Cecil
Member
My name is Kaitlin My username, Cecil, refers to my pet bearded dragon. I'm an animal enthusiast, and proud lizard-lover. I'm a reptile-crazed girl but I do love my fuzzies.
In the past and present I own(ed) multiple types of fish, cats, dogs, guinea pigs, lizards, snakes, birds, rats, gerbils, ferrets, hamsters, mice, and rabbits. I'm a junior in high school and soon to work at my local pet store.
As you can tell I'm an all around animal person and my pets are my best friends. The two rabbits we had in the past were unfortunately taken care of wrongly. Not that they were mistreated, just they weren't given proper habitats or diets. One was in a small Super Pet cage, and the other was in a medium-sized Wabitat with a wire floor. I was younger at this time and had no say in the matter, and I honestly didn't know any better anyways. We eventually rehomed the rabbits to a family friend because my mother thought they were too stinky.
Now that I'm older and more mature, I've convinced my mother to let me try with my own rabbit. I will pay for everything myself and make sure there is enough extra cash for vet bills and emergencies. I've told her how rabbits really aren't as smelly as ours were if taken care of and cleaned up after properly (this is what I've learned from my research).
I plan to adopt from this rabbit shelter when the time comes. It's a bit of a trip but I just don't feel comfortable buying live animals from pet stores any more (our local one is OK but not the best), and I know it's better to adopt.
As far as caging, I have a double-unit ferret nation cage that I will be placing side-by-side, giving the rabbit 6ft by 2ft of footprint, plus the shelves that I may put in. Although I'm open to suggestions on a better kind of caging, such as the NIC cages I see a lot. I just happen to have this cage from when we had ferrets, and we never got rid of it. It will be washed down of course before being used. For food I will feed oxbow timothy hay, oxbow bunny basic pellets, and fresh greens and veggies with occasional fruits. The rabbit will be allowed lots of free-roaming time in my room (occasionally throughout the rest of the house if I feel I can trust my dogs with it, although I may just put the dogs outside while the bunny is out roaming) where I have started proofing the wires and anything that a rabbit could get into trouble with.
My only question I have is this: I've read a lot that bunnies really aren't cuddly types of animals, and I'm fine with just petting and playing, but is this really true? The places I've read this were from older posts (2010 and before) and I'm just a little skeptic about how much rabbit husbandry has been researched since them. I wouldn't mind sitting on the bed or couch with my bun just relaxing, but if most rabbits don't like that then I won't force them. I do know they don't like being picked up due to being a prey animal, plus the height.
Thanks for reading my incredibly long post, or even some of it! I'll be sure to post pictures of the cage and bunny when I get him/her!
In the past and present I own(ed) multiple types of fish, cats, dogs, guinea pigs, lizards, snakes, birds, rats, gerbils, ferrets, hamsters, mice, and rabbits. I'm a junior in high school and soon to work at my local pet store.
As you can tell I'm an all around animal person and my pets are my best friends. The two rabbits we had in the past were unfortunately taken care of wrongly. Not that they were mistreated, just they weren't given proper habitats or diets. One was in a small Super Pet cage, and the other was in a medium-sized Wabitat with a wire floor. I was younger at this time and had no say in the matter, and I honestly didn't know any better anyways. We eventually rehomed the rabbits to a family friend because my mother thought they were too stinky.
Now that I'm older and more mature, I've convinced my mother to let me try with my own rabbit. I will pay for everything myself and make sure there is enough extra cash for vet bills and emergencies. I've told her how rabbits really aren't as smelly as ours were if taken care of and cleaned up after properly (this is what I've learned from my research).
I plan to adopt from this rabbit shelter when the time comes. It's a bit of a trip but I just don't feel comfortable buying live animals from pet stores any more (our local one is OK but not the best), and I know it's better to adopt.
As far as caging, I have a double-unit ferret nation cage that I will be placing side-by-side, giving the rabbit 6ft by 2ft of footprint, plus the shelves that I may put in. Although I'm open to suggestions on a better kind of caging, such as the NIC cages I see a lot. I just happen to have this cage from when we had ferrets, and we never got rid of it. It will be washed down of course before being used. For food I will feed oxbow timothy hay, oxbow bunny basic pellets, and fresh greens and veggies with occasional fruits. The rabbit will be allowed lots of free-roaming time in my room (occasionally throughout the rest of the house if I feel I can trust my dogs with it, although I may just put the dogs outside while the bunny is out roaming) where I have started proofing the wires and anything that a rabbit could get into trouble with.
My only question I have is this: I've read a lot that bunnies really aren't cuddly types of animals, and I'm fine with just petting and playing, but is this really true? The places I've read this were from older posts (2010 and before) and I'm just a little skeptic about how much rabbit husbandry has been researched since them. I wouldn't mind sitting on the bed or couch with my bun just relaxing, but if most rabbits don't like that then I won't force them. I do know they don't like being picked up due to being a prey animal, plus the height.
Thanks for reading my incredibly long post, or even some of it! I'll be sure to post pictures of the cage and bunny when I get him/her!