Adopting a bunny in a couple weeks, a few questions..

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3willowsbunny

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This site is excellent and I am learning a lot about rabbits, even though I have been around rabbits since birth (a long long time ago!). We have never adopted a bunny before, my last two were from a pet shop and they were 8 weeks old or so when I got each of them, tiny tiny babies! We will be going to probably 2 humane societys looking for our new addition. My question is should we pick him or her or should we let him/her pick us? I have 10 betta fish and I know "the look" (8 of my 10 picked me, 2 were in such poor shape in the stupid little cups I HAD to take them home and save them!), they now all know their names and are smarty fish! Do older buns give you "the look"? Did your bun pick you?? Our whole family will be going to choose the bun but he/she will be mostly my pet should I let one just pick me? :rabbithop
 
Perhaps pick each other!

I don't know what kind of accommodation arrangement they'll have there, but it's entirely possible that a rabbit will come up to the door and seek your attention (probably for food lol). Other times, you might see one and know. With my Oren, he was so unsocial that all I could see of him were the tips of his tiny ears and I knew he was The One, and he was! Just go and see what happens, I guess!
 
My two rescues I got from Tennessee and never saw them until they were in my car being driven home! So I was way past the point of no return!

Vanessa
 
Well for me, I adopted mine for the Cleveland APL. They have a great website and app that has a list of the animals, what breed, how old , so I checked it often until I found one that I liked. With patrick , I just knew right away when I looked at his picture. Dolly on the other hand, I went to the APL having to decide between her and another , Dolly was out looking at me while the other was hiding in her house, so I just took it as a sign and choose Dolly. Plus, she was the perfect age for patrick and now a perfect couple! :) The APL is soooo much better then a pet store because not only do you feel good that you rescued an animal but you don't have to get them fixed, pay for a vet visit and only cost about 15$.

For my 9-year old cat, Bella , I remember being at the APL and there is like 100 cats there , but for some reason , she caught my eye and reached out to me. My other cat Wally, my mom opened the cage and he just jumped in her arms. My parakeets, they were my second choice after I got sick doves and 1 died :( . My betta fish , was a present from my sister-in-law. So I guess my answer is that you pick them and they pick you , its a mutal thing ;)
 
Me and my bunny pretty much picked each other at the pet store! I thought she was the liveliest and prettiest out of all the rabbits there, and when I came closer to look at her she kept on acting cute. Anyway, woah, 10 bettas! I only have one, but I think they're fascinating creatures :)
 
Hi & :welcome1
From my experience with my "pets" of all species, I think you choose each other when you get to choose. Kind of like marriage you both must say, "I do!" lol And yes, I think that is a good analogy. lol Also to add to the marriage analogy, for me it is a lifetime commitment (Til death do us part.).

Hope you find that perfect bunny soon! Oh, & please update us!
 
I got Nala and Gaz from a breeder; I chose to look at lionheads first because they're so unique and within five seconds of arriving at their cage, I was pointing to Nala - something about her just stood out. In retrospect, having realized she's capable of issuing telepathic commands, I suspect she put the idea in my head to pick her. I went to look at the Hollands next, not even sure if I was going to get two bunnies, and Gaz really stood out right away (I think Nala may have had a hand in that, too).

A couple nights before attending an orientation class for the HSPCA's foster program, I was browsing their website and checked out the animals. The bunns were cute, but something about "Thumper's" picture really stood out to me... something about his aura and airplane ears. I had no intention of getting a third rabbit, but I wanted to meet him anyway. Yeah, Norman (formerly known as Thumper) lives with us now. When I met him, he seemed like he wanted to go home with me. As soon as I got him home and he'd had a couple hours to settle in, he acted like "Why haven't I been here all along?" Even Nala and Gaz seem to like him enough that I think I'll be able to bond them into a trio - Normie simply belongs here!

