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rex's being sold is petshops

Crystal butterfly

Warren Veteran
for the first time in a year i went to the garden centre where i got Crystal, Misty and Binky, last year they only sold lop eared rabbits and lionheads today they had diffrent breeds dutches, a wild looking one, lionheads, lionlops and rexes im quite worried about the rexes though as i know they'll probably end up in a home with stoopid people who dont know about sore hocks and everything else :cry: it just makes me so sad thinking that this time next year those rexes could be suffering with sore hocks and god knows what else and their owners not realising :cry: but like people say you cant save them all :( think i have to completely stop going to petshops :(
 
Same thing's started happening here... most pet shops in my area sells only dwarf rabbits (mainly lionheads, lops, lionlops and nethies (+lionheaded nethies)) but recently a few rexes have popped up.
I'm a bit ashamed to say my school is one provider of such rex rabbits, and the first time they did I didn't even think about the sore hooks...but I've been extra on edge after my own rabbit got it. :(
Luckily wire floors aren't as normal in Norway, I've only seen one brand of indoor cage that has it, (in which case the wire floor is removable and in plastic so it's not very hard... I can imagine if a rabbit tried hard enough it might even be able to chew it to bits:roll:) though sadly a few of the outdoor hutches have them...then again I think most of the outdoor cages are unfit for a dwarf, even less a rex:evil: If you want a proper outdoor hutch; don't go looking in any of my local pet stores:? Even the really large one I used to be very pleased with (being the only store that doesn't put rabbits and guinea pigs together) sell outdoor hutches so small I might consider them for a hamster:evil:
 
I wouldn't say any more of a worry than the lionheads going in to be matted or the lops being left with teeth problems :(
 
:oops: I bought my new Rex rabbit from the local petshop. I didn't know about sore hocks either. :oops: He's 14 weeks now and I love him to pieces! I am learning heaps from here - and got 4 back issues of Rabbiting On magazine. He lives in a hutch but no wire bottom and has a run - again - no bottom, but it has a wire top, which Smudge KEEPS jumping up onto! :roll: (His choice! LOL) He has free run of the garden for several hours a day - supervised by me, half is grass and half is paved - he prefers the paved end!
 
I was upset last week to see a picture of some new baby rex bunnies being held by a worker at a local childrens farm. They are available for sale and they will even take deposits for future litters. :cry:
 
I got one of my rex's from a rescue, they didn't tell me about sore hocks. :? I only found out about it after reading a bunny book and coming on here.
 
I wouldn't say any more of a worry than the lionheads going in to be matted or the lops being left with teeth problems :(

That too... I remember when my school got their first angoras, I practically begged my teacher to NOT sell their kits to a pet shop.
The day I see angoras in a pet shop I don't know what I'll do. (I heard a rumour that the largest store in my area had angoras at one time:shock: didn't see any when I was there, but I really hope that wasn't the case:shock:)
These are clearly unfit as a first-time pet for most of the people who buy from pet stores (and who's going to be able to resist tiny furrballs in the pet shop? and who's gonna teach them these needs to be groomed DAILY?)
 
Yea one of my local pet stores sells lots of purebred (supposebly) longhaired rabbits mostly anything that gets someone to want it and their pens are broke down beat up and smelly the poor rabbits and other animals:shock::cry:
 
Just an aside - Will my Rex rabbit be O.K. in a large run but it is on paving slabs/paved area so that he won't dig out. Will this hurt his hocks? I have put a litter tray of hay in too. I could lay some lino - reluctant to put blankeets etc in as he chews!!!
 
I think to be honest lino may make his hocks more sore than the slabs. My one rex (Kovu) never has sore hocks, where as my old Buster (RIP) was always getting them. I think it depends on how well your bunny has been breed. I would just keep an eye on his/her hocks for now :D
 
What sort of flooring is best for rexes? Mine has a grassy run, plastic flooring with hay upstairs and a litter tray full of hay..is this ok?
 
I was told a deep hay or straw bedding was best, unfortunately whilst Callisto is a house bun I can't give her either but so far (and as she is now an ideal weight) the carpet hasn't caused her any further problems.....she just has bald area's on her hocks.
 
I keep mine on ordinary wood shavings... Sasuke has a run attached to his hutch directly on the ground and neither have gotten any sore paws yet.
Sasuke got sore paws once, before he got his attached run. Back then I would just move the rabbits from the hutches to the run every day, but on this particular day he'd been in his hutch for a couple of days because of heavy rain, also I neglected cage cleaning when it was raining the worst, which resulted in it getting both dirty and wet, when I came to move him back out his feet were swollen an sore:cry: Moved him indoors after that.
 
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