Hopeful Future Bunny Owner!

[seashells]

Hi everyone!

I am currently bunny-less but hope to venture into bunny ownership in the futures, so I’ve started doing my research. I was hoping people here might be able to give me some advice and answer a few questions I have.

I have a small dog (pomeranian) and two cats and am a little concerned about whether or not the bunny will be safe around them. I have no intention of leaving them alone together unsupervised, but I still worry nonetheless. Both my cats and my dog are fairly high-energy. Does anyone have tips/experience with safe other-pet introductions?

Another issue is my husband…he’s firmly against getting another pet at this time. I’m hoping he’ll change his mind eventually. Any tips on making this seem like a more appealing prospect is welcome.

One of his concerns, which is a fair one, is that we want to have kids in the near future (maybe in a year or two) and he’s concerned we won’t have time for another pet, on top of our current three, and a new baby. Having never had a bunny nor a baby before, I have no frame of reference here to judge whether or not this would be an issue. I work from home, and currently have enough time to devote to another animal, but want to make sure I could still give the bunny the proper time and attention when circumstances change. Does anyone have experience in this area?. 

I am considering fostering as an alternative option, to sort of “test the waters”, but my husband isn’t keen on that either for some reason.

In the meantime, I have a friend who has several bunnies and fosters for a local shelter who has agreed to let me spend some time with her bunnies and help her out with them, so hopefully I can learn a bit more about them and make sure they’re a good pet for me!

[seashells]

Oh, I was also wondering if someone could give me a run-down of what daily/weekly cleaning is like with rabbits? I’ve had dwarf hamsters in the past, and disassembling their entire cage and scrubbing crystallized urine out of every crevice every week was not a pleasant experience.

What sort of regular cleaning would a NIC condo and exercise pen setup with one or more litterboxes require? Are rabbits pretty good about using their box once trained? Cleaning a litterbox daily seems like a much more pleasant prospect than those hamster cage scrub-downs.

[Deleted User]

I’m probably not the best person to be offering advice to a new bunny wannabe owner as silly old me did no research (research? who needs to research the care of a cute fuzzy wuzzy bunny – DOH!) and boy, did I get caught out! I am happy to share a bit of my story with my boy Henry – but the first bit of advice I will give you – bunny’s are/can be so different, so my experience compared to the next and yours (?) will most likely be chalk and cheese?!?!?
Ok, lets get the naughty stuff out of the way first, LOL! My adult son (via my hints for the last 10+ years) gave me my boy for my Mother’s Day gift. Hubby – FURIOUS! I still to this day have no idea how I managed this, but my hubby cleans his litter tray (daily/every second day) and his house weekly (my shock comes from my hubby ‘not liking the bunny’? huh? and the fact that ‘I’ still mow the yard!) ha ha ha hah!
Henry is free range 24/7 so he spends little time in his house, why cleaning his house once a week is adequate. Before he was neutered, he’d wee, poop and SPRAY us and our surroundings constantly (every time he turned his back on us we cringed and ducked for cover). Luckily, the neutering worked (it doesn’t always) as I couldn’t stand the thought of restricting Henry’s access, but can honestly say that was the hardest bunny behaviour for ‘me’ to deal with. Some people are clever and have a bunny room – not us! We moved all our good ‘stuff’ into our lounge and blocked that room off with a baby gate and Henry’s bunny room is our house (with minimal furniture) and is covered in hay and shredded paper. My hubby will get on the floor to play with Henry – not me! I bend over, my floors are too dirty, ha ha ha! It’s been over 21 years since I had a baby (very foggy memories), so the only thing I can suggest is with a new bub and even now if I’m very very tired – I still have to prepare Henry’s meal fresh every night (veggies), very different to feeding a dog (at least for me). He has chewed my phone line (disconnected), had to replace countless cords (even though I swear they were bunny proofed) on electrical items, step on countless toilet rolls (his toys) just walking from the dining room to the kitchen.
But guess what? For as much as my hubby adamantly states “he hates the bunny” – he eats a banana daily, just to give him a bit for a treat. I not only adore my Henry – I am ‘in’ love with him! He is so cheeky (I had to get out of bed twice this morning because he was being naughty) yet I wouldn’t change him for anything. Why? I wish someone knew……
Owning a bunny is huge commitment – I’d take your friend up on the offer to hang out with the bunny’s first. And I’m only saying that for your sanity, lol! Only you will know if a bunny is the right pet for you, but do yourself a huge favour and be aware of what your getting into first. I hate to admit this, but if I knew back then what I know now…… well? Maybe (for me), it was good I didn’t know, I may have missed out? If you decide a bunny is for you, that’s awesome! and I wish you all the bunny love in the world. But if it’s not – good for you for deciding/knowing before you made/make the decision. Cheers seashells.

[manic_muncher]

So glad you tackled this one, AndHenry! I didn’t wanna be the one to say anything negative, because it’s all worked out for me… and the hubby/banana thing? YES DITTO!