I also impulse-purchased a kitten once. I had no intention of getting a cat, and really wasn't in a position to as I was living at my mom's house and we already had a cat... but I knew I'd be moving to my own apartment in about a month (she did have to stay in my bedroom for that month, though). I went to Petsmart for something or other... normally, I have no problem loving on the shelter kitties and then putting them back and walking off. I picked up lots of cute kittens - they were all adorable as could be, but I put them all back without a problem. Then I picked up this tiny 3 month old gray ball of fluff. All the other kittens had acted like kittens - squirmy and wriggly and hyper - but as soon as I pulled this one up to my chest, she snuggled between my breasts/curled into a ball, closed her eyes and started purring her butt off. I HAD to take her home. Forked over the $50 adoption fee and walked away with the best cat I've ever owned - we were like soul-mates for the rest of her 7 year life.

The cat we already had when I got her was purchased in a similar way. My mom was NOT one to impulse-adopt an animal during a routine trip to Petsmart any more than I am - she could look at all the cats and then go home without one, no problem. Suffice it to say, I was shocked when she came home one day, knocked on my door and proceeded to plop a huge orange and white cat down on my bed. His tail was very scruffy on the end from him swishing it back and forth against the cage bars for so long - he was an adult, at least a few years old, and had been waiting quite a while for someone to finally adopt him. He was very unhappy about being a shelter cat and wasn't exactly outgoing and friendly at the shelter display in the Petsmart. Mom saw something in him, though, and felt like she *needed* to bring him home. Once he was out of the cage and in a real home, he turned into an amazing cat. He slept on my bed every single night that summer. It broke my heart when I went away to college about 3 months after we got him and would no longer sleep with me when I came home for winter break - he never did fully forgive me for leaving for so long :(.

Our psychotic kitten, "Dusty" was also a Petco or Petsmart cat (Jay says Petco, but I think he's got them mixed up because I've been in both a lot and have only ever seen shelter animals at Petsmart). Jay was actually there to get a kitten, so it wasn't an impulse thing. He was looking around at all of them when he saw the little girl standing right beside him pick up a teeny, tiny kitten by the NECK. Didn't pick it up properly, didn't even pick it up by the scruff... picked it up by the NECK, like that was a perfectly acceptable thing to do!

He glanced around and saw that no one was even paying attention/monitoring the kid... his hand was right beside her head already, so he smacked her in the face - not hard enough to actually hurt, but hard enough to startle her into dropping the kitten and running to her parents, screaming/crying because she didn't even know what had just happened to her.

Normally, pretty much anyone (even Jay) would consider it wildly inappropriate to pop some stranger's kid in the face... but it's utterly ridiculous for a 5-6 year old girl to see nothing wrong with grabbing a kitten by the neck. He (mostly) jokingly commented that she was lucky he didn't pick HER up by the neck so she'd know what it felt like; I said he should've done that to her parents :p. I mean, really, how do you not teach your kid not to pick an animal up by the neck AND leave them unattended around live animals??

After rescuing the kitten from that little girl's clutches, Jay decided that she was "the one" and promptly adopted her. She's psychotic and obnoxious, but we wouldn't trade her for anything.

I've never gone wrong with picking a pet through intuition, which is as much about being open to which pet wants to choose you as it is about making a choice yourself. Sometimes you just KNOW - you can't explain it, but something about a certain animal just "clicks" for you.
 
When I got Gandalf he was only about 8 weeks old and I think we picked eachother. He was one of only 3 rabbits they had but after looking at them all I kept coming back to him and there was just something about him, then he didn't want to be picked up but when I let him sniff me and stroked him he calmed right down and seemed to be saying 'okay, you're good, I will come home with you' and we gelled from the get go.

It's weird though, picking animals, because my parents wanted a new kitten since their cat died any I was looking at the ads online for kittens and their was one that just called to me and said 'this is the one for them' and after 2 minutes of seeing the kitten they both fell in love and took her home. I'd like to believe that when it comes to the right person looking for the right animal the universe matches them up.

