First Time Rabbit Owner

ergonomics

Hi all,

I'm currently looking into getting a rabbit. My boyfriend and I have never owned a rabbit before so I'm doing lots of research into it. We want to get a small breed and we will also be keeping it indoors mainly.

Does anyone have any tips, advice or things to think about?

Thanks,

Ergo.

Edit: Couple of questions so far.

1. Is neutering and vaccinating expensive? Are rabbits overall an expensive pet to keep?
2. Is it hard to find a 'kennel' that will take a rabbit in if we were to go on holiday?
3. Is it difficult to discourage rabbits from chewing furniture? We live in rented accommodation and are worried about damage to furniture. I've read online and in books that toys should discourage this but is it easy done?
4. Can rabbits be trained not to do certain things, like chewing furniture? I know they can be toilet trained.

Sigma Force

1. Is neutering and vaccinating expensive? Are rabbits overall an expensive pet to keep?

Around the same cost as vaccinating and neutering a cat or small dog. Your vet (make sure they are very experienced with rabbits) will give you the exact cost as vet costs vary a lot. Very rough guide for vaccinations €20 to €25 and neutering/spaying €70 to €120 it all depends on the vet.

2. Is it hard to find a 'kennel' that will take a rabbit in if we were to go on holiday?

It is and also hard to find someone reliable, heard some right horrer stories of late. Good idea to find out first if there is anyone reliable in your area that minds them.

3. Is it difficult to discourage rabbits from chewing furniture? We live in rented accommodation and are worried about damage to furniture. I've read online and in books that toys should discourage this but is it easy done?

I never found them too bad at furniture if you give them plenty of their own toys and hay etc. Confining them to one room of the house esp. to start off with and bunny proofing it as much as possible will help. You can get those cable covers for cables as well.

4. Can rabbits be trained not to do certain things, like chewing furniture? I know they can be toilet trained.

Toilet training they can be trained to pee in one place but they will poop everywhere, neutering/spaying helps a lot with spraying etc. but they will still poop they can't help it but it's easily hoovered up anyway.

If you click on my guineapig site there's a section on before and after care with neutering/spaying rabbits. Also some links to other sites as well.

One idea would be to get a pair of bonded rabbits from rescue to be honest size wise they all need roughly the same amount of space even the dwarfs.
Some rescues have the buns already vaccinated/spayed etc. so you give a donation towards that. It takes some worry out of it esp. for a first time bunny owner.

They do better in bonded pairs as they are really sociable critters.

I think there is a safe anti chew spray for furniture you can get but not sure how well it works, one way is to cover the legs of furniture with timber or the like although that may encourage them more.

Having a large rabbit pen in one room will also help so they have somewhere safe to go when your out so you know they can't get at anything but still have space to jump about. Do double check with the landlord though if not already because if some find out they can be very peed off when people bring pets in.

ergonomics

Hi,

Thanks for that. We're still in two minds about getting a rabbit. I would really like to get one but my boyfriend doesn't think it's a great idea. He thinks it's as much responsibility as a dog/cat in terms of neutering and vaccinating, but without things like loyalty, being able to bring it out for a walk or being able to train it not to do/to do certain things.

He's also worried about what would happen if we went away for the day. He doesn't like the idea of it being in a cage all day but I suggested leaving it free in the bathroom with it's cage as there are no cables or tight spaces for it to get into. It is also a tiled floor so it is easy to clean up any messes.

He basically is a bit concerned about the idea so I think I will just drop it, disappointingly. I don't want to force him to get a pet he doesn't want.

Sigma Force

If you get a pair of bonded buns that are already neutered/spayed they will keep each other company and be happy being together while you are out. Some rabbits are pretty selfish just wanting you to feed and clean them out etc. and others are very affectionate either way if you get a pair they will be happier and will snuggle up together.

Some indoor cages are a good size (check out zooplus.co.uk) which when you have to go out for a good while and need to put them somewhere safe would work. Then for the rest of the time access to a bunny proof room.

They do make great pets though, they can be very sweet and a bit nutty.
Main thing is to have a really good rabbit experienced vet on hand.

joeduggan

ergonomics wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm currently looking into getting a rabbit. My boyfriend and I have never owned a rabbit before so I'm doing lots of research into it. We want to get a small breed and we will also be keeping it indoors mainly.

Does anyone have any tips, advice or things to think about?

is it a rampant rabbit u r after????

Sigma Force

Oh yeh, get used to lots of rabbit inuendo..one of the downsides of being a bunny owner lol

joeduggan

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

Oh yeh, get used to lots of rabbit inuendo..one of the downsides of being a bunny owner lol

ah yeah, but its all in good fun. no harm meant whatsoever.!!!

katiemaloe

Hi, I have had 2 house bunnies in the past. They are great pets and really friendly and fun. They do however chew lots.... my last one ate a lamp cable, phone charger, duvet, books, carpet etc.... I obviously learnt from this and made my place as bunny proof as possible but you do have to tolerate some things getting nibbled.

I would double check with your landlord first because you will be gutted if you get one and then you have to re home it. The bunny will more than likely chew something belonging to the landlord and I'm sure you don't want this hassle.

Have you thought about getting a mouse? I have one and she is a dote.... very cute, tame, friendly and extremely easy to keep. Really entertaining too they are a lot less hassle and you could easily keep one without it bothering a landlord as they need a smaller cage and will have hardly any impact on your home. You can get very pretty coloured mice.... mine is black and white cow print... she's called cow-mouse. I can't recommend mice enough as an easy to keep but really fun pet.

ergonomics

Hi Katie,

Thanks for that! I had a hamster before and kind of want to move up to something bigger, but thanks for the suggestion.

Turns out my OH was trying to put me off getting a rabbit as he had planned to get one for my birthday in two weeks! As such I've been into the pet shop costing all the supplies and that as I want to have enough money for everything plus vaccinations and neutering before I get the rabbit (or the rabbits ).

I also asked in the pet shop about the rabbits they have and was really unimpressed. I was told that the rabbits were 'standard breeds and standard sizes'. I've been doing a lot of research into rabbits and as far as I can see, there is no such thing as a standard size or breed.

Can anyone suggest a good place to get a rabbit in Limerick/Tipperary? I'm willing to travel also, but don't want to keep the bun in the car too long. I'd ideally like a Dwarf breed. Also can anyone suggest a vet in the area who is good with rabbits?

Thanks!

Sigma Force

Limerick Animal Welfare often has buns well worth contacting them, cottagerescue.ie gets the occasional bun in as well not sure if they have any atm.

Not all, but many pet shops haven't a notion about rabbits or rabbit care so unless you can find one you can trust. There's a few that know their stuff.

Good on you for researching it first, so many people jump in to getting rabbits and it's all nice and rosey until they bun matures and starts humping stuff, tearing up stuff or becomes narky and hormonal. Spaying and neutering deals with a lot of those issues.

Plain brown paper bags filled with hay and safe herbs and bits of veggies is hugely popular with rabbits, also those treat balls our previous bun Molly used to love the treat balls where you pop some of their food into it and they roll it around.

They also adored the small cat houses, the soft cat beds as well, as long as they aren't too high up (although rabbits are good at climbing and jumping) I used to get them in Lidl when they had them on offer.

The more space they have the better, you'll get a great kick out of them when you see them racing around the room and sumersaulting about.
They also love if you make a bunny village out of cardboard boxes with holes cut out.

LisaO

Can anyone suggest a good place to get a rabbit in Limerick/Tipperary?

Have a look at:

http://www.michelles-fowl.webs.com/

Have heard good things about her (in relation to ducks & hens) on other forums.