I definitely will agree on the mess. When I first got Bumpy, I joked about needing to have the dustpan and brush surgically attached to my hands. The NEED for that to happen hasn’t changed… but my tolerance level definitely has. Hay, shavings, twigs, toilet paper and paper towel roll cores all around! I’ve never had a (human) baby, I think it -could- be done… but I can’t imagine ME having a newborn and a fully-roaming bunny. If I had the space… maybe. But as it is, my “bunny room” IS my living room, and while most of his messiness is within his xpen area, shavings do get kicked out on occasion. I would not bring a bunny into -this- place if I knew I was going to be raising a child here. I also place animals high on the list of importance to me… not being a mother to a human child I can’t say that I wouldn’t be the same way if I had one. My animals ARE my children, and the idea of me having to restrict my bun to a room not central to where I spend most of my time doesn’t appeal to me.

I agree, spend some time with your friend that fosters the bunnies. See what it’s really like to care for them, feeding time, cleaning up time… get the full experience. And this might seem nonchalant… but don’t worry about the hubby. NO ONE can resist the BUNNY! ONE binky from the bun or the expression of pure ecstasy when the hubby gives him a slice of banana, your hubby will be a bunny slave for life too.

[seashells]

Thanks guys!

I’d either be adopting or fostering a shelter bunny, so I am hopeful spraying and litterbox difficulties won’t be much of an issue, since they’d already be neutered/spayed. Although I know there are always exceptions. We’re still struggling with housebreaking our two year old dog. 

Dust and hay/paper thankfully doesn’t really bother me. I already keep a little hand-vac handy for tidying up the area around the cats’ litterboxes (since it gets pretty dusty). I was mainly worried about poop and pee everywhere. I vowed after the hamsters to never have another animal that can’t be housebroken in some way, so I was pleased to learn that bunnies can be litter-trained.

Feeding time sounds like it would actually fit pretty smoothly into my current routine. I eat a mostly plant-based diet and prepare most of our meals from scratch every night, so fresh veggies are pretty much a staple in our kitchen. I’m actually excited about the prospect that I can buy even MORE fresh veggies/herbs without worrying about then going bad. For example, I LOVE cilantro, but rarely buy it because we can never seem to finish it before it wilts, and I hate food going to waste.

I will definitely be spending time with my friend’s bunnies before jumping into anything.
On the plus side, after another talk with my husband, he’s open to discussing getting bunnies/fostering again after we have kids, once their old enough to understand how to handle animals gently. So if it turns out not to be a good idea for the moment, there is still hope for adding a bunny or two to our home in the future.

[HECA]

How can I not chime in here? 

The husband thing is easy to get past.  BEG!  Put on a pouty face and beg!  I swear to you it’s worth it. 

My bun is pretty clean, so not much to clean up.  He has a large pen that he spends nighttime and when we aren’t home in.  He keeps it clean… I just sweep out fur once a week with a dust pan.  The litter box I clean everyday or sometimes longer.  It depends, because when he’s in the house he like to use the cats litter box to potty in rather than his own.  (Smart bun)

my husband has been the type to joke saying, “when are we having hossenfeffer?”  He always says he doesn’t like the bunny, but he LOVES to give him things he’s eating… Fruit, lettuce…  And he LOVES when my bun comes to get pets from him and snuggle. Though he still claims to hate the bunny.

You will lose countless cords… But when it happens to me… I figure it’s my fault for not being on the watch.  My biggest thing is iPhone cords. You will spend a lot of time coming up with new ways to distract your bun.  Come up with new toys… New things to do. It’s like watching a toddler.  

If my bun does something naughty… I blame it on the cat. 

[seashells]

Alas, I have tried begging! He’s really standing his ground on this one. I think it will be a loooong slow process to get him to change his mind. I think it’s because he didn’t really want a dog, but agreed to get a dog because it was something I begged for, and we ended up with an extremely challenging puppy. I think he’s afraid of repeating that “mistake” (although he does the same thing with the dog that yours does with the bunny, always joking about giving him away, calling him stinky, but then giving him treats and playing with him). 

He likes animals, but I’m the one who is more willing to take on major challenges relating to them. He considers animal care an extra chore while I consider it a daily hobby.

Getting him to say we could reconsider it after kids was progress though! Before his stance was basically “never” or “not until one of our current animals passes in 15+ years.”

All of our current animals are pretty naughty…one of our cats destroyed my last computer and a pair of headphones (they were cord chewers as kittens), so thankfully we’ve gotten pretty good at problem-solving for pets.

[HECA]

Ahhh… I see your dilemma.
You could always somehow have him with you when you hang out with your friends bunnies. That may. Help sway him.

[manic_muncher]

Watch this cute video… and when your husband asks why you are giggling, make him watch it too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HiO9rzU_aw&list=WL0M4VfJDgU7jnc5AQQobFTsDYzXXBf5J1

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