hes finally home

[Livelovelaughlearn]

 he is home and cute as ever i posted albums that are public, he looks like hes shaking though sometimes is he just breathing and does he look healthy ? and how long before he takes a liking to my daughter shes 4 he is so calm and content with adults but she scares him i think even though she tries so hard 

[Hazel]

When you said he’s for your daughter I didn’t realize she’s so young. Rabbits really aren’t recommended for young children (or most children in general). They don’t like being picked up, they don’t like all the noise that comes with young kids. She won’t be able to hold him properly for now, so don’t allow her to pick him up. Have her sit on the floor with him (maybe offer some treats) and let him investigate on his terms. This will most likely get boring for her quickly though, so be prepared for her to lose interest.

I’m not trying to be a downer, but this rabbit will be your pet instead of your daughter’s. Kids get bored with rabbits, they’re more of an adult pet that you enjoy mostly by watching rather than touching.

He’s adorable! I love his color.

[Enh98]

My son is also four but I was never under the impression our rabbit would be his pet. Remi likes to sniff him when he’s playing, but other than that Remi prefers adult interactions on his terms. Remi will tolerate being held by an adult but I don’t have my son even attempt.

[Livelovelaughlearn]

This rabbit is different and so is my daughter …. This rabbit likes to be picked up and cuddled and doesn’t kick scratch or bite . And my daughter has the brain of a 10 year old and it’s the family’s bunny but her pet , she feeds it gives it water , plays with it teaches it wrong from right and where to potty . It’s perfect we are having no problems , all kids no matter what animal cat dog or bunny will have a interesting first day the animal is getting used to new environment and the kid just wants to play . And she doesn’t try to pick up the bunny it likes to be in its carrier. In the next week or two we are gonna start clicker training and also harness and leash so my daughter can play with her bunny outside. I read all the books and read watched rabbits for 2 years before getting one. So I know everything there is to know plus worked at vet clinics and spcas and owned a ranch with 14 horses , donkeys and more plus my daughter has had 1 hamster and 2 gerbils for pets already and knows how to be careful and gentle with small animals I wouldn’t be downed by your answers I’m more prepared than anyone and my daughter is also ready , ill continue to post pics and vids of them together to show you how a 4 year old can take care of and get along with a bunny . We basically describe him as her baby brother and she knows what to do with baby’s.

[bpash89]

Hazel and Enh are simply trying to give you sound advice about typical bunny behavior. Very few bunnies like being picked up. While you might have gotten a rare snuggle bug, please understand that your rabbit is still quite young and he is overwhelmed by all of the sudden changes to his environment and these things will drastically affect his behavior. As he gets more comfortable in your home over the next few weeks his behaviors can and will change. Maybe he will still like/tolerate being picked up but there is a good chance that he won’t. My bunny was perfectly fine letting me handle her when she was a baby… then she grew up. Now that she is comfortable with me and with her surroundings she is much more communicative about what she does and does not like and she does not like being picked up. That is normal.

To be frank, your response comes across as rather elitist and a tad hostile. No one was attacking your daughter, but simply pointing out that rabbits are not ideal pets for children due to their nature. Some children can handle it but most can’t. Many people would argue that even a lot teenagers aren’t mature enough to take on the responsibilities of a rabbit because they require a lot more care and attention than most people realize.

This site is a wealth of information and it is full of kind and helpful people who have owned rabbits for many years and they will go out of their way to help you and answer your questions. Your “I’ll show you” attitude is completely off-base because no one here is rooting against you. I, like everyone else, hope that you, your daughter and her bunny are all very happy together. However, since this site is full of people who have far more experience than you or I in regards to rabbits, the concerns they are bringing up are valid and you would do well to listen to them with an open mind because I can assure you, you do not know everything there is to know.

[Livelovelaughlearn]

I didn’t have a ill show you personality I was just Trying to state the fact that not all bunnies and children are the same and people shouldn’t jump to conclusions saying they aren’t the best pet for a younger child

[manic_muncher]

I hope you and your family do well with your new addition!  I did want to mention my experience so far.  I read everything I could find about preparing to bring a bunny home, what was needed to care for it, how to handle, when to handle, etc…  I’ve had TONS of experience with animals, as I also worked in a vet hospital.  I’ve owned a few rabbits in the past, and am a genius (literally tested) and I can tell you, I didn’t have a full grasp on what was truly involved once you got a bunny home.  I am much more enlightened now. 

I brought home Bumpy almost 3 weeks ago.  He was around 10 weeks old and very tame and used to being handled.  That lasted about a week.  Now that he’s more used to the normal sounds of the household, he’d rather not be touched, choosing to hop a short distance away to avoid being picked up or even petted.  He’s still a great deal of fun to watch and the work involved taking care of him properly is worth that alone.  He is also very food oriented, so tempting him with treats is helping his aversion of being touched.

