should we get a bunny?

[frankykeno]

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.

[recycling goddess]

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

[MedusasOwl]

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.

[recycling goddess]

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'?

[MedusasOwl]

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!

[recycling goddess]

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?

thanks for the info sheree.

[MedusasOwl]

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.

[recycling goddess]

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.

[jknudson]

Get a jackalope, those are sweeet!

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

[danigurrl]

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.

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.