No rabbit, parents are changing their minds.

[Leowyldemi]

Actually, my rabbit is the LEAST dirty and destructive of my pets, yes like every rodent, he makes a mess with the bedding, but he always goes in his cage to go to the bathroom,he has only wet the carpet once, and that was when we brought him home.

my chinchilla,i love her , but she chews on EVERYTHING,she pretty much wrecked her cage within the first month and we had to get her a new one, and then she chewed onthe closet door when i accidentaly left it open.when i had cats the loved to scratch up the carpet and pretty much trashed the carpet.

howie only chews on the boxies and chews and tubies i give him, the only reason i had to geta new cage for him was for more room,the worst he has ever done, is dig at the linolium a bit, and even then he didn't do any damage.

i hate the bad rap rabbits get, not every rabbit is the same, i've known people to do more damage than my rabbit.

as for rabies, rabbits have no more chance of carrying rabies than any other animal, that, i feel is another unfounded rumor.

 

[Saudade]

Rabbits can carry rabies, anyone who tells you that they can't... well they're stupid.

Just talk to your mum and sit down and talk reasonably. Don't fly of the hook or she will definitely ignore you.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Saudade wrote:

Rabbits can carry rabies, anyone who tells you that they can't... well they're stupid.

Just talk to your mum and sit down and talk reasonably. Don't fly of the hook or she will definitely ignore you.

No one ever suggested that rabbits cannot carry rabies. Rather, it is not often that it occurs as a TRANSMISSION from a rabbit TO another animal/person.

Rabbits are ineffective vectors for interspecies zoonotic transmission. This means that if a rabbit is bitten by an animal carrying the rabies virus, they would become infected. However, a bitten rabbit in the wild is usually a dead rabbit: can't infect other things when you're dead.


From a physiological standpoint, the rabbit is a poor transmitter of most viruses to humans (not a zoonotic vector). Therefore, we say that rabbits are not a rabies threat to people.

Read this easy rabies fact sheet

Yes, rabbits can get rabies, but it is rare that a rabbit would pass them on to another animal. Even more rare that a rabbit could possibly infect a human.

 

[hartleybun]

could it be that your mum has taken into consideration the cost of bunny upkeep? and has had second thoughts? she may also be thinking ahead to when you leave school or home, and is considering the bunny's future.

this thread struck a chord as my 14 year old has wanted a chinchilla for years. impartial to them to and i did alot of research into their care, cost and longevity. sadly i decided against it. it might sound trivial but it came down to not having anyone to look after a chinchilla when we go on holiday.i have friends who look after my bunnies and dogs - and i do likewise -but a chinchilla drew a blank.

i have said that we may be able foster at a later date tho'...

 

[BunLuvvie]

Thank you, everyone for all your responses and GREAT ideas, I do have a shed or pool-house, but I'd have to do some major cleaning up. and get a de-humidifier(It's moldy in there) But I really like that idea because there's a couch in there and a work bench and lots of room! gosh, my hopes are rising just thinking about it!!

 

[Baby Juliet]

PepnFluff wrote:

With all due respect this thread is about bunluvvies situation not about wether indoor or outdoor rabbits get more quality time

The point is you don't have to keep a bunny indoors. Since her mom will let her have an outdoor rabbit, we should give her every reason why an outdoor rabbit is fine instead of why she should keep it indoors. If you convince her she must have an indoor rabbit, she'll end up with NO RABBIT.

 

[BethM]

Baby Juliet wrote:

NorthernAutumn wrote:

However, many pet owners prefer to keep their rabbits indoors so as to spend more time with them. It is reasonable to believe that an indoor pet will likely have more interactions with their owner than an outdoor pet, in the average suburban scenario. Folks don't spend as much time outside these days, and thus may not spend as much time with the animal.

This is the sorriest excuse for having an indoor pet. What kind of person would ignore a rabbit just because it's outside? The same kind who would ignore it inside.

I have known a few people who keep their rabbits in a hutch in their back yard. (And one whose rabbit is in a cage in their garage. :grumpy They go outside once a day, put food in the hutch, then go back inside. Maybe once a week, they clean out the hutch. Their indoor pets, however get much more interraction, simply because they are inside with their pets. If what the person wants to do is watch tv, they're not going to hang around outside with their rabbit. However, if the rabbit is indoors, they can watch tv while the rabbit gets to run around the living room. It's a matter of priorities.

This is not to say that ALL outdoor rabbits are neglected, and I tend to think that anyone who is a member of this forum would be more responsible than that. However, it DOES happen. I've seen it.

By bringing it up, it helps BunLuvvie to consider the extra companionship needs that an outdoor rabbit might need, so she can decide if that is something that will work for her, before shegets her rabbit.

 

[BunLuvvie]

If I get my rabbit and he lives in the shed, I will definitely get more then one bunny.

 

[Luv-bunniz]

IMO somebody who chooses tv over being with and caring for their rabbits should not have rabbits full stop.

 

[Becca]

Good luck
I cleaned out my big shed for my bunnies and I think part of what persuaded my parents was that I was so determined I cleaned out the tip of a shed that had spiders living in it.