My point is… unless you’ve owned several rabbits, with many types of personalities, thinking you will be prepared for anything and everything will leave you feeling like a fish out of water when that ‘something’ crops up, that you’ve never encountered.

You mentioned your daughter walking the rabbit outside.  You might want to read this:

https://www.binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/a…fault.aspx

 

Anyway!  I’m glad you have added a bun to your home.  Your entire family will learn lots about the quiet nature of rabbits and having them housed inside.  If you make it a game with your daughter (ie,”let’s pretend to be a bunny!”, “let’s sit very still.”, “time to wash our faces!”), she might stay interested and the calmness may earn the trust of your bun.

Good luck!

[Livelovelaughlearn]

Thank you , I have quite a bit of experience with house rabbits and I plan on training him to enjoy being cuddled, I didn’t plan on my daughter picking him up for awhile and when she does he is in his Blankie or carrier . I know it’s gonna be a process of adjustment for the both of them

[MoveDiagonally]

Harnesses are not generally recommended for rabbits. Bunnies can and do break limbs or their own backs in them. Even people that do bunny agility can and do have rabbits that injure or die in them/because of them. It really justs take a bunny getting spooked one time for something bad to happen.  It’s not usually worth the risk. Most people here that take their bunnies outdoors either build a bunny safe run or use an X-Pen. manic_muncher gave you a link to a recent thread that illustrates the risks pretty well. 

 

Your questions:

Bunnies breath faster when they are scared or stressed. Since you’ve only had your rabbit for about a day at this point this is really common and will likely go away as he settles in. 

 

He looks pretty healthy but it’s really not something anyone can know from pictures. It’s usually suggested that you take a new bunny in to a vet for a well visit just to make sure everything is good. Even if your bunny is 100% healthy this is not wasted time or money as it allows you to start getting to know your vet and allows your vet to get to know your rabbit and establish a baseline for health. This will make it easier for them to diagnose health issues that arise in the future. 

 

 Congrats on bringing your new bunny home. This forum is a wealth of good information and we have lots of people with years upon years of experiance with rabbits, you just have to be open to advice. It sounds like you’re willing to take care of the rabbit if your daughter does not which is probably all that needed to be said. 

 

Have you picked a name yet?

[MoveDiagonally]

Posted By Livelovelaughlearn on 08/21/2013 11:43 AM
Thank you , I have quite a bit of experience with house rabbits and I plan on training him to enjoy being cuddled, I didn’t plan on my daughter picking him up for awhile and when she does he is in his Blankie or carrier . I know it’s gonna be a process of adjustment for the both of them

On cuddling. It depends on what you are talking about when you say “cuddling”. Some people here have rabbits that like to crawl on their laps, etc… This is a more common form of bunny cuddling. 

Off the ground or holding type cuddles are generally disliked by rabbits because they are prey animals. Being restrained or held off the ground is too much like being scooped up by a predator. Very rarely you’ll find a rabbit that does enjoy this but they do exist. You can train/condition a rabbit to be easier to handle but you can’t train/condition them to enjoy this type of cuddling if they naturally do not. 

Edited to add: It’s really common for first time bunny owners to have to adjust their expectations a bit. Instead of deciding right now what your rabbit will be/do/not do/etc… I would instead let him get comfortable for a couple weeks and see how things go as he settles in. I know you have a lot of fun things you want to try and you’re itching to interact with him as much as possible and that’s really wonderful!  But right now everything is still new and he doesn’t even know that he’s “home” yet. 

 

[Valkyrie]

Your daughter sounds like a girl after my own heart! I was a very developmentally advanced child too and got my first bunny when I was 3. Some of my earliest memories involve looking after pets. Over 20 years later and I still can’t live without having a bunny or two in my life! It must be something in these BC waters.

My mom would probably like me to warn you about this though: you have opened the door to her heart and let bunnies enter and she will probably never let it close! And you may decide one day that you need a break between bunnies to give yourself time to grieve or whatever, but your daughter may not be able to wait too long because she won’t remember a time when she didn’t have a bunny! (I think this is a good thing, but it drove my mom nuts a couple of times!)

[Tessie]

Congrats on the new bun and its great to hear everything is going well!

You may be lucky and have a bun that likes cuddles but if he is just a baby then I’m sure you already realise that his behaviour might change over time, so that’s just something to bear in mind!

It’s also worth pointing out that just because he doesn’t kick or scratch when being held does not mean he likes it, just he tolerates it. Also I don’t think you can ‘train’ a bun to enjoy cuddles really, but like I said, you’ll just have to see how it goes!

[Author]

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