How much do your buns cost monthly?

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leo (they/them)
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If you don't mind me asking... =]


I'm trying to convince my dad to add a fourth bun to my bunch, and he's totally against it because my rabbits cost so much!

He "calculated" it (more like estimated and tried to make it seem all technical)... and he came to around 100 dollars per month with all the litter, pellets, and veggies.

How can I lower the price!? He thinks that adding a fourth bunny, even if it was a small one (even though I have my eye on a beautiful New Zealand female...-they say she's mixed with Flemish, but I dunnoooo. XD), that the "100 dollars per month" would increase! Am I just spoiling my buns too much?

Please help me figure this out =]
 
Per month:
* $11-15 per bail of hay, this is good quality (racehorse) oaten. Generally speaking it is more expensive if you're urban or suburban and only want a bail at a time. If you know a stable that buys it in, you can ask them to sell you one when they do an order, as they will get good stuff less expensively because they're buying a couple hundred bails at a time.
* $25 for a bag of pellets, because we can't get timothy pellets aside from oxbow imported stuff so it's more expensive than it'd be in the States.
* vaccinations and annual check up, which would average to $6.18 if broken up into monthly savings per rabbit
* seagrass mats - $2.00 ea, maybe 2-3 a month for say $4-6.00

That'd rate out to $65 or so a month.

Other items:
Boxes - free at the stores, I get various sizes and stuff them into each other. Friends collect old phone directories and other things for me as they know my buns love them.

Litter - I have a paper shredder. Newspaper is shredded and replaced daily, and goes to the compost when done. Our local newsagent gives out old unsold ones free.

Veggies/fruits/chewing sticks/wood chunks - homegrown from our herb patch, fruiting trees/vines, rose garden, veggie patches and apple twigs and wood segments from when I prune our trees. All organic, most things sown from seed and we save seed which makes it economical. I traded a number of friends for seeds I didn't have which reduced start up costs even more. The bunnies generate a lot of the compost that fertilizes them as well. On a smaller scale you can still grow heaps of different veg and herbs for buns quite cheaply. Restraunts often give away old styrofoam boxes or you can use pots etc to have small amounts which cost nothing but time. (Not even water here as we're on tank water and depend purely on rainfall.)

Blankies/beds, baby toys etc - they've got heaps, usually bought for less than a dollar each at op shops, salvation army or garage sales.
 
My bunnies cost me very little, except for the neuter and toys Just Bunny does not cost very much. I buy a 25 lb bag of pellets at Peavy Mart for less than $20 which lasts forever, a big bag of wood shavings for litter for under $10, also lasts forever. When I get to the farm I steal hay from my horse's round bale and that lasts us a long time. Also take oats from my horse's stash. Of all the pets we have, the bunnies are the least expensive to keep.
 
Cost::

Straw: Free
Hay: $5.00 a bale and that last me a couple of months.
Pellets: Fiber 3 $14.00
Bag 50 lbs Barley: $15.00 and I had this for 2 months so far and hardly use alot of it.
Can of oats: $2.00 and this last me for couple months too.


Other items: Everything is free, I give them apple barks, pine cones.

An truly the rabbit's are cheaper then the dog's and I have more rabbit's then dogs.
 
Thank you everyone for your input...! It's very useful! I'm trying to convince my dad still!

How do you think I can lessen the price of veggies? Any ideas?

I'm wondering if I should get cheaper pellets cause the pellets we get are quite pricey, but I'm afraid they won't have enough nutrition in them...
 
I have 4 bunnies, so the costs are for all of them unless otherwise noted.

Hay: I buy bales and use about 3-4 pet year. They cost about $7-10, so it is about $2-3 per month for hay.
Pellets: I buy 2 kinds as I have buns with different needs. Oxbow is $15 for a 10 pound bag and lasts about 10 weeks for 2 of them. MasterFeeds is about $17 for 50 pounds and lasts about 6 months for the other 2. Not quite sure what it works out to a month, probably about $7-8 total.
Veggies: I spend about $5 per week, so about $20 a month.
Litter: A 40 pound bag of wood pellets is about $6.50 and that lasts about 4-6 weeks.
Grand total is about $35-40 a month.

