a good rabbit vet on speed dial.

Good luck with your new addition/s.

-Jason

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Originally Posted by Wolfsnaps

With cages, I recommend a wire bottom cage that is lifted off the floor pan, they are much easier to clean as the droppings fall to the floor pan. If it is a plain plastic bottom and the bunny is sitting on the actuall bedding, they tend to kick it out everywhere and sometimes pee in it.

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The only thing with wire bottom cages is that they can get really bad sores on their feet from the wire. You should either put some hay down for cushoning (which may defeat the purpose of the wirebottom cage) or have some kind of plateform that the bunny can easily get off the wire and spread out to relax. Maybe cut up a cardboard box and cover at least 1/4 to 1/3 of the cage bottom. You can just toss the peice of cardboard when its time to clean.

I had a male bunny and he never sprayed anywhere, he wasn't fixed either. He was like a little dog. He was litter box trained and never had any 'accidents' anywhere in the room. We left his cage open and he'd go in there to do his business then come back out. He was extremely affectionate and would sit on your lap for hours while you stroked his ears. We kept him in a regular plastic solid bottom cage and we never had any problems with messes or smells, we spot cleaned daily and completely cleaned about once a week.

Its all in the time you spend with him. if you are rarely going to take the rabbit out, it may not be so well behaved. If you spend a lot of time with it , it should remain quite well behaved. A friend of mine had a rabbit and rarely took it out, then she'd complain it'd kick its poo out of the cage...the poor thing was bored.

Bunnies are def higher maintenance pets.