I'm sure when you go to look for a bunny you will find the right one, they are probably waiting patiently for you right now :inlove:
 
I have 10 betta fish and I know "the look" (8 of my 10 picked me, 2 were in such poor shape in the stupid little cups I HAD to take them home and save them!), they now all know their names and are smarty fish!

Ya, 10 betta's! Don't you have to keep them in separate tanks or else they will fight? Mine has a few neon tetras with it that is supposed to be safe, but a few have disappeared over the last few months.
 
lol. Its just the one , Dragon. He is a big grump. I used to have 6 , then 5, then 4 , then 3...
 
Hmmm. It'd be interesting if it got down to the final one and he kept it around... or if it got down to the final one and DRAGON disappeared and it turned out it was one of the tetras behind all the "disappearances". :p
 
I got my bun from a breeder off of craigslist. I asked what colors she had available and she had a black buck. We set a time and place to go get him. She knew he would be a 4-H bunny for my daughter. And so we brought Mason home that day. He sat in my lap the whole ride home. Just as sweet as can be. He is now 4 mos old. He is a ham and a 1/2. I'll walk in,in the morning and he's pulling at my pant leg and scratching at it for attention. I'm glad I trusted the breeder, he is a doll! So I didn't even know about the breed that much just that they were small and in the size range we were looking for. Now I think we'll only have Polish rabbits!
 
Our psychotic kitten, "Dusty" was also a Petco or Petsmart cat (Jay says Petco, but I think he's got them mixed up because I've been in both a lot and have only ever seen shelter animals at Petsmart). Jay was actually there to get a kitten, so it wasn't an impulse thing. He was looking around at all of them when he saw the little girl standing right beside him pick up a teeny, tiny kitten by the NECK. Didn't pick it up properly, didn't even pick it up by the scruff... picked it up by the NECK, like that was a perfectly acceptable thing to do!

He glanced around and saw that no one was even paying attention/monitoring the kid... his hand was right beside her head already, so he smacked her in the face - not hard enough to actually hurt, but hard enough to startle her into dropping the kitten and running to her parents, screaming/crying because she didn't even know what had just happened to her.
Is it wrong that I chuckled at this particular adoption story? :cool:

I just chose my buns. I fell in love with their pictures on the breeder's website and that was that. I was looking for a small pet and hadn't quite decided what I wanted, when I was browsing the area for small pets for adoption. I happened across a photo of the itty bittiest little black bunny, posing so perfectly, making big eyes at the camera and fell in love! I met him a few days later and held him for an hour petting him while I chatted to the breeder. I was already sure I'd bring him home but then he started licking me (which he hasn't even done since he's been home with me!) and it was settled. He came home with me a couple of weeks later. :)

My second bun isn't old enough to come home yet, but it was the same thing - found a picture of her on the same breeder's site and melted. I went to meet her the other day and she actually didn't seem too fond of me... she squirmed after a bit, and I noticed when I was holding her the poor little girl was scanning back and forth for danger the entire time. Hopefully she'll warm up to me once she's comfortable at home. :)
 
Is it wrong that I chuckled at this particular adoption story? :cool:

I laughed so freaking hard when he first told me the story! I bet that girl will think twice before picking an animal up by the neck again! Jay was kind of the hero there, lol - swooped in to rescue poor Dusty and gave her a "forever" home :D. Someone has to stand up for the tiny, underdog kittens!
 
Ya, 10 betta's! Don't you have to keep them in separate tanks or else they will fight? Mine has a few neon tetras with it that is supposed to be safe, but a few have disappeared over the last few months.

Yes, each my guys (and one girl) each have their own 2 gallon tank with heater (VERY important!), and loads of REAL plants (plastic plants can catch on their fins and rip them. I also have a 10 gallon tank of female guppies and a 5 gallon with the males (ask me why they are separated! :D).
 

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