House rabbit & friend

[Kendall]

I have a 1 year old mini lop. Since we got him at 7 weeks he’s been outdoors he has a large 2 story hutch with a thermal cover which keeps him warm in the winter and cool in the summer (you can get it at pets at home). I’m thinking of keeping him indoor since I feel like we haven’t bonded as he’s got older he has become more distant and doesn’t liked to be picked up at all but he’s fine once you’re holding him.

My problem is space, I live in a small 3 bedroom house with my parents and 2 siblings. I would love him to be indoors since I heard it’s a lot better for them. I just have some questions and need some advice.
He won’t be able to be free, he’ll most likely have to be in a cage but cages are small and I don’t want him to go from having a large hutch to a smaller cage indoors I will definitely let him out in the living room for exercise like I normally do but I have college and cant let him out when I’m not home and my parents or siblings won’t. We also have 2 cats and can’t leave him unattended.
Another thing is should I get him a friend if I keep him outdoors? Biscuit isn’t neutered yet since we don’t have money for the vet bills.
He’s a small rabbit (mini lop) only weighs about 1.5-2kg will I have to get the same breed? Will getting a larger breed lead to bullying? Also which is better a male or female friend?

Sorry it’s a lot of questions to answer! I just want to make sure I do this right
I want what’s best for him

[sarahthegemini]

If free roam isn’t totally possible, what about just one room? Could you have one room that is off limits to the cats and have that as the rabbit room? If not, you don’t have to put him in a typical let store cage. You’re right, they are very small. You could instead try a large play pen with a roof to be his ‘cage’?

I do think having a bun-panion is the best thing for rabbits! Bonding is a very stressful process tho so do read up on bonding beforehand! Size and breed, even gender don’t really matter. It all comes down to individual personalities. Obviously a larger bun could inflict more damage if they were to fight but you have to stop any fighting before it begins anyway so that shouldn’t really be an issue. Having said that, the absolute first step to bonding is to neuter both parties so if finances are an issue, I wouldn’t get another bun just yet.

I think rabbits are so much better off being inside. You can develop such a strong relationship with them when you are always around them. And you get to see what they get up to at all times…which can be entertaining

[Luna]

I agree with STG. I think your relationship with him would grow more if he moved indoors. You can make a much larger cage out of c&c grids, for far less money than the commercial cages. Do you have your own bedroom or do you share with your siblings? If you have your own bedroom, you could make that kind of like Biscuit’s home base and set up his cage there. That way, he can spend a lot more time with you, but also be in a room where there isn’t a lot of foot traffic/noise.

Buns are social animals, so I agree that a bunny friend is a good idea, but I also believe that single buns can be just as happy depending on the circumstances . Luna is a single bun, and since I currently live with my parents, space for two buns would be an issue. But my parents interact with Luna throughout the day while I’m gone at work. I also have a cat and they keep each other company. And Luna gets tons of free-roam and time with me, and play focused on mental stimulation. If I lived alone and didn’t have my cat, I would definitely have a bun friend for Luna.

[Deleted User]

I agree with the others, except if you don’t have enough money for your first bun, how would you pay for your second bun? Every bun is different too. You could pick a bunny from a shelter or breeder and have lots of health problems, on top of getting a spay/neuter. There’s never a way of knowing.

[Kendall]

Posted By Asriel and Bombur on 3/06/2018 7:46 AM
I agree with the others, except if you don’t have enough money for your first bun, how would you pay for your second bun? Every bun is different too. You could pick a bunny from a shelter or breeder and have lots of health problems, on top of getting a spay/neuter. There’s never a way of knowing.

It’s not that we don’t have money for him we can afford to look after him like food, bedding, toys etc however getting a rabbit neutered is around £60-100 including after care and my parents don’t have much money left over after paying for bills and since at the moment it’s not essential to have him neutered they aren’t in any rush even though for him it would be better but it’s just saving the money up for it.
I don’t work as of right now so I can’t do it myself

[Kendall]

Posted By Luna on 3/06/2018 7:36 AM
I agree with STG. I think your relationship with him would grow more if he moved indoors. You can make a much larger cage out of c&c grids, for far less money than the commercial cages. Do you have your own bedroom or do you share with your siblings? If you have your own bedroom, you could make that kind of like Biscuit’s home base and set up his cage there. That way, he can spend a lot more time with you, but also be in a room where there isn’t a lot of foot traffic/noise.

Buns are social animals, so I agree that a bunny friend is a good idea, but I also believe that single buns can be just as happy depending on the circumstances . Luna is a single bun, and since I currently live with my parents, space for two buns would be an issue. But my parents interact with Luna throughout the day while I’m gone at work. I also have a cat and they keep each other company. And Luna gets tons of free-roam and time with me, and play focused on mental stimulation. If I lived alone and didn’t have my cat, I would definitely have a bun friend for Luna.

