Bringing a pet rabbit to a pet store

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pingedward35

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Is it okay for me to bring my tamed pet bunny (wearing a harness and inside a pet carrier) to public places such as a pet store? I’m worried some bunny-advocate-extremist will accuse me abusing the bunny because they assume the bunny is going to be frightened outdoors.

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That rabbit does look very young. Young buns can stress even more easily than older rabbits. You haven't had her that long (not even a month, right?). I wouldn't be taking her anywhere until closer to 6 months of age. Rabbits aren't puppies. With puppies, sure, early training is great. For rabbits, it only causes stress. They train best and easiest once they are older and once they've passed that hormonal stage (which has not yet come with yours). Bear in mind that rabbits hide stress-- that's a prey defense to not show weakness.

If you take her out, you're more likely to get oohs and aahs over her but I would advise against putting that stress on her now. Once she's older, she may end up being one of those rabbits that is ok with being taken out. Then you can do so confidently. But doing so now isn't going to be what gets her "used to" it. That will be an innate characteristic. Forcing it now, on the other hand, could cause an opposite reaction and make her even more afraid of being taken out. This would be a similar reaction as what some rescues have observed where an abundance of early handling of very young rabbits seems to result in those rabbits being more wary of human interaction.
 
I say hard no on a pet store -- the nature of your rabbit aside, people often bring their dogs in pet stores and it is very likely most dogs will either cause your rabbit to react in a stressful way or the dogs will act in a way (either towards your rabbit or not) that can be dangerous/cause stress.
 

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