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Krickette

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2008
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Location
, Louisiana, USA
So, I'd like to have a rabbit. I caught the bug, bumper was great! I am sad that it didn't work out with him, but maybe if I find one who is healthy and from somewhere I can trust, then I will have better luck. That was a lot thrown on a first time rabbit owner all at once, but I want to try again.
I just wanted to know what a good breed would be. I saw some adorable mini rex females today and had to stop myself from snatching them up. I know someone who breeds rabbits and she has netherland dwarfs, mini rexes, dutch and californian. I saw a holland lop or two at a pet store once too. I don't know if there are any at any shelters or rescues around me, but I'd be willing to look there too.

So I just wonder what a good breed would be? What's a good starter bunny?
 
Sorry about Bumper... but so glad you've got the bunny bug. (Glad for the bunnies).

Maybe you can try fostering a homeless bunny and see how that works out. There areno guarantees babies will continue being their sweet little selves once they hit puberty.

And sometimes you can love a bitey, cranky rabbit, anyway. (I know from experience).

No one willthink badly of someone who doesn't bond with their foster rabbit. Trade him in, better luck with the next one.

Dwarfs are zippy, hyperlittle things, but they're full of personality -- that can be good and bad. My dwarf is totally bonded to me, she's a cuddle bun, although it took some patience. She became the devil bunny when she turned six months old. She's still a touble bun, but I love her. She grooms me twice a day, she's jealousand will chase the cats is I pet them, and Lord help any other rabbits she 'catches' me with.

Mini-rexes are very opinionated, personality plus. (Both of mine bit me when I didn't behave, but I was head over heels in love with them anyway. I want another one). Both would ambush my cats, either for fun or they didn't like cats. They'dgive me the gears if I misbehaved. They were very very bright -- the smartest rabbits I've ever had --andrevenge-oriented with long memories. (They'dbite or chew a hole in the couch or pee on it when they were angry with me).

The bigger guys are calmer and sweeter. I have a medium-size while bunny with pink eyes who is just the sweetest guy! And a perfect gentleman. He never poops or pees outside of his box, he doesn't bit the cats, he never chews wires or my baseboards... He always comes over for pets and climbs on my lap. (He panics when I hold him orpick him up, but he's getting over that).

My mini-lop is a bit of a snot, she has an attitude, but she had a rough start in life. Her boyfriend is a plain black mid-size uppity ear bunny, and he is sweet and gentle. He's a little shy, and not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he'sveryloveable.

I have two English Spot/Angoracrosses whoare VERY shy and standoffish. But I knew the whole litter, and their brother is a little licking maching with agreat personality, and others are sweet and friendly, so you can't always go by thebreed or the genetics.

I wish our search engine was working. Pam Nock, one of our most awesome and experienced members, is an ARBA judge and gave her assessment of different breeds, but I forget the specifics andI don't want to guess.

I'll see if I can find it.

Welcome tobunnyaholics anonymous.s ;)



sas :bunnydance:
 
There is no good "starter" rabbit. You would have to find the one that is right for you.

Now here is the thing. I would look at all you have been through in the last few days. If this next bunny gets sick can you afford the $40. What if it is the $54.99 I pay for 4 pills for my boy Ringo? Could you afford almost $100 bill? Oh wait forgot his other two meds. Can you afford $150 every other month? Trust me it piles up faster than you can think.

From your blog...



Krickette wrote:
8-7-2008
The End

So, the plain and simple truth is that I relinquished my Bumper. I got in too deep, and had to keep his best intrest at heart. It's been a long hard road, and I got very attatched to the little guy. I left him with his favorite fleece and a lot of kisses and loves. He or she was a great pet while I had him, and I hope that he has the best possible life, whether it should end here peacefully or continue on in rehabilitation.

As for me, I'm coping. I understand what it's like to react to a forum member not taking proper care of their pets, I am guilty of jumping the gun on many horse owners. But I understand both sides of it. I'm a waitress, and I'm in college, and I have my first appartment, and I'm not from a well to do family. I live on a farm. My parents were completely against me taking a rabbit to a vet. Here if a dog gets bit by a snake, they get over it, if a calf drowns, life goes on, if a cow breaks a leg, it gets shot. Life happens, tough cookies, get on with it. Why sink money into an animal like that? The only exception so far is my horse that I've had for ovre 10 years, when he fractured a bone in his leg, we spent the time and money to rehab him. When my miniature horse foundered, I could not handle it financially and found someone who could, from Chancesminihorserescue.org
I'm a waitress, as I said before. We're short staffed, and I've worked from 10 to close almost every day, so I haven't had time to get to the vet. There are no sick days in this business. That's why yes, sometimes your server has strep throat! If I took off, I'd get fired, and then how would I pay for the vet? So yeah, I went as soon as I could.

I do want another rabbit, I'm going to browse around and take my time and find one that I know will be healthy and properly weaned and such. I'm going to read up more on rabbits before I get my next one, but I do plan on buying a new bunny.

