People buying rabbits in pet shops

The other day I was in pets at home and I saw a young boy and his mum looking at the rabbits. I overheard them chatting as I was getting water bottles and the like.
They decided to get a rabbit, possibly two so they wouldn't be lonely. Then they looked at the cages at the bunnies needed a house to live in. They dismissed all the larger cages as being too big. These are the cages I dismissed thinking they were on the small side for one bunny. They then picked out a small guinnea pig cage.
I really wanted to say something but I hate confrontation. I just dread to think of the poor bunnies they bought at the same time and their crampt little cage. They didn't even go to set up the cage before getting the rabbits.

Anyone else seen things like this?

All the time... frustrating and upsetting isnt it! Poor bunnies will be shoved outside in the freezing cold, the owners prob have no idea on how to care for a rabbit, and lets face facts they really are a big commitment arent they!?

It just alarms me when people do this. I'm getting a bunny in about a weeks time from a friend and I've spent the past week building and furnishing her cage because the already assembled ones are too small in my opinion. And they are a huge commitment both time wise, emotionally and financially.
I can only hope the owners come to their senses and realise they need more room.

Yes I have and I will always try to say something(politely, of course).

I hate confrontation too but when it comes to the welfare of other living creatures (human or animal), I will speak up. It is hard but I think if they ignore what I have said(which most probably do), at least I have tried. You don't always have to be direct, sometimes pointing out how much work rabbits are is enough.

I think it is probably easier for me though, I work in a job where I have to confront scary teenagers on a regular basis!

I too purchase everything necessary prior to getting a new 'member of the family' which people buying 'pets' on a whim dont think about! Preparation is essential, and the most important thing is that they know how to care for a bunny!! Lets hope they did the all important research into keeping a bunster. No doubt that poor bunny will be suffering from fatal flystrike in the summer months... :roll:

Yesss.

A few weeks ago, my mum and I had nipped into P@H to get some rabbit food, and whilst there I went to look at the rabbits in the adoption part. There are two sisters (I think) who seem to be lion head crosses, and some children and their mother were looking at them. The bunnies are always huddled against one another, and the kids said they wanted one.. I was all worried they'd be split up, and so was my mum... We staged a loud conversation about how they should not be split as they were bonded, etc. The mother of the children was looking at us, and eventually suggested they think about it a bit more to the kids... Last time I looked, both were still there, so they've not been separated yet.

It is sad to see and it does take courage to walk over in situations like this and give them a bit of info without sounding rude.

There is a delivery courier who delivers to my work. Every time I order from the Hay Experts he delivers it. The first time he delivered anything I had ordered megazorb (massive sack!) and in my embarrassment seeing him carrying it I apologised and said it was my rabbit. He then told me he had one so now whenever I see him I ask how his rabbit is.

Today he delivered something (not Hay Experts *this* time!) and I asked how his bun was. He said he thought he was putting on weight and that his girlfriend was over feeding him. He's very nice so I lightly joked but also made it clear that it's important not to overfeed them. He said that they had a hutch run combo but that he hardly ever is let out in the run and that he has said to his girlfriend that excersize would probably help. At this point I agree with him and reiterate that excersize is essential and should be provided every day.

He went away and my only hope is because I have said what he was already thinking that he will make sure the bun gets out more. What more can you do?

Sorry, looong post!

i saw a lady pick a hamster cage for a rat i wanted to say something but decided to see if the staff would. they did and even recommended two rats. admittedly the woman didnt actually realise it was a rat that her son wanted!

the other day there was an old couple admiring the giant rabbits and saying how big they were, i said "they get a lot bigger than that haha i have two of them and they are double that size!" they replied with "my daughter had two of those but now we look after them so i know they get big! we are just waiting for them to die!"

i was like this :shock::shock::shock::shock::shock: and walked away

I work at a pet shop every week, and I keep getting frustrated at how small the cages there are
The closest thing they have to a rabbit cage I wouldn't even use for a guinea pig, and the hamster cages are tiny:shock:
I told the boss but he said very few actually wanted to buy the big cages Of course it would be easier if he just stopped selling the small cages:roll: then they would HAVE to buy the big ones.:lol:
When I got Zakura I considered buying one such very small cage, but I wasn't "allowed" too by the pet shop workers, and ended up coming home with a giant litter box and the biggest cage they had:lol:

It's nto an excuse but a "proper" sized rabbit hutch wouldn't fit in most peoples car! Rabbits take up a lot more room that people imagine! The more space I give my rabbits the more I want them to have! I currently don't think that Barley's run is large enough for him so am making plans for an extension (if this damn rain would stop falling from the sky!)

Hannah

My pet shop sells amazingly small "hutches"

Went in my local pet shop Wednesday to nosey at what buns they had in (a fat nethie and tiny golden lop) and the lop had NO water at all :evil:
I went and complained to the attendent. Checked yesterday and it had water.

This is why I've resorted to building my own cages. We've always built our own outdoor hutches and runs because lifting the big ones is a nightmare no matter how many people you have to help. So now I've built an indoor cage as you can't get ones big enough from pet shops.

I guess at the end of the day it's supply and demand, people don't want the really big cages as they don't realise how much room animals need, so the pet shops won't sell as many and they take up a lot of stock space. So they stock more little cages as they're more popular and take up less space.

What aggravates me is that at both my local P@H stores the rabbits water bottles look like they've never been cleaned, they're covered in thick green slime!

At the petshop I work at, they have good sized cages for hamsters. The hutches that we sell are small, but we have never sold a single one. The hutches at my local P@H were quite good, like 5ft. But most of the workers in pet shops are not informative enough for new owners. That's why I try to give as much information as I can to new owners who come to the shop.

IzzyTwig said:

What aggravates me is that at both my local P@H stores the rabbits water bottles look like they've never been cleaned, they're covered in thick green slime!

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Maybe worth having a chat to the staff about it?

Though i'm pretty sure that it's been said on the forum before that they use a green probiotic in the water?

I did mention it and all I got was "Ugh, I'll get someone to change the water"

Some of the bottles are clean and clear so I don't think they're using green probiotic, but I guess it worth bearing in mind.

cute_fuzzies said:

Maybe worth having a chat to the staff about it?

Though i'm pretty sure that it's been said on the forum before that they use a green probiotic in the water?

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Yes, it's called pro-c.

I hate the stuff. We scrub the bottles daily with a bottle cleaner and virkon, but the water is turned green by the pro-c and it does make things look manky.

I've had people have a go at me before for not cleaning the bottles and I get really defensive. We do have signs up stating that we add pro-c to the water.

IzzyTwig said:

I did mention it and all I got was "Ugh, I'll get someone to change the water"

Some of the bottles are clean and clear so I don't think they're using green probiotic, but I guess it worth bearing in mind.

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The longer a bottle is used, it starts to stain the plastic with a green tint. We then have to change the bottle.

Willow_Warren said:

It's nto an excuse but a "proper" sized rabbit hutch wouldn't fit in most peoples car! Rabbits take up a lot more room that people imagine! The more space I give my rabbits the more I want them to have! I currently don't think that Barley's run is large enough for him so am making plans for an extension (if this damn rain would stop falling from the sky!)

Hannah

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All the rabbit cages I've bought have been collapsable:roll:
So basically what we got was a long flat cardboard box. If you want a decent sized hutch in Norway you pretty much have to build one, the pet shop hutches are awful:? And definitely not fit for larger rabbits (which pet shop rabbits tend to be, as they are rarely purebred:roll: