Re-Homing Older Rabbits

[TinksMama]

Hey guys...

I'm having to re-home all of my bunnies for several reasons beyond my control. :cry1: A few are older (ranging from 4-8 years), so I'm not too sure how/where to place them? All these guys are pets, so can't even go to breeding homes. Anyone have any ideas??? I thought about a shelter or rescue, but I don't really want to be a burden on a rescue/shelter. Also how would I ensure they all get good homes where they'll be kept properly?

Thanks for any replies!!

 

[Acacia-Berry]

Call to different shelters/small animal rescues. I know mine would never turn down something like this. They are usually at pretty maximum capacity but the rescue here operates under a very solid group of volunteers who make room for situations like this.
Maybe surrender to a few different rescues if you can to lighten the individual load.

Sorry to hear about this. I wish you and your babies luck.

 

[BinkyBunny]

Doesn't the house rabbit society help with that? If so maybe give them a buzz. Also put them up on Petfinder with their ages and people can decide for themselves. Local pet stores and local rescues may know people who would take them. I'd avoid Craigslist as people seem to impulse buy off of that site. That is a generalization and is not always true.

Also post on this site in the section for rabbits needing homes!

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

Are you able to keep your rabbits until they find a home or is it something that is time sensitive?
If you can keep them until they get adopted, then a rescue could be willing to list them and help with screening adopters. You would get final say about who adopts your rabbits. If it does become time sensitive, the rescue might be able to take in some for fostering if they have room.

You do need to screen potential adopters. Write out a list of questions that you can ask and send to people when they contact you. People who are serious will answer the questions and those that aren't you won't hear from again. From those first questions, you can get a decent idea of how much the people know about rabbits and can ask further questions. If all goes well, you can meet them and let them meet the rabbit(s) they are interested in. If you can, do a home visit and offer to drop your rabbits off. This lets you see where they will be living and give you a bit of closure that they are going to a good home.
If you want, you can do a write up about each rabbit. List what they eat, their schedule, likes and dislikes, what kind of toys they like, litter habits, if they like to travel and anything else you want to put in. Including birthdates, when you got then and other important dates can be helpful as well. It is nice to get info when you do get an older rabbit. Vet records are good as well, even a copy or an offer to have your vet send them to the new vet.

 

[TinksMama]

Thanks for replying. I would have to talk to my friend housing them and see if she could keep them until they all get adopted, then I could talk to a few rescues and see if they could help by listing them and searching for potential adopters.

One of my main concerns with turning them over to a rescue is none of them are spayed/neutered, so I'm extremely nervous about the older ones going through a procedure like that. Do rescues ever make an age exception for spaying/neutering?

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Everyone pretty much has it covered--we wish you luck.

 

[BinkyBunny]

With the spay and neutering I have seen shelters that WILL adopt unaltered rabbits under certain conditions, so it cannot hurt to talk to them and explain your concerns. If they cannot maybe place the older ones on your own as the oldest ones would be pretty old for a neuter/spay!

 

[majorv]

If you want to place the older ones yourself it might take awhile. With the help of a friend we were able to place two of our retired does in a nursing home. They used them as therapy, to give the residents a pet to hold. Our other doe was about 4-5 and it took a good while, but we did find a family who wanted an older rabbit. None of these rabbits were altered.