nethies

could anyone give me info about keeping netherland dwarfs
eating habits?
health problems?
how playful they are?
any special requirements?
life expectancy?
what breed of rabbits they can live with or not live with?

eating habits? Mine eat Burgess Excel junior and Dwarf
health problems? Mine so far have not had many *touches wood*
how playful they are? Nethies need so much excercise they are very enthusiastic and excitable. Mine are always playing and are now getting access to every room to really stratch those little legs. From what I have learned they are 100X more playful then my minilop.
any special requirements? Lots of Excercise time, not always affectionate are not good if you have small children or if you would like a huggable bunny.
life expectancy? I think the same as any other bunny.
what breed of rabbits they can live with or not live with? I think they can live with any as long as the other rabbit is very tolerant!! :lol:

cool okay, well now see the feed you have them on do you think SS would be okay. OMG can't believe i'm asking these questions husband will kill me for thinking about getting more.

Nethies are pretty much the same as any other small breed of rabbit, although they sometimes have a tendency to be quite feisty.

Dental problems are very common in nethies. Their skulls aren't big enough for their teeth and they often need regular dental work or their incisors extracted.

Life expectancy: One of the most long-lived rabbits if they don't suffer from dental disease.

They can live with any breed of rabbit within reason...you wouldn't want a nethie being humped by a giant, but a laid-back larger rabbit would be fine.

They don't tend to make very good house rabbits because they are so small that they can fit behind fridges, etc, so a secure room or pen would be needed.

yeah well i've a french lop and a lionhead currently and i'm planning on getting them a playhouse with a big run. maybe i should stick to the two. the dental problems are worrying not that the money is matter just the stress of it all.

We feed our 13 week old Nethie on SS and she is thriving. She has a very healthy appetite

She is a very confident and inquisitive bun, will tolerate a bit of fussing and cuddles but is off at the first opportunity to do more exploring..... and yes, she's into any tiny opening she can squeeze herself into!

She is waiting for a husbun so not sure yet how she will be with other buns.

Good luck

My first rabbit was a Nethie when I was about 8. He was lovely but as he was my substitute dog, he got a lot of attention and spent most of his time in the house getting up to mischief and flopping out on the sofa watching TV with us. We still laugh at the time he nibbled all along the bottom of a deckchair, just where you couldn't see it but it would weaken the fabric. My mum put it out in the garden one day, sat in it and ended up on the floor. :lol:

He was well socialized from being a kit and I was brought up to respect animals rather than want to maul them like toys as many kids do so I think that's why it worked out him being a child's pet. He HATED my dad who got bitten numerous times, but he was too keen to try and make Thumper like him and he wasn't having it at all (bunny of impeccable taste :lol. He never, ever bit me or my mum and I in particular could pick him up any time I wanted as he trusted me. I used to take him for a walk on a harness and all sorts. He was even litter trained apart from the odd indiscretion of peeing on the sofa when he was a bit too relaxed. Sadly I only had him about 4 years - my mum found him dead one morning out of the blue in his hutch.

Great little rabbits but not the breed for everyone as he was very lively. When I got my second rabbit who was a dutch one, I couldn't believe how laid back she was in comparison. I thought she was ill and lethargic at first, but she was just a normal bunny rabbit and not turbo charged like a Nethie.

Nethies are adorable. Tarquin is two years old and lives with Bella, who is more than twice his size. That little bunny has so much character and personality - together they're a right pair, though as he's smaller he can get in places she can't, so rabbit proofing has happened as time has gone on. He's very very sweet, loves being stroked, and is extremely active a lot of the time - he loves exploring, loves getting into little gaps, loves racing round and running up and down the stairs. He's such a funny little bunny - quite determined if he wants to do something - and he's so happy living with Bella, even though she definitely wears the trousers in that relationship and is quite bossy with him, but he just gazes at her adoringly and puts up with it. My little treasure

Bell and T are both fed SS, but very limited, and T loves his hay. I know the biggest problem with nethies can be their teeth, which is why he only gets very limited pellets and loads of hay.

Oh and his happy flops make my heart melt every time - every evening he comes on the bed and flops so enthusiastically that he quite often rolls right over - I've had other bunnies do happy flops, but never quite like T does.

My previous rabbit was a nethie and he was absolutely gorgeous.

He had no problems - never needed to visit the vets at all (apart from vacs) until he was about 6 yrs old and developed dental problems. Sadly, he died 6 mths later after having his 2nd dental, but the vet had also discovered a lump so I'm not sure if that would have been a factor too.

I think, as with any breed, a lot depends on the individual buns. Reggie was very confident, happy to be held, groomed and have his nails clipped. He was a housebun (not free range though) but he loved exploring the garden and somehow managed to get on top of a 6ft fence and just sat there, perched on top till I found him. :shock: I don't think he was any more active than Alfie and Bubbles are now though (both mini lops).

My Nethie, Tinkerbell, eats SS

She is a free range house rabbit and has never chewed anything except newspaper/magazines

She has unfortunately had dental problems, a large abcess in her jaw and molar spurs though she has been fine since the operation

Definately need loads of space as they are like little fizzed up bottles of pop

Tinkerbell is very affectionate and friendly and was previously bonded to a lionhead until he passed away.

I love Nethies

I have 2 bonded nethies, they are 4.5 years old now and are just lovely.
They are very active and playfull and quite fiesty.
Both are very good hay eaters and have not had any dental problems, Jack the male has a problem with his hips but he was born like that.
They are both very friendly, easy to hold and happy to be groomed, Jack sometimes grooms me back
As others have said they would not be suited to bond with a very large rabbit because they are so small and delicate, but it is possible to bond them with other breeds

okay thankyou everyone for your advice, they sound dead cute like. see i'm getting my rabbits a playhouse with a big run and was thinking of another two buns, it's just deciding do i have the time for them, money isn't so much a problem, just at the minute i get loads of time with my buns just not sure i could cope with more than that. would love another lionhead too. aw decisions decisions. but they do sound like such fun and cute characters. i love hyper buns thier so entertaining.

nethies are furry heaven....

OMG they are so cute, they look so scrumish. aw such sweeties. thought i was gonna melt away at the sight of them, your not helping matters radish lol :lol:

Ted an Petal said:

OMG they are so cute, they look so scrumish. aw such sweeties. thought i was gonna melt away at the sight of them, your not helping matters radish lol :lol:

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you know you wanna:lol:

maisie the grey is the best little bun in the world and Mr benjamin fairweather is a total grump but adorable just the same.

So tiny!!! Blue was bigger than that when he was a teeny tiny baby at 8 weeks!
I be frightened I'd lose them!

aw their so adorable. well i'll go and see these ones that my sister in laws work college rabbits has given birth. so will get chatting to her on sunday. oooooo i'm disgusted with myself for being such a push over when it comes to fluffy buns.

They are really fabulous bunnies but they're not for everyone...i'd say they are not suitable for very small children as they do tend to be full of personality and not always in a nice way:lol:

they're very special to me because my dad bred them when i was small. he only bred very occasionally literally just for us to have a few buns throughout our childhood( from age ten onwards anyway. and kept four neighbours and their families in buns.
we only ever had five buns at the most..one for each of us and one for my dad:lol:

we learned such a lot about responsibilty and care for a life etc it was really good and some of the buns were little monkeys. Maisie is the spitting image of Busby who was the first nethie my dad bought home.

Aww - gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous - I love their little ears, I love their little noses, I love their little fat cheeks


This is my special boy:

Stop it Radish and Becca6 - you're making me go all broody.