Suddenly got a dwarf rabbit

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Naaaa

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Hello. For the last month I have been taking care of a dwarf lion rabbit. She (I think) is one of the craftiests creatures I have ever met and I lover her very much.

The problem is, well, that I wasn't even planning to have a rabbit. My uncle and cousin came to visit us from germany and, on one of their trips to the open markets, my cousin took a fancy to a tiny bunny and had uncle buy it. Now, they were supposed to go back to germany the very next day. And they did. I now had a new pet which my cousin simply roughly handled all the way to home and quickly lost interest in it. I had to quickly calm it down.

I went oustide and found a big bird cage. I knew that it was far too small and that the bunny will outgrow it quickly but this was an emergency. I placed some paper to cover the metal rods and added hay to make it as soft as possible. From above I added some treebranches for her to chew on, some hay and dropped a small piece of corn for her just so she can keep her teeth in check. Water was added on the side via a bird thingy which keeps water. She calmed down and I fed her some greens so she could satart to trust me.

In two days I cleaned the aviary, covered it in cardboard, covered in hay, placed a makeshift hide, put a proper water dish, added a full corn, added apple, added a red pepper (whcih she just loves) and brought the whole cage into the enclosure since I didn't want to stress her out by handling her. She jumped out and was really happy (she jumped around a lot).

Now, my parents won't let me keep her in the house and my dogs happen to be the kind that would go out and come back with a dead rabbit in tow. I chained my poor sweet boy as he was the most likely to snap her throat. My girl was left to ream as her approach was to gain trust before going in for the kill.

Well, now that the backstory is over, hear me out. I don't think that I can keep my rabbit. Winter is close and she is outside. My dog might slip out of his chain (it happened multiple times) or my rabbit might come out (it happend once and both my dogs were out... I was able to pry her out of their cluthces). The aviary is only wide enough for her to stretch twice so I would sometimes chain my girl to let the bunny out so she can run around our yard. But that won't be an option once winter kicks in and the hawks start patroling. I always feed her frehs food and provide her with toys which I make myself. But I don't think she will be happy for long. And she will be in constant danger. I imply wasn't prepared. I love her so very much but I simply don't know what to do... Her name is Грашче. Little green bean in english.

My parents said that we should either let her loose into the wild or eat her. I don't want either of those things but there isn't anyone who will take care of her as a pet. Only as food.

For those who are wondering, here is a video of her.
 
Sorry that you can't keep your rabbit. I hope you find a solution. As a child, we had a hunting dog that my father would use to hunt ducks. I got some pet ducks and our dog learned that my ducks were not for him. I now live with my sister and years ago she got a dog. I had two house cats, and the dog wanted to kill my cats. I would sit in the living room with the dog on a leash. When a cat would go by, the dog would bark and try to get away to chase the cat. I had a water bottle and I would squirt the dog in the face with water, which she hated but it did not hurt her. I think it took over a month, but the dog did learn to leave the cats alone. I don't know if training your dogs is possible, but it is the only thing I can think of right now. And maybe you could cover the cage so the hawks can't see the rabbit from the sky.
 
Sorry that you can't keep your rabbit. I hope you find a solution. As a child, we had a hunting dog that my father would use to hunt ducks. I got some pet ducks and our dog learned that my ducks were not for him. I now live with my sister and years ago she got a dog. I had two house cats, and the dog wanted to kill my cats. I would sit in the living room with the dog on a leash. When a cat would go by, the dog would bark and try to get away to chase the cat. I had a water bottle and I would squirt the dog in the face with water, which she hated but it did not hurt her. I think it took over a month, but the dog did learn to leave the cats alone. I don't know if training your dogs is possible, but it is the only thing I can think of right now. And maybe you could cover the cage so the hawks can't see the rabbit from the sky.
Thank you very much. The aviary is under a huge broken apple branch, which is why we no longer have birds in it. She should be ok. But I don't know if my dogs can be trained. I am attending collage and I have only enough time to feed my animals... which is probably why my bunny has become a bit distant. She backs away whenver I reach out my hand so she can sniff me. Once a cat of mine killed one of my white giant rabbits when it was a size of a dwarf. I learned from her that some animalas are simply out for necks. I don't think my boy will listen to me. I hate to keep him on the chain too :(
 
