4Real Forums: Pet Rabbit?

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Topic: Pet Rabbit?

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Matilda
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Posted: Feb 02 2009 at 10:27am \| IP Logged

Anyone have any advice/comments/suggestions for a family considering a pet rabbit?

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Charlotte (Matilda)
Mom to four (11

, 10

, 9

& 5

) an even split for now
with bookend boys and a double girl sandwich
Waltzing Matilda

Courtney
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Posted: Feb 02 2009 at 11:56am \| IP Logged

My dh had two growing up. I'll ask him his thoughts. I do know they are big chewers. If left inside, they'll chew baseboards and just about anything.

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Courtney in Texas
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CKwasniewski
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Posted: Feb 02 2009 at 3:04pm \| IP Logged

Courtney is right! Make sure you have a space you don't mind being messy.

We had 2 and one was nasty (bit all the time)--he's gone!

and the other is sweet--we love him. So make sure you are getting a nice "personality". If you buy from a breeder, they'll be able to give you some choices. A pet store won't really know enough.

Females are said to be a bit cranky monthly, which seems easier to handle. A male will get "hormonal" for a month or so once a year in early spring("jumping on" kids, perhaps mean tempered) wishing for a mate.

So be ready to move him out to the garage for a while and/or explain some birds and bees! (or you could get a male neutered.)

They are likely to live 8-12 years.

They can be-- more or less--box trained.

hth,
ck

mom2mpr
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Posted: Feb 02 2009 at 3:56pm \| IP Logged

We have a mini rex rabbit that is turning one year old next week. Ds wanted one and his friend who was doing 4H hooked us up with a breeder and we got her as a baby(too cute). Ds is doing great taking care of her. It was key to get a baby as she is used to some "abuse" by younger kids--she is so tolerant.
The only things that are negatives for me are:
--the cage stinks if not cleaned twice a week(ds is good with that after I threatened to send her back)
--when the kids do let her run around, there are usually little "pebbles" that need to be picked up(before the dog gets them)and she does have an occasional pee accident. I don't enjoy that on the carpet. She is getting better as she gets older though.
All in all not as bad as I had anticipated. Good luck with your decision.
Anne
PS-they are really quiet--unlike our dog

KackyK
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Posted: Feb 02 2009 at 7:27pm \| IP Logged

They will chew. If you have any allergy sufferers, then it's very probable they'll be allergic. I was/am, but when we had ours, I was young and we didn't have kids so I just suffered with it.

Otherwise they are great. We even gave ours baths. We had one before dh and I got married, it lived with him as I still lived with my parents. We have pictures of him in his swim trunks in the bath with the rabbit. And he (the rabbit) did eat all of the buttons off of the remote, made it a bit tricky

but my dh said Bunny (yep, we're creative!) was like a dog. Bunny would get excited when dh would come home from work and run around the kitchen (we confined him in the kitchen with a baby gate). He would sort of make grunting noises and nuzzle his nose up against my dh when he would sit on the floor with Bunny. And they are predictable...Bunny got out of the kitchen in the middle of the night when my sil (who was visiting dh) went for a midnight snack, she simply laid a trail of the crunchberries from Captain Crunch from the living room to the kitchen and he came right back in! LOL

They can definitely be box trained. Ours only released a few "pebbles" as someone said

when he would get excited if he was out and about away from his box in the kitchen. And quiet they are! Although dh said he had a friend who use to have several dwarf rabbits that he would take for walks on leash. During one walk the rabbit was so frightened by something that he screamed. Apparently it's loud like a young child screaming. We never had that though!

A friend of mine has had a couple rabbits and the first one she got was for a 4H project. You could add that to the mix too and make it educational! Have fun!

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KackyK

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Matilda
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Posted: Feb 02 2009 at 8:00pm \| IP Logged

Thanks for the great advice. It is nice to hear from people who have had them. We are considering a breed (a Holland Lop) that is considered to be on the more gentle, but curious side. I don't think we would let him have the run of the house unless supervised and I would insist on a cage with a drop tray that could be emptied regularly. We are not ready for another dog until the kids are old enough to take care of it (and not be afraid of it), but I think they could help take care of a rabbit. We can't have a cat because of my husband's allergy to them. He isn't allergic to dogs. I don't know if he would be allergic to rabbits so I guess we should check on that. Do rabbit's have dander?

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Charlotte (Matilda)
Mom to four (11

, 10

, 9

& 5

) an even split for now
with bookend boys and a double girl sandwich
Waltzing Matilda

KackyK
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Joined: May 22 2007
Location: Virginia
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Posted: Feb 02 2009 at 8:14pm \| IP Logged

Good question. I am allergic to cats and dogs. With the rabbit I had some big allergy symptoms, the usual runny nose and all, but if I spent too much closed in time with him, then I'd need my asthma inhaler.

My friend who had several has a child who is allergic. The rabbits were kept (they never had more than one at a time anyways) in a room tucked away in a cage. So he just didn't spend time in that room much and when the rabbit was brought out to play they just vacuumed up after it. He did fine overall with it.

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KackyK

Mom to 8 - 3 dd, 5ds & 4 babes in heaven

Beginning With the Assumption

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