I share a small room with my older sister however we are swapping rooms with my younger brother since my 2 older brothers moved out we’re getting the bigger room. But it still isn’t big enough for a pen like cage, when we do move in I’ll have to see if we can make room.
With my cats their used to having free roam of all the rooms and cutting off a room completely will make them want to go in there even more.
I am thinking of keeping biscuits outside and getting him a friend instead but I don’t we will be able to afford getting both rabbits neutered. Getting food, bedding and stuff like that isn’t a problem because it’s fairly cheap just vet bills

[Deleted User]

I understand the neuter, because my boys were $350 each, which is around 250 pounds. And I understand vet visits can be expensive, Bombur has cost me $3000 in vet costs, and he isn’t even a year old. I know in England buns need shots, so you’d have to think about the cost for yearly vet visits for two and shots for two buns.

The bonding process can be a bit overwhelming, and it can take a long time. You’d also need a contingency plan in case a bond didn’t work out. While they were bonding they will need to be totallyseparate at all times, except for bonding sessions. The extra poops from them being territorial can also become a pain xD

[sarahthegemini]

If you can’t afford a one off payment of £60 to £100, how will you afford twice the amount of hay, pellets, veggies, litter, toys, vaccinations, insurance etc every month?

To bond, BOTH rabbits need to be neutered.

[tobyluv]

You definitely have to have both rabbits neutered or spayed. You cannot bond them otherwise and you are risking fighting and severe injuries if you put two rabbits together if they aren’t both neutered or spayed.

[Sirius&Luna]

Another option is to adopt a rabbit and see if the rescue would do the bonding for you. Normally it’s around £50 to adopt a rabbit in the UK, and it comes already neutered and vaccinated, which saves you about £200. Plus you get to give a bunny a great new home!

That means you’d only need to pay to get your original rabbit neutered, then at a time of your choice later you could look into rescuing.

However, it really is important to have a plan for vet emergencies, as vet bills can really rack up. A 24 hour admission to the vet with GI stasis (a pretty common illness in rabbits) cost £250 for me, and a 2 day admission with extensive care including ops cost £1400. They aren’t cheap pets and you do need to be prepared for vet emergencies whether that’s insurance or savings. My pet insurance in the UK is £10 a month per bunny, but it means I only paid £50 of each of those bills instead of £1600.

[Kendall]

We have yet to get biscuit shots done I believe it only costs about £20-£40 which isn’t too bad.
Thank you for the help I definitely would get another rabbit until I’m ready

[Kendall]

Like I said in reply to someone else. I can afford hay, bedding, pallets, veg and everything he needs etc because they’re inexpensive. He’s a small rabbit and doesn’t eat a lot, one big bag of pallets that last us 2/3 months is £7, big bag of hay, straw and bedding is about £1-5 each, all vegetables combined is about £5 and for toys biscuit loves cardboard boxes which are free and other brought toys are under £5. All of these cost are spreadout and not one big payment of £60-£100 like a vet bill is

[Kendall]

I don’t know why I didn’t think of adoption instead! any recommendations for places?

That’s a lot of money to pay out for, hopefully it doesn’t come to that

[sarahthegemini]

You’re still going to need the finances for vet expenses though….

[Deleted User]

I’m not in England so I don’t know this per-se, but if you could afford to adopt for 50 pounds, why wouldn’t you be able to get a bunny to the vet for an extra 10 pounds? I’m just confused, because aside from a procedure like a neuter, bunnies need routine medical exams and in your country shots. I know you said you’ll adopt when you’re ready, but really think financially would you be able to afford emergency visits if it ever comes down to it. My most expensive emergency visit was $2500, and I’ve had my boys for only 10 months.

[Kendall]

Posted By Asriel and Bombur on 3/09/2018 12:50 PM
I’m not in England so I don’t know this per-se, but if you could afford to adopt for 50 pounds, why wouldn’t you be able to get a bunny to the vet for an extra 10 pounds? I’m just confused, because aside from a procedure like a neuter, bunnies need routine medical exams and in your country shots. I know you said you’ll adopt when you’re ready, but really think financially would you be able to afford emergency visits if it ever comes down to it. My most expensive emergency visit was $2500, and I’ve had my boys for only 10 months.

What did you mean by an extra £10?
I genuinely don’t really know costs of emergency visits however one of my cats had to have emergency surgery and it was no way near 2500 and we didn’t have pet insurance for him (since they won’t cover him) so I doubt it will ever come to that.

[Deleted User]

Bunnies are exotics, so they cost a heck of a lot more than a dog or a cat. My families cats were all neutered for about $100 each, my buns were neutered for $350 each because of all the extra care bunnies need after a neuter. Emergency visits for bunnies run extremely high because they are exotics. A typical episode of GI stasis can easily run you $1000 if not more.

About the extra 10 pounds in regards to adoption. if a neuter is 60 pounds, and an adoption is 50 pounds, why wouldn’t you just neuter at the 60 pounds, especially considering both would need to be altered to even begin any type of bonding. 60 pounds here in the US is about $85, which is extremely cheap for a neuter. Typical neuters here in the US are usually $150-$250. Some low cost programs are as cheap as $100, but that’s few and far between.

I’m not trying to discourage you, or cause offensive. As someone who is not well off, and my first emergency visit was $2500, it caught me very off guard. As, my cats growing up were never so pricey for an emergency.

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