So that's it.
But every new begining comes from some other begining's end.

I'll post my last pictures soon.
Click to expand...


I have had Ringo for 3 years as of July 8 2008. I have spent well over $4,000 in 2 years on the one bunny. That is with my vets giving me BIG breaks on his treatment and meds. Also that is not counting the times my brother or mother paid for him to go in.

Are you going to surrender the next bunny if something goes wrong? Or will you be able to help this one. Being weaned, leaving at the right age makes no difference. A bunny STILL can get sick. A can STILL get hurt. A spinal injury has NOTHING to do with when he was weaned. Bunnies have a fragile body.

I have had to buns with head-tilt, other illnesses and injuries. I have at times worked treatment around my scheadual but even than have had to take time off. Just reacently I had to take off because the power went out and I had no air! It hit 90 in my apartment. I had to be here watching to make sure the animals were ok.

Read these threads. Alot of people can tell you just how expensive bunnies are.

Working With (vs. Dealing With) Vets...


Bills, Bills, Bills...


Ready to Flippin' Burst...


I would give it time and in time see if you can afford a bunny. If you really want one maybe consider fostering? I did and loved it. Fostering is awesome but to keep in mind that even than if the animal gets sick the rescue would expect her to take the time off to either get it seen or to hand the bun off to someone else to take in. Or to be available for a possible adopter.

Just think about it VERY carefully. Honestly I love my rabbits but if I knew than what I know now I may more than likely would have waited till I was better off financially. Learn more about rabbits in general and breeds that intrest you. Just take your time.



Ali


PS. Part of those two years my husband was the only one working, than we were BOTH out of work and now we both work at Target.

 
Hey Krickette.. :D

I'm so glad that you fell in love with rabbits and came back. What you can do to find a bunny is to go on www. pet-finder.com and type in rabbits and your zipcode..this will show all the rabbits in your area that are up for adoption.


http://www.petfinder.com/

I volunteer at a shelter so I know that there are so many rabbits that are homeless and may never get a home.
I'm really sorry about Bumper but there's never a lack of bunnies to love.

Maybe you can go and look at a lot of bunnies, play with them and make a decision then. :happybunny:

Maureen

 
[align=left]TheHumane Society in Shreveport (http://www.hsnwla.org/),may or may not handle rabbits, but if they do, they are likely to be endangered, it seems to be a high-kill shelter. [/align]
[align=left]And here are someother links from their site: [/align]
[align=left]Pet Savers, Inc.
Animal Welfare, Inc.
Bossier Parish Animal Control
Caddo Parish Animal Shelter
The Humane Society Adoption Center of Monroe
The Humane Society of Louisiana
KTBS-3 Pet Connection
Pet Assistance Welfare Society of Northeast LA
Southern Animal Foundation
Spay/Louisiana
Robinson's Rescue
[/align]
 
I'm so sorry things went so wrong with Bumper.

I think your best bet for finding the right bunny for you, especially since you are a bunny newb, is to go to a shelter or rescue and play with variety of spayed/neutered rabbits. Baby rabbits are almost always sweet natured but they can change a lot when they hit puberty. This can be very upsetting, it was for me with my first bun. But with a spayed/neutered adult rabbit you will have a better idea of their actual personality and that rather necessary surgery will already have been done.

It's hard to say a specific breed will act a certain way because rabbits are very much individuals.One dwarf girl is a hyperactive cranky diva but I've met cuddly dwarf buns. My dutch boy is an opinionated, talkative, friendly guy and so was the dutch girlIfostered (and many others!) but I've also met a withdrawn dutch who even with a lot of attention and care just preferred to be left alone. I've met friendly, cuddly lops and lops whose main interaction with humans is with their teeth.

Although in general I'm a dutch fan,so many of them have fantastic silly personalities.:D

Oh, and don'twrite off Magic Happens because it is far away from you.They're still worth contacting as they may have fosters out by you or might be able to recommend adifferent rescue or shelter for you to check out.
 
Poor little baby....i'm so very sorry

:sad:
 
These things happen. I called throughout the day to check on him. He didn't register any deep pain, had his x-rays..it was a judgement call by them. They still did not accept payment.

Had I been closer, I would have taken him, but I just am not set up for a special needs bunny.

I hate this for one so young..


 
Krickette, you did a very responsible thing. I'm so sorry your experience was so sad.

On one hand I know the need to be able to care for any pet. On the other hand, if everybody who owned a pet had to be stable enough to have the next 10 or 12 years of their life written in stone, no rabbits would ever get out of shelters.

Buying a bunny from a pet store or a breeder will not be helping the situation. You may be inadvertently causing problems for that rabbit in the future due to your inability to afford vet care, even though you have shown the maturity to make the hard decision to relinquish a much-loved pet for the pet's sake.

But my personal opinion is that taking a rabbit from a small cage in a high-kill shelter is very much helping. It may be a risk in the future and you may end up with another serious problem, but I trust you tomake sure the bunny doens't suffer.

