Rabbit pet owners

[raildogg]

For some reason, I have the sudden feeling to have a rabbit as a pet. I have a few questions.

How much is the initial cost?
How does it compare to a cat or a dog in terms of money spent on food etc?
Does it make a mess?

I just love the smell of rabbit hay.

Thanks.

 

[MechaSheeba]

Oh hell yeah they make a mess. If you keep em indoors I mean. If you're gonna cage it or w/e outside than it's not a big deal. But my sister had an indoor rabbit and they pretty much sh!t and piss everywhere and chew the fvck out of anything they can.

 

[SpiderX]

Originally posted by: raildogg
For some reason, I have the sudden feeling to have a rabbit as a pet. I have a few questions.

How much is the initial cost?
How does it compare to a cat or a dog in terms of money spent on food etc?
Does it make a mess?

I just love the smell of rabbit hay.

Thanks.

We got our bunny a little over a month ago and have been learning the ropes.

Initial cost -$45 for the bunny, and about $120 for the cage, shavings, water bottle and food.

Food - is pretty cheap. We have pellets for the bunny. He's gone not even one bag in the time we've had him. He loves Timothy Hay and has gone through one bag of that. We also get him tons of veggies. He loves lettuce and anything leafy. So food is super cheap, 10 bucks for the pellets, 5 for the hay and 1 for lettuce.

As for messes, on the whole he's pretty good. Rabbits are apparently supposed to pick a spot where they go to the bathroom and can be litter trained. We were having problems with him pooping anywhere, but the vet told us it was likely we had given him to much access to the apartment too fast, so he wasn't able to figure out where to go.

So now instead of letting him out for hours at a time, we've only been letting him out for 10-20 minutes to start. We've noticed a big change. No more pooping outside the cage and in the cage he seems to have started to pick one spot where he wants to go. When it's all said in done, we hope to just leave the cage open so he can come and go when he wants.

He's been alright with chewing stuff, we just got some plastic wire covers and it seems to have done the trick. He's got lots of toys, so he can chew on those. You just have to keep your eye on him at all times, at least for awhile.

Overall I recommend getting one! I think we got lucky, our bunny loves attention and loves to sit on your lap for pets.

If you get one, make sure you get the House Rabbit Handbook. It will help immensely.

 

[I Saw OJ]

My brother got one when we were little, and of course being a jealous younger brother I had to have one too, so I got one. Within a few months we must have had over 20 baby bunnies running around our yard, it was quite the sight. They were fairly clean, always going in one spot, not shedding too much. My brothers bunny was really nice and would let you hold it and pet it however mine was a mean little SOB and would bite whenever you reached your hand into the cage...

 

[Crazee]

Rabbits make excellent pets. I have two (make sure you get either two males or two females see thread above for reason )

They will use a litterbox to urinate in and rarely will miss it. As for the pooping no matter how well you train them they will not always hit their litterbox because they do not have the control to save it for one place. However, it is very easy to clean up because they are small round and easily picked up with a paper towel. They will chew on things because their teeth continue to grow so they need to do this in order to keep them in check. Provide them with some wood chew treats and they will be fine with minimal mess.

I would recommend that you stay away from shavings for bedding. Pine and cedar shavings are not recommended as bedding. They exude potentially harmful aromatic compounds that can cause respiratory irritation and interfere with proper liver function, but they also are not absorbent. Stay away from corn cob bedding and clay litters as they can cause intestinal blockages.

I would recommend that you look at Carefresh Bedding if you are going to provide a soft layer of bedding within the cage. For a litter box I would recommend Yesterday's News. You can read more about bedding here.

For more information check out the House Rabbit Society, MediRabbit site, and Hopperhome.

 

[DrPizza]

?!! :x $45 for the bunny, spiderx?! That's insane!

I raise flemish giants; but I keep them outside.

Anyway, for food, go to your local agway and purchase the food in 50 pound bags. My cost = $7 for a 50 pound bag. I have 16 rabbits now; I go through roughly 25 pounds a week. I supplement the food with fresh veggies from time to time; I just toss in unwanted apples, squash, whatever.

I do know people who have had indoor rabbits. They can be litter trained. If they are, then they're no worse than a cat. Some rabbits might chew on all sorts of stuff, others do not; it depends on what you have available for the rabbit (they need to chew on something.) Simply: if the rabbit doesn't learn to be housebroken, just rapidly pull its head back toward its tail to break its neck, skin it, and toss it in a frying pan. I recommend sauteeing it with a nice white wine sauce. Then, go out and get another rabbit. My most expensive rabbit that I've purchased, a registered flemish giant buck, was $15 or $16. I've had dozens of other rabbits in the last couple years; lops, rexes, lion heads.. none ever cost more than $10.

