Pet rabbits - your experience

[Anonymous]

Please share your experience with rabbits. We are considering adding one to our family. I know the technical/logistical stuff, but I just want your experience!

[Anonymous]

They chew everything. Baseboards, power cords.

[Anonymous]

A friend in college had a pair of pet rabbits at his family home and the female one liked to hump the male one. Lol

[Anonymous]

We have fostered a few rabbits for our local animal shelter. It might be something to consider so you can better judge if they are the right pet for your family.

They are cute, fun and smart but they each have a personality and some won’t mind petting and holding and others will hate it. I think the one thing we learned quick is rabbits have super powerful hind legs and can easily leap from your arms quickly. It’s best if you have a open space in a room they can run around in while supervised. They really love it. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

smelly
neurotic - easily scared
not very hardy

[Anonymous]

OP, I worked in rabbit rescue for a dozen years. I've had hundreds of rabbits come through my house as fosters, adoptees, or pet sitting clients. A few things

1) They are like skittish cats. My family always let them run loose (they are easily litterbox trained other than a few stray poops here and there). Only the rare ones sought out your attention, most were okay if you approached them to pet them, but some just hid in the corner and would run as soon as you approached.

2) They need a lot of space to stretch their legs. Cages are okay for overnight, but they really need several hours a day of exercise. Most of mine didn't like hardwood floors, so it was easy enough to make an island for them with area rugs and throw rugs and they'd stay in one room. Some were more adventurous, so we'd throw up baby gates to keep them in one spot.

3) Finding a vet for them is tricky. They're considered "exotic". Make sure you have one lined up who is accepting new patients.

4) They are social creatures. They do best in pairs. They will groom each other, cuddle together, and when they grab onto the same piece of parsley it is like the scene from lady and the tramp with the spaghetti noodle and is adorable. You'll need to get them fixed though, or you get many babies, quickly.

5) They need hay. Their litterbox needs it but they also need to eat it--it helps their digestive system. Ultimately I had to stop with rabbits because i became super allergic to the hay

I find them adorable, relatively low maintenance (clean the litterbox daily, feed veggies once a day), and my favorite ones have basically been cats with long ears.

[Anonymous]

Think of owning a rabbit more similar to owning a cat than it is Owning a “cage animal”.

We have had rabbits for years, and are currently being held hostage by one. He’s free range, litter trained, and just one of the family. He does go into a hutch at night, not for any real reason other than he seems to like it, but I get up quite early so he’s only in there a few hours a day. He is super funny, gets along great with our cat, and generally runs the show.

I’m not sure if you have specific questions about experience, but I’m happy to share, or answer any questions you might have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They chew everything. Baseboards, power cords.

Rabbit teeth grow continuously. They need to chew or their teeth will become overgrown and have to be removed. Dried grass mats, wicker toys, small sticks, cardboard tubes are all appropriate chew items that will save your furniture (but yes, I used command hooks and pvc pipe to get cords off the floor and covered!)

[Anonymous]

I had one and she was pretty great as far as rabbits go, but I wouldn't get one again. The PP who does rabbit fostering makes all the important points, but I'll just reinforce that a rabbit is not like a hamster that can just live in it's cage 23 hours a day (although really a hamster probably hates that too). They need to be out and about in the home, more like a cat.

[Anonymous]

I remember there was a vet on Great British Bakeoff and one of the hosts asked her what animal was her least favorite to treat and she said "Rabbits, they just want to die".

And yeah, you have to be careful with rabbits. My grandma had them and sometimes they'd just die.

[Anonymous]

thanks everyone! I'd never keep a rabbit in a cage. We have a spare room that I thought would be good as a rabbit room.

[Anonymous]

How much space do they need? is it common that they don't like hardwood floors? How likely is it that they will be litterbox trained? If they don't like cages, why are they common classroom pets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember there was a vet on Great British Bakeoff and one of the hosts asked her what animal was her least favorite to treat and she said "Rabbits, they just want to die".

And yeah, you have to be careful with rabbits. My grandma had them and sometimes they'd just die.

So true. Pet rabbits can die of fright. I'm not joking.

[Anonymous]

If you're in MoCo or nearby, Dr. Carole Foster works out of Nebel St. Animal Hospital in Rockville and does see rabbits. She's very good with small animals-- she's our rat vet, and believe me, that's really hard to find! I referred a friend of mine to her, and she sees their rabbit.

[Anonymous]

Rabbits and small children are a bad combination.

A cat that gets squeezed by a toddler will tolerate it (my experience) or will wander away when the small child approaches. A bunny in a cage can't run away. After getting manhandled by a small child, some rabbits learn to use their teeth and claws. This is a lose-lose situation for all.