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Do rabbits affect your social life?

LionheadLuver

Warren Veteran
Hi
I hope this is in the right section. It's about rabbits so thought it should go here.

My friends keep saying that I don't go out or anything. They're right, I don't. But I don't mind and they keep asking why I don't go out. And I say it's because of the rabbits. I mean, they need to be fed, watered, cleaned out every day. No-one else will do it for them. When I decided to get rabbits, I made a promise that they would be my responsibility and I would care for them no matter what. Now people expect me to have a social life. I can't, my girls rely on me to care for them, cos no-one else will. My parents will feed them etc if I'm ill or whatever, but I don't want to put my responsibility onto other people's shoulders. My friends don't seem to get it, that I need to be home at a specific time to feed the rabbits etc. I'm 16 by the way and I pay for them all myself, not that my parents wouldn't pay for them, but I WANT to pay for them. Is this such a bad thing? Do any of you have a social life?
 
We rarely stay over anywhere together, haven't had a proper holiday together (5 years) because of the bunnies.
Neither of us are greatly into going out though, and don't mind the holiday thing either (we do go on holiday seperately :D). Having the bunnies is more than worth missing out on these things.
 
I think everybody needs a social life besides having rabbits. I feed my rabbits twice a day, but not at specific times. I clean their litter trays about every three days and it doesn't take a lot of time, maybe half an hour. I go to school/university full time and up until christmas I had four jobs on the side (resently quit two). That meant not spending a big amount of time at home with my bunnies. But they sleep alot during the day so I'm not worried they don't get enough attention. I like having bunnies because they're not as big a commitment as a dog when it comes to time and money.

For me it's school and work that is keeping me from having the social life I want to have, but I do on occations go out, visit my friends, visit my parents, or having friends over. After my exam in two days, I will have plenty of time to do the things I want to do without having to work all the time :lol: A part of why I don't spend too much time with my friends is that alot of them really enjoy going out, both in weekends and other days. I can't go out on a thursday because I wouldn't be able to get up in the morning and go to school. And of course money is an issue, everything is so expencive, like going to the cinema for example. Being social costs!
 
i try to make time for everyone but if anything happens obviously my buns would come first i.e arrange a night out with friends one of my buns get ill id obvioudsly cancel with my friends and stay with the ill rabbit. although my social life was pretty much flushed down the toilet when i started working in i club :rolleyes:
 
We don't stay away overnight very often but they don't really affect my general socialising (if they are unwell that is different but assuming they are healthy then I don't worry). Their water bottle will not run out in one day and as long as they have huge piles of hay to eat they won't starve, so I wouldn't worry about set feeding times too much. Sure they like routine, and of course it's important to keep an eye on their health (especially flystrike etc in summer) but it won't harm them if things are out by a few hours or more, they may well be a bit stroppy about it but they have food and water so I don't really think it's a big deal - I either feed them early or when I get back, depending on what is likely to be easiest.
 
i have pets cus i dont want a social life.... i did my fun times before i made my commitment to my pets.... if i wanted to i would go out tho, i just use my pets as an excuse not too ;)
 
you say these words social and life ??? never heard them before - are they foreign ? :oops::lol:
I am just kidding you - I have no life whatsoever - my life is my animals - sad but true.
I dont think you're sad to want to spend your time with your bunnies - but please go out and let your hair down occassionally - otherwise you might end up like a few of us mad animal people on here :oops::lol: *Those know who I am talking about ;)*
 
Ok. My daily routine is:

7:30am - Feed pellets

8:00am - Put out into run, hay and water added.

Hay given throughout the day, about three-four times during the day.

3-4pm - Clean out, feed pellets, put into hutch, hay and water added.

So you think I should get out more? All I seem to do is argue with my friends about going out. I do go out shopping but I have a curfew for the girls. It's not just feeding, it's putting them into the hutch and vica versa.
 
If you think your social life is affected by your pets then just wait until you have children :lol:

Seriously though, I think its great you love your animals and show such responsibility towards them, but your young and you still need a life, dont miss out on having fun and experiencing life as you may have regrets as you get older.
 
I do have a social life but do worry about my rabbits a lot sometimes. I feed mine at night before i go to bed so really the time changed quite a lot but normally its about 10pm. But if i was out or busy it would be earlier or slightly later, like last night because i was going out they got fed at 7pm.

If i do happen to go out for a long period of time i make sure the rabbits will be ok, or i see myself often texting or phoning a family member just to ask how the rabbits are.

