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Happy Hollands

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Location
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What's an average amount to account for per rabbit in a monthly budget for the following categories?

Pelleted Food - $
Timothy Hay - $
Treats - $
Toys - $
Vet Emergency Fund - $
Other (litter, new accessories, cleaning supplies, etc.) - $


I buy all of my pellets and hay bulk to save money & time! I currently have a general rabbitry budget, it is general and not specific for each individual rabbit. Thank you 💕
 
Pellets cost me $34.99 for 10lbs they last me around 4 months
Timothy hay is around $70 for 40lbs it last me for 4-6 months
Treats (I don't buy pet store treats but when I do they cost me around $7 and this is around every 3 months) I use fruits and vegetables so its kinda free for me since my mom does the grocery shopping. (I also get treat hay for them that is like $10 every 2-3 months.)
Toys I do DIY ones and I buy new toys every 2 months that's about $10-$15
Emergency vet fund is about $200
Cleaning supplies is around $5-$10 every 3 months
Litter is $20 every month
Accessories (new bowls, water bowls, litter box,etc.) I buy them when I need to buy them
 
Thank you! Based on my past expenses, is this a good budget (per bunny)?

Pelleted Food - $5
Timothy Hay - $5
Treats -
$2.50 (most are homeade)
Toys -
$5
Litter - $10
Cleaning Supplies - $10

Total = $37.50 / month (per bunny)
 
Those prices can vary immensely! Buying in bulk (as you mentioned you do) makes a world of difference for cost. budgeting

I'd have litter as a separate category altogether. Toys would be lumped with accessories. (edit: you posted as I was typing and I see you added litter ;) )

Litter alone can vary greatly depending on what type is used and how it is used (whole cage vs just the box, how often it is dumped).

Buying everything from a pet store and not in bulk and not growing your own greens (didn't see greens on your list), rabbit sites will estimate $85/month per rabbit.

But with doing all the cost savings tips (buying bulk, growing garden), the costs can be reduced to less than $10/month.
 
Thank you! Based on my past expenses, is this a good budget (per bunny)?

Pelleted Food - $5
Timothy Hay - $5
Treats - $2.50 (most are homeade)
Toys - $5
Litter - $10
Cleaning Supplies - $10

Total = $37.50 / month (per bunny)
yes that is amazing! how many rabbits do you have?
 
I also get stuff in bulk, it is way cheaper! Everything in the chart below is monthly unless it says 'yearly' by it.

Total: $26.41
Pelleted Food -
$5
Timothy Hay - $5
Treats -
$2
Veggies - $5 in the spring, summer, and fall. $15 in the winter.
Toys -
$5-10 (This month I'm probably going to spend around $50 though because I have saved all of my birthday money for his toys).
Vet Emergency Fund -
$0 (I have a couple of hundred dollars saved for an emergency, so I don't add to it every month)
Other (litter, new accessories, cleaning supplies, etc.) -
$4. 41
Litter: $5 (yearly) so $0.41 a month
Accessories: $3
Cleaning supplies: $1
 
Buying everything from a pet store and not in bulk and not growing your own greens (didn't see greens on your list), rabbit sites will estimate $85/month per rabbit.

But with doing all the cost savings tips (buying bulk, growing garden), the costs can be reduced to less than $10/month.
Thank you! I do grow (or try to grow) my own garden so that saves lots of money. It is also fresher and they prefer it.

Litter: $5 (yearly) so $0.41 a month
What litter do you use? Half of my bunnies prefer CareFresh, the other ones (diggers) get a grate with Yesterday's News Pellets under so they can't consume them. I also use puppy pee disposable pads to make clean up easy. But it adds up!
 
What litter do you use? Half of my bunnies prefer CareFresh, the other ones (diggers) get a grate with Yesterday's News Pellets under so they can't consume them. I also use puppy pee disposable pads to make clean up easy. But it adds up!

Wood pellets are by far the cheapest litter. (@Mariam+Theo also uses them) With wood pellets, there is no need for disposable pee pads. They work better than both Carefresh and YN, imo (have used both).