I don't buy a lot of toys or other stuff, they usually get cardboard and other free stuff. If I do buy toys, I might spend $15-20 at one time but that isn't very often.
 
Korr_and_Sophie wrote:
I have 4 bunnies, so the costs are for all of them unless otherwise noted.

Hay: I buy bales and use about 3-4 pet year. They cost about $7-10, so it is about $2-3 per month for hay.
Pellets: I buy 2 kinds as I have buns with different needs. Oxbow is $15 for a 10 pound bag and lasts about 10 weeks for 2 of them. MasterFeeds is about $17 for 50 pounds and lasts about 6 months for the other 2. Not quite sure what it works out to a month, probably about $7-8 total.
Veggies: I spend about $5 per week, so about $20 a month.
Litter: A 40 pound bag of wood pellets is about $6.50 and that lasts about 4-6 weeks.
Grand total is about $35-40 a month.

I don't buy a lot of toys or other stuff, they usually get cardboard and other free stuff. If I do buy toys, I might spend $15-20 at one time but that isn't very often.
Click to expand...

How much veggies do you give each bun? And how much pellets? Cause we spend a whole lot more than that on veggies and idunno how =[
 
For veggies, each week I buy 2 heads of lettuce (some is for me), 3 bunches of cilantro, 3 bunches of parsely and some Bok choy. I give veggies every other day and each plate gets a couple leaves of lettuce, 1/3 of a bunch of parsley, 1/3 of a bunch of parsley and some bok choy. I have a bonded pair, and they are smaller than the singe 2 so get the same together that the others get.

For pellets, Korr and Amelia each get 1/4 cup per day and they are the ones on Oxbow and are bonded. Lillian and Ginny each get 1/2 cup per day and are one the MasterFeeds.
 
Korr_and_Sophie wrote:
For veggies, each week I buy 2 heads of lettuce (some is for me), 3 bunches of cilantro, 3 bunches of parsely and some Bok choy. I give veggies every other day and each plate gets a couple leaves of lettuce, 1/3 of a bunch of parsley, 1/3 of a bunch of parsley and some bok choy. I have a bonded pair, and they are smaller than the singe 2 so get the same together that the others get.

For pellets, Korr and Amelia each get 1/4 cup per day and they are the ones on Oxbow and are bonded. Lillian and Ginny each get 1/2 cup per day and are one the MasterFeeds.
Click to expand...

Do you think I'm giving too much veggies then? I give my buns around this amount of veggies every night (a serving for my flemish and a serving for my bonded pair)
a stalk of celery
half bok choy
1-2 pieces of endive
1-2 escarole leaves
1-4 romaine lettuce leaves depending on size
a couple sprigs of parsley
a couple sprigs of cilantro

.. i think that's all =P
 
Here are my monthly cost for 15+ rabbits.

Straw: Free, I grow my own
Hay: $10 a bale, this last me a month
Pellets:
Barnyard Pellets $17.50 for 10KG
NRM $20 for 25KG
Crushed Barley: $15 for 30KGS this last forever :D
Bag of oats: $15 last for a few weeks
The Barley and Oats get delivered in bulk a discounted price.

Show entry fees goes by how many/what classes I enter my rabbits in, usually about $20 a show.
 
hmm I only have 2 rabbits but:

1 bale of hay-$10 lasts 2 months, although I could get bales 3 times the size for $3-5 from local farms, which is what I did when I had a bunch of guinea pigs as well.

litter-I just use the same as for the gerbils, so I buy 4 large bags(each expanding to 9cu ft) for $36(total) and between the 2 rabbits and 97 gerbils, that lasts about 2-3 months.

my veggie bill is probably threw the roof though, since I feed pellet free, between the 2 of them I go though about 6 cups of veggies a day, times 7 days, thats 42 cups of veggies a week..AKA price per month = I dont wanna know.
 
