Can rabbits where collars?

[hunnybunny63]

over the winter i am planning on having my 2bunnies locked up at night and letting half of my pen re grow so duringthe day they will only have one half between them and as they dont geton at all, i am thinking about letting them take it in turns to runloose in our garden. the garden is fully sealed, as far as i am aware,and i have let them run around for a few hours during the day beofrebut someone has always been in and they only get to do this occaionallyso its sort of a treat to them. so i am wondering if i let them goloose everyother day they might think it less of a treat and start totry and get out to explore new places! sothe thougt of mybunnies running away and perhaps no one knowing where they had comefrom gave me the idea of meputting a cat collar on each ofthem then if they did happen to escape, hopefully they never will, thena contact number would be on their collar so they could be traced backto my house.

what do others think?

 

[naturestee]

Nope. Cat collars are a very badidea. Rabbit bones are very fragile, way more fragile than acat's, and if the collar caught on something it could accidentallybreak the rabbit's neck. I wouldn't even trust the breakawaycollars with rabbits.

Maybe you could get a moveable pen, like a dog exercise pen?You could move it around your yard but still keep them confined.

 

[hunnybunny63]

naturestee wrote:

Nope. Cat collars are a very bad idea.Rabbit bones are very fragile, way more fragile than a cat's, and ifthe collar caught on something it could accidentally break the rabbit'sneck. I wouldn't even trust the breakaway collars withrabbits.

Maybe you could get a moveable pen, like a dog exercise pen?You could move it around your yard but still keep them confined.

ok but i already have a big run but i am letting half of it grow back

thanks for your help

 

[gentle giants]

How about getting them microchipped? That way ifsomeone finds them and takes them to a shelter, they will automaticallybe scanned for a chip, and you would get a phone call to come pick themup.

 

[shootingstar]

gentle giants wrote:

How about getting them microchipped? That way if someonefinds them and takes them to a shelter, they will automatically bescanned for a chip, and you would get a phone call to come pick themup.

that sounds like a good idea. Just wondering, how much those microchipscost? I think those chips are getting more & more commonespecially for dogs & cats.

 

[hunnybunny63]

i know its common for cats and dogs tog et them chipped but do many people have rabbits done to?

 

[missyscove]

My Timmy came with a microchip from theshelter. I know at the shelter we chip the public's animalsfor $25. The problem with a chip is that they actually haveto take it somewhere to get scanned. Also, dogs and cats arebigger, but I think that mostly since rabbits have thin skin, I canactually feel the chip between his shoulders. It dosn'tbother him, but it's a little weird.

 

[missyscove]

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[mndpnd2298]

NO!!! When I got my first rabbit I sawcollars at the store that were actually labled rabbit collars so I gotone because I thought it would be cute and I didnt know anybetter. After a few days I woke up one morning and realizedsomething was really wrong with the rabbit. She had somehowgotten the the collar in her mouth and it got stuck and she wassuffocating... as she was taking what seemed like her last strugglingbreaths I managed to cut it off... she got it so tight that you couldno longer get it open... after that she was fine but I almostlost her and I would have never been able to forgive myself... now sheis 2 1/2 years oldand after that first experience I never doanything with her that I dont research first. But I reallyadvise not putting a collar on the rabbit. I have looked intomicrochipping for my other animals and in that research have found thatmany people do microchip their rabbits so that could work for you andit is a really simple process... hope this helps

 

[Rogue]

Lots of people here get their rabbitsmicrochipped . I wouldn't advise a collar unless your bunnyis under CONSTANT supervision and not for full time use. Infact, I wouldn't advise a collar at all , but if you want to use one,only put it on when your bunny is free-ranging and might run out, anduse the littlest ID disc you can - the last thing you want is for thetag to get caught on something. Certainly DON'T leave it onall the time, and DON'T leave your bunny alone when wearing it.

Would it not be safer to put a little ID capsule on a harness and slipthat on during playtimes when your bun could escape?

 

[hunnybunny63]

ok i wont get a collar as that sounds like arealy bad idea but both my rabbits wear5 rabbit harneses could i leavethat on tehm?

 

[naturestee]

I would only use harnesses while you'resupervising them. Those can get caught in things too, andI've seen rabbits get paws stuck in harnesses while they're trying toget them off. Rabbits don't really have the right body buildfor wearing things.

I think microchipping would be a good idea if there's a chance theymight wander off. Check with your local shelters to see ifthey scan rabbits for microchips and what brands their scanner detects(not all scanners read all brands, unfortunately).