How do you know when youve reached your limit?

With rabbits, how do you know how many bunnies you can keep?

I think I've reached my limit....15

If you have to compromise on the amount of space and/or exercise time that they need

If you wouldn't be able to afford to take one or more of them to the emergency vet or would worry excessively about it happening

If you'd think about delaying their vaccination boosters a bit to help reduce costs

If you don't have any more time to keep them properly cleaned

If you couldn't cope (financially, emotionally, time etc) if more than one of them was ill at any one time

That's my starter for 10, I'm sure there's more.

When you havent got space and money to keep them comfortably. When you are known as 'razy rabbit lady'. When they have taken over your life and your only topic of conversation is rabbits.

What I've found with my animal numbers in general is that you need to picture a worst case scenario where all of them were ill, ie can you cope with the time, energy, upset and money that would cause. If not, it's too many.

we have 14 rabbits and we can't take anymore in as we haven't the space now unfortunately

I think space and time are probably the 2 biggest issues.

Hmmmm.....im not sure what my limit is!

I have the space for another (single female who shares my room and is almost free range all day and would like a friend) and i have plenty of time.

I do worry about emergency vet fees or any vet fees, but my vets are understanding and i can pay monthly which i do and have always paid off the vets.

I dont hesitate to get the rabbits vaccinated, i think about money after and normally have money saved for vaccs!

All rabbits get cleaned daily, and if i had another with Fudge it wouldnt make much difference as she gets cleaned twice a day due to her having sore hocks!

I think i could cope if more than one was ill (i have 1 very ill, 1 ill with sore hocks and another 2 with sore hocks just now) I worry more about them not getting better.

If they all got ill at the same time i could cope with treatment etc and as for vet fees, i can pay monthly and my bf helps out as much as he can!

I just dont know if its the right thing to do, i have a bunny in mind but he is far away and i would worry incase the bond fails and he would have to travel really far to get back to the rescue

I dont know, i think i will talk it over with my bf first and see if its the right time or not!

I had to get over my limit to realise i couldnt cope :shock:

but to be honest i think your limit really depends on your time, space(garden space for hutches runs) and money.

when i had 7 rabbits years ago i couldnt exercise them all due to garden space so gioving them all time in one day was difficult, i had no money so i struggled and paniced everytime one got ill... i couldnt cope with them for those reasons :?

Our limit is our garden size. As we have recently moved house we know once this grass has been grazed down it may struggle with our 4 buns and 4 guinea pigs eating it down as our last garden was bigger and was still perfectly trim lol :lol: so we know we can't fit any more in here inless they lived inside permantly which we don't want for our buns (after watching our lot binky around the garden and scoff their faces whenever they want).

At our last house their was more space and maybe could have put up another couple of buns (which I am sure is part of the reason it didn't take any persuading for us to end up with guinea pigs!). Money would be a stopping point but it has never got to that as the rabbits will have their vet bills paid regardless of cost (even with the annoying have to pay all at once policy) Whether this be emptying mine, my o/h, my housemates bank accounts or even getting out credit cards or a loan I wouldn't comprimise lol. In fact even chosing this house the rabbits were the first question on the list haha.

FudgeMallow said:

I just dont know if its the right thing to do, i have a bunny in mind but he is far away and i would worry incase the bond fails and he would have to travel really far to get back to the rescue

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Ooooh who have you spotted for Fudge? :lol:

I have 15 now & 1 foster. I have been up to 27 (when the free ad girlies had their surprise litter:shock, but 27 was def too many.

I find the group no harder than a pair - I used to have a bonded 13 that was no harder than the bonded 8 I have now - (I lost 3 & some had to be split into pairs after bullying). I now have 3 pairs,the group,& a single(in progress - gonna neuter & try & slot him in somewhere:roll::?) & a single foster. All have a room/room section/hutch & permanent run & every house bun gets daily access to outside for a couple of hours minimum daily. I like how they are all living now & wouldn't want to add to them as they would lose outside time/permanent space, & after several slightly-large vets bills, I'm staying at a "low" number for a bit.

Sam_Spice said:

Ooooh who have you spotted for Fudge? :lol:

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Well ive had my eye on 3 gorgeous bunnies for quite some time and it is really hard to choose 1 :lol: (if i could have all 3 i would:roll

Ive Like Sparrow from Starlights since he went into rescue, although i think he may have a home pretty soon as he is utterly gorgeous

Then ive like Toby from starlights for ages and i cant stop looking at him I would love a REW

Then theres Frankie the chocolate Rex from Fat Fluffs I seen him and my heart melted, i would LOVE a Rex But i think they are bigger than a mini lop so not sure if he would be suitable??

Each time i come on the net i go have a look at them first i cant stop thinking about them, they are always on my mind but is it the right thing to do? Should i save my money and look after the buns ive got to the best that i can? Or do i go for it and worry about money when the time comes?

Ahhh i dont know, its a hard decision. I do spend as much time with Fudge as possible but i know she would benefit from a bunny friend???

I dont know, i think i will leave it for a few weeks and then decide! My bf said he would get me a rescue bunny for Fudge for my birthday and he would pay for him (like vaccs and vet fees etc.) but im not sure :roll:
I just dont know!!!!

SarahP said:

What I've found with my animal numbers in general is that you need to picture a worst case scenario where all of them were ill, ie can you cope with the time, energy, upset and money that would cause. If not, it's too many.

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^ That is my marker too....imagine if ALL your rabbits got ill and needed ongoing treatment - could you cover it? and it's not a far fetched scenario because we all know how prone rabbits can be to all kinds of illnesses. I would want big amounts of exercise space for them too...ie a big run for minimum 10 hours a day with some supervised free ranging too....the day i didnt have space/time for this would be the day i had surpassed my bunny limit.

Santa said:

If you have to compromise on the amount of space and/or exercise time that they need

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Totally agree on that, and when you don't have a bit of time for yourself too.

I know 8 is my limit as on rotation I have to be home for a minimum of 6hrs per day for them all to free range.

Space isnt a problem for me, but time and money is. We have room in the garden for more hutches/runs. I have 4 of my own and 4 fosters. I could probably take on more fosters if things got dire, but definately not any more to keep. At the moment everybun here gets a reasonable amount of time spent with them xXx

My limit is my OH :evil:

My limit is when I don't have the space, time and money for them all. I think I am at my limit which is soon to be 4 but could possibly be 5.