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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.
- This topic has 44sd replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 5 months ago by
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Hi there, my name is Sharon. I have never owned a bunny before and to be quite honest really never even thought of them as pets until recently ( silly I know). While searching for a good animal to get my 6 ( almost 7) year old daughter for a kindergarten graduation gift I came across somebody selling bunnies on craigslist. The pictures of the bunnies were so cute I decided to do some research and finally after lots and lots of talking, asking around, and searching on the internet. I found a feed store that sold rabbits in our small town. We bought a baby albino bunny and put it on hold at the store for 2 days until we could come pick it up with my daughter. She adores her new bunny and so does her brother ( 2 almost 3). I have to say that even though it has only been a week our entire family has become extremely attached to the little guy! We have named him Poppy ( we got him on what would have been my grandfathers birthday and that was my nickname for him
) and although we still have alot to learn I can say without a doubt that I and my 2 kiddos have bunny fever! Had I known how awesome it is to own them I would have had bunnies SO much sooner!!! I am so happy to have found this site also because after reading a few of your forum topics it seems like you have alot of really sweet , nonjudgemental , helpful, knowledgable people on here! Can’t wait to make lots of new friends that share my new found love of bunny ownership! Editing because I totally forgot to add pictures haha
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Welcome, Sharon!
Your bun is very cute, as are your kids! I’m sure they love him very much.
I noticed a couple of things in your post and pictures that I wanted to comment on, I hope you don’t mind.
First off, I love that your kids are so into the bunny, that’s great. Generally, rabbits aren’t recommended as pets for young children. They are quite fragile, so I wouldn’t ever leave the bun alone with the kids (or at least not with the youngest). They usually don’t like being held/picked up and often want to be petted only on their terms. They don’t play like a dog or cat would. All this is because they are prey animals, rather than predators. These bunny characteristics often make them seem “boring” to kids and they lose interest. Your kids could very well be totally different, but be prepared for the possibility that he’ll become mostly “your” bunny. Which is great for you of course!
The other thing is the cage. I know you probably paid a good chunk of money for it at the pet store, so I hate to tell you that those cages really aren’t suitable for even one bun to live in. They are much too small. Also, I can’t quite tell from the picture, does it have a wire bottom? If so, I’d go ahead and take that out, the wire can cause injury to their feet (sore hocks).
If you look at the habitat section, you’ll find some great examples of suitable rabbit enclosures. Condos built out of NIC cubes as well as x-pens are popular and work great.
I’m sorry to throw all this at you, it seems like you and your family love that little bun very much.
Would love to see more pictures! -
Welcome to BB!!
What a cute little bun. I agree with what Hazel said but no one gets everything perfect first time around!! When I first got Belle I had a cage too small as well that I thought was huge at the time haha! I hope you enjoy finding out everything about your bun as much as I did
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Ha, do we ALL make the mistake of buying those horrible pet store cages with our first bunny? I did the same thing! =P
We did a lot of research on the best types of food, litter, ect. It just seemed common sense they would go right in those pet store cages! *rolls eyes* Such bunny dummies I felt like when I got my first little boy bunny….
Don’t worry, I had never thought of a rabbit being pet either! Until we started researching getting one randomly after we couldn’t have dogs in our condo and my BF is allergic to cats! Once you have one… you never get rid of bunny fever!
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Posted By tanlover14 on 05/31/2013 01:35 PM
Ha, do we ALL make the mistake of buying those horrible pet store cages with our first bunny?I had two of them…
Sharon: Don’t worry, we all started out just like you. I got my first bunny 13 years ago and I still learn new things all the time. Good choice on building a condo! They’re great, highly customizable. Just be careful with the zip ties, they’ll put your fingers through hell.
Pet stores will try to sell you anything, no matter if it’s suitable or not. As long as they make money, they don’t care. Most of the rabbit treats they sell are junk, too. Yoghurt treats, for example. Adult rabbits can’t even digest dairy…
Also, we need more pictures!
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Walking them on a harness isn’t recommended.
Seems like a great idea, I know, I’ve tried it before, too. Bunnies can startle very easily, it could be a real threat like a loose dog, or it could just be a sound that sets them off. If they panic it’s possible for them to break their own back trying to get away, getting tangled in the harness. If you want to give Poppy some outdoor time, an x-pen would work great. It would have to be covered with a top though, to make sure nothing can get in. -
Sounds like you are doing wonderful by your new little addition!
Hazel… I had you beat! We had THREE of those horrid pet store cages, one for all the Tans! Hahahahha. Terrible things. Now we only have one – for when someone gets sick or injured and shouldn’t be on the move a lot (I would keep it just for these occasions after the condo is built Fee!).
I was always interested in the harnesses but after reading up on them decided it’s too much of a risk. Sigh… I swear.. there are SOO many things out there being sold by PET STORES no-less that are HORRIBLE for buns!
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Took some super cute pictures of Poppy taking a nap under my daughters bed. My camera cooperated to an extent haha. Of course Poppy was a great little model but I think towards the end he was like, um okay lady I kind of want to sleep, so I stopped. I will take pictures of his cage ( the too small one still unfortunately) and his food setup and stuff tomorrow!
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My bunny is a boy LOL
it’s ok his name is Caleb he is approx. 9 months old (the lady I got him from said he was 4 months) and I’ve had him for 5 months. I still have to build a condo myself. I’m waiting until I move in August so he’ll have more space and I can actually have space for the condo to be. I feel a little guilty about it though because his cage is just the minimum size at the moment. Thank you by the way for saying my bunny is cute 
I’m sure he would say thank you even though he looks so grumpy all the time (because of the “mustache”) -
I think you have very caring children feeandstevie!
A new generation of animal lovers! Yep, I currently have a pet store cage for Apollo. But my grids to build his condo have just arrived, now I’m waiting for my parents to take me to the hardwear store! I knew about xpens and condos before, it was just my parents took some convincing!
but hey-ho, that’s how things go sometimes. Apollo gets plenty of out time. 2-4 hours a day mostly. Apart from when we’re cooking. Then he must go back into his cage. The thought of anything happening while we’re carrying hot food around and he’s under our feet just makes me shudder! -
His house looks adorable! I used those pet store cages for a few months until all mine were bonded and we finally got the condo built! Haha!
In the bottom of the cage I noticed you had put down a blanket. If the litter habits start to go, don’t worry about putting anything down on the bottom. The plastic is fine on their little feet and with all that fur they never really need blankets (although I keep a towel in with my guys for them to play with and snuggle into if they prefer). Just thought I’d add it in case you started having litter problems. Sometimes they’ll think anything sound and squishy is fine to pee all over!
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You’re welcome. My Tans LOVE LOVE LOVE their towels. So much easier to clean than a blanket! And when I need to wash it I just throw another one I don’t care about in there. We have about 2-3 that we switch back and forth in between washings. But I also have 4 bonded ones in with the towels, hahah! So I have a need for a few more than you I suppose
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I would say just wash it when you feel it should be. I usually wash mine every week-2 weeks. As long as he’s not having accidents on it you’re fine
Is he really shedding yet? Usually when they’re so young they don’t shed much. And then one day with go into a HUGE shed. And boy will you know it. Hair everywhere! I would brush him every once in awhile to get him used to it though. Then it won’t be so difficult when you NEED to do it
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Ok!! I am going to leave him out tonight
He will probably sleep under one of the kiddos beds, we had to move around everything because we had out of town family come and we put him in a different room, we opened up the cage to give him exercise but he refused to leave! Poor little guy, the second he was put into the kids room though and the cage opened up he was one happy camper!!! Figure he deserves a night out since he had a whole day with no exercise!
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