Forever home for bunny near Northwest Indiana

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I will upload cuter and better pics when I havemore time, but these few pics should suffice for now just so you canget a small look at them.

together2.jpg



Girlie
girle2.jpg


Buns
buns1.jpg




 
They are both very pretty bunnies. Mybiggest concern is how they would react to my 6 1/2 and 4 1/2 year oldboys. My oldest is really wanting a rabbit. We hadfound one but it was adopted before we could get to it. Myson cried and cried. We have had guinea pigs before so I amused to caring for them but this would be our first rabbit. Ialso have had someone contact me with a couple of guinea pigs they aretrying to adopt out so I have a decision to make. My son sayshe would rather have a rabbit but the final call will bemine. I just can't make up my mind. I want torescue them all but that is out of the question. :?
 
Rabbits can often do well with kids, as long asthe adult is the primary caretaker. Also, the kids usually need to betaught how to handle a rabbit properly and what not to do.Most rabbits dont like to be held, they want you to come down to theirlevel. Kids can tend to get a bit "grabby" and dont respect therabbit's territory.

As long as your kids understand that this is a real live animal and nota cuddly toy they should be fine. I know a few children who are greatwith rabbits..you just have to really emphasize the rules tothem.

Another thing to consider with rabbits is that you will need to havetime in your day to let them out to run around. Most of us here havevery large cages for our rabbits and still allow them to have loads offree time to run around. If you and your kids have the timeand energy to commit to one or two rabbits...then I say go forit. They are so much fun and have incredible personalitiesonce you get to know them.

Let us know if you need any more information or advice!

EDIT: Heres a link for a great article on rabbits and children:http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/children.html

 
They are awesome. What a cute pair. That isgreat that they are friends that will make the transition easier onthem. I was worried about having two as well but it is no moredifficult to care for two than one and mine are in separate cages.
As far as children are concerned the bunnies get used tothem. I have a 5yr old son and I just explained to him and repeat oftenthat rabbits don't like to be picked up. You could allow your son tohelp feed the bunnies at first so he feels he is important. Have himget on the floor at their level and hold a carrot or green that theyare used to... even a long piece of hay and feed the bunnies. let themcome to you, be quiet around them and patient and they will learn totrust him. My son is so excited when they let him pet them. If youalready have guinea pigs I am sure it will be easier because the kidshave learned how fragile small animals are.
For safe keeping when you first have the bunnies at home have a smalllock on the cage that way you are sure they don't open the cage whenyou are not around. I am sure they would not purposely hurt the bunniesbut consider life from the bunnies eyes you are a predator and largerthan them. The cage is their warren /safe place and they scare easilyespecially the first week or so when they are in a new home. I told myson the whole drive to pick up bella that he could not hold her whenshe first came home and so he was prepared. Pls pm me and I can giveyou more info and if you do get the bunnies I would be glad to pm youif you have any further quest. Rabbits.org has a lot of info too, I dobelieve children and rabbits can mix unlike them but supervised always.It is a great learning experience for the entire family as long as youare the main caregiver which you already said you will be. You havealready found a great site for info as you need it.
Best wishes in whatever you decide:D
Baci
 
Thanks for the link, it was veryinteresting. I guess I will have to think about it all andtalk it over with my hubby. I am the one that always takescare of the animals(we currently have 2 dogs, 2 turtles and some fish)so he dosen't usually care what I do. We have a finishedbasement which is where our family room and my bedroom is so that iswhere I would plan on letting the bunnies have a run since there isvery little thing that they can hurt or can hurt them. If itwas just me I would take the bunnys no questions asked but I am goingto have to give it some thought.
 
redangel1300 wrote:
VERY CUTE!!! How are they to handle? Dothey have any bad habits?


Girlie likes being handled more than buns. Buns does get along withchildren as he was the pet of a gentle 6 year old boy beforethe mother decided that she wanted to put the rabbit to sleep (yes.crazy.) So he was fine being held. He is also litter trained to anextent. Girlie is not, but I am sure she wouldn't be too tough to teach.



Rabbits tend to not like to be held for a long time in general. Withgirlie the problem isn't really holding her, it is picking her up. Youjust have to be gentle with her and she will be sweet in your arms.Buns is a bit better to scoop up randomly but he tends to not want tobe held as long as girlie.



Buns is a Dutch rabbit, but I am at a loss of what breed girlie is. She is VERY cute however :D



As you can see, the cage I have is not a Rabbit cage and you would have to get something a bit different.

I like martins cages(http://martinscages.com/products/cages/rabbit/)for my rats (the rat specific cages)and I can just imaginethat the brand is good for rabbits also.

If you take the 2 though you just have to make sure you get a bigenough cage. Martins are relatively cheap compared to everywhere elseand they are sturdy so they get a thumbs up from me.
 
redangel1300 wrote:
Is it better to have 2 than 1? I know guinea pigsneed to be in pairs but I wasn't sure if the same goes forrabbits
It depends on the rabbit. Most rabbits are happier with a friend, butsome are more solitary and bond well with humans. If thesetwo are bonded, it would be best to keep them together. Its also nicebecause when you are away at work and such you dont have to worry aboutyour rabbit being lonely. The downside is that you have twice thefood,hay,veggie,vet bills. I can definitely say that myrabbits are happier together than they were apart.

On the cage issue, we have some great info here:http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11792&forum_id=17onhow to build your own NIC condo large enough for two bunnies (mine onlycost me about $40 total and was soo easy!..scrolldownandtheres a link to pics ofcagesbuiltby members). Also, large dog crates work great and youcan even add a second level.

Hope this helps!
 
redangel1300 wrote:
I thought about using a good size dog crate/cage that ialready have to convert it into a rabbit house. My son sawthe rabbits and loved them.

Thats great. If you want to take both of them, then here is a list of things that will come with them.

A transport cage.
A small bag of hay.
A bag of food.
A large water bottle.
A large igloo.
A rabbit litter box.
A small bag of carefresh litter.
A food bowl.

I think that is all.

If you are serious about taking both of them though, let me know.

 
I haven't decided for sure yet. Mylocal Humane society has a male lop ear rabbit right now that i wentand checked out yesterday. He seemed to enjoy beingpetted but when I picked him up he went crazy and scratched up myarm. I still can't make up my mind what I want to do.
 
redangel1300 wrote:
I haven't decided for sure yet. My local Humanesociety has a male lop ear rabbit right now that i went and checked outyesterday. He seemed to enjoy being petted but whenI picked him up he went crazy and scratched up my arm. Istill can't make up my mind what I want to do.

Well take your time. I don't want you to make a decision you will regret.

 
just a note, i could be wrong, but girlie looksmore like a young checkered giant then an english spot, she has whatappears to be 2 big blops of color instead of the flow of small dotsthat a spot has. . .also her ear size is huge compared to her body sizeso i would think she is still young with lots of growing to do!



could be wrong, but that is my thoughts



katie
 
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