Hi, where are you located? Maybe you can place an ad on your local board or rabbit rescue site?
Or get a hutch for her, even rebuilt your aviary and use materials to make more room, make it more protected from your other animals? If you can get some old furniture like a closet or tv unit and refurbish for her maybe your family would let you to keep her? She's gorgeous!
 
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Hi, where are you located? Maybe you can place an ad on your local board or rabbit rescue site?
Or get a hutch for her, even rebuilt your aviary and use material to make more room, make it more protected from your other animals? If you can get some old furniture like a closet or tv unit and refurbish for her maybe your family would let you to keep her? She's gorgeous!
Hello. I live in Serbia and my place of residence is one of the villages around Niš
 
Good luck and keep us updated! I would be happy to rehome her but you are too far from me :)

I wouldn't say she's a dwarf btw, I would describe her as Harlequin lop/lionhead cross, she's absolutely gorgeous! If you are not sure she or he you can get instructions for sexing your rabbit in this thread if she's still under 10 weeks it's not always easy but you can check later perhaps

https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/sexing-rabbit-pictures.44936/
 
Is there a rescue centre near you? You could surrender her to one. She’ll die in the wild if she’s a domestic rabbit.
 
Hello. For the last month I have been taking care of a dwarf lion rabbit. She (I think) is one of the craftiests creatures I have ever met and I lover her very much.

The problem is, well, that I wasn't even planning to have a rabbit. My uncle and cousin came to visit us from germany and, on one of their trips to the open markets, my cousin took a fancy to a tiny bunny and had uncle buy it. Now, they were supposed to go back to germany the very next day. And they did. I now had a new pet which my cousin simply roughly handled all the way to home and quickly lost interest in it. I had to quickly calm it down.

I went oustide and found a big bird cage. I knew that it was far too small and that the bunny will outgrow it quickly but this was an emergency. I placed some paper to cover the metal rods and added hay to make it as soft as possible. From above I added some treebranches for her to chew on, some hay and dropped a small piece of corn for her just so she can keep her teeth in check. Water was added on the side via a bird thingy which keeps water. She calmed down and I fed her some greens so she could satart to trust me.

In two days I cleaned the aviary, covered it in cardboard, covered in hay, placed a makeshift hide, put a proper water dish, added a full corn, added apple, added a red pepper (whcih she just loves) and brought the whole cage into the enclosure since I didn't want to stress her out by handling her. She jumped out and was really happy (she jumped around a lot).

Now, my parents won't let me keep her in the house and my dogs happen to be the kind that would go out and come back with a dead rabbit in tow. I chained my poor sweet boy as he was the most likely to snap her throat. My girl was left to ream as her approach was to gain trust before going in for the kill.

Well, now that the backstory is over, hear me out. I don't think that I can keep my rabbit. Winter is close and she is outside. My dog might slip out of his chain (it happened multiple times) or my rabbit might come out (it happend once and both my dogs were out... I was able to pry her out of their cluthces). The aviary is only wide enough for her to stretch twice so I would sometimes chain my girl to let the bunny out so she can run around our yard. But that won't be an option once winter kicks in and the hawks start patroling. I always feed her frehs food and provide her with toys which I make myself. But I don't think she will be happy for long. And she will be in constant danger. I imply wasn't prepared. I love her so very much but I simply don't know what to do... Her name is Грашче. Little green bean in english.

My parents said that we should either let her loose into the wild or eat her. I don't want either of those things but there isn't anyone who will take care of her as a pet. Only as food.

For those who are wondering, here is a video of her.

I would love to have her!
 

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