HELP! Should I get him?

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emilyasb

emilyasb

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2009
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Location
Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA
There's a little rabbit at my local Atwoods(farm and ranch store) and they have this little grey baby rabbit that's barely bigger than my fist. He/she is sooo cute! I was there buying stuff for my work and I walked right by and the little guy caught my eyes and I instantly scooped him right up and cuddled with the little bunny.

The little bun is really docile! And he's the smallest of all the rabbits in there. He's even smaller than my2month old dwarf rabbit!I've been thinking about the little guy ever since I saw him. I think he's a flemish giant honestly. There's a guy who breeds them and sells them to the Atwoods all the time, so I'm thinking this little bun might be from his ranch, and he resembles a flemmie.

These little rabbits are being sold as meat rabbits, so that's why I want to buy him. I can't stand the idea of him getting killed and eaten.

I have a cage that will adequately house a fully matured flemish giant, and I've ALWAYS wanted one.

Do you all think I should get him? I only have one other rabbit, and he's only 2 months old so getting the two to bond will be easy. I just need help deciding if I should leave him B or go back tomorrow after they open and get him.

Let me know!


 
If he's being sold as a meat rabbit I'd definitely get him! Of course, only if you can support another Bun. But getting him would be saving a life in the long run, so I'd say to do it!
 
MeAndB44 wrote:
If he's being sold as a meat rabbit I'd definitely get him! Of course, only if you can support another Bun. But getting him would be saving a life in the long run, so I'd say to do it!
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Well, I use to have 3 bunnies so I know how to care for more than 1. And hey, February is RESCUE A RABBIT month, so I'll be doing good! Haha.
 
I say do it! Just don't think that bonding them will be easy, because it might not be (especially if they are both males and not fixed)
 
If he's still nursing, which it sounds like he should be based on the breed and size, I would not do it. Tell the owner that you want to buy him once he's weaned (at least 8 weeks for the larger breeds) and that you'll pay more than the other possible buyer--that way he'll keep the bun around for you. It can have really detrimental long-term health effect to separate a bunny from its mom before it's old enough.

Since you know how to take care of bunnies and the work required, it should be fine. They may not bond, but you won't be able to tell until after they're both neutered and the hormones have cleared from their systems.
 
tonyshuman wrote:
If he's still nursing, which it sounds like he should be based on the breed and size, I would not do it. Tell the owner that you want to buy him once he's weaned (at least 8 weeks for the larger breeds) and that you'll pay more than the other possible buyer--that way he'll keep the bun around for you. It can have really detrimental long-term health effect to separate a bunny from its mom before it's old enough.

Since you know how to take care of bunnies and the work required, it should be fine. They may not bond, but you won't be able to tell until after they're both neutered and the hormones have cleared from their systems.
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He's actually at a store right now-or was. He did seem awful small to be there, and I felt bad for him. The store wouldn't have saved him for me even if I would have asked. The breeder sold the rabbits to the store and they were re-selling them.

I went there to get him today and he was gone. Hopefully a family came by and scooped him up, because he was mighty cute. A store worker said that most, if not all, of the rabbits go to pet homes instead of feeder home anyways, so that's probably were the little guy went. I'm just hoping he was old enough to be away from the mother.

There was a little agouti female there however who had a wet, poopy butt and seemed really lazy. You could just poke her and she'd fall over. I don't think she was any bigger than the little grey rabbit I was going to get initially before I found out he was already gone.

I'm contemplating going back and getting her, but I'm worried that if she has a disease or something that she'll give it to Jack. But she may also be too young and in need of some milk.

Any tips on this one?
 
Oh dear! I too hope he got in a good home.

The little female there sounds like she's in serious distress. Baby bunnies with diarrhea can go downhill very fast due to dehydration and the toxins produced by the gut bacteria causing the diarrhea. Once they start acting lethargic, it can be a real battle to bring them back to health.

I would go back, tell the store owners that she's very ill and should go to a vet immediately. They probably won't want to take her, so they may give her to you, but then you should take her to an emergency vet and get her some care.

That would be the most expensive, but kindest thing to do. It's up to you if you can handle the cost. She won't be able to spread anything to your bunnies--this kind of thing is caused by stress and weaning--the GI tract has to change a lot to go from digesting milk to digesting solid food and often this conversion of the gut doesn't go well.
 
