Does anyone have a rabbit ?

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Ruskii

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Jun 21, 2000
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It looks like we are getting a rabbit :eek:
A colleague of mine has a third rabbit that is not being accepted by her existing two rabbits, he’s only 15 weeks old so a baby I suppose ? After that conversation with my colleage my boss then overheard me say ‘Well we don’t have a hutch or run yet so, we’ll need to fine one.’ She then offers me her double story one that she had for her two rabbits that passed away last year, as well as the hutch she’s offered us a run. So that’s the rabbit’s ‘stable and paddock’ sorted …
My husband and I have been talking about getting one anyway for a little while a pet for our daughter (I think he’s more keen to be honest!) , so I’ve been doing research over the last month or so and have seen about the minimum hutch size requirements, runs, and other bits along with that really they need a companion. So given his age, we are thinking we need to get him a companion as soon as, then down to the vets for further vaccinations etc.
Do I need to be thinking about anything else for him ? Do rabbits play with toys at all ? I have a dog, but he’s absolutely fine with rabbits and won’t care about him at all. We don’t have a cat, although there are neighbourhood moggies around, but they don’t come too close as the dog keeps them out of the garden ..
Am I missing anything else ?
 
Juliecwuk has a rabbit, so does Maria Mckenna. I used to have a house rabbit too, but its a long while ago and things have moved on a bit. I'm sure you'll get loads of tips from folk on here. Enjoy, they're great pets.
 
I used to keep rabbits but had problems with them tunnelling out of their run, and foxes tunnelling in (which unfortunately didn't end well for the rabbits.) This has put me off keeping them again, but just make sure their run is very secure and you may need to put wire over the grass as well to stop them tunnelling out. Mine nibbled through chicken wire so use something tougher than that!
 
I have had rabbits all my life.

You can give them cardboard boxes with food in, balls, shelves to hop on, tunnels to run through and lots of shop toys, but none of mine ever play with them!

I always think its best to get them spayed/neutered.

Oh and I would handle him a lot while he is still young, I have had a lot of aggressive bunnys because they were not handled as youngsters (resues)

When you introduce rabbits consider doing it in the kitchen/ garage or somewhere neither rabbits has been before. And I would always go for an opposite sex companion as I have always found them easier to bond.

You must try and make your garden fox proof if you can and I suggest keeping your rabbit inside if possible at night or adding extra wire and bolts to the cage as foxes are really relentless. Any questions feel free to ask, I know quite a bit about them would be happy to help if I can
 
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I have 2 house bunnies, both lionheads. To be honest they do not make the best pets, interaction is definitely on their terms! I have a brother and sister both neutered, they are 3 now and I've had them since babies. They like having things to sit under, mine adore curly kale and those apple crunchie treats you can get, they will eat those out of my hand!
 
We had rabbits when the kids were little - we got two 'girls' and ended up with 8 rabbits, after they unexpectedly produced 6 babies. I had all the males neutered. Ours had hutches with outdoor runs attached but they had the run of the garden when we were around. They were quite annoying because I thought they should be happy they weren't cooped up in a hutch all day long like some rabbits, but they obviously weren't at all grateful because they spent all their time trying to escape.

They didn't play much with toys, they played with each other and were very entertaining to watch - the games where one runs towards another and the second one jumps vertically up in the air so the first one can run underneath are funny. We had a cat at the time, he used to watch the rabbits with interest until the daddy rabbit attacked him and gave him a really nasty bite on his leg. He kept well out of the way after that.

I think the treat the rabbits liked most was melon skins.

And that's all I can remember!

A friend had two house bunnies and one was really funny about her wearing skirts - it used to sit in the corner and thump if she appeared in a skirt. It obviously preferred her usual jeans.
 
I think they are lovely. We don't have tame rabbits per se, but seem to have a couple who 'live here'. They aren't afraid of me, one in the raised stone flower bed this morning, gazing at me as I left for work, but didn't bother about running - grr!!!

Have done some weed killing on the grass on our gravel yard and now worry about them eating the weed killer - yes, I know I am pathetic!!!
 