And considering the alternative, I really think you're a much better bet!

A lot of local shelters don't advertise their rabbits, and they don't list them on Petfinder. I think you need to research your area and see who needs help.

Good luck to you.

So sorry again about Bumper. :tears2:



sas :hug:
 
Just a quick note..

Krickette didn't know until I told her a few minutes ago, and I really wasn't going to tell her but then I figured it would probably be better coming from me, she had such high hopes for Bumper. I just got off the phone with her, shes pretty choked up guys..

Please keep her in your thoughts..



Z
 
GoinBackToCali wrote:
Just a quick note..

Krickette didn't know until I told her a few minutes ago, and I really wasn't going to tell her but then I figured it would probably be better coming from me, she had such high hopes for Bumper. I just got off the phone with her, shes pretty choked up guys..

Please keep her in your thoughts..



Z
Click to expand...
Definately...

Krickette, I'm thinking of you. I'm so sorry for the traumatic past few days you've had :hug:

Jen xx
 
I may not be active on this forum for a bit, yall. I just need to go for a bit. But I'm going to be reading up and researching and such. If any of yall have any advice for me, keep it coming, and feel free to PM me for whatever reason. But I'm not going to be posting much I don't think.
I told my cousins that he went away to someone who will make him better, I can't stand to tell them that he's gone forever, not yet anyway. I just know they will beat themselves up over it. I honestly think that may be how it happened. It was foolish on my part to let them handle him unsupervised, and I know that now. I think that if it happened while he was with me, that would have been when it occured. The kids are used to handling my rats, who are, to say the least, sturdy creatures. So who knows.
I'm going to stay on the forum, I need the help from all of you but for a while, I may be a lurker.
 
First of all, I want you to know that I'm sorry for your loss. I know the decision you made was an agonizing one and I think it was mature of you to make it.

You don't know my rabbit Tiny....he passed away last February - it was just recently the six month anniversary of his death. I worked at home at the time - and 12-16 or more hours per day - Tiny spent within 5 feet of me - usually at my feet. I could not walk into my home office for over a week without breaking into tears - and for days I couldn't sit in the chair for more than 10 minutes before I had to get up and leave the room. I missed his kisses - and his attention. If I had an angry customer on the phone - when I raised my voice (or lowered it) - I started getting kisses from him.

I say all this to say - I know what it is like to lose a rabbit - and have that "empty" feeling. I think wanting to get another rabbit can be a good thing - those who have read Tiny's Rainbow Bridge thread - know that it was less than a week before our family made the decision to adopt another flemish giant (mix this time) - and it was almost three weeks before we got Zeus. (Mind you - as a former lionhead breeder - I already have a LOT of rabbits - but Tiny was my heart bunny).

However - I am concerned about you and I want to point out a couple of things. Please know that I am saying them because I do not want to see you hurt again - ok?

If I were you - as much as I want another rabbit - I would not get one until you have at least $40 set aside for a vet visit. Once you have that $40 set aside - I would continue to set aside $10 per week or every other week - until you had $150 - $200 set aside. Why? Because you just never know when something will happen...when we rushed Tiny to the vet in San Antonio (3 hours away) - we wound up spending almost $200 to try and save his life - $135 for the vet visit and $65 for the gas since it was a Saturday and all the local vets were closed.

I agree with Pipp about rescuing from a high kill shelter and that would be good. But I also encourage you to go with Magic Happens Rabbit Rescue and see if they will work with you in transporting a rabbit to you. We were fortunate enough to have a member on this forum who works with them - and she brought him part way and we drove 7 hours one way - to pick him up.

I like Magic Happens for a couple of reasons. First of all - they're great about telling you about the rabbit's personalities. I felt like I really knew Zeus from the first time I held him. True - he's become a spoiled brat. But still yet...I knew what he was going to be like.

But secondly - their rabbits are neutered before they go to their new home. While you will have an adoption fee for your rabbit - trust me - neuters are MUCH MUCH more expensive than the adoption fee. Having a neutered rabbit as a pet will help them to settle down.

I also encourage you to read some about how to handle rabbits so that this doesn't happen again....and how to feed them - you know - all that background stuff that you came to the forum to find.

Anyway - that's my opinion. I know....opinions are like feet - we all have them - and some stink. But still yet...I really think before you get another rabbit - you need to have some money set aside for a potential vet visit.

I'm sorry for your loss....and yes, I do know what it is like to lose a bunny you love. As many forum members can tell you - I've been down that road more than once these last couple of years...its not easy.

But don't rush out and make a decision that could lead to more heartache if you're not ready for it.


 
I'm so sorry about Bumper. I wrote in his Rainbow Bridge thread. I agree with some of the others who said to wait to get the next one, or to foster from a rescue or shelter. It's really important to be financially ready for it. I just reached $3,000 spent on one of my girls who had an abscess, teeth issues, etc., etc.
 
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