DelightfulEccentricity
Well-Known Member
Hi, my name is Kyle, I'm new to both these forums and to rabbits in general. I'm a professional dog groomer and avid animal-lover, and recently was turned on to the idea of keeping rabbits. 
My brother kept a few rabbits when we were kids (always Dutch Dwarf does) and I had some very, very negative experiences with his succession of evil-tempered beasts. Every last one of his rabbits was a vicious thing...he'd inevitably grow tired of them and suddenly nobody was feeding or watering them, so the chore of caring for them would fall to me. Every rabbit he ever had was a snarling, growling psychopath bent on ripping my hands off...I have no idea why his were so awful, but it led me to assume that almost all rabbits are horrible, terrible pets. My best friend had a huge Lop who was a total sweetheart, but I always thought he was one-in-a-million.
Well...more than a decade after my last rabbit encounter, I decided to reconsider the species as a whole...and was almost immediately smitten with a lovely Rex doe. She came as a package deal with a very handsome if skittish buck; I've named them Jameson and Dempsey, respectively. Every time I pet Jameson or pick her up, I'm astounded by how she isn't biting, kicking or growling at me. She comes out of her hide-box when I walk into the room and stands on her back legs as if to say "O HI, what did you bring me?" I never thought about it before, but until I acquired Jameson and Dempsey, I'd never actually seen a rabbit eat anything before...my brother's rabbits wouldn't stop growling and attacking the bars until I was out of the room. I can't get over how adorable they are when eating, they are little nomming machines! (Incidentally, because I'm still a little wary of rabbits, and Dempsey is a bit skittish, my roommate is socializing him for me at the moment since I don't want him to sense my anxiety and get even more scared. My roommate has some previous experience with rabbit-keeping, as my knowledge is limited at this time.)
Right now they are living in some massive spare dog crates I happened to already have (I will admit, I wanted rabbits but didn't expect them so soon, but I couldn't pass Jameson up!) and I am actually working on constructing some custom hutches. Nothing too overly fancy but something roomy and functional. At the moment they seem happy enough where they are, though!
I've come to the conclusion that my brother must have done something pretty horrible to his rabbits to make them so vicious. They were all unrelated and yet had the same behavior problems...and my brother was a rather terrible person; he was vicious, mentally ill and tended to torment my cat and my dad's dogs, and ultimately he was never able to hold a job, was constantly in trouble with the law, and ultimately died due to drowning (he got high, went for a swim, blacked out due to the chemicals he'd taken). I'm also very glad I've given rabbits a second chance, turns out I had no idea how great they can be! Now if only I could get decent photos of my Jameson...
My brother kept a few rabbits when we were kids (always Dutch Dwarf does) and I had some very, very negative experiences with his succession of evil-tempered beasts. Every last one of his rabbits was a vicious thing...he'd inevitably grow tired of them and suddenly nobody was feeding or watering them, so the chore of caring for them would fall to me. Every rabbit he ever had was a snarling, growling psychopath bent on ripping my hands off...I have no idea why his were so awful, but it led me to assume that almost all rabbits are horrible, terrible pets. My best friend had a huge Lop who was a total sweetheart, but I always thought he was one-in-a-million.
Well...more than a decade after my last rabbit encounter, I decided to reconsider the species as a whole...and was almost immediately smitten with a lovely Rex doe. She came as a package deal with a very handsome if skittish buck; I've named them Jameson and Dempsey, respectively.
Every time I pet Jameson or pick her up, I'm astounded by how she isn't biting, kicking or growling at me. She comes out of her hide-box when I walk into the room and stands on her back legs as if to say "O HI, what did you bring me?" I never thought about it before, but until I acquired Jameson and Dempsey, I'd never actually seen a rabbit eat anything before...my brother's rabbits wouldn't stop growling and attacking the bars until I was out of the room. I can't get over how adorable they are when eating, they are little nomming machines! (Incidentally, because I'm still a little wary of rabbits, and Dempsey is a bit skittish, my roommate is socializing him for me at the moment since I don't want him to sense my anxiety and get even more scared. My roommate has some previous experience with rabbit-keeping, as my knowledge is limited at this time.)Right now they are living in some massive spare dog crates I happened to already have (I will admit, I wanted rabbits but didn't expect them so soon, but I couldn't pass Jameson up!) and I am actually working on constructing some custom hutches.
Nothing too overly fancy but something roomy and functional. At the moment they seem happy enough where they are, though! I've come to the conclusion that my brother must have done something pretty horrible to his rabbits to make them so vicious. They were all unrelated and yet had the same behavior problems...and my brother was a rather terrible person; he was vicious, mentally ill and tended to torment my cat and my dad's dogs, and ultimately he was never able to hold a job, was constantly in trouble with the law, and ultimately died due to drowning (he got high, went for a swim, blacked out due to the chemicals he'd taken). I'm also very glad I've given rabbits a second chance, turns out I had no idea how great they can be! Now if only I could get decent photos of my Jameson...