Fingers crossed for you xxxx

 

[Evey]

BunLuvvie,

I just wanted to wish you luck with (hopefully) getting your rabbit(s)! I bet you're thrilled. I think that the shed idea is great if you are to keep the bunny outside. I really respect you for thinking these decisions through and asking for ideas. When you are ready for a bunny, do you know what kind you'd like? Are you thinking of adopting?

Kathy

 

[NorthernAutumn]

I am SOOO excited that you actually have a shed! That's absolutely wonderful!

I'm confident that your parents probably know how to remove mold, but a good tip is to scrub the surface with bleach diluted in water. Remove all the mold, then apply kitchen/bathroom paint over the formerly moldy surface.

Remember to wear a mask, so you don't inhale the spores!

Too awesome!

Guess you'll need a pair of buns... don't worry, they'll keep eachother busy for sure
Like Kathy asked, will you be adopting? Or is there a responsible breeder you will support? Maybe an unfortunate soul on Craigslist?

(Now I'm just too excited for you!)

 

[Becca]

[align=center]inkelepht:inkelepht:inkelepht:inkelepht:[/align]
[align=center]WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO[/align]

 

[irishbunny]

Aw hope you can use the shed!
Even if you couldn't though, a big hutch with a sleeping area where the rabbit could hide from cats would be fine IMO. Most cats don't bother rabbits anyway, as long as it's strong they aren't going to be able to get in.

 

[kirbyultra]

Everyone has good points and have given some really good points to debate but I do think that when dealing with parents who are promising one thing and then changing their minds, it's important to calmly and maturely find out what's really causing them to say no. Hopefully, their condition that the rabbit has to live outside isn't just an obstacle they were hoping you wouldn't be able to manage. Now that you have a good solution, I really hope they'll stick to it but they might still have reservations.

You have some really good facts to back you up, maybe you should revisit the conversation with your mom (calmly) and see if you can convince her that her reasoning is not sound, and then ask her if there is anything else bothering her about getting a rabbit indoors. Someone else brought up a good point -- are your parents concerned about the cost of owning a pet? Rabbits are lovely creatures and not terribly hard to maintain so long as they behave and don't get sick. Vet costs are phenomenally hard to predict.

 

[BunLuvvie]

Becca wrote:

Good luck
I cleaned out my big shed for my bunnies and I think part of what persuaded my parents was that I was so determined I cleaned out the tip of a shed that had spiders living in it.

Fingers crossed for you xxxx

lol My shed is filled with spiderwebs and junk but my dad offered to help me clean it. Once it's clean it would be great, its carpeted and really nice underneath all the spiderwebs.


I will be adopting on petfinder or maybe craigslist for any kind of rabbit, I love jersey woolies and any kind of lop. Mutt bunnies are awesome too!

 

[anneq]

"what persuaded my parents was that I was so determined I cleaned out the tip of a shed that had spiders living in it.:
Lol,I think that would do it for me as a mom - my daughter isn't very squimish about insects, but as far as cleaning out the spider webs....yuuuuck!
I have outdoor and indoor bunnies, and yes, the indoor bunnies do get more time with us - only because the pen is further away from the house than our enclosed porch/kitchen where the indoors bun live. However, we have camp chairs set up in the outside pen and either me, my daughter or husband (and son occasionally) are outside with them at least once a day, usually several times a day. Of course, when the weather is inclement, and they are locked-up up and covered, then no, in tornado weather I am not sitting outside with them.
I'm hoping our next house to get us a pen closer to the house - I would love a pen about 10ft.from the house - but at the moment we rent and we're lucky to have an outside area for them to live in that's secure and fairly comfortable.

 

[Spring]

That's awesome .
If everything works, I would definitely recommend adopting an already bonded pair (trio maybe?). Not only will all the hard work of pairing up/bonding be done, but they will alraedy be fixed!
If I were to do the whole rabbit business again, I would definitely have adopted a trio at once, rather than adding singles to the mix. Really quite convenient!

 

[NorthernAutumn]

BunLuvvie wrote:

Becca wrote:

Good luck
I cleaned out my big shed for my bunnies and I think part of what persuaded my parents was that I was so determined I cleaned out the tip of a shed that had spiders living in it.

Fingers crossed for you xxxx

lol My shed is filled with spiderwebs and junk but my dad offered to help me clean it. Once it's clean it would be great, its carpeted and really nice underneath all the spiderwebs.


I will be adopting on petfinder or maybe craigslist for any kind of rabbit, I love jersey woolies and any kind of lop. Mutt bunnies are awesome too!

I am soooo stoked for you!

Can you take some "before" pics of the shed before you start cleaning it? I'd love to watch your work in progress It's going to be marvelous when you're done... I'm delighted your dad is helping too!

 

[TexasMari]

Rabbit poop smells better than kitty poop any day! Plus, rabbits and kitties usually get along fine. Just tell your mom that she should give you a chance, if you slip and are not providing the care the bun deserves, then she can decide whether or not you can keep it.