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I have my tame rabbits here. A few years back I had one come take carrots out of my hand. She was very old and one snowy winter she got very thin. OH used to give her carrots last thing at night in the snow. She died in my arms (literally) but I think it was just her time. Sadly her baby who was tame that she brought with her got nipped by someones dog who happened to be working here for me. I buried her as Poppins (her mum) wouldn't leave her and after a whole day I got worried.
The two tame ones now are funny, one looks bit like the Caramel bunny, lovely long eyelashes. She comes right up if I sit still a while.
 
Thanks for all the help, this bunny has been handled each day by the current owner's children and is quite friendly apparently.

We're all set to buy a brand new hutch tomorrow and I've been doing adequate research on the rabbit welfare pages to look at sizes, have also enquired at the local RSPCA about some young females they have, that they are looking for homes to go to a neutered male. I'd rather try and rescue a young one than buy one from a pet store.

That makes sense about introducing them on new territory. To make the garden fox proof would be difficult I think but we have no issue in bringing bunny into the conservatory at night (dog sleeps out there and is safe) to keep them safe at night somehow. Would we need another hutch ?
 
We have foxes regularly in our garden but our rabbit stays in his hutch out there in summer and we havent had any problems HOWEVER his hutch is like a fortress!

Double wire on the front, the really strong stuff and I think about 11 bolts in total on all the doors. Its a really solid hutch too and lots of places for him to hide so he feels safe. Personally I would never leave a rabbit in one of those hutch/run combi things overnight as they are not secure enough.

If you bought him in could put him in another run/ hutch or just let him have free run of the area, they are quite clean, the majority of mine have been completely toilet trained into a dirt tray with no problems
 
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Sunshine-x said:
I have 2 house bunnies, both lionheads. To be honest they do not make the best pets, interaction is definitely on their terms! I have a brother and sister both neutered, they are 3 now and I've had them since babies. They like having things to sit under, mine adore curly kale and those apple crunchie treats you can get, they will eat those out of my hand!
Click to expand...

You're so right about the interaction. My old rabbit never wanted to play when I wanted to. Even so, I still loved him dearly.
 
I did have a wild black rabbit here last year, who grew up and had a black baby. Am sad because haven't seen black Mummy or black baby recently - they could be off in one of the fields I guess, or one of the grey ones who seems to have taken to my straw in the barn as its burrow might have chased it off I guess - or maybe a fox took them - grr.
 
We've got a black bunny here, it lives near the woods. Not sure if it is the same one or that the original bred as its going back a few years since we first spotted it.
 
Yes we have recently a few months ago acquired a 2yr old rabbit. I love her so so much!!

She is amazing, follows me/Sophie (18months old now) and the dogs around the garden. She roams free in the garden during daylight hours and comes running to the hutch at night for putting away, though I will have to buy her a run I think for the winter as I def want her in before dark.

We were all set to get her a rescue companion but tbh she has always been on her own and she is so utterly friendly that I feel she isn't really lacking a companion. And with the dogs/Sophie I don't want extra stress of keeping an eye on two in the garden!
 
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Well I collected him on Wednesday and he's a little dude :D He was inside with us for two days getting used to us and had run of the house when we were home. But he decided one corner of the dining room was his toilet so that soon stopped ! He's now out in his hutch but it's been made more secure with wire and bolts. He will happily come up for food, hop into your lap for a cuddle and just be around he's so friendly !

I've been clicker training him and he now does high fives ! :D
 
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Our house bunny at my parents chose the corner in the kitchen near the underneath stair cupboard. We just used old nappies (terry ones not disposable!) and washed them after use. He used to ruckle them up a bit but on the whole was quite tidy.
Golly just realised how weird that sounded! He didn't wear them lol they were placed in the corner.
 
I have a giant lop eared rabbit, he is adorable lives in a big shed and has a dog flap too get into a fenced off grass area. He was well handled from a baby and loves his head stroked. The more room they have the better, he loves to stand up and when he is he is taller than two of my dogs. He gets on well with the dogs they interact with him through the fence, cute!
 
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He's just come on in leaps and bounds, he's such a friendly thing and he's lovely.

Curley kale is a definate favourite as well, as soon as he hears the packet rustling when I have opened the fridge door, he's there at my feet !
 
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