You can use either wood pellets used for horse bedding or wood stove pellets. They typically cost $5 - $7 for a 40 lb bag. That bag can last months.
 
Wood pellets are by far the cheapest litter. (@Mariam+Theo also uses them) With wood pellets, there is no need for disposable pee pads. They work better than both Carefresh and YN, imo (have used both).

You can use either wood pellets used for horse bedding or wood stove pellets. They typically cost $5 - $7 for a 40 lb bag. That bag can last months.
Thanks! What is the difference between Yesterday's News pellets and wood pellets? Are they harmful if consumed?
 
Pelleted Food - £8 for 4kg lasts around 1 month or 1 1/2 months - £8 pm
Timothy Hay - £29.99 for 10kg - would be much cheaper if you could go to a farm. 10kg last is about 4-5 months at the moment. £6 pm
Treats - £2-£6 - I either make my own or buy from small businesses
Toys - £10
Vet Emergency Fund - we don’t really have a vet fund but our insurance is £11 per month (though we pay it off yearly) - £0 pm
Veggies - £15 pm
Other (litter, new accessories, cleaning supplies, etc.) - To be honest, we don’t really buy any extras. All our cleaning products are non toxic and safe near the rabbits - £0 pm
Litter: £5 for 15 litres of wood pellets lasts at least 6months - £0.80 pm


Total - £41.80

I have two rabbits now, but this is mostly what it costed when I had one. I feel like I’m forgetting something but i can’t remember what 😅
 
Thanks! What is the difference between Yesterday's News pellets and wood pellets? Are they harmful if consumed?
They both look similar. The Yesterday's News is compressed recycled newspaper. The wood pellets are, of course, wood. I've not had an issue with rabbits trying to consume either one. If I had to be concerned about one, it would more likely be the newspaper. But I really don't think they'd eat them beyond perhaps an initial nibble just to see what they were.
 
What litter do you use? Half of my bunnies prefer CareFresh, the other ones (diggers) get a grate with Yesterday's News Pellets under so they can't consume them. I also use puppy pee disposable pads to make clean up easy. But it adds up!
I use pine pellet bedding from tractor supply. I just looked and the price is actually $5.99 so technically $6, but one bag last Theo a little over a year. I was worried for a while that it would hurt Theo's paws, but since I add hay every day it becomes soft.
I agree with Blue eyes, there is no reason to use pee pads if you are using pine pellets. When I clean Theo's litter box (once a week), I dump everything out in the compost and rise the box out using the hose. Twice a month I scrub it with vinegar and the other weeks I just wipe it down with paper towels. It stays super clean and I save money!
Yesterday's News Pellets is paper, so it wouldn't hurt them if they ate it. A couple months ago Theo started eating his pine litter, so I added more hay so it was harder for him to get to. He hasn't eaten it since.
 
Thank you! Based on my past expenses, is this a good budget (per bunny)?

Pelleted Food - $5
Timothy Hay - $5
Treats - $2.50 (most are homeade)
Toys - $5
Litter - $10
Cleaning Supplies - $10

Total = $37.50 / month (per bunny)
This looks right in line with my estimates. We have 3 bunnies and are just over $100/month on basic care IF I don't buy too many straw/sea grass mats or toys. Our bunnies can destroy a new mat in a week (!) and that is in addition to sticks, wood blocks, and all the hay they could want to nibble on too! :)
 
