Possibly Adopting A Flemish Giant

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Rabbit Hero

Rabbit Hero

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2010
Messages
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Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Hi Everyone!

I know it's been a while, I lost my baby Shino to an abcess of the mouth back in May.

Now my boyfriend and I are searching for another bunny to share our home with us and to bond to our female Riza. We recently found a Flemish Giant/American at our local Humane Society and I'm told he's 3.8k.

Does anyone have a flemish about this size? I've always wanted one but I want to make sure that we can accomodate him as well. Any pictures for reference and advice on Flemishes would be much appriciated!
 
We only had one that we adopted out--she was a rescue--and at full growth she was ten kilos and bigger than our Checkered Giant. She's the biggest bunny I've ever seen and a great guard bunny. When anyone would come in the rabbit room, she'd wait til they closed the door and then grunt at them.
 
Nice medium sized bun. Just because they're larger doesnt mean they're slower or any less agile. My larger bun (5.8k) gets into a lot of different trouble then my small one. He can climb the baby gate and he was jumping up and hitting the door knob for a while but stopped. Never learned how to open it. Thank goodness. He likes to knock stuff off of shelves and there's a lot of him to throw around. He is alot more destructive then my smaller (1.3) bun too. When he decides to rip something up it's history. I might catch my smaller bun and take it away fast enough but not with him. They do require a bigger living space of course and my big bun poops WAY more than my smaller. Bigger mouth equals bigger more painful bite. You have to watch their joints as they get older. They really arent too terribly different. Feed and water a little bit more but personality depends on the individual rabbit. I love my big guys. More to cuddle.
 
3.8kg is and 8.3 pounds and is small for a Flemish giant and even small for an American. Many humane societies are not really good at breed ID, so you can't really tell based on a description. Mixed breeds can be hard to tell anyway.

I do think that is a nice size, not too big but not small either. I've got a Rhinelander that is a bit bigger than that.

I would suggest going to see him if you haven't already. Size is a factor when getting a rabbit, but should not be the only one. Spend some time with him and see if you like him. If you don't, that is fine and you can keep looking, but if you do like him then he has found a home.
 
I have two Flemish's at 6kg (1 years old) and 5kg (9 months) who are about as big as they're going to get. I think. Don't know the age of yours but mines were at least 4kg at 6 months if I recall correctly.

I love my big buns, they never really seem that large to me though their oversized stuff (cage, litterbox etc.) might be but I spoil them a bit. I believe personality is independent of breed so the the bunny you get will be unique just like people. I can say this about Flemish however, to quote the wonderful breeder I got Conan from "Flemish aren't lazy per se, they just conserve energy well." My buns have proven while they do have moments of burst activity that for the most part they enjoy lazing about.

And Flemish are like any other rabbits when it comes to activities, just bigger. If they are chewers, they chew more, they dig deeper, they jump higher and they destroy things err...more intensely. My Conan is well behaved, my Xena is a wild child. So like other rabbits with personalities, only their size makes them more so.
 
I love waking up to posts in the morning, thanks everyone!

I'm told he's 2-3 years old so he should be fully grown by now, I didn't realise his size was considered to be small though. Which is just fine with me it means we just might be able to accomodate him. I also had not considered about their distructiveness, we were used to bunny proofing for our other bun but he was just a mini. Any toys and tips for these big guys?

I have read online that they bond quite well to smaller rabbits, does anyone know this to be true/false? Currently I have a female American Lop (about 5lbs) who has a pen that's 4' x 8'. Would that be big enough for them to them to share? She gets plenty of time out of her pen, when me or my boyfriend come home we bring her out right away and she wont go back till bed time, and weekends she only sleeps in her pen.

We are going to go see him tomorrow, which I am super stoked about. There are others at the shelter that we are interested in but I have my sights set on the Flemish (Roger they are calling him). Of course his description says he's lovable and afectionate, I guess we will find out for sure when we get there.
 
I love having a larger bun as I have a Flemish buck. His personality is absolutely wonderful. He can be playful and active but he spends plenty of time lazing around. because I have him most of the time I don't even think of him as big.

I would think that a 4 X 8 cage would be enough space for two buns even if one is larger if they also get run time. The only thing with a larger bun is you do have to think larger. Those cute little bowls sold for buns will just not do .Thumper has a medium sized ceramic dog bowl. They eat more so unless you want to constantly be refreshing hay than a larger hay rack is necessary. I don't find this to be an issue however.

A small and large bun can get along. Look at WabbitDad's Wabbit Herd blog for proof of this .
 
Oh good point! I will need some larger bowls. Which is awesome because I have always loved those bowls and never needed them before. Win win! Hay rack.... I wonder if I can make something, my lop prefers it placed in handfuls in a corner of her litter box. I give her fresh hay several times a day but it might not be enough for a flemish.

Thanks! I'm going to check out the blog right away!
 
Rabbits dont see size, shape, species, or even aliveness. There's a rabbit on here (I wont say who.HAHA) that had a short interlude with a printer. Some rabbits will bond with cats or dogs. My 13 pounder LOVES and adores his 3 pound mate. Just depends on if the rabbits mesh. Toys sometimes you just need a bigger scale. Kai loves willow balls and foraging. He just gets bigger boxes and balls. I bought a little mini slinky for my little girl and Kai plays with it just fine. For sure a larger litter box. My boy was always peeing over the edge until I bought a plastic bin for him to use that had plenty of room.
 
So Unfortunatly Roger acted very aggressively towards my female during the Bunny Date. And I have zero experience with that kind of thing so we did not come home with him. However we did find a very sweet little english spot who responded very well to her (And she to him of course!) He's a very tiny little thing at just over 7 months and extremly shy. We have dubbed him "Pips" and we can't wait to start the bonding!
 
kmaben said:
Rabbits dont see size, shape, species, or even aliveness. There's a rabbit on here (I wont say who.HAHA) that had a short interlude with a printer. Some rabbits will bond with cats or dogs.
Click to expand...

What what? For real? I've heard of them loving stuffed animals before but never something as.... random as a printer! How did he/she even have access to a printer? my mind is blown.
 
Some of these newer guys dont know about Fraggles and her...oddities.
They were swapping out printers and left the old one on the floor. For what ever reason Fraggles took a liking to it. She would groom it and box people when they came near it. Quite the entertaining story. She's a character for sure.

Sorry the bunny date didnt go so well but glad you did find a bun that liked your little girl. They can be fussy sometimes.
 
Congratulations, I hope your new bunny works out, if not I have some bunnies that need homes and I am from Toronto too.
 
Thanks everyone! I will post pictures


Actually that sounds like a really cute story... I may not be on very often but I do know about Fraggles! Makes it more interesting that I can make the conenction!

The funny thing was is that even though he was being agressive I still thought he looked adorable with his not so little tail high up in the air! Oh I know about fussy... Shino used to get mad at me if I swept out his cage and didn't let him nibble a piece off of the broom before I was finished. I would get bunny butt and grunts all day long until I brought the broom back. Aventually Riza caught on and they both demanded it!

I'm going to try and post some photos right now.
 
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