If you're going to cage the rabbit, the size of the cage is dictated by the size of the rabbit when it's mature. I've seen some breeders who keep them confined to incredibly small cages; 2 feet by 2 feet, which I feel is inadequate. My preferred cages were hand-built, and are 6 to 8 feet long and each hold a couple of rabbits. They seem to enjoy each other's company (as long as you don't have 2 males who are prone to fighting.) However, if you have a rabbit, then at a much later date, introduce a 2nd rabbit, you're quite likely to have fighting.

Heck, maybe it's better at this point to simply recommend: Go to the library and check out a book on raising rabbits. I'd definitely recommend spending a few hours reading about raising them before you go out and get one.


Oh, and here's a flemish giant: You can probably guess why the term "giant" is in the name.


Oh, and I have 6 babies flemish giant babies for sale (ready to go in about 5 weeks); $10 each

 

[SLU MD]

my wife's preschool has a dwarf rabbit. they are my favorite because they are small and their poop is small as well. We watch the rabbit in our apartment on the weekend. He is great and ALWAYS poops in his little tray in his cage. We let him roam freely throughout the apt when we are home. They are friendly and will let us pet him and he likes to be around people. As for chewing, that is the main problem. He really likes electrical cords and has chewed threw a few of them. Somehow he doesnt seem to die or even get hurt by it. weird. But he is trained fairly well and we just yell his name and he stops chewing.

rabbits make great clean pets.

 

[DrPizza]

Oh, one other piece of advice when selecting a pet rabbit: Try to cradle the rabbit upside down in your hand. If the rabbit struggles, skip it. If the rabbit is really submissive, you're looking at a wonderful pet - much calmer when being handled, and less likely to scratch you while struggling to get away.

 

[andylawcc]

whao... ATOT DOES know EVERTHING!!!!oneoneonen!

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: andylawcc
whao... ATOT DOES know EVERTHING!!!!oneoneonen!

ATOT is kinda like Wikipedia.... kinda

 

[WildHorse]

BUNS

How much is the initial cost?

Free or on a voluntary donation basis at Humane Society or similar, to help defray the cost of neutering.

How does it compare to a cat or a dog in terms of money spent on food etc?

Way less. Just bags of pellets from the feed store, & tiny tim bales.

Does it make a mess?

They're very 'productive.' Some people can house-train them. Also they shed like crazy. Here, the rabbits hop around in a large fenced area, only in hutch nights (predators around here) & during rain.

Another cost is vet care. Not all vets work on "exotics" & the few who do charge more than a typical vet. Rabbit skin tears very easily, and a small nip from a dog or from the red tailed hawks that hop around the ground after them here really rips rabbits up easily.

I just love the smell of rabbit hay.

Yeah me too. I love hay scent even though allergic. Feed stores sell "tiny tim" bales of timothy hay, midget sized bales, last pretty long.

 

[andylawcc]

Originally posted by: Leros

Originally posted by: andylawcc
whao... ATOT DOES know EVERTHING!!!!oneoneonen!

ATOT is kinda like Wikipedia.... kinda

shhhhhh.... don't say that
Text

 

[SpiderX]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
?!! :x $45 for the bunny, spiderx?! That's insane!

Yah I know, pricey. We got him at PetLand though. And he is a lop, so we didn't really complain.

 

[spaceman]

i have two.
u have to bunny proof any room youll let them out in.
they may scatter the 1st couple times....have a vaccuum ready.
they like to chew on cords,wood, and anything else.
they are wonderful pets and relatively low maitenance all things considered

 

[LumbergTech]

they dont use the bathroom all over the place if you train them, we trained ours to go inside a cat box and she does fine with that, i recommend one with a top on it so that they cant make a huge mess with it, they are relatively low maintenance but they also have some issues..

they can become sick and die quickly, if you notice that they arent feeling well it is very important that you take them to the vet immediately..the vets are pretty good at treating them and its better safe than sorry

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Ughh. my guinea pig was $15, but the cage, water, bedding was like $60 at least, and then my friend and i split lettuce every week from Costco.

 

[PowerEngineer]

I hope you carefully consider your "reasons". Rabbits can live ten years or more, and it's hard to find one a new home if you tire of it. IMHO they are messier than an indoor cat and their perpensity to chew electric cords and everything else means that rabbit-proofing rooms in your house is harder. My wife brought home a rabbit as a Xmas present for our youngest daughter six years ago, and I've regretted every minute of that time.

:thumbsdown:

 

[Howard]

Get a corn snake instead.