Pelleted Food - Well, I use up about 2, max 3 25kg bags a year, with an average headcount somewhere about 15 (min 7, max this year 28), give or take. 25kg cost 21.5€, so that's about 65€ per year.
Timothy Hay - There is no such thing as Timothy or other extensivly farmed single species hay, it's just what grows on the meadows. 3.5€ per bale, 12 bales per year. That's 42€ That's what fits on my trailer, I get it from a local farmer.
I feed fresh forage whenever available, they eat not much hay then. And I make some hay myself, about half the amount I buy.
Treats - The pellets are used as treats, only other thing I buy is oatmeal if a supplement is needed. Apples are for free, as is the Topinambur I grow around the hutches for shade and for harvesting the tubers in winter.
Toys - Free. They can dig and graze and gnaw as much as they want when out, they get tree branches to gnaw on when in the hutches or house.
Vet Emergency Fund - On average, I see the vet 3 times a year, got more since Herr Hase has Athrosis, yearly costs including medication about 200€ now.
Other (litter, new accessories, cleaning supplies, etc.) - I use up about 3-4 15kg bags of wood stove pellets, about 3.20€ each, so another 12-13€. Since my 2 house rabbits spend most of the day outdoors I don't need much of that.

Selling off excess kits pretty much covered everything this year, except the vet costs, that's only because it's 2020 and nothing went according to plan, I had way too many unplanned litters, normally I aim to not have any kits to sell, it simply is not worth the work involved...
 
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What cost most for me is the vet because one vet visit with just check up cost nearly 100€ and my bunnies get a yearly vaccination. This year I’ve been to the 7 times, so I’m literally scraping up money now 🙄

I bulk everything except litter:

Hay cost 2,5 €
Pellets 3€
Litter ( from petshop) 14 €
Insurance is around 20 €
Treats 2€

Veggies I’m not truly giving them any, it depends on season and what I have home. They get what I have which will often be leafy greens from outdoors. Because veggies are expensive and the only one surviving this summer was spinach.

I’m a poor uni student, so I need to prioritize what to spend the money on. I can fix veggies when I have a full time job. They will just have to wait for one more year 😂
 
Oreo was a gift so I only pay for unnecessary accessories hat look fun and nice. I spend about $20 a month on that.
 
Pelleted Food - $2 (Purina Complete - $20/50 lb bag, I'm counting $2 month based on how many rabbits I have and how many bags I go through per month. You can freeze and store leftovers so they don't get stale)
Timothy Hay (I feed orchard grass hay) - $1 ($15 large bale from the local feed store. Again, spreading out based on # of rabbits)
Treats - $.5 (Black oil sunflower seeds, rolled oats, the occasional slice of banana. Black oil sunflower seeds have a thin, digestible shell unlike normal seeds and the oils make their coat look nice, they're often fed to show rabbits. Oats only to rabbits that need a little extra energy in their diet)
Toys - $.5 (the best toys are the free ones; pine cones, untreated sticks, toilet paper roll centers, used food dishes because those are APPARENTLY the funnest thing ever to throw around and destroy. The only toys I regularly buy are wiffle balls, which they love to pick up and toss around. Also carabiners are a fun toy, attached to the side of the cage and the rabbits like to pull at it and then drop it.)
Vet Emergency Fund - I don't really count emergency fund as a monthly cost. Also have a vet in the immediate family so I only need to pay for medicine and lab work, or for if anything needs surgery as that is about the only thing we can't do at home.
Other (litter, new accessories, cleaning supplies, etc.) - Bedding: $1 (pine pellets or pine shavings, $6 for a bag but for one rabbit it comes down to about $1/mo)

Total: $5 month/rabbit

Of course this is cheaper than you can normally find things because I have a lot of rabbits, so I buy things in bulk. Most of the money goes into their barn, the cooling & heating for the barn, the alarm systems for the barn, the cages and pans, and their repair. Plus recently; vaccines. Usually spend a lot of money on travel as well, to and from shows and in picking up new rabbits.
 
What's an average amount to account for per rabbit in a monthly budget for the following categories?

Pelleted Food - $
Timothy Hay - $
Treats - $
Toys - $
Vet Emergency Fund - $
Other (litter, new accessories, cleaning supplies, etc.) - $


I buy all of my pellets and hay bulk to save money & time! I currently have a general rabbitry budget, it is general and not specific for each individual rabbit. Thank you 💕
Well everyone will be different depending on the size of rabbit and what is available.

Litter (wood pellets) $10
Mid range quality pellets $10
Hay (varies if buying in bulk) $10
Vegetables from store $25

$55-60 per month for a larger rabbit.
 

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