It doesnt stop me from having a social life though, i work 8am-5pm 5 days a week, come home spend a bit of time with rabbits, then settle down to do my plans for night, then i go out and feed them later on.
I clean them out every weekend properly and clean their litter trays or dirty bedding daily, which doesnt take long, i suppose if your flexible with your routine you can have a very good social life as well. xx
 
Is it possible for you to attach the hutch to the run? Then they could choose themselves when to be in which and it would give you more flexibility. I only top up hay once daily so as long as it's not going to get wet you could just give more first thing. Part of me wants to say that if they're in a run then yes they probably need to be back in the hutch before dark, but then part of me also thinks that if the run isn't safe enough for after dark, then it's not safe enough for during the day.

Think a couple of years down the line when you're working, you won't be able to keep up this routine then, at the moment you have the freedom to do so but it probably won't always be the case.
 
If you put enough hay out in the morning to last them while they are in the run, that'll free up your afternoons a bit.Looking after them doesn't have to take up your entire day, unless you want it to.
 
Is it possible for you to attach the hutch to the run? Then they could choose themselves when to be in which and it would give you more flexibility. I only top up hay once daily so as long as it's not going to get wet you could just give more first thing. Part of me wants to say that if they're in a run then yes they probably need to be back in the hutch before dark, but then part of me also thinks that if the run isn't safe enough for after dark, then it's not safe enough for during the day.

Think a couple of years down the line when you're working, you won't be able to keep up this routine then, at the moment you have the freedom to do so but it probably won't always be the case.

My previous rabbits affect me. One of them broke her back going down the stairs of a combination hutch, so I don't want it attached, the only reason why I chose a single-storey, and the other rabbit died of shock from seeing a fox so I don't want the girls out there after dark. I know that foxes can be around during the day but there's always someone in the house so we should *hopefully* be able to see it before they do.
 
If you put enough hay out in the morning to last them while they are in the run, that'll free up your afternoons a bit.Looking after them doesn't have to take up your entire day, unless you want it to.

They would snoff the whole lot. I give them about a handful each time and they've eaten it within 10 minutes. I wait about an hour-two hours before giving them any more.
 
Yes and no!
The main thing stopping me having a busy social life though is paying the mortgage haha!
I like to make sure I am around at feeding times etc as they like a routine - they know when to expect their food, but being late once in a while doesn't matter too much either :)
 
So you think I should get out more? All I seem to do is argue with my friends about going out. I do go out shopping but I have a curfew for the girls. It's not just feeding, it's putting them into the hutch and vica versa.


Could you not get a run attached to hutch so they have access all time and you dont have to worry about puting them out and in etc? when i never had runs attached i used to forever be out at them or i would put them in runs and phone whoever was in house loads to see if they were ok, where as not they are attched its fine, i just open hutch door in morning and close it at night? x
 
It's not so much the time they take up or whatever, it's mainly the lack of money :roll: I mean I have money put away for them for vaccs & vet bills etc. and right now I'm completely broke, I've just spent quite a bit on Tilly's vaccs and her spay so even if I wanted to go out now I totally can't afford it anyway. Although I haven't been out for a while recently, the bunnies don't need me to spend loads of time with them because a few of them aren't really people rabbits at all and are happy enough if they're fed & have space so the bunnies don't stop me going out.
 
They would snoff the whole lot. I give them about a handful each time and they've eaten it within 10 minutes. I wait about an hour-two hours before giving them any more.
That's what they are meant to do..there should be enough there so that they can eat it all the time. If you put out enough they won't eat it all.
 
They would snoff the whole lot. I give them about a handful each time and they've eaten it within 10 minutes. I wait about an hour-two hours before giving them any more.

I put a HUGE pile of hay in with mine all the time, have pringle and sophies run is piled with hay. Maybe you should see if you can get a bale from a farmer so you have loads and they can have as much as they want, its very good for them and they would prob benefit from having more than a few handfuls a day x
 
My previous rabbits affect me.

Oh dear, no wonder you're a bit paranoid about it!

What about lowering the hutch onto ground level and attaching a run to the front of it, that way there isn't a ladder for the buns to injure themselves on. If you know you're going out all day and won't be back until after dark you could put a tarpaulin or something over it so they are covered from any fox visits.

I'd definitely suggest putting more hay in at one time - it's great that they are eating so much of it, that will minimise the risk of them getting dental disease and will keep their guts nice and healthy :D They should be able to eat as much of it as they want...have you got anywhere to store a bale - if you can buy hay by the bale it will only cost a few pounds then you can put in loads at a time and it doesn't matter if there is any waste.
 
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