Kay in Cal Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 My 5 year old is very interested in having a pet bunny. We really don't know much about them. We've always just had cats--we have three, and he loves the cats, one in particular. Dh and I are willing, but we don't really know what bunny ownership would entail. So... what are the pros/cons of having a bunny? What would we need to buy? How much care do they take? We live in a traditional so-cal suburban home--we have a decent sized walled backyard, but summers are hot here... do bunnies need to live outside? Inside? See how little I know! And where would I go online to educate myself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 The House Rabbit Society is a great place to start. Bunnies make great pets, but they are fragile. You can keep them indoors and litter train them. They are great pets! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doodle Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 what are the pros/cons of having a bunny? I love bunnies. The only con for me was my husband's allergies. What would we need to buy? hutch, litter, water bottle, food bowl, rabbit food, treats, litter pan, salt lick. Save your card board boxes and toilet paper rolls. How much care do they take? Daily they need fresh water, food, lovin'. litter should be changed often. With one maybe every 2-3 days. It is the stale urine that smells. And where would I go online to educate myself? Definitely check out the House Rabbit Society. You can adopt a rabbit at a local chapter. For a young child, I suggest adopting an adult rabbit as well as a large breed rabbit. I know my local chapter also takes care of having a rabbit spayed or neutered before they are adopted out. And yes, I feel that is important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Just wanted to say good luck. We have tried a pet bunny twice. They have both died within a month! The first one looked like it was having a seizure and just keeled over. The second one got handled too much at dd's birthday party and died later that afternoon. We are sticking to cats and hamsters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 We had house rabbits for years. Go to the House Rabbit website...it has all you need. Ria (who does NOT like bunnies to be kept in hutches outside) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doodle Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Ria (who does NOT like bunnies to be kept in hutches outside) :iagree: I absolutely agree! My hutches were always inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Ria (who does NOT like bunnies to be kept in hutches outside) :iagree:, too! Our buns live in the house in a condo built with office cube panels and zip ties. It was inexpensive, for the size of the cage, and easy. You can see an example here: http://www.3bunnies.org/oliver_nic.htm We adopted a bonded pair of adult rabbits last fall. They are very sweet, but I must admit, my 7 yo dd is disappointed that they aren't as cuddly as she had hoped. Rabbits are NOT like cats and dogs. Most do not care to be picked up (some tolerate it), but do enjoy floor time and being able to hop over for head scratches on THEIR terms! Personally, I have enjoyed this aspect of watching them and gaining their trust. Good luck! Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 I forgot to mention, if you garden, the rabbit manure you'll get is an added bonus :D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vettechmomof2 Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 I would recommend checking out the first year Rabbit 4-H program called "What's Hoppening". It goes into great detail cages and sizes, food, care, personality, breeds, etc. It is a great way for your child to really learn a lot about the care of rabbits. With that said it depends on what you want the rabbit for. The larger sizes tend to be more laid back but mini rex are smaller sizes, easy to find and tend to be very sweet. Just lilke other critters though each one will have their own unique personalities, somedays crabby and want nothing to do with you and other days they want a lot of attention. We have 3 and their cage set ups are in our dining room. For my daughters male, he has 2 safeguard cages put together so he has some extra room while in the cage. Our 2 females are on top one another with 1 being in the double Ferret Nation cage(very easy to clean and to handle the bunnies from) with the other female being in a large safeguard cage. 2 bunnies are completely litterbox trained but my female only pees in the litterboxes. They need toys, but you need to make sure they are safe. We also give ours 3 sided wooden hiding boxes for private time if they want it. Plus they can chew them up and are easy to clean. You need to brush the bunnies, give good food and fresh water daily, we give timothy hay daily and that is where the biggest mess comes from. There is hay everywhere. We clean the litterboxes twice a day(cause they are in the dining room) and clean the whole cage weekly. We have a puppy play yard that we divide up into sections and let the rabbits out into each section to strech ttheir legs. We set up a small obstacle course for them with ramps and tunnels and things that my daughter trained then for in the playyards. If you want to get into rabbit showing, there is a lot involved but ARBA is the group to look into for that. There are many rabbits available for adoption or to buy from breeders. Good luck, We have a lot of fun watching and interacting with our rabbits. My daughters male is a love but does not LIKE to be held at all. Otherwise he is the best rabbit ever. He will be 6 this year. Our females will be 1 year in June and 1 is a sweet heart and the other tends to get very cage protective and crabby. So different personalities are very apparent between them. Let me know if you would like pictures of our cages or rabbits and I can send those to you. Or I should say my daughter will as she is very proud of her bunnies.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vettechmomof2 Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 I forgot to mention, if you garden, the rabbit manure you'll get is an added bonus :D. Def. We use it and have some really great weeds right now. i cannot wait to get those out and start prepping again. The soil is supperb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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