Baby Juliet wrote:
1. Some rabbits do stink. I had 3 rabbit brothers that smelled like people with B.O. even though they were clean. Most don't stink.
Normal rabbit manure don't stink but you can tell a rabbit is sick because their poop stinks. Urine is a different story.
2. Many apartments do not allow rabbits. My first rabbits were given to me by a person forced by apartment management to rehome them.
3. Not all rabbits make good pets. Just like dogs and cats, each is an individual with different behavior. Many rabbits will bite and scratch no matter what while others never bite nor scratch. I've said lionheads and holland lops are really mellow only to have others here disagree.
4. Most of what you find in your research are written by people who are biased. People who didn't have good rabbit experiences don't bother bashing rabbits.
5. Rabbits can drop death with no obvious reasons. If you miss a symptom, they could die before you reach the vet. They require specialists and not your neighborhood vet. A vet may even refuse to see a rabbit. One of the most common question is "Why did my bunny die?"
6. It's very hard to rehome a grown pet rabbit.
I have to say I agree with this (perhaps apart from the stinking part
, but then again, I only have two rabbits, so maybe I was lucky!!!!!
).
As you are (I am guessing) quite young, both your parents should be keen on the idea, and want the rabbit themselves, and be willing to take the many hours of time needed to clean them, play/socialise with them (VERY important) and to watch them very closely. As was rightly stated, rabbits can hide symptoms incredibly well- you need to completely dedicated to notice these things, and can drop in health seemingly very rapidly. This needs to be detected, and can only be, if the rabbit is in your company for a good many hours of the day.
Also, I would say it was pretty much impossible there would be a dorm that would allow ANY rabbits. I can't say I have EVER heard of that happening, except illegally against contracts.
Therefore, your parents would have to look after him, and therefore want to.
In your second and third year, I also doubt you would find anywhere (within your very limited budget), that will allow you to have animals, unless you worked your absolute socks off, saved a LOT of money, and rented a place of your own which allowed them, which I think it very unlikely, as you'll be a very tight financial situation at uni.
So ultimately, your parents are going to be the sole carers for him for a while (and while your there, if you are quite young), so they really will have to want to look after him.
Also- the financial part. Rabbits are really quite expensive- more so than cats or dogs. Are your parents aware of this, because they will have to provide the money (Unless you are older than I think you are?).
I know you have done lots of research, and that is really fantastic, and I respect you for that- SO many people run headlong into getting a pet without researching, and that often ends up with a poor homeless animal, sometimes with issues.
But rabbits are nothing like hamsters etc. Hamsters are wonderful, interesting pets, that obviously deserve respect and great housing etc. like ALL animals do, however they really do not take up nearly as much time, money or energy as rabbits do.
Do you/your parents have several hours a day for scrubbing and cleaning? Do you/your parents have at least 3 hours a day for exercise/socialising? What about when you are gone to college? Will he get that exercise time out of his pen?
I guarantee you'll be making a few emergency trips to the vet a year, even if its just being cautious (and you notice the signs of course), and that will cost hundreds of pounds, on top of the hundreds of pounds for multiple vaccinations, hay, food, housing etc. etc.
I took my Benji to the vet for a routine vaccination, and just to check up on a bald patch. Nothing has been done about the bald patch yet- no tests, but because I went on Easter Saturday (the cautious owner I am
), it cost 116 pounds. Unexpectedly. I am taking him BACK to the vets for tests on his bald patch, which I have no doubt will cost me a vast amount of money, and then perhaps more tests after that, if the others are negative.
It's a life-time commitment, really, and if your parents will have to play a part in that, then they need to be totally, willingly committed, which it doesn't really sound like they want to me.
You need to want to be.
Once you get a rabbit, that's a MAJOR part of your life for perhaps 10, even 15 years.
Sorry for being so grim- just it's a very important issue.
Incidentally- have you ever owned any pet before? If you haven't, then I'm not sure a rabbit is the place to start. If you really want something bigger and with more responsiblit than a hamster, I would suggest a rat or a guinea pig, or something of the sort.
Remember, you have you whooolee life to get a rabbit. Waiting a few years won't hurt at all
, and then, you might actually decide 'phew, I don't really want one anymore'.
