Questions about rehoming bunnies

[Adrian Grant]

Hello, about a year ago my father purchased an unfixed male and female Lionhead bunny. Before he was willing to get the male fixed, or find a proper way to separate them, they ended up with a litter. He’s taken care of now, but as for the bunnies, I’ve contacted every animal shelter and the nearest branches of House Rabbit Society, but all of them are full to capacity and not accepting new bunnies. I’ve also put up posts on various social media sites with no success. None of my friends or relatives are willing to keep them either. My father was becoming impatient and insisted I list them on Craigslist. Since I wasn’t having any luck anywhere else I put them up for adoption there at a $40-$50 adoption fee, knowing I can investigate the potential adopters before agreeing to anything. I will usually ask them where they are going to keep them, what they will be feeding them, and who will be taking care of them. The problem is most people, and I mean 5/6, tell me they plan on gifting them to somebody else, which makes getting answers from them difficult considering they don’t necessarily know how that person will take care of them.. The rest of the time they usually tell me they plan on keeping them in a cage or hutch, which gives me instant heartburn. When I ask them if they are willing to get a playpen, or consider free roaming them, they will often say “yes I do have a playpen” and  “sure I can free roam them”. If they really had a playpen or if they were able to free roam them, why did they tell me they would keep them in a cage/hutch? I’m not sure if I’m overthinking this, but sometimes it seems like people will lie to accommodate my questions after correcting them, and I don’t really have a way of knowing for certain. Should I just take them on trust? Also how should I handle the person who plans on buying them as a gift? I don’t want to pester them with nonstop follow up questions since people on Craigslist usually expect you to just make the “sale” without asking them anything, but I still need to get the right information from them.  This has been very stressful so any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[Wick & Fable]

Here’s a webpage that can give some guidance: https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Rehoming_your_rabbit

One necessary and adaptable way to weed out gifters and other individuals is charging more for the rabbit– those who are whimsically gifting a rabbit to someone else without much thought or are only willing to spend limited money for cheap stuff will get deterred easily.

You could potentially require pictures of a set up before going through with the purchase as well. You can add details behind requirements and proof of set up. Yes, this will make it take longer, but that is the consequence of trying to do this mindfully and thoughtfully.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Adrian Grant]

I will try some of the rabbit niche websites in the guide. I was also thinking of asking them for setup pictures since it might be the only way know for sure. Im wondering if I should just ask for the picture straight away before going through the questions or if that might make them uncomfortable. I don’t want them to feel like I’m being intrusive because people don’t seem to have much patience and will often stop replying after a couple questions. As for the price, what do you think would be reasonable enough to deter poor candidates, but not offset qualified ones?

[Wick & Fable]

Many rescues charge $80-100 for adoption fees in my experience, so going to $75 to $90 wouldn’t be completely unreasonable, especially if rescues are limited and you’re trying to find dedicated owners. Rabbits are expensive pets so a higher rate dissuading someone is likely a wise thing early on.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[DanaNM]

I think asking for set-up pictures is a great idea. Doing a home check might be hard but you could certainly ask to Zoom/Facetime.  There can be good adopters out there on Craigslist, it just takes time to weed through them as you are learning (I got my first house bun from Craigslist!). I think having a convo and quizzing them on what they plan to do is a good idea. Questions like, “Who do you plan to use as a vet?”, “Do you know how long rabbits live?” and “What have you done to bunny-proof your home” are good because they are hard to “fake”.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Adrian Grant]

Yes, I’ve decided asking for a setup picture is the only non-intrusive way to know what they have going on. After that, I will definitely run it through a few reverse image search websites, just to make sure it’s not a random picture they got off the internet.

[tobyluv]

Have you tried asking your vet if they can help in any way?  Sometimes a vet will know of someone who can give a rabbit a good home, or they might put up a notice of rabbits for adoption in their office.  A notice in a vet’s office should be safer than posting on Craig’s List.

Rabbits, or any animals, should not be given as gifts, so that would make me very wary.  Animals should only be brought into a home after careful consideration – when the family knows what they are getting into and that they are prepared to give that animal a home for life.  I volunteer at a rabbit sanctuary and I’m the one who answers email, which consists of so many requests to take rabbits. A recent request was from a woman who had 2 rabbits gifted to her children.  She knew nothing about rabbit care, didn’t want the rabbits, and her children had already lost interest in them.

[Adrian Grant]

At the moment, there are only a couple vets within my county that treat rabbits, but I don’t really have an established relationship with any of them. I will try calling them and asking for references. The gifting situation also makes me wary since I’m not talking to the person who will actually take care of them. This makes it difficult to know their setup without being nosy.

[BZOO]

A friend of mine did Pomeranian/Chihuahua rescue.

One of her prime ?s was asking to do a home check.  Anyone who said no was immediately out.  Anyone who said yes, she actually didn’t have to do it because she felt comfortable enough with that answer.

Maybe ask that and see what happens.

[Adrian Grant]

That’s another idea to consider. You definitely have to be pretty bold to ask them that. I think if I choose this option I would have to actually visit their house, since allot of people are unaware of how bad their setup really is. I just want to be careful not to scare away potentially good keepers.

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