That's kinda hard for me to answer because I get deals everyhwere but this is how much it costs me
I get my hay from a guy in the boonies I got 20 bales of hay for 10 dollars, and that's lasted me about 3 months so far and I'm down to 10 bales right now
For food I get two 50 pounds bag for about 40 bucks at the TSC near my house and that alsts me 3 months, I get the tops of carrots, and bad celery and other stuff from the guy I get the hay from for free, so so my rabbits run up about 10 dollars a month if I did my math right
 
I buy my pellets in 50 lb. bags for about $15, buy my hay in bales from a local farmer for $4-6, and use pine shavings from TSC as bedding which are like $5/bale. This would probably last one individual rabbit several months.

If you are wanting to cut costs and add more rabbits, I'd suggest looking into a high quality pellet diet and maybe cutting back to veggies as a treat here and there, which will cut costs greatly. Although pellets were once used as a growth formula, they make them for bunnies of all types now, even pets. If you're wanting to stay on a veggie diet, it will be difficult to cut costs unless you're able to grow your own possibly.
 
As for veggies, you can go to a produce store and ask them for the trimmings, just the pieces they cut off the lettuce or off carrot tops. I did this once,(they told me to call ahead cuz they did it really early in the morning) and they gave me like 4 boxes for free...way too much for one bunny lol. They would have ended up throwing it away anyways. It was romaine lettuce which was in very good condition. I should've found somewhere to donate the rest. I did give some to my friend's bunny and still had a ton left. But if I had several bunnies, I would probably do that more often.
 
Snowballbun wrote:
As for veggies, you can go to a produce store and ask them for the trimmings, just the pieces they cut off the lettuce or off carrot tops. I did this once,(they told me to call ahead cuz they did it really early in the morning) and they gave me like 4 boxes for free...way too much for one bunny lol. They would have ended up throwing it away anyways. It was romaine lettuce which was in very good condition. I should've found somewhere to donate the rest. I did give some to my friend's bunny and still had a ton left. But if I had several bunnies, I would probably do that more often.
Click to expand...

I can't do the trimmings. D= I'm very picky at what I'll give my rabbits. If I won't eat it, my rabbits can't have it. =P

I just realized on my containers that I put the veggies in before I put it in the buns' cages, that it says how many cups fit in it. The bonded pair get around 5 cups of veggies, and the flemish gets around 4 cups of veggies.
 
I could not see anything wrong with the lettuce I was given, so I would have eaten it as well. It was just a suggestion since you are concerned about the cost.
 
Snowballbun wrote:
I could not see anything wrong with the lettuce I was given, so I would have eaten it as well. It was just a suggestion since you are concerned about the cost.
Click to expand...

You sound offended =/
I'm sorry if I did offend you- I didn't mean that like you're not giving your buns good lettuce or something. My parents said that I would probably not be pleased personally with the trimmings here, and I guess it came off a bit harsh.
 
Getting trimmings from the grocery store is a great way to save on veggies. Most times the quality is good as its only the outside leaves they clean off to make it look pretty, or pieces of lettuce or celery that were cracked or broken or stems that were cut off. Things that dont' look "pretty" enough for people to wwant to buy but are perfectly fine to eat. Its not a box of mouldy, rotten food as its usually fresh from that day.

Or check if there is produce stores(only sells veggies/fruits), instead of just a grocery stores. Where I live we have a produce store that sells fruits/veggies WAY cheaper then buying them at the grocery store. Here its called H&W Produce.

I don't spend very much on my rabbit each month. I buy a 20lb bag of food for around 20$ and that last about 3 months. I use wood pellets for litter and its about 6$ for a 40lbs bag that lasts a few months. Hay is about 8$/month as I buy it from the petstore. It would be much cheaper if i bought a bail of hay but since I only have 1 bun I don't mind the store stuff. I also dont' feed veggies except for treats.

So each month its probably<10$
 
I don't economize much, so what I spend is probably more than absolutely necessary. I know I could cut back a lot!

I have 5 rabbits. I spend around $20/week on veggies. I order American Pet Diner Timothy for a little over $80 for 50 pounds. This will last me around 3 months. I get 45 pounds of Kleenmama's hay at a time. I think this costs me around $55. This will last 5-6 months.

That is just the basics. I also buy treats and toys.
 
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