Hello Kaitlyn,

Welcome and thanks for asking info before doing anything. First and foremost, I would STRONGLY recomment looking for a local rabbit rescue. Not only will you be adopting a bun who needs a home but more often than not the buns there have been socialized with humans so that they’ll be more friendly towards you as well as they are often already fixed. Although you may think it’s cheaper to buy a bunny fot $30 from a petstore than $80 from a rescue, when it comes time to neuter or spay that bun it can run you upwards of $200.

As for sex, it doesn’t really matter too much. In my experience though, it seems that the males are a little more mellow than females.

Welcome Kaitlyn-congrats on getting the board scholar!!

The best way, hands down, is to find a rabbit rescue or shelter near you and adopt. Pet stores and breeders, well, add to the pet over population problem AND when you adopt usually they are spayed/neutered for you!

In terms of gender, actually males are generally easier then females, I think, as females are usually more territorial but it definitely depends. The good thing about adopting from a rescue is you can spend some time meeting the rabbits and get to know their personalities-as well the staff will probably be able to tell you about them too!

Good luck.

I do have to say that I have some males that are territorial too. It’s really hard to judge them based on their sex too. I say be very open to any breed and to any gender.

I also recommend adopting from a rescue or a shelter. If it’s from a city shelter and depending on where you live they may or may not be altered so keep that in mind but also keep in mind you are giving this rabbit a second chance too.

Oh, I forgot, something that people often think are “Well I’d rather get them from somewhere else besides a rescue because I know that the buns at the rescue are well cared for.” The thing is that when you do adopt from a rescue, it means they have the space now available to go resuce another bun. Many rescues, such as Save A Bunny, rescue buns that have only 24 hours or less before being destroyed. So, not only are you getting a bun who is a bit more tempermented towards people and adoption by getting them at a rescue, but you are allowing those who know to go out and rescue the ones that are in the most danger.

Hi, Kaitlyn!

Congrats on your school board scholar accomplisment! I did a quick google search for rabbit shelters in Indiana, and didn’t find any but the House Rabbit Societ…BUT, when you look up rabbits in Indiana (I typed in Indianapolis as a city, because it was the first city that popped into my mind) into PetFinder, I got LOTS of hits and several different shelters! So try http://www.petfinder.com and see what you can find!

As far as the House Rabbit Society, your mom may have just, unfortunately, gotten a cranky person on a bad day. You could try again…also, if they have visiting hours, sometimes shelters will take people more seriously if they actually go in, than if they just call. So maybe stop by…

I COMPLETELY agree with everyone else about getting a bun from a shelter, vs a petstore or a breeder. There are SO MANY lovely bunnies out there who need a home…it would be wonderful if you could save one! If you can, I would suggest you meet as many bunnies at a shelter as you can, and then go home and think about it, and then go back and meet your favorites AGAIN. Just to make sure you get to know their personality as much as you can before you take one home.

(And for your mom, it really is a better deal money-wise to adopt. The cost of getting a petstore rabbit spayed/neutered yourself–which you would have to do, or risk cancer and illness later on–is easily 2 or 3 times that of the adoption fee.).

Happy bunny-searching!

hello Kaitlyn! i am very glad you registered and posted this question. (she had emailed me privately, so i asked her to please start a thread to get more than one person’s opinion.)  i generally do not recommend rabbits as pets for minor children, but since you have your parents permission, and you sound like a very intelligent, responsible young lady, i think you could do a good job in this case.

first of all, keep in mind that rabbits live to be anywhere from 8-15 years old.  so you might have this rabbit long into your college years.  will your parents agree to be responsible for the rabbit while you are away, or are you planning on attending a college in your home town and commuting?  it’s not fair to a bunny to love and care for them for 4 years, and then dump them off somewhere b/c you no longer have time.  if this is the case, WAIT until AFTER college to get a rabbit, or you could even adopt an older bunny (5 years or older) and still have plenty of time to spend with them.

i also agree that rescuing from a shelter or rescue is the best thing for everyone involved. like lightchick mentioned, Petfinder com is an excellent source for finding shelter bunnies. you can search rabbits by your zip code. some of the shelters even include a picture, the breed, and a short description about the bunny. many resceus are privately run and there is not a lot of info published online about them. most of the shelter bunnies will be spayed/neutered, already litterbox trained, and the people who work there can tell you what their personality is like.

some pros of adopting/ cons of buying from a store or breeder:
-baby bunnies are CUTE, but they are messy, hard to littertrain, destructive, and can be aggressive until they are neutered (males at 4 month) or spayed (females at 6 months).
-spaying and neutering can cost anywhere from 100-500 dollars depending on where you live and what the individual vet charges. this is a lot of money, esp. when you can adopt an already altered bunny for 50-100 dollars.
-stores and breeders do not know what that particular bunny will be like when they are mature at one year old. rescues already know the grown-up bunny.
-you will be saving two lives, the bunny you rescue and the one who takes his palce at the shelter.

rabbits needs to be housed inside, fed specialized diets of hay, veggies and limited pellets, and be provided with a very large cage/pen and given 4 hours of exercise time a day. they are not inexpensive pets. please make sure your parents are aware of this. i do not think it is wise or responsible to “hide” this fact in order to get your way, and then they find out later and are angry… or even worse, do not allow you to keep your pet. i can tell you honeslt that we spend an average of 150 dollars a month on food, litter, toys and vet care for two rabbits. that is probably much more than you make in allowance, so your parents must agree to be financially responsible for your rabbit.

here are some articles i like that give you an accurate description of what having a rabbit is like and what is required… 

http://www.rabbit.org/care/living-with-a-house-rabbit.html

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-5/like-a-rabbit.html

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/firstrabbit.html

bunny-proofing your home:

https://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=61

housing:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/indoorbun.html

https://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=71  this link has pics of some of the binkybunny members cages, pens and condos for our buns.

litterbox training:

https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/LitterboxTraining/tabid/62/Default.aspx 

spay/neuter (remember this will probably be done already if you choose to adopt, but this article tells you WHY you should):

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/spay.html