I wouldn't do it, personally... Could possibly be some form of Enteritis which, while not contagious, I believe, is in most cases a quick killer in weanlings.

ETA: Then again, I have dealt with it, tried to cure it and well, I did, once, in an older rabbit. I had it wipe out all but two of a litter of nine aged about 5 weeks though, it's not something I would ever mess with again
 
But I don't know if I should go ahead and do it.

I mean, I really don't have the means to afford an extra vet bill, but the college vet here accepts donations, such as sick bunnies or hurt animals, and they'll treat them and find them a home.

Maybe I should do that.


EDIT: Thinking about it now, I could just inform a worker and hope that the bunny will be seperated and taken care of.
 
I think it would be good to tell someone at the store, and if they won't take care of it, ask them to give you the bunny for free and ten you can take it to the college vet.
 
Thanks, Tony. That's what I was thinking about doing.
 
What a hard decision... followed by another hard decision...

I trust that you will make the right decision. Keep us informed :)
 
I went to the store where the little bunnies are and informed a worker about the sick one, which was doing even worse today.

They seperated her and told me that all they could do was put her in her own box and care for her like the others until she 'turns around'.

I then told them that I could take her up to the vet clinic and get her some help, but they said that even though she was sick that they couldn't give her to me, and they have a policy that prevents them from selling any sick animals to customers.

I told them I'll be keeping in contact with them about the little bun and hopefully she'll do better. I've done all I can really do now.

Keep her in your prayers!
 
poor little bun, well done in all your efforts so far, you should be proud of yourself! :) keep us informed on how she goes, she'll be in my thoughts.
 
Poor little thing :(

It sounds like this store is selling animals that are really too young to be sold, and also don't treat their sick animals appropriately. I wouldn't buy a rabbit from them at all; it only funds them keeping more rabbits inappropriately with the hopes of someone impulse/sympathy purchasing one. Sad though you may feel for the bunnies there, buying them really only perpetuates the problem. I say if you have space in your home and in your heart, adopt a bunny from a rescue or someone who can't keep theirs anymore :)
 
RandomWiktor wrote:
Poor little thing :(

It sounds like this store is selling animals that are really too young to be sold, and also don't treat their sick animals appropriately. I wouldn't buy a rabbit from them at all; it only funds them keeping more rabbits inappropriately with the hopes of someone impulse/sympathy purchasing one. Sad though you may feel for the bunnies there, buying them really only perpetuates the problem. I say if you have space in your home and in your heart, adopt a bunny from a rescue or someone who can't keep theirs anymore :)
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Good point. My bunny, Mimah, was actually purchased from there. She was probably way too young since she was able to be kept in a hamster cage until she was big enough for her hutch. She was so small that she even had enough room to binky in the little cage! Here's a link to a picture of the cage so you can possibly get an idea of how tiny she was http://www.bitsforpets.com/images/sa-plastic-cage-image.jpg

I think about it now and the bond I had with Mimah was probably as strong as it was because she needed me for protection, if that makes any sense. But she was a hardy little thing!

Unfortunatly, the little female bunny died, as I was informed when I called. Well, they actually weren't too precise on what happened to her, I asked about her and they said that they couldn't find her (as in thebox they put her in) so they presumed that she must have died and was 'done away with'.

This makes me so frustrated, because I should have demanded to buy her. She would still be alive. But hey, what can I do? I can't save every sick bunny.

Sorry for the upsetting update, everyone.
 
Unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do. Like Ren said, it's not really helpful to buy animals from stores that keep them in bad condition. That just rewards the store and keeps the process of keeping them in poor conditions going. If you had been able to get her for free, it would be different.

The best thing you can do about places that are not treating animals correctly is to educate, educate, educate. I work with the public as part of my volunteer work and the amount of bad knowledge about rabbits out there is astounding. If, once the store is given the correct info, they still don't take care of their animals, you can do things like tell your friends to boycott the store, call the animal control officers, and maybe report them to the head office if it's a chain.

Another thing you can do if you want to help out bunnies is to volunteer or adopt from shelters and rescues. That way, you can also educate the public and help get abandoned bunnies a good home.

I do think the rules are different in an emergency health situation like what that little girl bunny was going through. It's really sad, and I think there may be a cruelty to animals/failure to provide veterinary care case there--if you see it again, I would contact your local Animal Control. Through volunteering, I personally know an Animal Control Officer, so I would know who to call if I saw this; you can look online or something as well.
 
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